Removal of lindane from an aqueous solution by using aminopropyl silica gel-immobilized calix[6]arene

Investigation of high-performance adsorption for benzene and toluene vapors by calix[4]arene based organosilica (CBOS)

Calix[4]arene based organosilica (CBOS) was successfully prepared, characterized, and used for the adsorption of benzene and toluene vapors for the first time. The benzene and toluene vapor uptake of CBOS was determined to be 606 and 672 mg g⁻¹, respectively.

Fe3O4 nanoparticles functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol) for the selective separation and enrichment of Au(iii)

Mechanism of Fe₃O₄@CPTES@PEG magnetic nanoparticles for selectively adsorbing Au(iii) from aqueous solution at pH = 1.0.

Removal of antibiotics from aqueous solution by using magnetic Fe3O4/red mud-nanoparticles

In this study, the availability of magnetically separable Fe₃O₄-red mud nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs) for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater was investigated. Disadvantages of red mud and Fe₃O₄ because of difficult separation from aqueous media, agglomeration, and iron leaching were overcome by combining these two materials. After examinating adsorption capability of magnetic Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs for all studied antibiotic compounds, the experiments were performed by using Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) as a model compound. Batch experiments were performed to determine the effect of red mud content of synthesized Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs, pH, reaction time and temperature on the proposed method. The surface morphology, magnetic properties, crystalline structure, thermal stability and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area of the synthesized Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs were determined. The saturation magnetization of Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs was determined to be 12.2 emu/g, which is efficient to separate adsorbent from water by using a conventional magnet. For the efficient removal of CIPRO from aqueous media optimum conditions were determined to be 1.5 g red mud for Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs synthesize, pH 6.0, reaction time 60 min, 3 g/L Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs dosage at 25 °C. Adsorption was fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Equilibrium data were found to be better represented by Freundlich isotherm. n value was 4.32, and K_F value was 110.15 mg/g for Freundlich isotherm. No important matrix effect was determined for removal of CIPRO from wastewater sample. Film diffusion mechanism controlled adsorption. Magnetically separable Fe₃O₄-RM-NPs are proposed to be used as efficient adsorbent to remove antibiotics from wastewater sources. Since red mud is a process waste, proposed nanomaterial is a good alternative to commercial adsorbents.

Graphene-synergized 2D covalent organic framework for adsorption: A mutual promotion strategy to achieve stabilization and functionalization simultaneously

Most of current absorbents are difficult to hold favorable stability and functionality simultaneously when used in condition of high acidity and strong radiation existing in nuclear industry. Herein, a new graphene-synergized 2D covalent organic framework (GS-COF) was obtained via an in-situ loading of a covalent organic framework (TDCOF) on graphene sheets based on a mutual promotion strategy proposed in this work. The corresponding oximation products, o-GS-COF, and also o-TDCOF as a reference object, were respectively prepared subsequently. The results of experiments confirmed that o-GS-COF possesses better acid and irradiation stability than that of o-TDCOF. Adsorption experiments showed that the adsorption capacity of o-GS-COF for uranium is 144.2 mg g^-1, higher than that of GO (92.5 mg g^-1) and o-TDCOF (105.0 mg g^-1), and the maximum adsorption capacity reaches 220.1 mg g^-1. In the multi-ions system, o-GS-COF also displayed good selective adsorption property for uranium with SF_U/M 35-100 for 5 coexisting divalent metal ions and 14-18 for 5 coexisting trivalent lanthanide ions. The proposed strategy successfully achieved the synergistic improvement of both stability and functionality for the desired adsorbing materials and is of considerable practical utility in the field of design and preparation of reliable high-performance absorbents.

Silica-Calix Hybrid Composite of Allyl Calix[4]arene Covalently Linked to MCM-41 Nanoparticles for Sustained Release of Doxorubicin into Cancer Cells

An inorganic-organic hybrid material, MCM-allylCalix, was synthesized by covalent modification of an MCM-41 surface with a tetra-allyl calixarene conjugate. The synthesized hybrid was characterized by ¹³C and ²⁹Si MAS-NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. The application of this MCM-allylCalix hybrid has been demonstrated for loading and in vitro release of doxorubicin (Dox) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer as well as in the cancer cells, viz., MCF7, HeLa, and MDA-MB231. The Dox-loaded hybrid, MCM-allylCalix-Dox, was characterized by TEM, FT-IR, TGA, N₂ sorption, diffuse refectance spectroscopy-UV, and fluorescence microscopy to confirm the presence of the drug. The release study of the drug from MCM-allylCalix-Dox was carried out in PBS buffer at pH 5 and 7.4. The results showed ∼140% increase in the release of Dox at pH 5 compared to that at pH 7.4 in 144 h, suggesting a pH-triggered release of the drug. MCM-allylCalix-Dox releases a greater amount of Dox compared to that released from unmodified MCM-Dox. Cytotoxicity studies suggested that MCM-allylCalix-Dox exhibits anticancer activity that is dependent on the nature of the cell. The Dox-loaded hybrid shows more cytotoxicity for MCF7 compared to that for the HeLa and MDA-MB231 cells. This was further supported by ∼120% more internalization of Dox into MCF7 cells compared to that in the other two cell lines. Both fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting studies suggested concentration-dependent internalization of Dox into the MCF7 and HeLa cells. The results suggested that the inorganic-organic hybrid can be useful in sustained drug delivery into cancer cells.

