Photocatalytic ozonation degradation of ciprofloxacin using ZnO nanoparticles immobilized on the surface of stones

Ciprofloxacin is used in the treatment of bacterial infections. Because ciprofloxacin is not effectively degraded by biological processes, advanced oxidation processes such as photocatalytic ozonation are applied to remove this antibiotic from wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigate photocatalytic ozonation for the removal of ciprofloxacin from aquatic environments and optimization of the effective parameters of the process. For this purpose, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using the thermal method and immobilized on the surface of stones. The structural properties of the nanoparticles were determined by XRD, TEM, Photoluminescence (PL) and SEM. Experiments were carried out in a Plexiglas reactor supported with the continuous injection of ozone. The effective parameters for removal efficiency were reaction time, initial concentration of ciprofloxacin, pH, photocatalyst concentration and reaction kinetics. The highest ciprofloxacin removal efficiency occurred at the following optimal conditions: pH of 7, reaction time of 30?min, photocatalyst concentration of 3?g/L and initial ciprofloxacin concentration of 10?mg/L. Removal efficiency of 96% was obtained under these conditions. Linear kinetic models showed that the process followed pseudo-first order and Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics. This process had a high removal efficiency and suitable for removal of ciprofloxacin from aquatic environments.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT     

Finely dispersed palladium on silk‐fibroin as an efficient and ligand‐free catalyst for Heck cross‐coupling reaction

A palladium–fibroin complex (Pd/Fib.) was prepared by the addition of sonicated fibroin fiber in water to palladium acetate solution. Pd (OAc)₂ was absorbed by fibroin and reduced with NaBH₄ at room temperature to the Pd(0) nanoparticles. Powder‐X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy–energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform‐infrared, CHN elemental analysis and inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectroscopy were carried out to characterize the Pd/Fib. catalyst. Catalytic activity of this finely dispersed palladium was examined in the Heck coupling reaction. The catalytic coupling of aryl halides (‐Cl, ‐Br, ‐I) and olefins led to the formation of the corresponding coupled products in moderate to high yields under air atmosphere. A variety of substrates, including electron‐rich and electron‐poor aryl halides, were converted smoothly to the targeted products in simple procedure. Heterogeneous supported Pd catalyst can be recycled and reused several times.     

An Ab Initio Study and NBO Analysis of the Stability and Conformational Properties of Hexakis(trimethylelementhyl)benzene (Element = C,Si, Ge,and Sn)

Ab initio molecular orbital and density functional theory were used to investigate energetic and structural properties of the various conformations of hexa-tertbutylbenzene (1), hexakis(trimethylsilyl)benzene (2), hexakis (trimethylgermyl)benzene (3), and hexakis(trimethylstannyl)benzene (4). HF/3-21G//HF/3-21G and B3LYP/3-21G//HF/3-21G results revealed that the Twist-Boat (TB) conformer of compound 1 is more stable than the 1-Chair (C), 1-Boat (B), and 1-Planar (P) conformers. B3LYP/3-21G//HF/3-21G results show that the 1- TB conformer is more stable than 1- C, 1- B, and 1- P conformers of about 1.13, 4.34, and 99.94 kcal mol^?1 , respectively. Contrary to the stability order of compound 1 conformers, the C conformer of compounds 2–4 is more stable than TB, B, and P conformations, as calculated by B3LYP/3-21G//HF/3-21G and HF/3-21G//HF/3-21G levels of theory. The energy gap between the C and P conformers in compounds 1–4 is decreased in the following order: ΔE(4: C, P) < ΔE (3: C, P) < ΔE(2: C, P) < ΔE (1: C, P). This fact can be explained in terms of the increase of C _aromatic -M (M═C, Si, Ge, and Sn) bond lengths and the decrease of steric (van der Waals) repulsions in the previously discussed compounds. For compounds 1–3, the calculations were also performed at the B3LYP/ 6-31G*//HF/3-21G level of theory. However, the comparison showed that the results at B3LYP/3-21G//HF/3-21G methods correlated well with those obtained at the B3LYP/6-31G*// HF/6-31G method. Further, NBO analysis revealed that in compounds 1–4, the resonance energy associated with the σ_M-C1 to σ*_C2-C3 delocalization is 5.20, 9.68, 11.15, and 12.27 kcal mol^?1, respectively. These resonance energy values could explain the easiness of the ring flipping processes of C, B, and TB conformers of compounds 4 to 1. Also, the NBO results showed that by an increase of the σ_M-C1 → σ *_C2-C3 resonance energies in compounds 1–4, the σ_M-C1 bonding orbital occupancies decrease. This fact could fairly explain the increase of the C_aryl-M bond length from compound 1 to 4. The NBO results are also in good agreement with the calculated energy barriers for the ring flipping of the chair conformations in compounds 1–4, as calculated by B3LYP and HF methods.     

Influence of polymeric coating on capillary electrophoresis of iron oxide nanoparticles

In this work, electrophoresis was successfully used to separate three different polymer-coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with similar sizes (nominally 50 nm) using high-pH borate buffer system. The coating polymers were dextran, polyethylene glycol, or carboxymethyl dextran. The results showed that the migration time of carboxymethyl dextran coated nanoparticles is the longest due to relatively more negative surface charges. Investigation of the effects of buffer concentration, pH, electric field strength and the capillary temperature, on electrophoretic properties of samples was also carried out. The results showed that pH, electric field strength and the capillary temperature had indirect relations with both of the migration time and the separation resolution of three different polymer-coated nanoparticles while the buffer concentration had a direct relation.     

Synthesis of Fe3O4-supported Schiff base Cu (II) complex: a novel efficient and recyclable magnetic nanocatalyst for one-pot three-component synthesis of quinolin-5-one,chromene-3-carbonitrile and phthalazine-5,10-dione derivatives

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In this research, synthesis and characterization of a novel Schiff base Cu (II) complex immobilized on Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles are reported. Then, the...     

Hexamethylenetetramine-based ionic liquid anchored onto the metal–organic framework MIL-101(Cr) as a superior and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the preparation of hexahydroquinolines

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Regarding the significance of medicinal and pharmacological sciences, we explored one-pot multicomponent reaction of aromatic aldehydes, aryl amines,...     

An extended slacks-based measure model for data envelopment analysis with negative data

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric approach based on linear programming that has been widely applied for evaluating the relative efficiency of a set of homogeneous decision-making units (DMUs) with multiple inputs and outputs. The original DEA models use positive input and output variables that are measured on a ratio scale, but these models do not apply to the variables in which negative data can appear. However, with the widespread use of interval scale data and undesirable data, the emphasis has been directed towards the simultaneous consideration of the positive and negative data in DEA models. In this paper, using the slacks-based measure, we propose an extended model to evaluate the efficiency of DMUs, even if some variables are measured on an interval scale and some on a ratio scale. Moreover, the extended model allows for the presence of all interval-scale variables, which are capable of taking both negative and positive values.