Strong Acid Enabled Comprehensive Training of Poly (Sodium Acrylate) Hydrogel Networks.

The design of admirable hydrogel networks is of both practical and fundamental importance for diverse applications of hydrogels. Herein a general strategy of acid-assisted training is designed to enable multiple improvements of conventional poly (sodium acrylate) networks for hydrogels. Hydrophobic homogeneous crosslinked poly (sodium acrylate) hydrogels are prepared to verify the strategy. The multiple improvements of poly (sodium acrylate) networks are simply achieved by immersing the hydrogel networks into 4 M H2SO4 solutions. The introduced acids would induce transformation of poly (sodium acrylate) into poly (acrylic acid) at hydrogel surface, which constructs dynamic hydrogen bonding interactions to tighten the network. The acid-containing poly (sodium acrylate) hydrogels newly generate anti-swelling and self-healing performance, and show mechanical improvement. The internal poly (sodium acrylate) of the pristine acid-containing hydrogels is further fully transformed via acid-infiltration after following cyclic stretch/release training to significantly improve the mechanical performance. The Young's modulus, stress, and toughness of the fully-trained hydrogels are 187.6 times, 35.6 times, and 5.4 times enhanced, respectively. The polymeric networks retain isotropic in fully-trained hydrogels to ensure superior stretchability of 8.6. The acid-assisted training performance of the hydrogels can be reversibly recovered by NaOH neutralization. The acid-assisted training strategy here is general for poly (sodium acrylate) hydrogels.

Multi-isotopes revealing the coastal river anthropogenic pollutants and natural material flux to ocean: Sr, C, N, S, and O isotope study.

Coastal river exports massive terrestrial materials to the adjacent marine environment with information about chemical weathering, providing critical insights on riverine flux and the potential impact on marine ecosystem. In this study, the preliminary data of dissolved strontium (Sr) and 87Sr/86Sr in a typical coastal river in southeastern China were collected along with hydrochemistry and C, N, S, and O isotopes to discriminate the source of terrestrial weathering and the riverine flux. Sr concentrations exhibited a range of 0.084 ~ 1.307 µmol L-1, and 87Sr/86Sr values ranged 0.7089 ~ 0.7164. The total cationic charge (TZ+) ranged 0.2 ~ 11.7 meq L-1 with the predominant Ca2+ which accounted for > 50% of TZ+, while the anions were dominated by HCO3-. The extremely high Na+ and Cl- near the estuary indicated seawater mixing in such a coastal river. δ13C-DIC, δ15N-NO3-, δ18O-NO3-, and δ34S-SO42- of river water ranged - 24.1‰ ~ - 9.2‰, 0.3‰ ~ 22.7‰, - 2.1‰ ~ 21.4‰, and - 9.3‰ ~ 18.0‰, respectively. δ13C enhanced correspondingly to decreased δ34S, confirming the attendance of H2SO4 in carbonate weathering. Most δ18O values exhibited within ± 10‰, indicating the dominant nitrification process. δ15N presented slightly negative relationship with δ13C and no obvious correlation with δ34S, indicating relatively limited impact of denitrification. The depleted δ13C and δ15N may be attributed to carbonate dissolution with nitric acids and the oxidation of organic matters into C and N pools. Quantitative analysis revealed that silicate weathering accounts for 79% of total dissolved Sr, indicating the dominant weathering process. The estimated monthly flux of dissolved Sr to the East China Sea was 138.1 tons, demonstrating an potential impact on seawater Sr isotope evolution. Overall, the investigations of multi-isotopes revealed the enhancement of weathering rates and the consequently depleted CO2 consumption, which further proved the involvement of strong acids (H2SO4 and HNO3). This study provides scientific insight in terrestrial weathering and anthropogenic impact of a typical coastal watershed and may orient the management of environmental issues related to coastal ecosystems.

Instant pH sensor based on the functionalized cellulose for detecting strong acid leaks.

