Near-infrared and mid-infrared investigations of Na-dodecylbenzenesulfate intercalated into hydrocalumite chloride (CaAl-LDH-Cl)

Synthesis of layered double hydroxides from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash for heavy metal adsorption

The process of urbanization has resulted in a continuous growth of the production of municipal solid waste, consequently leading to the increase of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI FA) over time. This has prompted the need for effective disposal and value-added utilization strategies for MSWI FA. In this study, a hydrothermal method was employed to synthesize CaAl layered double hydroxides (LDHs) using MSWI FA as the raw material. The main objective was to investigate how different synthesis parameters affect the crystallinity of the layered bimetallic hydroxides. Subsequently, the synthesized LDHs were characterized using various techniques such as BET, SEM, XRD, FT-IR, and XPS. The results revealed the presence of calcium and aluminum cations in the interlayer region of the synthesized material, with chloride ions, sulfate ions, and acetate ions being the predominant anions. Moreover, the formation of LDHs presents an effective approach for the self-purification of leachates derived from MSWI FA. The LDHs exhibited excellent adsorption capacity for Cd2+ and Cu2+ in wastewater, with maximum values of 730 mg·g-1 and 446 mg·g-1, respectively. The adsorption mechanisms involved isomorphous substitution, complexation, as well as the precipitation of hydroxides or interlayer anions. This method presents a novel approach for effectively utilizing MSWI FA to produce environmentally friendly value-added adsorbents.

Binding of Ca2+ Ions to Alkylbenzene Sulfonates: Micelle Formation, Second Critical Concentration and Precipitation

Anionic surfactants, such as sodium linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (NaLAS), are utilized in various fields, including industry, household, and agriculture. The efficiency of their use in aqueous environments is significantly affected by the presence of cations, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ in particular, as they can decrease the concentration of the surfactant due to precipitation. To understand cation-sulfonate interactions better, we study both NaLAS colloidal solutions in the presence of CaCl₂ and precipitates forming at higher salt concentrations. Upon addition of CaCl₂, we find the surface tension and critical micelle concentration of NaLAS to decrease significantly, in line with earlier findings for alkylbenzylsulfonates in the presence of divalent cations. Strikingly, an increase in the surface tension is discernible above 0.6 g L^-1 NaLAS, accompanied by the decrease of apparent micelle sizes, which in turn gives rise to transparent systems. Thus, there appears to be a second critical concentration indicating another micellar equilibrium. Furthermore, the maximum salt tolerance of the surfactant is 0.1 g L^-1 Ca²⁺, above which rapid precipitation occurs yielding sparingly soluble CaLAS₂∙2H₂O.

Selective catalytic reduction of NO x by low-temperature NH3 over Mn x Zr1 mixed-oxide catalysts

Mn_xZr₁ series catalysts were prepared by a coprecipitation method. The effect of zirconium doping on the NH₃-SCR performance of the MnO_x catalyst was studied, and the influence of the calcination temperature on the catalyst activity was explored. The results showed that the Mn₆Zr₁ catalyst exhibited good NH₃-SCR activity when calcined at 400 °C. When the reaction temperature was 125–250 °C, the NO_x conversion rate of Mn₆Zr₁ catalyst reached more than 90%, and the optimal conversion efficiency reached 97%. In addition, the Mn₆Zr₁ catalyst showed excellent SO₂ and H₂O resistance at the optimum reaction temperature. Meanwhile, the catalysts were characterized. The results showed that the morphology of the MnO_x catalyst was significantly changed, whereby as the proportion of Mn⁴⁺ and O_α species increased, the physical properties of the catalyst were improved. In addition, both Lewis acid sites and Brønsted acid sites existed in the Mn₆Zr₁ catalyst, which reduced the reduction temperature of the catalyst. In summary, zirconium doping successfully improved the NH₃-SCR performance of MnO_x.

Mn_xZr₁ series catalysts were prepared by a coprecipitation method.

