Copper/Graphene/Clay Nanohybrid: A Highly Efficient Heterogeneous Nanocatalyst for the Synthesis of Novel 1,2,3‐Triazolyl Carboacyclic Nucleosides via ‘Click’ Huisgen 1,3‐Dipolar Cycloaddition

A very mild and highly efficient synthesis of some novel 1H‐1,2,3‐triazolyl carboacyclic nucleosides via a ‘Click’ Huisgen cycloaddition of N‐propargyl nucleobases and azido alcohols using Cu/aminoclay/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrid (Cu/AC/r‐GO nanohybrid) as nanocatalyst is described. The preparation and characterization of Cu/AC/r‐GO nanohybrid are discussed. This catalyst was characterized by X‐ray diffraction, FT‐IR, TEM, and energy‐dispersive analysis of X‐ray techniques. Cu/AC/r‐GO nanohybrid is a stable and highly efficient heterogeneous nanocatalyst that can be easily prepared, used, and restored from the reaction mixture by simple filtration, and reused for many consecutive trials without significant decrease in activity.     

Electrochemical Synthesis of Polypyrrole in the Presence of Congo Red; Application to Selective Voltammetric Determination of Dopamine in the Presence of Ascorbic Acid

The electrosynthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) film has been achieved on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in aqueous medium of Congo red (CR) by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). The modified electrode exhibits high electrocatalytic activity toward dopamine (DA) oxidation, with drastic enhancement of the reversibility and peak currents. This modified electrode, due to electrostatic interactions, is capable to mask the response of ascorbic acid (AA) completely and provide an effective method for the detection of minor amounts of dopamine in the presence of high concentrations of AA. The electrochemical response of the film modified electrode is strongly dependent to the switching potential applied in the CV procedure of the electro‐polymerization. The results show that by increasing the switching potential more than 0.75 V, the peak of AA is gradually disappeared. This peak in potential of 0.85 V is reached to capacitive background current. With respect to the destruction of the conjugated structure of ppy and lowering the conductivity of the film at the surface of modified electrode, higher switching potentials cannot be suitable for electropolymerization procedure. The effects of various experimental parameters such as, number of polymerization cycles, switching potential, pH and potential sweep rate on the voltammetric response of dopamine were also investigated. The modified electrode shows a linear response to DA in the range of 0.5 to 100 μM with a detection limit of 0.1 μM. The prepared modified electrode does not show any considerable response toward sulfhydryl compounds, such as, cysteine, penicillamine and glutathione, revealing a good selectivity for voltammetric response to DA. The effective electrocatalytic property, ability for masking the voltammetric responses of the other biological reducing agents together with high reproducibility and stability make the modified electrode suitable for selective and sensitive voltammetric detection of sub‐micromolar amounts of DA in clinical and pharmaceutical preparations.     

Nanoporous carbons as promising novel methane adsorbents for natural gas technology

Nanoporous carbons were synthesized using furfuryl alcohol and sucrose as precursors and MCM-41 and mordenite as nanoporous templates.The produced nanoporous carbons were used as adsorbent for methane storage.The average pore diameter of the samples varied from 3.9 nm to 5.9 nm and the BET surface area varied from 320m2/g to 824m2/g.The volumetric adsorption experiments revealed that MCM-41 and sucrose had better performance compared with mordenite and furfuryl alcohol,correspondingly.Also,the effect of precursor to template ratio on the structure of nanoporous carbons and their adsorption capacities was investigated.The nanoporous carbon produced from MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieve partially filled by sucrose shows the best methane adsorption capacity among the tested samples.     

Photocatalytic ozonation for degradation of 2-sec-butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (DNBP) using titanium dioxide: effect of operational parameters and wastewater treatment

The results of degradation efficiency of 2-sec-butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (DNBP) in a batch system by various advanced oxidation processes revealed the order of TiO₂/UV/O₃ > TiO₂/O₃ > UV/O₃ > O₃ > UV/TiO₂. All processes followed pseudo-first order kinetics. The influence of operational parameters such as initial pH, initial concentration of DNBP, ozone and catalyst dosage on the TiO₂/UV/O₃ process, which was the most significant investigated method. The ozone dosage was found to have the noticeable impact on the process; however, initial pH and TiO₂ dosage were less effective. The mineralization of 40 mg/L of DNBP and petrochemical wastewater under the obtained optimal conditions was monitored by total organic carbon and chemical oxygen demand, respectively. The results demonstrated that the TiO₂/UV/O₃ process was a very effective method for degradation and mineralization of DNBP in aqueous solutions and industrial wastewater. The degradation intermediates were identified by GC–MS.     

