Study of the Rod-Like and spherical nano-ZnO morphology on H2S removal from natural gas

The purpose of this work is to study the adsorption of H₂S from gas streams containing He and CH₄ with an emphasis on the influence of the sorbent morphology on the process of adsorption. As an example of the approach, a unique modified nano-ZnO sample with a Rod-like morphology was fabricated and comparatively studied together with a nano-spherical ZnO sample under various conditions. The objective was accomplished applying central composite design (CCD) in order to screen the effects of significant adsorption parameters obtained by Placket-Burman design. Morphology of the sorbent, temperature, space velocity and H₂S feed concentration were initially evaluated. Placket-Burman design experiments showed a wide deviation of adsorption capacity of 0.03-0.24 g H₂S/g ZnO. Results indicated that comparing other parameters Rod like morphology comparing spherical, had significant effect on all four independent H₂S adsorption parameters. Besides that, space velocity and H₂S feed concentration were found to be effective parameters on adsorption of hydrogen sulfide in the range of 4000-8000 h⁻¹ and 0.5-1 mol% respectively. Moreover, experiments revealed a negligible effect of adsorption temperature in range of 150-250 °C. The optimized condition obtained a dynamic capacity of 0.2401 g H₂S/g ZnO at space velocity 4000 h⁻¹ and H₂S feed concentration of 1 mol%. Proceeding our study by significant parameters, analysis of variance (ANOVA) displayed a high coefficient of determination (R²) value of 0.931-0.959, indicating the satisfactory adjustment of the quadratic model.     

Multielement determination in wheat and bran

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was employed to measure 26 elements in three wheat varieties and in bran retained on U.S. standard sieve#e40. It was observed that the mineral content of bran was much higher than whole wheat and more than 90% of the elemental content was retained in the bran. The concentrations of As, Ce, Cr, Cs, Eu, Hf, Hg, La, Sb, Sc, Sr, Th and V in whole wheat and bran were below the detection limit.     

Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of ethanol in “Alcohol-Free” beverages and fruit juices

Summary A rapid, sensitive and direct method is described for the detemination of ethanol in Alcohol-Free beverages and fruit juices. A known amount of internal standard is added to the sample and a 0.1 mm³ aliquot is injected directly into a gas chromatograph. Ethanol concentrations as low as 0.005% v/v can be detected and quantitatively determined. Five brands of beer, seven brands of grape juice and four brands of apple juice; all labelled Alcohol-Free were analyzed. Ethanol in concentrations ranging from 0.009% v/v to 0.385% v/v was found. These findings indicate that these products are not actually Alcohol-Free but alcohol-low or alcohol-poor.     

Copper(II) complexes containing pyridine-based and phenolate-based systems: Synthesis,characterization, DFT study,biomimetic catalytic activity of catechol oxidase and phenoxazinone synthase

A template Schiff condensation of 2,6-pyridine dicarbaldehyde or 2,6-diformyl-4- bromophenol and 1,3–diamino-2-hydroxy propane or 3,4-diaminotoluene in the presence of copper(II) salts (CuX₂) (X = Cl, Br, CH₃COO, or ClO₄) affords different types of copper(II) complexes. Depending on the employed molar ratio of the dicarbonyl compounds and diamines, different types of copper(II) complexes formed during the template condensation reaction. Structural formulation of the complexes was confirmed by elemental analysis (C, H, N, and M), physical measurements such as thermal analysis (TAG & DTG), molar conductivity, and magnetic moments in addition to spectral studies (UV–Vis, IR, and ESR). Homobinuclear in a four-coordinate square planar and five-coordinate square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal in monomeric structures are proposed. A mononuclear hexa-coordinate in an octahedral geometry is suggested as well. Oxidase biomimetic catalytic activity of these newly synthesized copper(II) complexes was examined toward the aerobic oxidation of 4-tert-butylcatechol (4-TBCH₂) and o-aminophenol under catalytic conditions. Both catalytic and kinetic investigations demonstrate promising oxidase catalytic activity and based on the kinetic results, probable mechanistic catalytic implications are discussed. Geometrical structures of representative copper(II) complexes were determined by optimizing their bond lengths, bond angles, dihedral angles, and the structural index (τ).     

Viscometric and Morphological Properties of Novel Magnesium Electrolyte–Polyacrylamide Composite Polymers in Aqueous Solution

The viscometric properties of novel magnesium electrolyte–polyacrylamide composite polymers in aqueous solutions were investigated using response surface methodology. Independent factors such as concentration of the magnesium electrolyte (magnesium chloride and magnesium hydroxide), concentration of polyacrylamide, and the solution temperature were taken into account for viscometric modeling. Experiments were carried out according to central composite design, which includes factorial, central and axial points of the factors. Solution viscosity was taken as the response variable. A polynomial model for the viscometric properties was developed using ANOVA and non-linear regression analysis, and the R² values are 0.9995 and 0.9996 for aqueous solutions of magnesium chloride–polyacrylamide (MCPAM) and magnesium hydroxide–polyacrylamide (MHPAM) composite polymers, respectively. Two diagnostic plots have been constructed to validate the developed models for the natural logarithm of viscosity of aqueous solutions of the MCPAM and MHPAM composite polymers. The least-squares values show that the developed models are adequate for predictive purposes. TEM was used to investigate the morphological properties of MCPAM and MHPAM composite polymers. Magnesium chloride was impregnated into the polyacrylamide chain while magnesium hydroxide was just adsorbed on the surface of the polyacrylamide chain.