Ciprofloxacin in Layered Double Hydroxides: Looking for the Best Synthesis Method

It is important to develop new methods of release to improve pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs, especially antibiotics, whose plasmatic concentration is determinant to ensure an effective treatment. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are inorganic and biocompatible materials with high drug intercalation capacity and release properties that can be tuned by controlling the pH value. These materials can be an excellent choice to achieve a sustained release and an optimal drug concentration in plasm. In this work, LDH were synthesized with intercalated ciprofloxacin (CIP) by three different methods: coprecipitation, reconstruction and ion exchange. LDH-CIP complexes were characterized by XRD, TG-DSC, TEM, SEM, FTIR, electrophoretic mobilities, and drug release and dissolution kinetics in NaCl solutions and under physiological conditions. The coprecipitation and reconstruction methods lead to the formation of ill-defined products, whereas the ion exchange method rendered the best intercalation results. CIP release was controlled by dissolution at pH<3 and by desorption and ion exchange at intermediate and high pH. In comparison with a commercial formulation, the LDH-CIP complex prepared by ion exchange presented a slower release profile. The fast dissolution at gastric pH raises the need of developing some type of coating for protecting LDH materials.

Fabrication of Highly Dispersed Cu-Based Oxides as Desirable NH3-SCR Catalysts via Employing CNTs To Decorate the CuAl-Layered Double Hydroxides

In this study, three kinds of CuAl-LDO/CNT (LDO, layered double oxide) catalysts were prepared by the assembly of CNTs and CuAl-LDH (LDH, layered double hydroxides) as well as subsequently structural topological transformation. The effects of the assembly method on the surface structure property and the DeNO_x performance of the prepared samples were systematically investigated. It was found that three CuAl-LDO/CNT catalysts showed preferable NH₃-SCR catalytic performance compared with CuAl-LDO where the catalyst CuAl-LDO/CNTs(I) exhibited optimum NO_x conversion (>80%) and N₂ selectivity (>90%) within 180-300 °C. Such fine catalytic performance can be attributed to the proper surface acidity and redox ability of the catalyst, which might be correlated with the high dispersion of Cu-based active centers caused by the induced nucleation and effective separation action of LDH by carbon nanotubes. In addition, the outstanding H₂O and SO₂ resistance of the CuAl-LDO/CNTs(I) catalyst was also obtained because of the synergistic effect between CuAl-LDO and CNTs, which could greatly promote the activation and decomposition of ammonium sulfate at lower temperatures.

Remediation of chromium-contaminated soil by electrokinetics and electrokinetics coupled with CaAl-LDH permeable reaction barrier

The remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil was investigated by electrokinetic (EK) and permeable-reactive-barrier assisted electrokinetic (EK-PRB). The medium of PRB was hydrocalumite (CaAl-LDH). The results showed that removal efficiency of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in EK-PRB and EK system was 96.49 and 85.50%, respectively. Simultaneously, the removal efficiency of total chromium (TCr) was 69.34 and 40.97% after 120-h treatment. The XRD, FTIR, and XPS analyses indicated that the reactive barrier media of CaAl-LDH successfully captured the chromium. Besides, the migration rate of chromium in EK-PRB was relatively faster than EK, since the media of PRB captured chromium in-time and reduced the influence of chromium accumulation on the migration of chromium. Moreover, the trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) was generated in EK/EK-PRB, and the chromium was stabilized in soil with the chemical speciations of oxidizable and residual fractions. Therefore, the treatment of EK-PRB and EK both increased the removal of chromium and decreased its environmental risks.

Near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) analysis of drug-loading rate and particle size of risperidone microspheres by improved chemometric model

Microspheres have been developed as drug carriers in controlled drug delivery systems for years. In our present study, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is applied to analyze the particle size and drug loading rate in risperidone poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres. Various batches of risperidone PLGA microspheres were designed and prepared successfully. The particle size and drug-loading rate of all the samples were determined by a laser diffraction particle size analyzer and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. Monte Carlo algorithm combined with partial least squares (MCPLS) method was applied to identify the outliers and choose the numbers of calibration set. Furthermore, a series of preprocessing methods were performed to remove signal noise in NIR spectra. Moving window PLS and radical basis function neural network (RBFNN) methods were employed to establish calibration model. Our data demonstrated that PLS-developed model was only suitable for drug loading analysis in risperidone PLGA microspheres. Comparatively, RBFNN-based predictive models possess better fitting quality, predictive effect, and stability for both drug loading rate and particle size analysis. The correlation coefficients of calibration set (Rc(2)) were 0.935 and 0.880, respectively. The performance of optimum RBFNN models was confirmed by independent verification test with 15 samples. Collectively, our method is successfully performed to monitor drug-loading rate and particle size during risperidone PLGA microspheres preparation.