Actinobacteria consortium as an efficient biotechnological tool for mixed polluted soil reclamation: Experimental factorial design for bioremediation process optimization

The objective of the present work was to establish optimal biological and physicochemical parameters in order to remove simultaneously lindane and Cr(VI) at high and/or low pollutants concentrations from the soil by an actinobacteria consortium formed by Streptomyces sp. M7, MC1, A5, and Amycolatopsis tucumanensis AB0. Also, the final aim was to treat real soils contaminated with Cr(VI) and/or lindane from the Northwest of Argentina employing the optimal biological and physicochemical conditions. In this sense, after determining the optimal inoculum concentration (2gkg^-1), an experimental design model with four factors (temperature, moisture, initial concentration of Cr(VI) and lindane) was employed for predicting the system behavior during bioremediation process. According to response optimizer, the optimal moisture level was 30% for all bioremediation processes. However, the optimal temperature was different for each situation: for low initial concentrations of both pollutants, the optimal temperature was 25°C; for low initial concentrations of Cr(VI) and high initial concentrations of lindane, the optimal temperature was 30°C; and for high initial concentrations of Cr(VI), the optimal temperature was 35°C. In order to confirm the model adequacy and the validity of the optimization procedure, experiments were performed in six real contaminated soils samples. The defined actinobacteria consortium reduced the contaminants concentrations in five of the six samples, by working at laboratory scale and employing the optimal conditions obtained through the factorial design.

Superparamagnetic nanomaterial Fe3O4-TiO2 for the removal of As(V) and As(III) from aqueous solutions

A magnetically separable nanomaterial Fe3O4-TiO2 was synthesized and characterized which was subsequently used for the removal of arsenic (V) from aqueous solutions. The surface morphology, magnetic properties, crystalline structure, thermal stability and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area of the synthesized Fe3O4-TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are characterized by scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscope, vibrating sample magnetometry, X-ray diffractometer, thermogravimetric analysis and multi point function surface area analyzer. The saturation magnetization of Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs was determined to be 50.97 emu/g, which makes them superparamagnetic. The surface area of Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs was as much as 94.9 m(2)/g. The main factors affecting adsorption efficiency, such as solution pH, reaction time, initial As(V) concentration and adsorbent concentration are investigated. When the adsorption isotherms were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models, equilibrium data were found to be well represented by Freundlich isotherm, and adsorption on Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity of As(V) on Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs, calculated by the Freundlich model was determined at 11.434 µg/g. 1.0 g/L of Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs was efficient for complete removal of 100 µg/L As(V) in 1 h. Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs was also effective for 93% removal of 100 µg/L As(III). Matrix effect was determined using As(V)-contaminated well water. Successfull results were obtained for purification of real well water containing 137.12 µg/L As(V). Results show that Fe3O4-TiO2 NPs are promising adsorbents with an advantage of magnetic separation.

Amidoxime-functionalized hydrothermal carbon materials for uranium removal from aqueous solution

Amidoxime-functionalized hydrothermal carbon (AO-HTC) has been synthesized and applied to adsorb U(vi) from aqueous solutions, exhibiting a high selectivity above 60% for a wide pH range from 1.0 to 5.0.

A catechol-like phenolic ligand-functionalized hydrothermal carbon: one-pot synthesis, characterization and sorption behavior toward uranium

We proposed a new approach for preparing an efficient uranium-selective solid phase extractant (HTC-btg) by choosing bayberry tannin as the main building block and especially glyoxal as crosslinking agent via a simple, economic, and green one-pot hydrothermal synthesis. The results of characterization and analysis show that after addition of glyoxal into only bayberry tannin-based hydrothermal reaction system, the as-synthesized HTC-btg displayed higher thermal stability, larger specific surface area and more than doubled surface phenolic hydroxyl groups. The sorption behavior of the sorbents toward uranium under various conditions was investigated in detail and the results indicated that the process is fast, endothermic, spontaneous, and pseudo-second-order chemisorption. The U(VI) sorption capacity reached up to 307.3 mg g(-1) under the current experimental conditions. The selective sorption in a specially designed multi-ion solution containing 12 co-existing cations over the range of pH 1.0-4.5 shown that the amount of uranium sorbed accounts for about 53% of the total sorption amount at pH 4.5 and distinctively about 85%, unreported so far to our knowledge, at pH 2.0. Finally, a possible mechanism involving interaction between uranyl ions and phenolic hydroxyl groups on HTC-btg was proposed.