Efficient and selective upcycling of waste polylactic acid into acetate using nickel selenide

The conversion of waste polylactic acid(PLA)plastics into high-value-added chemicals through electrochemical methods is a promising and sustainable approach.However,developing efficient and highly selective catalysts for lactic acid oxidation reaction(LAOR)and understanding the reaction process are challenging.Here,we report the electrooxidation of waste PLA to acetate at a high current density of 100 mA cm-2 with high Faraday efficiency(~95%)and excellent stability(>100 h)over a nickel selenide nanosheet catalyst.In addition,a total Faraday efficiency of up to 190%was achieved for carboxylic acids,including acetic acid and formic acid,by coupling with the cathodic CO_(2) reduction reaction.In situ experimental results and theoretical simulations revealed that the catalytic activity center of LAOR was dynamically formed NiOOH species,and the surface-adsorbed SeO_(x) species accelerated the formation of Ni~(3+)species,thus promoting catalytic activity.The mechanism of lactic acid electrooxidation was further elucidated.Lactic acid was dehydrogenated to produce pyruvate first and then formed CH_3CO due to preferential C-C bond cleavage,resulting in the presence of acetate.This work demonstrated a sustainable method for recycling waste PLA and CO_(2) into high-value-added products.

Edaravone-loaded poly(amino acid) nanogel inhibits ferroptosis for neuroprotection in cerebral ischemia injury

Neurological injury caused by ischemic stroke is a major cause of permanent disability and death. The currently available neuroprotective drugs fail to achieve desired therapeutic efficacy mainly due to short circulation half-life and poor blood−brain barrier (BBB) permeability. For that, an edaravone-loaded pH/glutathione (pH/GSH) dual-responsive poly(amino acid) nanogel (NG/EDA) was developed to improve the neuroprotection of EDA. The nanogel was triggered by acidic and EDA-induced high-level GSH microenvironments, which enabled the selective and sustained release of EDA at the site of ischemic injury. NG/EDA exhibited a uniform sub-spherical morphology with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 112.3 ± 8.2 nm. NG/EDA efficiently accumulated at the cerebral ischemic injury site of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) mice, showing an efficient BBB crossing feature. Notably, NG/EDA with 50 µM EDA significantly increased neuron survival (29.3%) following oxygen and glucose deprivation by inhibiting ferroptosis. In addition, administering NG/EDA for 7 d significantly reduced infarct volume to 22.2% ± 7.2% and decreased neurobehavioral scores from 9.0 ± 0.6 to 2.0 ± 0.8. Such a pH/GSH dual-responsive nanoplatform might provide a unique and promising modality for neuroprotection in ischemic stroke and other central nervous system diseases.

Synergism of Zinc Oxide/Organoclay-Loaded Poly(lactic acid) Hybrid Nanocomposite Plasticized by Triacetin for Sustainable Active Food Packaging

The synergistic effect of organoclay(OC)and zinc oxide(ZnO)nanoparticles on the crucial properties of poly(lactic acid)(PLA)nanocompositefilms was systematically investigated herein.After their incorporation into PLA via the solvent casting technique,the water vapor barrier property of the PLA/OC/ZnOfilm improved by a maximum of 86%compared to the neat PLAfilm without the deterioration of Young’s modulus or the tensile strength.Moreover,thefilm’s self-antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens,including gram-negative(Escherichia coli,E.coli)and gram-positive(Staphylococcus aureus,S.aureus)bacteria,was enhanced by a max-imum of approximately 98–99%compared to the neat PLAfilm.Furthermore,SEM images revealed the homo-geneous dispersion of both nano-fillers in the PLA matrix.However,the thermal stability of thefilm decreased slightly after the addition of the OC and ZnO.Thefilm exhibited notable light barrier properties in the UV-Vis range.Moreover,the incorporation of a suitable biodegradable plasticizer significantly decreased the Tg and notably enhanced theflexibility of the nanocompositefilm by increasing the elongation at break approxi-mately 1.5-fold compared to that of the neat PLAfilm.This contributes to its feasibility as an active food packa-ging material.

