ADSORPTION OF NONIONIC AND ANIONIC POLYMERS ON γ-ALUMINA AND NA-MONTMORILLONITE AND THEIR MIXTURES

Adsorption isotherms of nonionic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and anionic ionized polyacrylic acid (PAA) polymers on single Na-montmorillonite clay and γ-alumina adsorbents in 0.01M NaCl and pH 5.6 are reported and compared to results obtained with aqueous adsorbent mixtures. Microeiectrophoretic behaviours of adsorbents are also observed.

It can be shown that antagonistic effects due to interactions between oppositely charged adsorbent surfaces largely limit the nonionic PVP adsorption.     

Sensitive voltammetric determination of gallium in aluminium materials using renewable mercury film silver based electrode

Simple cyclic renewable silver amalgam film electrode (Hg(Ag)FE), applied for the determination of gallium(III) using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DP ASV), is presented. The effects of various factors such as: preconcentration potential and time, pulse height, step potential and supporting electrolyte composition are optimised. The calibration graph is linear from 5?nM (0.35?µg?L^?1) to 80?nM (5.6?µg?L^?1) for a preconcentration time of 60?s, with correlation coefficient of 0.995. For a Hg(Ag)FE with a surface area of 9.9?mm² the detection limit for a preconcentration time of 120?s is as low as 0.1?µg?L^?1. The repeatability of the method at a concentration level of the analyte as low as 3.5?µg?L^?1, expressed as RSD is 3.2% (n?=?5). The proposed method was successfully applied by studying the synthetic samples and simultaneously recovery of Ga(III) from spiked aluminium samples.     

The uranium recovery from aqueous solutions using amidoxime modified cellulose derivatives. IV. Recovery of uranium by amidoximated hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Amidoxime modified hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) films (HPMC-g-AO) were used for the recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions by a complexation process. The adsorption experiments were carried out by immersion of a certain amount of films in UO₂ ²⁺ solutions (resultant pH 4.1) ranging in concentration from 100 to 1,000 ppm. The effect of temperature (25–50 °C) on the adsorption capacity of HPMC-g-AO was investigated at the optimized time. The adsorption kinetics and the thermodynamics as well as the adsorption capacity of HPMC-g-AO films were investigated. The adsorption capacity was found as 765 mg UO₂ ²⁺/g dry film. The kinetic and the thermodynamic parameters (i.e. activation energy, enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy) for the interaction of UO₂ ²⁺ with HPMC-g-AO were calculated based on known basic relations. The results showed that adsorption occurred through strong electrostatic interactions with an enthalpy of ?36.5 kJ/mol. The desorption of UO₂ ²⁺ were investigated using different desorption agents such as EDTA, HCl, NaHCO₃, and NaOH. After the 2 weeks treatment period, the highest desorption yield were found as 23 % with NaHCO₃.     

Corrosion prevention of mild steel in acidic medium by 2-Pyrrolidin-1-yl-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid: Theoretical and experimental approach

The inhibition efficiency of 2-Pyrrolidin-1-yl-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid (PTCA) against mild steel (MS) corrosion was investigated in acidic solution by using quantum chemical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) method and electrochemical measurements. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic, potential zero charge (pzc) analysis and electrochemical noise (EN) measurements at various concentrations (from 0.1 to 10 mM) and immersion times were utilized in experimental part. The surface analysis was achieved scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle measurements in the absence and presence of 10 mM PTCA. According to DFT results, PTCA exhibited 3.737 eV band gap and 8.130 Debye dipole moment which were a signal of potentially convenient corrosion inhibitor properties. PTCA has a remarkable corrosion inhibition capability to mild steel, which inhibited both anodic and cathodic corrosion rates, relying on it's physically adsorption on the metal solution interface and protection ability was increased with increasing PTCA concentration. The obtained adsorption equilibrium constant was 11.11 × 10³ M^-1 and calculated standard free energy of adsorption was ?33.03 kJ mol^?1. The determined activation energy values were 55.58 kJ mol^?1 and 96.86 kJ mol^?1 in 0.5 M HCl in the absence and presence of 10 mM PTCA, respectively. PTCA demonstrated a strong inhibition efficiency of 98.3%, after 168 h immersion, according to the EIS results. As a consequently, we recommend that PTCA is a convenient inhibitor in 0.1 M HCl for mild steel protection against corrosion.     

