Osmium Recovery as Membrane Nanomaterials through 10-Undecenoic Acid Reduction Method

Emulsion Liquid Membranes Based on Os-NP/n-Decanol or n-Dodecanol Nanodispersions for p-Nitrophenol Reduction

Membrane materials with osmium nanoparticles have been recently reported for bulk membranes and supported composite membrane systems. In the present paper, a catalytic material based on osmium dispersed in n-decanol (nD) or n-dodecanol (nDD) is presented, which also works as an emulsion membrane. The hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol (PNP) is carried out in a reaction and separation column in which an emulsion in the acid-receiving phase is dispersed in an osmium nanodispersion in n-alcohols. The variables of the PNP conversion process and p-aminophenol (PAP) transport are as follows: the nature of the membrane alcohol, the flow regime, the pH difference between the source and receiving phases and the number of operating cycles. The conversion results are in all cases better for nD than nDD. The counter-current flow regime is superior to the co-current flow. Increasing the pH difference between the source and receiving phases amplifies the process. The number of operating cycles is limited to five, after which the regeneration of the membrane dispersion is required. The apparent catalytic rate constant (kapp) of the new catalytic material based on the emulsion membrane with the nanodispersion of osmium nanoparticles (0.1 × 10-3 s-1 for n-dodecanol and 0.9 × 10-3 s-1 for n-decanol) is lower by an order of magnitude compared to those based on adsorption on catalysts from the platinum metal group. The advantage of the tested membrane catalytic material is that it extracts p-aminophenol in the acid-receiving phase.

Enhanced Degradation of Methyl Orange and Trichloroethylene with PNIPAm-PMMA-Fe/Pd-Functionalized Hollow Fiber Membranes

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a prominent groundwater pollutant due to its stability, widespread contamination, and negative health effects upon human exposure; thus, an immense need exists for enhanced environmental remediation techniques. Temperature-responsive domains and catalyst incorporation in membrane domains bring significant advantages for toxic organic decontamination. In this study, hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were functionalized with stimuli-responsive poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAm), poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA), and catalytic zero-valent iron/palladium (Fe/Pd) for heightened reductive degradation of such pollutants, utilizing methyl orange (MO) as a model compound. By utilizing PNIPAm's transition from hydrophilic to hydrophobic expression above the LCST of 32 °C, increased pollutant diffusion and adsorption to the catalyst active sites were achieved. PNIPAm-PMMA hydrogels exhibited 11.5× and 10.8× higher equilibrium adsorption values for MO and TCE, respectively, when transitioning from 23 °C to 40 °C. With dip-coated PNIPAm-PMMA-functionalized HFMs (weight gain: ~15%) containing Fe/Pd nanoparticles (d_p~34.8 nm), surface area-normalized rate constants for batch degradation were determined, resulting in a 30% and 420% increase in degradation efficiency above 32 °C for MO and TCE, respectively, due to enhanced sorption on the hydrophobic PNIPAm domain. Overall, with functionalized membranes containing superior surface area-to-volume ratios and enhanced sorption sites, efficient treatment of high-volume contaminated water can be achieved.

Sustainable and Selective Modern Methods of Noble Metal Recycling

Noble metals exhibit broad arrange of applications in industry and several aspects of human life which are becoming more and more prevalent in modern times. Due to their limited sources and constantly and consistently expanding demand, recycling of secondary and waste materials must accompany the traditional mineral extractions. This Minireview covers the most recent solvometallurgical developments in regeneration of Pd, Pt, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, Ag and Au with emphasis on sustainability and selectivity. Processing-by selective oxidative dissolution, reductive precipitation, solvent extraction, co-precipitation, membrane transfer and trapping to solid media-of eligible multi-metal substrates for recycling from waste printed circuit boards to end-of-life automotive catalysts are discussed. Outlook for possible future direction for noble metal recycling is proposed with emphasis on sustainable approaches.

Obtaining and Characterizing the Osmium Nanoparticles/n-Decanol Bulk Membrane Used for the p-Nitrophenol Reduction and Separation System

Liquid membranes based on nanoparticles follow a continuous development, both from obtaining methods and characterization of techniques points of view. Lately, osmium nanoparticles have been deposited either on flat membranes, with the aim of initiating some reaction processes, or on hollow fiber membranes, with the aim of increasing the contact surface with the phases of the membrane system. This paper presents the obtainment and characterization of a liquid membrane based on osmium nanoparticles (Os-NP) dispersed in ndecanol (nDol) for the realization of a membrane system with a large contact surface between the phases, but without using a liquid membrane support. The dispersion of osmium nanoparticles in n-decanol is carried out by the method of reducing osmium tetroxide with 1-undecenoic acid (UDA). The resulting membrane was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDAX), thermoanalysis (TG, DSC), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS). In order to increase the mass transfer surface, a design for the membrane system was realized with the dispersion of the membrane through the receiving phase and the dispersion of the source phase through the membrane (DBLM-dispersion bulk liquid membrane). The process performance was tested for the reduction of p-nitrophenol (pNP) from the source phase, using sodium tetra-borohydride (NaBH₄), to p-aminophenol (pAP), which was transported and collected in the receiving phase. The obtained results show that membranes based on the dispersion of osmium nanoparticles in n-decanol can be used with an efficiency of over 90% for the reduction of p-nitrophenol and the separation of p-aminophenol.

Simultaneous Release of Silver Ions and 10–Undecenoic Acid from Silver Iron–Oxide Nanoparticles Impregnated Membranes

The bio-medical benefits of silver ions and 10–undecenoic acid in various chemical-pharmaceutical preparations are indisputable, thus justifying numerous research studies on delayed and/or controlled release. This paper presents the effect of the polymer matrix in the simultaneous release of silver ions and 10–undecenoic acid in an aqueous medium of controlled pH and ionic strength. The study took into consideration polymeric matrices consisting of cellulose acetate (CA) and polysulfone (PSf), which were impregnated with oxide nanoparticles containing silver and 10–undecenoic acid. The studied oxide nanoparticles are nanoparticles of iron and silver oxides obtained by an accessible electrochemical method. The obtained results show that silver can be released, simultaneously with 10–undecenoic acid, from an impregnated polymeric membrane, at concentrations that ensure the biocidal and fungicidal capacity. Concentrations of active substances can be controlled by choosing the polymer matrix or, in some cases, by changing the pH of the target medium. In the studied case, higher concentrations of silver ions are released from the polysulfone matrix, while higher concentrations of 10–undecenoic acid are released from the cellulose acetate matrix. The results of the study show that a correlation can be established between the two released target substances, which is dependent on the solubility of the organic compound in the aqueous medium and the interaction of this compound with the silver ions. The ability of 10–undecenoic acid to interact with the silver ion, both through the carboxyl and alkene groups, contributes to the increase in the content of the silver ions transported in the aqueous medium.