Non-invasive route for desulfurization of fuel using infrared-assisted MIL-53(Al)-NH2 containing fabric.

Fuel purification from sulfur containing contaminants (SCCs) is concerned in the last decades. Herein, non-invasive and innovative method was carried out for synthesis of metal organic framework (MOF)@fabric composites to be applied in removing of thiophene from liquid fuel. MIL-53(Al)-NH2 as a type of MOF was selected to be in-situ prepared within fabrics (cotton & wool) by infrared-assisted technique. The contents of MOF/Al in-grown within fabrics were 81.97/9.92 mg/g for cotton and 95.70/11.58 mg/g for wool. Scanning microscope and X-ray confirmed that fluffy microcrystalline MIL-53(Al)-NH2 powder was formed directly within fabrics structure. The prepared MOF and MOF@fabric composites were exploited in adsorption of thiophene from n-heptane. Infrared spectra approved the presence of thiophene bands [CH, 833 cm-1 and CS, 706 cm-1] onto the applied materials, after adsorption. The adsorption of thiophene onto the composites found to obey Langmuir isotherm and second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacities were followed the order of MIL-53(Al)-NH2 (739.0 mg/g) > MIL-53(Al)-NH2@fabric (469.4-516.5 mg/g) ⋙ fabric (83.1-153.8 mg/g). After 4 restoration cycles, the adsorption capacities were lowered by percentage of 28.4-43.6, due to the decrement in MOF contents. The prepared MIL-53(Al)-NH2@fabric composites could be widely applicable in the cleaning of liquid fuel from SCCs with high efficient.

Hydroxyethyl cellulose for spontaneous synthesis of antipathogenic nanostructures: (Ag & Au) nanoparticles versus Ag-Au nano-alloy.

The current approach represents a controllable strategy for studying the antipathogenic effects against selected bacterial strains and fungi for silver nanoparticles and gold nanoparticles versus their bimetallic nano-alloys spontaneously prepared by the same technique. Spontaneous ingraining of silver and gold based monometallic and bimetallic nano-objects was carried out by employing organic polymer of hydroxyethyl cellulose which was presumed to play the dual role of nanogenerator and surfactant, via seed mediated growth technique. Revolution of UV-Visible spectroscopy revealed that, the characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak for Ag-Au bimetallic nano-alloy was detected at 480-495 nm and X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the successive role of HEC in generation of bimetallic nanostructures. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and zetasizer data were detected for clarifying the effect of the polymer concentration, addition sequencing of metal salts in reaction liquor, and reaction temperature on the morphological features and size distribution of the as-produced bimetallic nano-alloy. Referring to zetasizer analyses and TEM micrographs, small sized (10.7 nm) Ag-Au bimetallic nano-alloy was successfully produced by employing HEC as nano-producer. All the generated bimetallic nano-objects exhibited high stability with PdI ranged in 0.268-0.560. The mechanism for generation of nanostructures was confirmed according to FT-IR, 1HNMR and13CNMR spectra.

Algal control and enhanced removal in drinking waters in Cairo, Egypt.

Algal blooms at the major water treatment plants in Egypt have been reported since 2006. While previous studies focused on algal types and their correlation with disinfection by-products, correlation between raw water quality and algal blooms were not explored. Therefore, a survey of Nile water quality parameters at a major water intake in the Greater Cairo Urban Region was conducted from December 2011 to November 2012. Bench-scale experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the conventional chloride/alum treatment compared with combined Cl/permanganate pre-oxidation with Al and Fe coagulants during the outbreak period. Addition of permanganate (0.5 mg/L) significantly reduced the chlorine demand from 5.5 to 2.7 mg/L. The applied alum coagulant dose was slightly reduced while residual Al was reduced by 27% and the algal count by 50% in the final treated waters. Applying ferric chloride and ferric sulfate as coagulants to waters treated with the combined pre-oxidation procedure effectively reduced algal count by 60% and better the total organic carbon reduction and residual aluminum in the treated water. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to identify the relationship between water quality parameters and occurrence of algae and to explain the impact of coagulants on the final water quality.

Removal of chlorophenols from wastewater using commercial acid washed activated carbon.

The presence of chlorophenols in wastewater represents a serious challenge for its treatment and its further reuse. In this study, the use of commercial acid washed activated carbon as sorbent material for the removal of 2 chlorophenol, 2,4 dichlorophenol and 2,4,6 trichlorophenol from synthetic. aqueous solutions is evaluated. Variables affecting the uptake of these compounds (weight of sorbent material, pH, temperature and shaking time) are investigated to achieve the optimum conditions of removal process. The kinetics of the uptake process indicated that the process was best explained using a pseudo-second order model. As well, the adsorption of the studied chlorophenols on commercially available AC followed the Freundlich isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters further indicated the favorability of the process and that the adsorption was primarily physical in nature enhanced by chemisorptions.