Organo-LDH synthesized via tricalcium aluminate hydration in the present of Na-dodecylbenzenesulfate aqueous solution and subsequent investigated by near-infrared and mid-infrared

Na-dodecylbenzenesulfate (SDBS), a natural anionic surfactant, has been successfully intercalated into a Ca based LDH host structure during tricalcium aluminate hydration in the presence of SDBS aqueous solution (CaAl-SDBS-LDH). The resulting product was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy combined with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technique, thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and scan electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD results revealed that the interlayer distance of resultant product was expanded to 30.46 Å. MIR combined with NIR spectra offered an effective method to illustrate this intercalation. The NIR spectra (6000-5500 cm(-1)) displayed prominent bands to expound SDBS intercalated into hydration product of C3A. And the bands around 8300 cm(-1) were assigned to the second overtone of the first fundamental of CH stretching vibrations of SDBS. In addition, thermal analysis showed that the dehydration and dehydroxylation took place at ca. 220 °C and 348 °C, respectively. The SEM results appeared approximately hexagonal platy crystallites morphology for CaAl-SDBS-LDH, with particle size smaller and thinner.

Thermal Decomposition of Hydrocalumite over a Temperature Range of 400–1500°C and Its Structure Reconstruction in Water

The thermal decomposition process and structure memory effect of hydrocalumite were investigated systematically for the first time over a wide temperature range of 400–1500°C. The calcined hydrocalumite samples and their rehydrated products were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and SEM-EDX. The results show that the calcination products at temperatures ranging from 500 to 900°C are basically mayenite and lime, while one of the final products obtained by calcination at and above 1000°C is probably tricalcium aluminate (Ca3Al2O6). For the hydrocalumite samples calcined at temperatures below 1000°C, their lamellar structure can be completely recovered in deionized water at room temperature. However, the further increase of calcination temperature could impair the regeneration ability of hydrocalumite via contact with water. Upon calcination of hydrocalumite at 1000–1500°C followed by reaction with water, a stable compound tricalcium aluminate hexahydrate (Ca3Al2O6·6H2O) was produced, which is the reason why less hydrocalumite could be regenerated.

Vibrational spectroscopy of synthetic stercorite H(NH4)Na(PO4)·4H2O--a comparison with the natural cave mineral

In order to mimic the chemical reactions in cave systems, the analogue of the mineral stercorite H(NH(4))Na(PO(4))·4H(2)O has been synthesised. X-ray diffraction of the stercorite analogue matches the stercorite reference pattern. A comparison is made with the vibrational spectra of synthetic stercorite analogue and the natural Cave mineral. The mineral in nature is formed by the reaction of bat guano chemicals on calcite substrates. A single Raman band at 920 cm(-1) (Cave) and 922 cm(-1) (synthesised) defines the presence of hydrogen phosphate in the mineral. In the synthetic stercorite analogue, additional bands are observed and are attributed to the dihydrogen and phosphate anions. The vibrational spectra of synthetic stercorite only partly match that of the natural stercorite. It is suggested that natural stercorite is more pure than that of synthesised stercorite. Antisymmetric stretching bands are observed in the infrared spectrum at 1052, 1097, 1135 and 1173 cm(-1). Raman spectroscopy shows the stercorite mineral is based upon the hydrogen phosphate anion and not the phosphate anion. Raman and infrared bands are found and assigned to PO(4)(3-), H(2)O, OH and NH stretching vibrations. Raman spectroscopy shows the synthetic analogue is similar to the natural mineral. A mechanism for the formation of stercorite is provided.