Adsorption studies of β-naphthol by untreated and treated activated carbon [optimizing of adsorption by central composite design (CCD)]

In the present work the adsorption of aromatic compound, namely ??-naphthol (BN) by two granular activated carbons, one untreated and the other treated with HNO₃ carried out under controlled conditions. The effects of experimental parameters on adsorption process such as pH, contact time and adsorbent dosage have been investigated. Experimental design methodology was applied to optimize the removal of ??-naphthol. The effect of various experimental parameters was investigated using five-level three-factorial central composite design (CCD). The relationship between the parameters and the response for model optimization was found and optimum conditions were obtained by CCD. In the optimum conditions obtained by response surface modeling, 100% BN was adsorbed on the carbons. Treatment with HNO₃ led to a decrease in the point of zero charge and the adsorption capacity (Q _max) of the activated carbon. The adsorption capacity of the carbons was determined using Freundlich and Langmuir homogenous equation. The variation of the model parameters with the solution pH was also studied. The fitted parameters obtained from both models showed the Q _max value decrease with increasing of pH.     

Extraordinarily water permeable sol-gel formed nanocomposite nanofibrous membranes

Electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) are considered as a state of the art in water filtration technology mainly owing to their high interconnected porosity and tunable pore size assumed to offer a very high permeability also selectivity. However, the extremely high surface area makes the ENMs prone to mechanical breakdown and lack of wettability lowering the filtration efficiency. Hence, any attempt to enhance both the mechanical properties and hydrophilicity of the ENMs is highly recommended. In the current study, the structural and transport properties of polyethersulfone (PES) ENMs were modified through incorporation of titania (TiO(2)) nanoparticles via a sol-gel approach. Presence of titania precursor increased the conductivity of the electrospun solution thereby optimized the structural features of the electrospun mat in terms of formation of very thin beadless nanofibers, a higher porosity and smaller pore size. Moreover, a significant rise in mechanical properties, thermal stability and switching from a highly hydrophobic membrane to a superhydrophilic one occur simultaneously. The combination of a more optimum porosity, very high mechanical properties and hydrophilicity leads to a significantly higher water permeability in the TiO(2)/PES ENMs encouraging us to propose it as a water filtration membrane with longer life span and lower energy consumption.     

2‐Aminocyclopentene‐1‐Dithiocarboxylic Acid‐Naphthalene Adsorbent for the Preconcentration and Determination of a Trace Copper in Real Samples by Spectrophotometric Method

A solid uncharged complex produced from 2‐aminocyclopentene‐1‐dithiocarboxylic acid (synthetic reagent) on naphthalene provides a very sensitive, selective and economical method for the preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of copper in drug and alloy samples. The 2‐aminocyclopentene‐1‐dithiocarboxylate of copper is retained quantitatively on microcrystalline naphthalene in the pH range 2.8–3.3. After filtration the solid mass consisting of copper complex‐naphthalene is dissolved with 4 mL of dimethylformamide (DMF). The absorbance is measured at 462 nm with a spectrophotometer against the reagent blank and molar absorptivity found to be 2.8 × 10⁵ liter mol^?1 cm^?1. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.1–16.0 μg of copper in 4 mL of the dimethylformamide solution. Detection limit is 3 ng mL^?1 [signal to noise ratio = 2]. Ten replicate determinations on a sample containing 1 μg of copper gave a relative standard deviation of 0.76%. The interference of a large number of anions and cations have been studied and the optimized conditions developed were utilized for determination of copper in various real samples.     

Formation of third generation poly(pyrazolyl)borate ligands from alkyne coupling reactions of Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Rpz)3]2 (R = H, Me; pz = pyrazolyl): pathways toward controlling an iron(II) electronic spin-state crossover

