Effective aqueous chromate treatment using triethanolamine anacardate coated magnetic nanoparticles.

Low-cost adsorbents derived from agricultural by-products incorporated magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) are promising for wastewater treatment. They are always preferred due to their great performance and easy separation. This study reports cobalt superparamagnetic (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated with triethanolamine (TEA) based surfactants from cashew nut shell liquid, namely TEA-CoFe2O4, for the removal of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions. To have detailed characteristics of the morphology and structural properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were employed. The fabricated TEA-CoFe2O4 particles exhibit soft and superparamagnetic properties, which make the nanoparticles easily recycled by using a magnet. Chromate adsorption on the TEA-CoFe2O4 nanomaterials reached an optimal efficiency of 84.3% at pH = 3 with the initial adsorbent dose of 10 g/L and chromium (VI) concentration of 40 mg/L. The TEA-CoFe2O4 nanoparticles can maintain the effective adsorption of chromium (VI) ion (by 29% of efficiency loss) and retain the magnetic separation using a magnet up to three cycles of the regeneration, which promise a high potential of this low-cost adsorbent for long-term treatment of heavy metal ions from polluted waters.

Direct synthesis of Rev peptide-conjugated gold nanoparticles and their application in cancer therapeutics.

We have developed a simple approach for generating peptide-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from the Rev peptide and gold aqueous solution. The peptide functions as both a reducing agent and a capping molecule. AuNPs of various sizes (20-300 nm) and shapes (spheres, triangular plates, and polygons) can be obtained upon modulating the ratio of gold ions to the Rev peptide. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-vis spectroscopy were utilized to characterize these nanoparticles. Fourier-transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements were performed to investigate chemical interactions between the Rev peptide and AuNPs. Lactate dehydrogenase and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays revealed that the Rev peptide-AuNP nanocomposites exhibited exceptionally high cytotoxic effects toward mouse ovarian surface epithelial cell lines, relative to the effects of equal doses of the free Rev peptide. Our study suggests a new way of utilizing biomolecule-conjugated AuNPs as potentially effective anticancer drugs.

Enhancing the removal efficiency of methylene blue in water by fly ash via a modified adsorbent with alkaline thermal hydrolysis treatment.

An effective adsorbent of methylene blue was synthesized from coal fly ash (FA; waste material from a coal power plant) by a denaturing process with an alkaline solution at 90 °C. The denatured fly ash (D-FA) has a surface area and pore volume of 66.39 m2 g-1 and 15.33 cm3 g-1, respectively, whereas the values of the original FA are negligible, i.e., 3.55 m2 g-1 and 0.02 cm3 g-1. The removal of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution by D-FA was increased in the range of initial MB concentration (10-20 mg L-1); contact time (0-120 min); pH (2-8); D-FA dosage (1-4 g L-1). However, a larger value of those operational parameters would not improve the removal activity. Furthermore, the methylene blue adsorption on the denatured FA was fitted with the Langmuir model with R 2 = 0.9991; the maximum adsorption capacity was determined as 28.65 mg g-1 from the model. Overall, the highest removal efficiency of MB using D-FA with the dosage of 4 g L-1 was 97.1% in 30 mg L-1 solution of methylene blue at pH = 7. The alkaline hydrothermal denaturation of waste FA is a promising approach to produce an adsorbent with beneficial environmental engineering applications.