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Ioannidis I, Pashalidis I, Arkas M. Actinide Ion (Americium-241 and Uranium-232) Interaction with Hybrid Silica-Hyperbranched Poly(ethylene imine) Nanoparticles and Xerogels. Gels 2023; 9:690. [PMID: 37754371 PMCID: PMC10530514 DOI: 10.3390/gels9090690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The binding of actinide ions (Am(III) and U(VI)) in aqueous solutions by hybrid silica-hyperbranched poly(ethylene imine) nanoparticles (NPs) and xerogels (XGs) has been studied by means of batch experiments at different pH values (4, 7, and 9) under ambient atmospheric conditions. Both materials present relatively high removal efficiency at pH 4 and pH 7 (>70%) for Am(III) and U(VI). The lower removal efficiency for the nanoparticles is basically associated with the compact structure of the nanoparticles and the lower permeability and access to active amine groups compared to xerogels, and the negative charge of the radionuclide species is formed under alkaline conditions (e.g., UO2(CO3)34- and Am(CO3)2-). Generally, the adsorption process is relatively slow due to the very low radionuclide concentrations used in the study and is basically governed by the actinide diffusion from the aqueous phase to the solid surface. On the other hand, adsorption is favored with increasing temperature, assuming that the reaction is endothermic and entropy-driven, which is associated with increasing randomness at the solid-liquid interphase upon actinide adsorption. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on hybrid silica-hyperbranched poly(ethylene imine) nanoparticle and xerogel materials used as adsorbents for americium and uranium at ultra-trace levels. Compared to other adsorbent materials used for binding americium and uranium ions, both materials show far higher binding efficiency. Xerogels could remove both actinides even from seawater by almost 90%, whereas nanoparticles could remove uranium by 80% and americium by 70%. The above, along with their simple derivatization to increase the selectivity towards a specific radionuclide and their easy processing to be included in separation technologies, could make these materials attractive candidates for the treatment of radionuclide/actinide-contaminated water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Ioannidis
- Laboratory of Radioanalytical and Environmental Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Cy-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus;
| | - Ioannis Pashalidis
- Laboratory of Radioanalytical and Environmental Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Cy-1678 Nicosia, Cyprus;
| | - Michael Arkas
- National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
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Arkas M, Giannakopoulos K, Favvas EP, Papageorgiou S, Theodorakopoulos GV, Giannoulatou A, Vardavoulias M, Giannakoudakis DA, Triantafyllidis KS, Georgiou E, Pashalidis I. Comparative Study of the U(VI) Adsorption by Hybrid Silica-Hyperbranched Poly(ethylene imine) Nanoparticles and Xerogels. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2023; 13:nano13111794. [PMID: 37299697 DOI: 10.3390/nano13111794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Two different silica conformations (xerogels and nanoparticles), both formed by the mediation of dendritic poly (ethylene imine), were tested at low pHs for problematic uranyl cation sorption. The effect of crucial factors, i.e., temperature, electrostatic forces, adsorbent composition, accessibility of the pollutant to the dendritic cavities, and MW of the organic matrix, was investigated to determine the optimum formulation for water purification under these conditions. This was attained with the aid of UV-visible and FTIR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential, liquid nitrogen (LN2) porosimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results highlighted that both adsorbents have extraordinary sorption capacities. Xerogels are cost-effective since they approximate the performance of nanoparticles with much less organic content. Both adsorbents could be used in the form of dispersions. The xerogels, though, are more practicable materials since they may penetrate the pores of a metal or ceramic solid substrate in the form of a precursor gel-forming solution, producing composite purification devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Arkas
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | - Konstantinos Giannakopoulos
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | - Evangelos P Favvas
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | - Sergios Papageorgiou
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | - George V Theodorakopoulos
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | - Artemis Giannoulatou
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 15310 Athens, Greece
| | | | | | | | - Efthalia Georgiou
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Ioannis Pashalidis
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
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Liu M, Wang L, Zhang L, Zhao Y, Chen K, Li Y, Yang X, Zhao L, Sun S, Zhang J. In-Situ Silica Xerogel Assisted Facile Synthesis of Fe-N-C Catalysts with Dense Fe-N x Active Sites for Efficient Oxygen Reduction. Small 2022; 18:e2104934. [PMID: 35018715 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202104934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In the past decade, atomically dispersed Fe active sites (coordinated with nitrogen) on carbon materials (FeNC) have emerged rapidly as promising single-atom catalysts (SACs) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to substitute precious group metal (PGM) catalysts, owing to their earth abundance and low cost. Nonetheless, the production of highly active FeNC SACs is largely restricted by material cost, low product yield and difficulty of microstructure design. Herein, the authors demonstrate a facile in-situ xerogel (ISG) assisted synthetic strategy, using cheap materials, to construct FeNC SACs (ISG FeNC). The porous silica xerogel, formed in-situ with the FeNC precursors, encourages the emergence of enormous micropores/mesopores and homogeneous confinement/protection to the precursors during pyrolysis, benefiting to the formation of abundant accessible active sites (27.6 × 1019 sites g-1 ). Correspondingly, the ISG FeNC exhibits excellent ORR activity with a half-wave potential (E1/2 = 0.91 V) in alkaline medium. The Zn-air battery assembled using the ISG FeNC SACs as the bifunctional catalyst of air cathode, demonstrates commendable performance with high peak power density of 249.1 mW cm-2 and superior long-term stability (660 cycles with 220 h). This work offers an economic and efficient way to fabricate PGM-free SACs for diverse applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maosong Liu
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Lijuan Wang
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Long Zhang
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Yiran Zhao
- Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School, Shanghai, 201101, China
| | - Kangmin Chen
- Instrumental Analysis Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Yanxiao Li
- Instrumental Analysis Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Xiaohua Yang
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Long Zhao
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - Shuhui Sun
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Center for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications, Quebec, J3×1S2, Canada
| | - Jianming Zhang
- Institute of Quantum and Sustainable Technology (IQST), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China
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Morosanova MA, Kovalev VA, Morosanova EI. Silica Xerogel Doped with Iron(III) as Sensor Material for Salicylhydroxamic Acid Determination in Urine. Gels 2021; 7:gels7030143. [PMID: 34563029 PMCID: PMC8482224 DOI: 10.3390/gels7030143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Salicylhydroxamic acid (SHA) is used as antimicrobic medicine and its concentration has to be monitored in urine. For the first time, silica xerogels doped with iron(III) have been proposed as sensor materials for SHA determination in biological samples. Three xerogels with iron(III) content in the range of 0.04–1.74% wt have been synthesized. BET surface area of these xerogels has varied in the range of 696–529 m2/g and total pore volume has varied in the range of 0.92–0.23 cm3/g. Complex formation between immobilized iron(III) and salicylhydroxamic acid has been investigated with solid phase spectrophotometry and IR spectroscopy. Orange-brown iron(III)-SHA complex with 1:1 stoichiometry is formed at pH 1–4 with half-reaction time of 17 min. Silica xerogel doped with 0.33% wt iron(III)) has been used as sensor material for SHA solid phase spectrophotometric determination (LOD 1.4 mg/L (n = 3), analytical range 4–230 mg/L). Proposed sensor material has been applied for SHA determination in biological samples of synthetic and human urine. The proposed procedure is characterized by a good level of accuracy (recovery values 97–120%) and precision (RSD values 4–9%) and can be recommended for pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic studies of hydroxamic acid-based medications.
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