Removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewaters using amine-functionalized nanoporous carbon as a novel sorbent

Nano-porous carbon (NPC) was synthesized by hydrothermal condensation of fructose and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and also nitrogen adsorption analysis. It was then modified with amino groups and used as a sorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions. The formation of amino-modified NPC was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and elemental analysis. NPC was applied for removal of Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions. The effects of sample pH and the adsorption kinetics were studied, and the adsorption capacity was determined. The sorbent was applied to the removal of heavy metal ions in industrial waste water samples.

Fabrication of Stiffness Gradients of GelMA Hydrogels Using a 3D Printed Micromixer

Many properties in both healthy and pathological tissues are highly influenced by the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix. Stiffness gradient hydrogels are frequently used for exploring these complex relationships in mechanobiology. In this study, the fabrication of a simple, cost‐efficient, and versatile system is reported for creation of stiffness gradients from photoactive hydrogels like gelatin‐methacryloyl (GelMA). The setup includes syringe pumps for gradient generation and a 3D printed microfluidic device for homogenous mixing of GelMA precursors with different crosslinker concentration. The stiffness gradient is investigated by using rheology. A co‐culture consisting of human adipose tissue‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAD‐MSCs) and human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) is encapsulated in the gradient construct. It is possible to locate the stiffness ranges at which the studied cells displayed specific spreading morphology and migration rates. With the help of the described system, variable mechanical gradient constructs can be created and optimal 3D cell culture conditions can be experientially identified.     

Channel assignment for cellular radio using extended dynamic programming

The channel assignment is an important aspect of cellular radio networks. Because of the limitations on the frequency spectrum, the optimal or near-optimal channel assignment has become an essential part of the network operations of wireless personal communication systems. We formulate a new strategy for the channel assignment problem in agreement with the electromagnetic compatibility constraints. We introduce and formulate the extended dynamic programming (EDP), as an extension of dynamic programming for solving the channel assignment problem in a cellular system. Using EDP an algorithm is developed for fixed channel assignment problem and it is tested and compared with other existing methods by solving different problems. In agreement with electromagnetic compatibility constraints, solution strategy based on EDP algorithm finds many valid solutions with minimum possible bandwidth.     

Polyolefin catalysis of propene, 1-butene and isobutene monitored using hyperpolarized NMR

Polymerization reactions of the dissolved gases propene, 1-butene, and isobutene catalyzed by [Zr(Cp)₂Me][B(C₆F₅)₄] were characterized using in situ NMR. Hyperpolarization of ¹³C spins by the dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) technique provided a signal enhancement of up to 5000-fold for these monomers. For DNP hyperpolarization, liquid aliquots containing monomers were prepared at a temperature between the freezing point of the solvent toluene and the boiling point of the monomer, mixed with the polarizing agent α,γ-bis-diphenylene-β-phenylallyl free radical, and subsequently frozen. The hyperpolarized signals after dissolution enabled the observation of reaction kinetics, as well as polymer products and side products within a time of 30 s from the start of the reaction. The observed kinetic rate constants for polymerization followed a decreasing trend for propene, 1-butene, and isobutene, with the lowest rate constant for the latter explained by steric bulk. For all reactions, partial deactivation was further observed during the measurement time. The line shape and the chemical shift of the monomer signals with respect to a toluene signal were both dependent on catalyst concentration and reaction time, with the strongest dependence observed for isobutene. These changes are consistent with the characteristics of a rapid binding and unbinding process of the monomer to the catalyst occurring during the reaction.

Hyperpolarization by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) enhances ¹³C NMR signals of normally gaseous olefins. The polymerization reactions of these dissolved gases catalyzed by a metallocene catalyst are characterized in real time.     

Aryldiazonium silica sulfates as efficient reagents for Heck-type arylation reactions under mild conditions

An efficient and straightforward procedure for Heck-type arylation reactions was studied using aryldiazonium silica sulfates and olefins in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)₂. These reactions were carried out in water at room temperature without using a base or additional ligands. The use of a non-toxic solvent, a simple and clean work-up, short reaction times, and good yields are advantages of this method.     