Electrochemical study of Cu2O/CuO composite coating produced by annealing and electrochemical methods

The electrochemical behavior of a copper oxide electrode produced by annealing and electrochemical methods was studied in an acetonitrile solvent by means of the cyclic voltammetry method. The presence of different peaks of oxidation and reduction produced by repeating the potential scans, numerous variations in the current, and shifts of peak potentials in consecutive cycles have been justified. Voltammograms proved that various oxidation species can be produced in solid-deposited forms of Cu₂O_s and CuO_s and dissolved forms of Cu(II)_sol and Cu(I)_sol ions. The experimental results indicated that higher amounts of Cu₂O_s than CuO_s can be produced in the process of copper electrode annealing. Also, the nature of copper species is responsible for different peak currents in the cyclic voltammograms, characterized by UV–Vis and XRD spectrometric methods.

     

Green synthesis of banana flavor using different catalysts: a comparative study of different methods

ABSTRACT

Esterification of isoamyl alcohol with acetic acid was studied using different ion-exchange resins, namely Amberlyst 15 dry, Amberlyst 16 wet, Amberlite 120-IR. Esterification was carried out using different esterification methods that are quite new (ohmic, ultrasonic probe, and ultrasonic bath) and the results were compared with microwave-assisted esterification (MAE). The highest isoamyl acetate yield (99%) was obtained by MAE, using a mixture of acetic acid and isoamyl alcohol (mole ratio of 1:2) after 2?h of reaction time. In this process, 2% Amberlyst 15 dry was used. MAE had the least specific energy consumption (0.42?kWh/g isoamyl acetate) and specific CO₂ emission (34?g/g isoamyl acetate). According to the images obtained by scanning electron microscopy, lower amounts of Amberlyst 15 dry beads were destroyed by MAE method compared to other esterification methods. In conclusion, MAE proved to be an economic and environmentally-friendly method for esterification of different flavoring compounds.     

Green synthesis,characterization, and biological activities of saffron leaf extract-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles: A sustainable approach to reuse an agricultural waste

To increase the profitability and sustainability of agricultural waste, a facile green approach was established to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using saffron leaf extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Structural characteristics of NPs were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy. Characterization results revealed that ZnO NPs is highly crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and spherical particles with diameter less than 50 nm, as confirmed by XRD and FESEM techniques. UV–Vis absorption spectra depicted an absorption peak at 370 nm, which confirms the formation of ZnO NPs. FTIR spectral analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups and metal oxygen groups. The biological activities of ZnO NPs were also investigated. The antibacterial effect of ZnO NPs was investigated against selected food pathogens (Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterococcus faecalis). The study results prove that the green synthesized ZnO NPs show enhanced antibacterial activity against S. Typhimurium when compared with other strains. A dose-dependent free radical scavenging activity was observed for ZnO NPs in both 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) assays. The ZnO NPs were evaluated for their photocatalytic activity during the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solutions. The maximum removal of MB achieved was 64% with an initial ZnO NP concentration of 12 mg/mL under UV light. The present study revealed that the agricultural waste (saffron leaf) provides a simple and eco-friendly option to sustainably synthesize ZnO NPs for use as a photocatalyst. In addition, this is the first report on saffron leaf-mediated synthesis of ZnO NPs.     

Study of excited fragment emission from the electron impact dissociation of volatile mercury(II) halides

Emission resulting, from collisions of 5–200 eV electrons with gaseous H_gX₂, and CH₃H_gX (X = Cl, Br. I) was characterized in the 3800–5600 A region. HgX BX emission dominates and absolute cross section as a function of electron energy were determined. The formation of electronically excited Hg atoms, and the trend of the cross sections with the nature of the halogen atom are discussed in terms of a simple charge transfer model.     

Solid-phase extraction and spectrophotometric determination of mercury with 6-mercaptopurine in environmental samples

A highly selective, sensitive and rapid method for the determination of trace amounts of inorganic mercury based on the reaction of Hg (II) with 6-mercaptopurine and the solid phase extraction of the complex on C18 membrane disks was developed. The 6-mercaptopurine selectively reacts with Hg (II) to form a complex in the pH range of 5-8. This complex was preconcentrated by solid phase extraction with C18 disks. An enrichment factor of 100 was achieved. The molar absorptivity of the complex is 0.26 x 10(-6) L. mol(-1) cm(-1) measured at 315 nm. The Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range of 0.002-0.048 microg mL(-1). The relative standard deviation for eleven-replicated measurement of 0.04 microg mL(-1) is 1.5 %. The detection limit is 0.001 microg mL(-1) in the water samples. The advantage of the method is that the determination of Hg (II) is free from interference of almost all the cations and anions found in environment and wastewater samples. The determination of Hg (II) in water samples of different origins and marine sediment were carried out by the present method and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). Also the method's accuracy was investigated by using SRM 2709. The obtained results by the present procedure were in good agreement with those of the CVAAS and certified value, so that the applicability of the proposed method was confirmed for the real samples.