Intensified reactive extraction of 4-hydroxypyridine with di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid in 1-octanol by using tributyl phosphate

The efficient separation of amphoteric organic compounds from dilute solutions is of great importance in the industrial field. In the present work, the reactive extractions of 4-hydroxypyridine(4-HP) with tributyl phosphate(TBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid(D2EHPA) and TBP + D2EHPA dissolved in 1-octanol were investigated, respectively. The influences of the initial concentrations of TBP, D2EHPA and TBP + D2EHPA on distribution ratio(D) were discussed, as well as the reactive extraction mechanism were proposed. The obvious intensification effect was observed when the mixture of TBP and D2EHPA was used as extractant. The best extraction conditions were found to be of the molar ratio of D2EHPA and TBP at 2:1 and the equilibrium aqueous pH at 3.50-4.50. D values increased with the increase of the total concentration of TBP and D2EHPA in 1-octanol. Especially, the analysis on the extraction mechanisms clearly indicate(i) TBP in 1-octanol shows negligible reactive extraction toward 4-HP,(ii) D2EHPA in 1-octanol exhibits moderate extraction effect by forming 4-HP:D2EHPA(1:1) and 4-HP:2D2EHPA(1:2) type complexes, while(iii) D2EHPA in TBP/1-octanol demonstrates the maximum distribution ratio with the 4-HP:D2EHPA(1:1) type complex domination. The discussion provides new insights on the mechanism and opens a new way for the intensified extraction of amphoteric organic compounds by using the mixture of multiple extractants in the diluent.

The Structure Development of Cellulose Dissolved in the Phosphoric Acid/Polyphosphoric Acid Solvent

Cellulose,being as the most abundant nature polymer material and the most promising oil substitute,attracts more and more interests.A new cellulose dissolution system,phosphoric acid(PA)/polyphosphoric acid(PPA) solvent,was investigated in this study.It had been found that a larger cellulose solid content could be dissolved quickly in a hypothermic situation.By evaluating the stability of regenerated cellulose film and the formation of anisotropic solution,the dissolution behavior of cellulose was investigated.Wide-angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR) were employed to characterize the crystalline structure and morphology of regenerated cellulose.The measurement results revealed a transition from cellulose-Ⅰ of raw cellulose to cellulose-Ⅱ of regenerated cellulose and a decrease of crystallinity of cellulose after dissolved.This was attributed to the interaction between cellulose and acid solvent,which leaded to the breakage of cellulose intra-and inter-molecule hydrogen bonds and the conformation change of cellulose C6-OH.Moreover,the formation process of cellulose liquid crystal solution was illustrated by polarized light microscope(PLM).That may be induced by the rearranging movement of the cellulose macromolecular chains.

Adsorption of Cr(Ⅵ) in Water with Phosphoric Acid Modified and Ordinary Walnut Shells

A comparison between the effects of ordinary walnut shell and phosphoric acid modified walnut shell on adsorption of Cr（Ⅵ） was carried out. The experimental results showed that owing to larger surface void of modified walnut shell its adsorption of Cr（Ⅵ） was better. When the temperature was 35 ℃, adsorbent particle size was 1.0-1.6 mm, shaker shock rate was 200 r/min, and dosage of walnut shell was 0.80 g, the Cr（Ⅵ） removal rate reached 99.4%. The fitting of adsorption isotherm and kinetics model showed that, Langmuir isotherm model could reflect the adsorption process of modified walnut shell; and both the adsorption processes of ordinary and modified walnut shells accorded with the pseudo-second-order kinetic equations.

Poly(lactic acid)-aspirin microspheres prepared via the traditional and improved solvent evaporation methods and its application performances

Drug-loaded microspheres are significant for the development of modern pharmaceutical products. It is well known that the taken of aspirin for long-term increases the risk of serious gastrointestinal complications, therefore a controllable delivery of aspirin is of importance to lighten those side effects. In this work, poly(lactic acid)(PLA) was chosen as the carrier to prepare PLA-aspirin microspheres by using the traditional and the improved solvent evaporation methods. It was found that no matter which experimental condition was, the encapsulation efficiency of aspirin was higher by using the improved method than that of the traditional method. Specifically, when the concentration of polyvinyl alcohol = 1%(mass),the polymer concentration = 1:20, the oil/water rate = 1:2.5, PLA-aspirin microspheres were obtained via the improved method with a high yield of 82.83%(mass) and an encapsulation efficiency of 44.09%. PLAaspirin microspheres were then prepared continuously using the improved method, which further enhanced the encapsulation efficiency to 54.56%. Approximate 85% aspirin released from microspheres within 7 days. Obvious degradation which was represented by reduction on hardness was observed by soaking microspheres in PBS for 60 days. This work is of interest because it provides a continuous route to prepare PLA-aspirin microspheres continuously with a high drug encapsulation efficiency.

