Effect of operating parameters on selective separation of heavy metals from binary mixtures via polymer enhanced ultrafiltration

Performance of continuous polymer enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) method was investigated for removal of mercury and cadmium from binary mixtures. This method includes the addition of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a water soluble polymer to bind the metals, which was followed by ultrafiltration operation performed on both laboratory and pilot scale systems. The influence of various operating parameters such as temperature, metal/polymer ratio, presence of calcium ions and pH on retention of metals and permeate flux was investigated. To investigate the possibility of selective separation of mercury and cadmium, experiments were conducted for binary solutions at different pH and loading ratios. It was seen that the retention of mercury decreased and permeate flux increased when the temperature increased. The increased pH and decreased metal/polymer ratio, loading (L), resulted in higher retention of both metals. Shapes of retention vs. pH or L curves were very similar for both metals. Retentions stay almost constant at a value very close to unity until a critical L or pH value was reached, then, R decreases almost linearly with L or pH. However, retention of cadmium was affected more than that of mercury as the pH decreased and L increased. This leads to the selective separation of mercury and cadmium. At low pH values (about 5) and at high L values (about 0.3), mercury was removed by ultrafiltration operation while almost all cadmium passed through the membrane. At pH 5.5 and cadmium/polymer ratio about 0.35 and mercury/polymer ratio about 0.39, the highest separation factor was obtained as 49.     

Antibacterial Effects of Flavonoids and Their Structure-Activity Relationship Study: A Comparative Interpretation

According to the latest report released by the World Health Organization, bacterial resistance to well-known and widely available antibacterial drugs has become a significant and severe global health concern and a grim challenge to tackle in order to cure infections associated with multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms efficiently. Consequently, various strategies have been orchestrated to cure the severe complications related to multidrug-resistant bacteria effectively. Some approaches involved the retardation of biofilm formation and multidrug-resistance pumps in bacteria as well as the discovery of new antimicrobial agents demonstrating different mechanisms of action. In this regard, natural products namely alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, anthraquinone, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, etc., have been suggested to tackle the multidrug-resistant bacterial strains owing to their versatile pharmacological effects. Amongst these, flavonoids, also known as polyphenolic compounds, have been widely evaluated for their antibacterial property due to their tendency to retard the growth of a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant bacteria. The hydroxylation of C5, C7, C3′, and C4′; and geranylation or prenylation at C6 have been extensively studied to increase bacterial inhibition of flavonoids. On the other hand, methoxylation at C3′ and C5 has been reported to decrease flavonoids’ antibacterial action. Hence, the latest information on the antibacterial activity of flavonoids is summarized in this review, with particular attention to the structure–activity relationship of this broad class of natural compounds to discover safe and potent antibacterial agents as natural products.     

Enhanced optical absorption in nanopatterned silicon thin films with a nano-cone-hole structure for photovoltaic applications

In this paper, the optical properties of the silicon nano-cone-hole (NCH) structure array are studied. The ultimate efficiency of the optimized NCH array is enhanced by 23.11% compared to an optimized nanohole array of the same thickness. The absorptance enhancement of the NCH arrays is attributed to its lowered reflectance, more supported resonant modes, and enhanced mode interaction. The angular dependence of ultimate efficiency is also investigated.     

A note on the wave propagation in water of variable depth

In the present work, utilizing the two dimensional equations of an incompressible inviscid fluid and the reductive perturbation method we studied the propagation of weakly nonlinear waves in water of variable depth. For the case of slowly varying depth, the evolution equation is obtained as the variable coefficient Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. Due to the difficulties for the analytical solutions, a numerical technics so called “the method of integrating factor” is used and the evolution equation is solved under a given initial condition and the bottom topography. It is observed the parameters of bottom topography causes to the changes in wave amplitude, wave profile and the wave speed.     

Synthesis,crystal structure and biological activity of the nickel(II) complex of 2,6-diacetylpyridinedihydrazone

A complex of Ni^II with 2,6-diacetylpyridinedihydrazone (L) towards nickel(II) has been prepared and characterized by means of elemental analyses, IR, electronic spectra and single crystal X-ray analyses. [NiL₂](NO₃) was crystallized in the tetragonal space group P-4 21 c. The complex exhibits the expected coordination sphere with six nitrogen atoms coordinated to the central Ni^II with a deformation from pseudo-octahedral geometry. Antimicrobial activities of the ligand and its complex were investigated.     

Non-linear waves in a fluid-filled inhomogeneous elastic tube with variable radius

In the present work, by employing the non-linear equations of motion of an incompressible, inhomogeneous, isotropic and prestressed thin elastic tube with variable radius and the approximate equations of an inviscid fluid, which is assumed to be a model for blood, we studied the propagation of non-linear waves in such a medium, in the longwave approximation. Utilizing the reductive perturbation method we obtained the variable coefficient Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation as the evolution equation. By seeking a progressive wave type of solution to this evolution equation, we observed that the wave speed decreases for increasing radius and shear modulus, while it increases for decreasing inner radius and the shear modulus.