Synthesis, characterization and antitumor activity study of some cyclometalated organoplatinum(II) complexes containing aromatic N-donor ligands

A general approach has been designed to synthesize some mononuclear and binuclear cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes, containing aromatic N-donor ligands with the presence of one Cl⁻trans to carbon. In this way, cyclometalated platinum(II) complex [Pt(C^N)Cl(dmso)], 1, C^N = N(1),C(2′)-chelated, deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine and dmso = dimethylsulfoxide, was used as a precursor to react with imidazole derivatives (1-methylimidazole, 2a, imidazole, 2b,), monodentate pyridine derivatives (4-methylpyridine, 2c, pyridine, 2d,) and bidentate pyridine derivative (4,4′-bipyridine, 3 and 4,). Synthesized complexes were fully characterized by using multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C{¹H} and ¹⁹⁵Pt), correlation NMR spectroscopy (¹H-¹H COSY, ¹³C{¹H}-¹H Heteronuclear Multiple Quantum Correlation, HMQC, Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Correlation, HMBC, ¹⁵N-¹H HETCOR), elemental analysis, X-ray crystallography and ESI-Mass spectrometry. Antitumor effects of mononuclear cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes 2a, 2c, 2d and 3 were determined on Jurkat, K562, and Raji cell lines and results showed reasonable cytotoxicities.     

Effects of Nakagami-Fading Parameters and Power Control Error on Performance of DS-CDMA Cellular Systems with Adaptive Beamforming

It is well known that power control error (PCE) is a critical issue in CDMA cellular systems. In this paper, the bit error rate (BER) of a direct sequence-code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) receiver with imperfect power control, adaptive beamforming, and voice activity is derived in frequency-selective Nakagami fading channels. We discuss the effects of PCE, Nakagami-m fading parameter, and channel’s multipath intensity profile as average signal strength and rate of average power decay and their effects on the BER performance of DS-CDMA cellular systems. In this paper, the RAKE receiver consists of three stages. In the first stage, with conjugate gradient adaptive beamforming algorithm, the desired users’ signal in an arbitrary path is passed and the inter-path interference is canceled in other paths in each RAKE finger. Also in this stage, the multiple access interference (MAI) from other users is reduced. Thus, the matched filter (MF) can be used for the MAI reduction in each RAKE finger in the second stage. In the third stage, the output signals from the MFs are combined according to the conventional maximal ratio combining principle and then are fed into the decision circuit for the desired user. How the Nakagami fading parameters, power control imperfections, or the number of resolvable paths affect the reverse link capacity of the system is discussed in detail. Analytical and simulation results are also given for systems with different processing gains and number of BSs in the cell-selection process with various Nakagami fading parameters.     

Taper transmission line UWB Wilkinson power divider analysis and design

This paper proposed, analysed and fabricated an ultra-wideband Wilkinson power divider. This proposed power divider contains two parts, namely the transmission lines with fixed characteristic impedance and the tapered transmission line.

The power divider has a fixed architecture with the ability to broaden for different bandwidths by changing its circuit parameters including resistors and impedances. It also can create a bandwidth of about 40 GHz with a smaller physical dimension and fewer numbers of resistors.

The proposed power divider is investigated using the even/odd analysis method in order to compute equations required for designing power divider.

The proposed power divider was designed and fabricated for the 3-11 GHz ultra-wideband range. Then, the results are compared with the simulated results and a good agreement is obtained consequently. Furthermore, input return loss better than 12dB, output return loss better than 15dB, insertion loss better than 4.8dB and output ports isolation less than 12 dB are achieved by measured results. The overall size of the proposed power divider is 14.2 × 4.8 mm².     

Numerical analysis of effect of nanofluid and fin distribution density on thermal and hydraulic performance of a heat sink with drop-shaped micropin fins

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present study, the effect of nanofluid and distribution density of fin on thermal–hydraulic performance of a heat sink with drop-shaped...