Development of nanomaterial chemosensors for toxic metal ions sensing

Heavy metal ions are harmful to aquatic life and humans owing to their high toxicity and non‐biodegradability, so their removal from wastewater is an important task. Therefore, this work focuses on designing suitable, simple and economical nanosensors to detect and remove these metal ions with high selectivity and sensitivity. Based on this idea, different types of mesoporous materials such as hexagonal SBA‐15, cubic SBA‐16 and spherical MCM‐41, their chloro‐functionalized derivatives, as well as 4‐(4‐nitro‐phenylazo)‐naphthalen‐1‐ol (NPAN) azo dye have been synthesized, with the aim of designing some optical nanosensors for metal ions sensing applications. The mentioned azo dye has been anchored into the chloro‐functionalized mesoporous materials. The designed nanosensors were characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as Fourier transform infrared and UV–visible spectral analysis, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, low‐angle X‐ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses. Their optical sensing to various toxic metal ions such as Cd (II), Hg (II), Mn (II), Fe (II), Zn (II) and Pb (II) at different values of pH (1.1, 4.9, 7 and 12) was investigated. The optimization of experimental conditions, including the effect of pH and metal ion concentration, was examined. The experimental results showed that the solution pH had a major impact on metal ion detection. The optical nanosensors respond well to the tested metal ions, as reflected by the enhancement in both absorption and emission spectra upon adding different concentrations of the metal salts and were fully reversible on adding ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid or citric acid to the formed complexes. High values of the binding constants for the designed nanosensors were observed at pHs 7 and 12, confirming the strong chelation of different metals to the nanosensor at these pHs. Also, high binding constants and sensitivity were observed for NPAN‐MCM‐41 as a nanosensor to detect the different metal ions. From the obtained results, we succeeded in transforming the harmful azo dye into an environmentally friendly form via designing of the optical nanosensors used to detect toxic metal ions in wastewater with high sensitivity.     

Geometry of the common dynamics of Pisot substitutions with the same incidence matrix

Any Pisot substitution can be associated with a bounded set with interesting properties, called the Rauzy fractal. This set is obtained by projection of the broken line associated with an infinite fixed point. Two substitutions having the same incidence matrix can have different Rauzy fractals. We show that under weak conditions, the intersection of these two fractals has strictly positive measure, and can also be generated by a substitution.     

Novel Uncatalyzed Hydrocyanation of Ketones utlizing Tetrachlorosilane–Potassium Cyanide Reagent

A combination of tetrachlorosilane and potassium cyanide (in situ trichlorosilyl cyanide) was found to work efficiently for hydrocyanation of ketones to afford the corresponding cyanohydrins in high yield under mild conditions.     

Molecularly Imprinted Impedimetric Sensor for Determination of Mycotoxin Zearalenone

The mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA) prompts reproductive toxicity due to its strong estrogenic effects. In this work, an electrochemical sensor for determination of ZEA was developed by electropolymerization of a molecularly imprinted poly (o‐phenylenediamine) (PPD) film on screen‐printed gold electrode (SPGE) surface. The sensor was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using K₃[Fe(CN)₆]/K₄[Fe(CN)₆] as redox probe. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor showed a wide determination range from 2.50 to 200.00 ngmL^?1 for ZEA. The Limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 0.20 ngmL^?1, based on the signal to noise (S/N) ratio equal to 3.0. The sensor displayed good repeatability, with RSD values≤4.6 %, and maintained 93.2 % of its initial response after storage for 10 days in air at room temperature. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of ZEA in corn flakes with mean recoveries ranged from 96.2 % to 103.8 % and RSDs within the interval of 2.1 % to 3.8 %.     

Study of the usability of sinusoidal function heat flux based on enthalpy-porosity technique for PCM-related applications

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The present study summarizes a two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulation of a phase change material (PCM) melting/solidification processes in a square...     

New Promising Therapeutic Avenues of Curcumin in Brain Diseases

Curcumin, the dietary polyphenol isolated from Curcuma longa (turmeric), is commonly used as an herb and spice worldwide. Because of its bio-pharmacological effects curcumin is also called “spice of life”, in fact it is recognized that curcumin possesses important proprieties such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antiproliferative, anti-tumoral, and anti-aging. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Diseases, Parkinson’s Diseases, and Multiple Sclerosis are a group of diseases characterized by a progressive loss of brain structure and function due to neuronal death; at present there is no effective treatment to cure these diseases. The protective effect of curcumin against some neurodegenerative diseases has been proven by in vivo and in vitro studies. The current review highlights the latest findings on the neuroprotective effects of curcumin, its bioavailability, its mechanism of action and its possible application for the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.     