Arsenic removal from contaminated soil using phosphoric acid and phosphate

Laboratory batch experiments were conducted to study arsenic （As） removal from a naturally contaminated soil using phosphoric acid （H3PO4） and potassium dihydrogen phosphate （KHEPO4）. Both H3PO4 and KHEPO4 proved to reduce toxicity of the soil in terms of soil As content, attaining more than 20% As removal at a concentration of 200 mmol/L. At the same time, acidification of soil and dissolution of soil components （Ca, Mg, and Si） resulted from using these two extractants, especially H3PO4. The effectiveness of these two extractants could be attributed to the replacement of As by phosphate ions （PO4^3-）. The function of H3PO4 as an acid to dissolve soil components had little effects on As removal. KH2PO4 almost removed as much As as H3PO4, but it did not result in serious damage to soils, indicating that it was a more promising extractant. The results of a kinetic study showed that As removal reached equilibrium after incubation for 360 rain, but dissolution of soil components, especially Mg and Ca, was very rapid. Therefore dissolution of soil components would be inevitable if As was further removed. Elovich model best described the kinetic data of As removal among the four models used in the kinetic study.

Mechanism and kinetics study on removal of Iron from phosphoric acid by cation exchange resin

Iron element is one of the main impurities in wet-process phosphoric acid and it has a significant impact on the subsequent phosphorus chemical products. This paper studied the feasibility of using Sinco-430 cation exchange resin for iron removal from phosphoric acid. The specific surface area and the total exchange capacity of resin were 8.91 m2·g-1 and 5.18 mmol·g-1, respectively. The sorption mechanism was determined by FTIR and XPS and the results indicated that iron was combined with-SO3 H in resin. The removal process was studied as a function of temperature, H3 PO4 content and mass ratio between resin and solution. The unit mass of resin to remove iron was 0.058 g·g-1 resin when the operating parameters were T = 50 ℃, H3 PO4 content = 27.61 wt%and S/L = 0.1, respectively. Kinetics study demonstrated that pseudo-second-order reaction model fits this study best and the calculated activation energy of overall reaction is 29.10 kJ·mol-1. The overall reaction process was mainly controlled by pore diffusion.

Centrifugal extraction of rare earths from wet-process phosphoric acid

Phosphorite ore is a potential resource of rare earths （RE） as well as phosphate; therefore, the recovery of RE from wet-process phosphoric acid （WPA） is promising. This study investigated the influence of rotational speed, extractant concentration, flow ratio and phase contact time on the centrifugal extraction of RE from WPA and the separation of RE from impurities. The results indicate that higher rotational speed, higher extractant concentration and larger flow ratio are beneficial to the extraction of RE and impurities from phosphoric acid. It is found that the phase contact time for efficiently extracting RE and that for iron are of great difference, which provides an effective method for separating RE from iron using the non-equilibrium extraction process in centrifugal contactors. Compared with equilibrium extraction, the separation factor βRE/Fe is enhanced from 0.07 to 17.6.

Synergistic extraction of rare earth by mixtures of 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid from sulfuric acid medium

The extraction of Nd^3＋ and Sm^3＋, including the extraction and stripping capability as well as the separation effect of Nd^3＋ or Sm^3＋, from a sulfuric acid medium, by mixtures of di-（2-ethylhexyl） phosphoric acid （HDEHP, H2A2（0）） and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester （HEH/EHP, H2L2（0）） were studied. The distribution ratios and synergistic coefficients of Nd^3＋ and Sm^3＋ in different acidities were also determined. A synergistic extractive effect was found when HDEHP and HEH/EHP were used as mixed extractants for Sm^3＋ or Nd^3＋. The chemical compositions of the extracted complex were determined as Nd.（HA2）2-HL2 and Sm.（HA2）2-HL2. The extraction equilibrium constants, enthalpy change, and entropy change of the extraction reaction were also determined.

Insight into the formation mechanism of levoglucosenone in phosphoric acid-catalyzed fast pyrolysis of cellulose

The catalytic fast pyrolysis of cellulose impregnated with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) offers a promising method for the selective production of levoglucosenone (LGO),a valuable anhydrosugar product.However,the fundamental mechanism for selective LGO formation is unclear.Herein,quantum chemistry calculations and catalytic fast pyrolysis experiments were performed to reveal the formation mechanism of LGO in H3PO4-catalyzed cellulose pyrolysis.H3PO4 significantly decreased the energy barriers of the pyrolytic reactions and altered the competitiveness of the LGO formation pathways,promoting LGO formation.Through different pathways in the non-catalytic and H3P04-catalyzed conditions,LGO is mainly produced from the primary decomposition of glucose units of cellulose and secondary conversion of levoglucosan.The major catalytic formation pathways of LGO comprise similar reactions,with dehydration at the 3-OH+2-H site as the rate-determining step.Importantly,secondary conversion of 1,4;3,6-dianhydro-α-D-glucopyranose is not feasible for LGO formation,in contrast to previous reports.In addition,a high degree of polymerization is beneficial for the selectivity of LGO formation in the catalytic process,because the glycosidic bond is important for the formation of the bicyclic structure (1,5-and1,6-acetal rings).