Synthesis of the 2,3,4-triacetyl-1,6-dideoxy-L-mannose and tetracetyl-3,6-dideoxy-L-mannitol and the study of the reaction mechanism by molecular modeling

The carbohydrate compounds have interesting stereochemical properties and can be used as chiral building blocks in the production of more complex derivatives. L-Rhamnose has been reported to participate in the synthesis of cytotoxic α-pyrones owing to the stereochemistry of the hydroxy groups. To study the conformational properties of acetyl derivatives of L-rhamnose, it was tosylated with the subsequent reduction and acetylation. These series of reactions produced an interesting mixture of poly-acetylated compounds. The mixture was separated by HPLC, characterized by 1D and 2D NMR techniques and compared with models obtained on DFT/B3LYP/DGDZVP theory level of calculation, taking into account the effect of pyridine as solvent in the transformation of this carbohydrate. The results show a mixture of three pyranoside products with tosyl group in positions 2, 3, and 4. These latter compounds after reduction with aluminum hydride and acetylation yielded two main products, one triacetate pyranoside and an open-chain mannositol tretraacetate.     

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)–hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) based hydrogels: synthesis and characterization

A novel carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)–hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC)-based hydrogel with sensitivity to environmental changes, pH and salts was synthesized by using fumaric acid and malic acid at various concentrations. Water uptake capacity of hydrogels was investigated in distilled water, various salt and pH solutions. From pH-dependent studies, it was found that greater water uptake values were observed at greater pH values (7.4), and reversible pH responsiveness of CMC–HEC based hydrogels was obtained. Decreasing the water uptake capacity with increasing of the charge of the metal cation (Al³⁺ < Ca²⁺ < Na⁺) demonstrated metal ion responsiveness of CMC–HEC-based hydrogels. From tensile tests of the hydrogels, a greater crosslinker concentration led to greater tensile strength values. Thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy images were used to determine the thermal stability and to observe morphological properties of the samples, respectively.     

Thermodynamics of the Interaction Between Graphene Quantum Dots with Human Serum Albumin and γ-Globulins

As one of the newly emerged nanomaterials, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have shown great application potential as tracking probes and drug carriers in biological areas. The GQDs synthesized via the nitric acid reflux method in this study turned out to quench the fluorescence of human serum albumin (HSA) and gamma globulin (γ-globulin) in two different functional ways. The fluorescence quenching effect of GQDs on HSA is a static pattern and the predominant interaction forces are hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. Distinct from HSA, the interaction between GQDs and γ-globulins belongs to dynamic quenching and is driven by electrostatic forces. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) differential spectrometry and transient state fluorescence spectrometry were also utilized to further confirm their quenching types. Also, thermodynamics parameters, the enthalpy change (ΔH) and entropy change (ΔS) of reaction between GQDs and proteins were obtained through a series of calculations from the van’t Hoff equation. Furthermore, the effect of GQDs on the conformational structure of proteins was characterized by synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS), three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectra. In addition, the binding mechanism of GQDs with HSA and γ-globulins were proposed based on the obtained experimental results. The research on the reaction between GQDs with HSA and γ-globulins offers promising insight for the further application of nanomaterials in biomedical fields.     

Mediterranean diet in a Sicilian student population. Second part: breakfast and its nutritional profile

Abstract

Breakfast habits affect the nutritional status and health of people, in particular children and adolescents. This is the second part a previous study about the adherence to the Mediterranean diet in a Sicilian (Italy) student population. The investigation analysed both normal weight and overweight subjects in order to understand how eating habits, number of meals and daily calorie intakes could affect their body mass indexes (BMI). The aim of this second part was to analyse the breakfast nutritional profiles of this student population. The results highlighted that breakfast was regularly consumed by a percentage ranging from a maximum of 84% (in normal subjects) to a minimum value of 57.4% (in overweight/obese students). Milk, yoghurt, sugar, bread/rusk and tea contributed as main foods to the breakfast composition. The results highlighted that subjects who consumed breakfast showed lower BMI values with significant differences between normal and overweight/obese students.