Dielectric Properties of Colossal-Dielectric-Constant Na1/2La1/2Cu3Ti4O12 Ceramics Prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering

In the current study, we report on the dielectric behavior of colossal-dielectric-constant Na_1/2La_1/2Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (NLCTO) ceramics prepared by mechanochemical synthesis and spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 850 °C, 900 °C, and 925 °C for 10 min. X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that all the ceramics have a cubic phase. Scanning electron microscope observations revealed an increase in the average grain size from 175 to 300 nm with an increase in the sintering temperature. SPS NLCTO ceramics showed a room-temperature colossal dielectric constant (>10³) and a comparatively high dielectric loss (>0.1) over most of the studied frequency range (1 Hz–40 MHz). Two relaxation peaks were observed in the spectra of the electrical modulus and attributed to the response of grain and grain boundary. According to the Nyquist plots of complex impedance, the SPS NLCTO ceramics have semiconductor grains surrounded by electrically resistive grain boundaries. The colossal dielectric constant of SPS NLCTO ceramics was attributed to the internal barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) effect. The high dielectric loss is thought to be due to the low resistivity of the grain boundary of SPS NLCTO.     

Facile synthesis of new imidazoles from direct reaction of 2,3‐diamino‐1,4‐naphthoquinone with aldehydes

New imidazoles were easily prepared from 2,3‐diamino‐1,4‐naphthoquinone and stoichiometric quantities of the appropriate aldehydes in dimethyl sulfoxide as a solvent. The reaction proceeded for few hours. The procedure can be generalized to different classes of aldehydes. 2‐Methyl‐1H‐naphtho[2,3‐d]imidazole‐4,9‐dione was also obtained in good yield during refluxing of 2,3‐diaminonaphthoquinone in acetic acid. The structure of the newly synthesized imidazoles was extensively investigated using NMR experiments. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Effect of mordenite dealumination on the structure of encapsulated molybdenum catalysts

A series of dealuminated mordenites treated under various conditions of acid leaching was impregnated in an aqueous solution of ammonium heptamolybdate to achieve a loading of 12 wt% Mo. These samples were characterized by XRD, UV-DRS, N(2) adsorption, TGA, and FTIR techniques. Special attention was given to the far-IR measurements and IR study of surface hydroxyl groups before and after dealumination. A polymolybdate species was recognized by the appearance of bands at 344, 319, and 236 (229) cm(-1) due to the vibrational modes of delta(Mo-O) and delta(Mo-O-Mo), respectively. The disappearance of the 236 cm(-1) band as well as that at 344 cm(-1) in favor of the 319 cm(-1) band, with the dealumination, was related to the high dispersion of Mo species in the produced mesopore surface assessed by the N(2) adsorption at 77 K. No bands due to bulk MoO(3) were detected from the IR and XRD results. A strong interaction between Mo species and dealuminated mordenite surfaces (OH groups) was recognized by a decrease in intensity and a marked shift of the band at 3745 to 3727 cm(-1) as well as the appearance of a new band at 3668 cm(-1). The latter band was produced by the interaction of the framework Al-OH with Mo species. The BET surface areas of Mo-dealuminated mordenite samples were higher than the corresponding Mo-free ones. The diffuse reflectance measurements suggested that Mo cations are predominantly present as an octahedrally coordinated Mo(6+), along with some tetrahedral Mo(6+). New spectral features as a consequence of dealumination events in the far-IR range were evaluated and discussed.     

Highly selective reduction of acyclic beta-alkoxy ketones to protected syn-1,3-diols

[reaction: see text] The conversion of 1-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl-protected beta-hydroxy ketones to syn-1,3-ethylidene acetals is effected by Et(3)SiH and SnCl(4). This reaction is proposed to proceed via a cyclic oxocarbenium ion intermediate and provides the products in yields that range from 69 to 94% and with diastereoselectivities that are >200:1.