Oil shale powders and their interactions with ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and oxytetracycline antibiotics.

The interaction of oil shale, as a widespread sedimentary rock, with common antibiotics ofloxacine, oxytetracycline, and ciprofloxacine was studied. The selected Moroccan deposit and its thermally treated forms were fully characterized from a chemical and structural point of view, indicating the prevalence of quartz as a mineral component together with aluminum- and iron-rich phase that are converted into Al-doped iron oxide phases upon heating. The presence of 4 wt% organics was also detected, which was removed at 550 °C without significant loss of specific surface area. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir equation were found the most adequate to reproduce the kinetics and isothermal sorption experiments. These analyses enlighten the contribution of the organic matter on antibiotic retention as well as the key role of hydrophobic interactions on the molecule-mineral surface interactions. Our results emphasize the possible contribution of raw oil shale in the accumulation of antibiotics in soils and suggest that thermally treated oil shell powders can constitute cheap mineral sorbents for environmental cleaning.

Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of mesoporous zirconia-hydroxyapatite nanocomposites and their dual surface affinity for Cr3+/Cr2O7(2-) ions.

Zirconia-hydroxyapatite nanocomposites were prepared by sol-gel deposition of zirconium oxide from a zirconium alkoxide in the presence of apatite colloidal suspension under ultrasonication. The material porosity evolves from mainly microporous zirconia to mesoporous hydroxyapatite, with decreasing surface area and increasing pore volume. XRD studies indicate that the apatite phase is well-preserved within the composite materials. The homogeneous dispersion of apatite colloids within the zirconia network was supported by TEM observations and nitrogen sorption measurements. (31)P solid-state NMR studies suggest that partial dissolution of apatite may have occurred during the preparation, leading to the adsorption of phosphate species on zirconia particles. This is confirmed by XRD studies of nanocomposites after thermal treatment that demonstrate the preferred formation of tetragonal over monoclinic ZrO(2) in the presence of hydroxyapatite. In order to investigate the surface properties of these novel materials, the adsorption of Pb(2+), Cr(3+), and Cr(2)O(7)(2-) was evaluated. Metal cations were preferentially adsorbed on apatite-rich composites, whereas Cr(2)O(7)(2-) shows a good affinity for the zirconia-rich phases. Zirconia-apatite materials showed the most promising performance in terms of recyclability. These nanocomposites that combine microporosity, mesoporosity and dual sorption properties for these species appear as interesting materials for metal ion remediation and may also find applications as biomaterials.

Role of carboxylate chelating agents on the chemical, structural and textural properties of hydroxyapatite.

Organically-modified hydroxyapatite materials were synthesized through the addition of oxalic, succinic, adipic and citric acids to a calcium hydroxide solution before neutralization by ammonium dihydrogenphosphate. All carboxylic acids have a significant influence on apatite crystallinity and nanoparticle size, as indicated by XRD and TEM. Chemical and thermogravimetric analyses as well as FTIR and {(1)H}-(13)C CP MAS NMR spectroscopies indicate that the additives are present in the final material. (1)H, {(1)H}-(31)P HPDec MAS, CP MAS and 2D {(1)H}-(31)P CP-HETCOR MAS NMR experiments suggest that carboxylic acids are localized on the apatite nanocrystallite surface, resulting in the formation of a disordered outer layer. Nitrogen sorption measurements indicate minor modifications of the specific surface area of the resulting mesoporous materials upon carboxylic acid addition but more significant variations in the average dimensions of the pores as well as in the chemical nature of the pore surface. Although these evolutions are mainly in good agreement with the ligand affinity for calcium ions in solution, an unexpected difference was observed between succinic and adipic acid, that may be attributed to steric constraints resulting from the interfacial nature of the calcium-ligand interactions. These data should provide useful guidelines to identify novel efficient additives to control apatite growth.

Electrochemistry of [(TMpyP)M(II)]4+ (X-)4 (X- = Cl- or BPh4-) and [(TMpyP)M(III)Cl]4+ (Cl-)4 in N,N-dimethylformamide where M is one of 15 different metal ions.

The electrochemistry of 16 different water-soluble porphyrins of the type [(TMpyP)M(II)]4+ (X-)4 or [(TMpyP)M(III)Cl]4+ (Cl-)4 is reported in nonaqueous media where TMpyP is the dianion of meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridiniumyl)porphyrin and X- = Cl- or BPh4-. These studies were carried out to examine the effect of the metal ion and porphyrin counterion (X-) on the electrochemical properties of the TMpyP complexes with a special emphasis being given to the overall number of electrons added and the number of electrode processes upon reduction. All of the investigated compounds with electroinactive central metal ions undergo an overall addition of six electrons. This occurs for most compounds via three two-electron-transfer steps, but more than three processes are observed for porphyrins having metal ions with a low electronegativity (e.g., Cd(II)). The first reduction of each porphyrin having an M(II) ion or an electroinactive M(III) ion yields a porphyrin dianion which is characterized by an intense band located close to 800 nm, and this reversible reduction is followed by further reductions of the 1-methyl-4-pyridyl groups at more negative potentials. Four of the compounds with electroactive central metal ions, [(TMpyP)M(III)Cl]4+(Cl-)4 (M = Co, Fe, Mn, or Au), undergo an additional reversible M(III)/M(II) process prior to reactions involving the porphyrin pi-ring system and the 1-methyl-4-pyridyl substituents.