Application of a new nanoporous sorbent for extraction and pre-concentration of lead and copper ions

The authors describe a method for the trace determination of copper (II) and lead (II) in water and fish samples using solid-phase extraction via siliceous mesocellular foam functionalised by dithizone. Siliceous mesocellular was functionalised with dithizone, and the resulting sorbent was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, surface area analysis, thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis and FTIR. Following solid-phase extraction of target ions by the sorbent, copper and lead ions were quantified by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Factors affecting the sorption and desorption of target ions by the sorbent were evaluated and optimised. The calibration plot is linear in the 1 – 500 μg L^?1 copper (II) and 3–700 μg L^?1 lead (II) concentration range. The relative recovery efficiency in real sample analysis is in the range from 96 to 102%, and precision varies between 1.7 and 2.8%. It is should be noted that the limits of detection for the copper and lead analysis were 0.8 and 1.6 μg L^?1, respectively. Also, the adsorption capacities for copper and lead ions were 120 and 160 mg g^?1, respectively. The obtained pre-concentration factor for the lead and copper ions by the proposed solid-phase extraction was 75. The method was successfully applied to the determination of low levels of copper (II) and lead (II) in tap, Caspian sea, Persian gulf and lake water and also their detection in fish samples.     

Oxoperoxo tungsten(VI) complex immobilized on Schiff base-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation of alcohols with hydrogen peroxide

Oxoperoxo tungsten(VI) complex immobilized on Schiff base-modified Fe₃O₄ super paramagnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and appropriately characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, BET, and VSM analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles efficiently catalyzed oxidation of benzylic alcohols with H₂O₂ as oxidant in high yields, with high to excellent selectivity. The catalyst can be recovered using an external magnetic field and recycled for subsequent oxidation reactions without any appreciable loss of efficiency. The simple preparation, high activity, excellent selectivity, and simple recoverability of the catalyst are advantageous.     

Velocity profiles and interface instability in a two-phase fluid: investigations using ultrasonic velocity profiler

In the present study the velocity profiles and the instability at the interface of a two phase water-oil fluid were investigated. The main aim of the research project was to investigate the instability mechanisms that can cause the failure of an oil spill barrier. Such mechanisms have been studied before for a vast variety of conditions (Wicks in Fluid dynamics of floating oil containment by mechanical barriers in the presence of water currents. In: Conference on prevention and control of oil spills, pp 55–106, 1969; Fannelop in Appl Ocean Res 5(2):80–92, 1983; Lee and Kang in Spill Sci Technol Bull 4(4):257–266, 1997; Fang and Johnston in J Waterway Port Coast Ocean Eng ASCE 127(4):234–239, 2001; among others). Although the velocity field in the region behind the barrier can influence the failure significantly, it had not been measured and analyzed precisely. In the present study the velocity profiles in the vicinity of different barriers were studied. To undertake the experiments, an oil layer was contained over the surface of flowing water by means of a barrier in a laboratory flume. The ultrasonic velocity profiler method was used to measure velocity profiles in each phase and to detect the oil–water interface. The effect of the barrier geometry on velocity profiles was studied. It was determined that the contained oil slick, although similar to a gravity current, can not be considered as a gravity current. The oil–water interface, derived from ultrasonic echo, was used to find the velocity profile in each fluid. Finally it was shown that the fluctuations at the rearward side of the oil slick head are due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities.     

Module amenability of the second dual and module topological center of semigroup algebras

In this paper we define the module topological center of the second dual $\mathcal{A}^{**}$ of a Banach algebra $\mathcal{A}$ which is a Banach $\mathfrak{A}$ -module with compatible actions on another Banach algebra $\mathfrak{A}$ . We calculate the module topological center of ? ¹(S)^**, as an ? ¹(E)-module, for an inverse semigroup S with an upward directed set of idempotents E. We also prove that ? ¹(S)^** is ? ¹(E)-module amenable if and only if an appropriate group homomorphic image of S is finite.     

Ecowood Composites Made using Citric-Acidmodified Corn and Oil Palm Starches as the Binder

Mechanics of Composite Materials - The conventional wood-based composites contain an unreacted free formaldehyde, which causes a cancerous effect on humans. To overcome this problem,...     

On the rate of complete convergence for weighted sums of NSD random variables and an application

In this paper, the complete convergence is established for the weighted sums of negatively superadditive-dependent random variables. As an application, the Marcinkiewicz-Zygmund strong law of large numbers for the random weighted average is also achieved, and a simulation study is done for the asymptotic behaviour of random weighting estimator.     

Toward Artificial Mussel-Glue Proteins: Differentiating Sequence Modules for Adhesion and Switchable Cohesion

Artificial mussel-glue proteins with pH-triggered cohesion control were synthesized by extending the tyrosinase activated polymerization of peptides to sequences with specific modules for cohesion control. The high propensity of these sequence sections to adopt β-sheets is suppressed by switch defects. This allows enzymatic activation and polymerization to proceed undisturbed. The β-sheet formation is regained after polymerization by changing the pH from 5.5 to 6.8, thereby triggering O→N acyl transfer rearrangements that activate the cohesion mechanism. The resulting artificial mussel glue proteins exhibit rapid adsorption on alumina surfaces. The coatings resist harsh hypersaline conditions, and reach remarkable adhesive energies of 2.64 mJ m⁻² on silica at pH 6.8. In in situ switch experiments, the minor pH change increases the adhesive properties of a coating by 300 % and nanoindentation confirms the cohesion mechanism to improve bulk stiffness by around 200 %.