Characterization of polyoxometalate/polymer photo-composites: A toolbox for the photodegradation of organic pollutants

Different inorganic/organic photocomposites based on polyoxometalate (POM) nanoparticles have been developed for photocatalytic applications. Currently, polyoxometalate nanoparticles have been successfully in-situ embedded into an acrylate polymer network by photopolymerization upon mild visible light irradiation at 405 nm. The proposed POM/polymer photocomposites have been characterized using complementary techniques for a better understanding of their photocatalytic activity. Interestingly, the obtained photocomposites exhibit high rigidity, excellent thermal stability, a non-negligible porosity and new functionalities such as light reactivity and redox properties. Moreover, developed composites showed efficient catalytic activity for the color removal of aqueous solutions of erythrosine and rose Bengal under Light Emitting Diodes LED@375 nm irradiation reaching 80 and 90% as a final color removal, respectively.     

New hybrid polyoxometalate/polymer composites for photodegradation of eosin dye

New polyoxometalate (POM)/polymer hybrid composites were prepared by photopolymerization under mild conditions for suitable photocatalytic processes. Polyoxometalates were incorporated in special photosensitive resins, which were photopolymerized under visible light to obtain new materials with photocatalytic activity for dye removal. The synthesized composites were characterized by real‐time FT‐IR, and the photocatalytic ability was investigated on Eosin‐Y removal using photolysis under near UV irradiation. Interestingly, the polyoxometalates keep their photocatalytic properties, while incorporated into the polymeric matrix since very high conversion rates of Eosin‐Y were achieved. Indeed, degradation efficiencies of about 98% and 93% were registered when using H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀/polymer and 94% for SiMo₁₂O₄₀(IPh₂)₄/polymer composites, respectively. These first results reported in this article show that the new synthesized POM/polymer composites could be considered as promising materials for green and more suitable organic dye removal from aqueous solutions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1538–1549     

Acebutolol and alprenolol metabolism predictions: comparative study of electrochemical and cytochrome P450-catalyzed reactions using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry

A comparative study of the electrochemical conversion and the biotransformation performed by the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) obtained by rat liver microsomes has been achieved to elucidate the oxidation mechanism of both acebutolol and alprenolol. For this purpose, a wide range of reactions such as N-dealkylation, O-dealkoxylation, aromatic hydroxylation, benzyl hydroxylation, alkyl hydroxylation, and aromatic hydroxylation have been examined in this study, and their mechanisms have been compared. Most of the results of the electrochemical oxidation have been found to be in accordance with those obtained by incubating acebutolol and alprenolol in the presence of CYP450, i.e., N-dealkylation, benzyl hydroxylation, and O-dealkoxylation reactions catalyzed by liver microsomes were found to be predicted by the electrochemical oxidation. The difficulty for the electrochemical process to mimic both aromatic and alkyl hydroxylation reactions has also been discussed, and the hypothesis for the absence of aromatic hydroxylated and alkyl hydroxylated products, respectively, for alprenolol and acebutolol, under the anodic oxidation has been supported by theoretical calculation. The present study highlights the potential and limitation of coupling of electrochemistry–liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry for the study of phase I and phase II reactions of acebutolol and alprenolol.

A Carleman estimate for the linear magnetoelastic waves system and an inverse source problem in a bounded conductive medium

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we consider an inverse problem for the simultaneous diffusion process of elastic and electromagnetic waves in an isotropic heterogeneous elastic body which is identified with an open bounded domain. From the mathematical point of view, the system under consideration can be viewed as the coupling between the hyperbolic system of elastic waves and a parabolic system for the magnetic field. We study an inverse problem of determining the external source terms by observations data in a neighborhood of the boundary and we prove the Hölder stability. For the proof, we show a Carleman estimate for the displacement and the magnetic field of the magnetoelastic system.     

Copper-Based Nanoparticles as Antibacterial Agents

Over the past few decades, the resistance of different pathogenic bacteria to various antibiotics has gradually increased. In order to solve the problems of this modern era, metal nanoparticles have attracted more attention than ever. Copper has been recognized as a non-toxic, safe inorganic material and cheap antibacterial or antifungal agent, showing potential antibacterial effect in many biomedical fields. This interest has accelerated the generation of many novel methods for the synthesis of copper-based nanoparticles. Due to the non-toxicity and safety requirements of antibacterial agents, the recent green synthesis of copper-based nanoparticles is gradually replacing the traditional methods. In addition, the antibacterial mechanism of copper-based nanoparticles has provoked great curiosity. This review summarizes the synthetic methods, the possible antibacterial mechanisms and applications of copper-based nanoparticles. Additionally, the application prospects of copper-based nanoparticle antibacterial agent in biomedical applications and clinical field have been described and discussed.