Sonogashira coupling reactions of terminal alkynes with Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 (pz = pyrazolyl ring) yield Fe[(p-PhC2C6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 (2), Fe[(p-Me3SiC2C6H4)B(3-Rpz)3]2 (R = H, 3a, R = Me, 3b), and Fe[(p-HC2C6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 (R = H, 4a, R = Me, 4b), a series of new complexes containing "third generation" poly(pyrazolyl)borate ligands. Complex 2 undergoes a fairly gradual iron(II) electronic spin-state crossover with a 30 K hysteresis, whereas complex 3b is an unusual example of a complex with equivalent iron(II) sites in the high-spin form that shows an abrupt 50% spin crossover. For complex 4b, 50% of the iron(II) sites undergo a gradual spin-state transition between 185 and 350 K with an activation energy of 1590 +/- 30 cm(-1) and a T(1/2) = 280 K and, for the remaining iron(II) sites, an abrupt cooperative spin-state crossover between 106 and 114 K. The crystal structures of 4b obtained for each of the three distinct electronic spin states reveal two crystallographically different iron(II) sites, and analysis of the molecular/supramolecular structures indicates that the difference in the degree of pyrazolyl ring tilting in the ligands between the two sites, rather than the strength of the intermolecular forces, play a prominent role in determining the temperature of the spin-state crossover.     

Energy Spectrum of Simply Constant Chromoelectric Flux Tubes

In this article we obtain the energy spectrum of colored, spinor particles in chromoelectric flux tubes. The chromoelectric field of the flux tubes considered here comes from simply constant gauge potentials rather than from covariantly constant gauge potential, as is usually the case. The energy spectrum of the simply constant flux tubes is different than that of the covariantly constant flux tubes. The spectrum is discrete due to the walls of the tube and with a plus/minus constant shift depending on the magnitude of the constant chromoelectric background. This goes against the classical intuition where one would expect a charged particle in a uniform “electric” field to accelerate with ever increasing velocity/energy i.e. there would be no constant energy eigenvalue.     

Asymptotic symmetry of geometries with Schrödinger isometry

We show that the asymptotic symmetry algebra of geometries with Schrödinger isometry in any dimension is an infinite-dimensional algebra containing one copy of Virasoro algebra. It is compatible with the fact that the corresponding geometries are dual to non-relativistic CFTs whose symmetry algebra is the Schrödinger algebra which admits an extension to an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra containing a Virasoro subalgebra.     

AnO(3, 1) approach to Maxwell's equations

Using the principal series representations of the Lorentz group, a method parallel to that of Gelfand and Yaglom is suggested to obtain Maxwell's equations, which dispenses with the arbitrary introduction of a degenerate transformation with respect to which the photon equations are invariant. The method also gives subsidiary conditions which, in conjunction with the masslessness of the particle, yield the Lorentz condition and the correct values of photon polarization.     

Electro-oxidation of phenylindenes. Reaction dependence on theelectrolyte anion in non-nucleophilic solvents

Cyclic voltammetry studies have shown that in the electro-oxidation of phenylindenes, the reaction pathway can be markedly dependent on the salt used as electrolyte, particularly when the substrate (indene) contains a relatively acidic hydrogen.     

Sub-micro level monitoring of beryllium ions with a novel beryllium sensor based on 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine

The 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine (DPCP) was used as an excellent ionophore in construction of a coated graphite poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)-based membrane sensor. The best performance was obtained with a membrane composition of 30% poly(vinyl chloride), 60% o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE), 5% 2,6-diphenyl-4-benzo-9-crown-3-pyridine and 5% sodium tetraphenyl borate (TBP). This sensor shows very good selectivity and sensitivity towards beryllium ion over a wide variety of cations, including alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The sensor revealed a great enhancement in selectivity coefficients and sensitivity for beryllium, in comparison with the previously reported beryllium electrodes. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian behavior (with slope of 29.6 mV per decade) over a very wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻⁷ to 1.0×10⁻¹) with a detection limit of 4.0×10⁻⁸ M (360 pg ml⁻¹). It shows relatively fast response time, in whole concentration range (<10 s), and can be used for at least 12 weeks in the pH range of 4.5-8.0. The proposed sensor was successfully used to determination of beryllium in mineral ore.     

Nucleon’s Axial-Vector Form Factor in the Hard-Wall AdS/QCD Model

The axial-vector form factor of the nucleons is considered in the framework of hard-wall model of holographic QCD. A new interaction term between the bulk gauge and matter fields was included into the interaction Lagrangian. We obtain the axial-vector form factor of nucleons in the boundary QCD from the bulk action using AdS/CFT correspondence. The momentum square dependence of the axial-vector form factor is analysed numerically.