Development of poly(aspartic acid-co-malic acid) composites for calcium carbonate and sulphate scale inhibition.

Polyaspartic acid (PSI) is suitable for the inhibition of inorganic scale deposition. To enhance its scale inhibition efficiency, PSI was modified by reacting aspartic acid with malic acid (MA) using thermal polycondensation polymerization. This reaction resulted in poly(aspartic acid-co-malic acid) (PSI-co-MA) dual polymer. The structural, chemical and thermal properties of the dual polymers were analysed by using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and gel permeation chromatography. The effectiveness of six different molar ratios of PSI-co-MA dual polymer for calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate scale inhibition at laboratory scale batch experiments was evaluated with synthetic brine solution at selected doses of polymer at 65-70°C by the static scale test method. The performance of PSI-co-MA dual polymer for the inhibition of calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate precipitation was compared with that of a PSI single polymer. The PSI-co-MA exhibited excellent ability to control inorganic minerals, with approximately 85.36% calcium carbonate inhibition and 100% calcium sulphate inhibition at a level of 10 mg/L PSI-co-MA, respectively. Therefore, it may be reasonably concluded that PSI-co-MA is a highly effective scale inhibitor for cooling water treatment applications.

Novel-porous-Ag0 nanocomposite hydrogels via green process for advanced antibacterial applications.

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) antibacterial characteristics were depends on its particle stabilization, particles size and nucleation agent. In this study, we report on green process of porous silver nanocomposite hydrogels for advanced antibacterial applications. The porous poly(acrylamide) (PAM) hydrogels were developed employing sucrose as porogenator. Silver NPs were nucleated with natural biomass Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extracts within the porous hydrogel networks. The formation of silver NPs in the porous hydrogels was confirmed by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermo gravimetric analysis. Morphological studies done by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that the hydrogels were porous in nature and stabilization of NPs, size, and particles shape. The porous PAM silver nanoparticle hydrogels demonstrated excellent antimicrobial activity with significant effect against Escherichia coli, Micrococcus, and Candida albicus. Hence, it was clear that the developed hydrogels can be used effectively for preventing and treating infections.