Acid spills cause large-scale environmental damage and casualties. To respond to such incidents, a sensor capable of detecting acid leaks is required. Cellulose is a useful substrate material for the fast detection of acid leaks because it has high hydrophilicity and porosity. On the other hand, methods of manufacturing cellulose-based sensors are still complicated or time-consuming. Thus, in this study, a simple and rapid synthesis method for a cellulose-based pH sensor was proposed. The functionalization of α-cellulose was achieved via chloroacetyl chloride, and Congo red was covalently immobilized to the functionalized cellulose for detecting strong acids. The manufacturing process was composed of two steps as above and finished within 8 h. The developed sensor exhibited absorbance changes in the pH range of 0.2 to 3.0, and response time was shorter than 1 s. A prototype system using this sensor was manufactured and tested, and it detected acid leaks easily and quickly.

Enhanced Luminescence Based Response towards pH in Highly Acidic Environments by the Silver Nanoparticles and Ionic Liquids.

Correct measurement of the pH in highly acidic environments is still a challenge. In such conditions most of the pH indicators suffer from instability in air or leaching from host matrices due to the solubility considerations. In this work, two different fluorescent probes were used along with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and ionic liquid (IL) in the polymeric matrices for sensing of the pH in harsh conditions. The pH sensitivities of the probes were tested after exposure to strong acid vapors by steady-state, lifetime based and kinetic mode measurements. The sensing materials were fabricated in form of thin films and electrospun nanofibers. The ionic liquid; 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate was exploited as additive to enhance the stability as well as response towards pH. Spectral changes were tested in a large scale; between pH 3.00-12.00. Utilization of the dyes in ethyl cellulose and polymethyl methacrylate along with AgNPs in form of electrospun fibers resulted in many advantages such as enhanced long term stability, sensitivity and improvement in all sensor dynamics. Sensing characteristics of the offered designs were tested after exposed to vapors of HCl, H2SO4 and HNO3, respectively.

1,1,3,3-Tetratriflylpropene (TTP): A Strong, Allylic C-H Acid for Brønsted and Lewis Acid Catalysis.

Tetratrifylpropene (TTP) has been developed as a highly acidic, allylic C-H acid for Brønsted and Lewis acid catalysis. It can readily be obtained in two steps and consistently shows exceptional catalytic activities for Mukaiyama aldol, Hosomi-Sakurai, and Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions. X-ray analyses of TTP and its salts confirm its designed, allylic structure, in which the negative charge is delocalized over four triflyl groups. NMR experiments, acidity measurements, and theoretical investigations provide further insights to rationalize the remarkable reactivity of TTP.

Evaluation of DNA typing as a positive identification method for soft and hard tissues immersed in strong acids.

Identification of human remains can be hindered by several factors (e.g., traumatic mutilation, carbonization or decomposition). Moreover, in some criminal cases, offenders may purposely adopt various expedients to thwart the victim's identification, including the dissolution of body tissues by the use of corrosive reagents, as repeatedly reported in the past for Mafia-related murders. By means of an animal model, namely porcine samples, we evaluated standard DNA typing as a method for identifying soft (muscle) and hard (bone and teeth) tissues immersed in strong acids (hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acid) or in mixtures of acids (aqua regia). Samples were tested at different time intervals, ranging between 2 and 6h (soft tissues) and 2-28 days (hard tissues). It was shown that, in every type of acid, complete degradation of the DNA extracted from soft tissues preceded tissue dissolution and could be observed within 4h of immersion. Conversely, high molecular weight DNA amenable to STR analysis could be isolated from hard tissues as long as cortical bone fragments were still present (28 days for sulfuric acid, 7 days for nitric acid, 2 days for hydrochloric acid and aqua regia), or the integrity of the dental pulp chamber was preserved (7 days, in sulfuric acid only). The results indicate that DNA profiling of acid-treated body parts (in particular, cortical bone) is still feasible at advanced stages of corrosion, even when the morphological methods used in forensic anthropology and odontology can no longer be applied for identification purposes.