Leaching kinetics of calcium molybdate with hydrochloric acid in presence of phosphoric acid

Calcium molybdate(CaMoO4)is the main component of powellite and is a predominant intermediate in the pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical process of molybdenum.The extraction of Mo from CaMoO4 by a combination of phosphoric acid and hydrochloric acid was investigated.For further understanding of the leaching mechanism,the effects of five key factors were studied to describe the leaching kinetics.The results indicated that the dissolution rate of CaMoO4 was independent of the stirring speed.Mo extraction significantly increased with increasing HCl concentration and temperature,but decreased with increasing particle size.A shrinking core model with surface chemical reaction was found to withstand the dissolution of CaMoO4.The apparent activation energy was calculated to be 70.879 kJ/mol,and a semi-empirical equation was derived for the rate of reaction.

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics studies of divalent manganese from phosphoric acid solution by using cationic exchange resin

There are numerous impurities in wet-process phosphoric acid,among which manganese is one of detrimental metallic impurities,and it causes striking negative effects on the industrial phosphoric acid production and downstream commodity.This article investigated the adsorption behavior of manganese from phosphoric acid employing Sinco-430 cationic ion-exchange resin.Resorting FT-IR and XPS characterizations,the adsorption mechanism was proved to be that manganese was combined with sulfonic acid group.Several crucial parameters such as temperature,phosphoric acid content and resin dose were studied to optimize adsorption efficiency.Through optimization,removal percentage and sorption capacity of manganese reached 53.12 wt%,28.34 mg·g^-1,respectively.Pseudo-2nd-order kinetic model simulated kinetics data best and the activation energy was evaluated as 6.34 kJ·mol^-1 for the sorption reaction of manganese.In addition,the global adsorption rate was first controlled by film diffusion process and second determined by pore diffusion process.It was found that the resin could adsorb up to 50.24 mg·g^-1 for manganese.Equilibrium studies showed that Toth adsorption isotherm model fitted best,followed by Temkin and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models.Thermodynamic analysis showed that manganese adsorption was an endothermic process with enhanced randomness and spontaneity.

Thermal stability and oil absorption of aluminum hydroxide treated by dry modification with phosphoric acid

The dry modification of aluminum hydroxide powders with phosphoric acid and the effects of modification of technological conditions on thermal stability, morphology and oil absorption of aluminum hydroxide powders were investigated. The results show that the increase of mass ratio of phosphoric acid to aluminum hydroxide, the decrease of mass concentration of phosphoric acid and prolongation of mixing time are favorable to the improvement of thermal stability of aluminum hydroxide; when the mass ratio of phosphoric acid to aluminum hydroxide is 5:100, the mass concentration of phosphoric acid is 200 g/L and the mixing time is 10 min, the initial temperature of loss of crystal water in aluminum hydroxide rises from about 192.10 to 208.66 ℃, but the dry modification results in the appearance of agglomeration and macro-aggregate in the modified powders, and the oil absorption of modified powders becomes higher than that of original aluminum hydroxide.

CFD investigation of the agitation in the desupersaturation during the wet-process phosphoric acid(WPPA)process

Desupersaturation is a complex cooling operation that involves hydrodynamic,thermal and mechanical phenomena.This process requires continuous agitation to avoid fouling problems and sludge deposition.The current work aims to investigate the well mixedness in the desupersaturation tank for optimal performance.For this purpose,a multi-fluid CFD study was conducted based on the Euler–Euler modeling approach,considering a multiphase flow involving a liquid phase(phosphoric acid)and a poly-dispersed solid phase,i.e.a sludge with three different sizes where each size is considered as a separate phase.First,the hydrodynamic behavior of the flow within the agitated desupersaturator is analyzed through the investigation of the velocity fields as well as the power and pumping numbers,to determine both the agitator capacity to pump the flow and its power consumption during the operation.Then,in order to assess the mixture homogeneity,we evaluated the solid suspension in the desupersaturation reactor following conventional methods and two new proposed methodologies:the first approach is to evaluate the suspension quality in the mixing system by compartment and the second consists on the assessment of the uniform convergence of the solid concentration.Furthermore,we calculated the time required to achieve a full suspension at different solid concentrations.On other hand,we conducted a detailed analysis of the solid distribution dependency on the impeller rotational speed at different solid volume fraction,which allows a good understanding of the parameters controlling the homogenization in the desupersaturator.

Dissolution behaviors of rare earth elements in phosphoric acid solutions

In order to provide practical fundamental data for rare-earth elements （REEs） recovery from phosphoric acid and to betterunderstand REEs behavior during the phosphoric acid evaporation process, the solubilities of REEs in phosphoric acid with variousconcentrations of phosphorus at different temperatures were measured. A simple linear model between REEs solubility andphosphoric acid concentration is built and the experimental data are found to fit it very well （R2〉0.94）. Hydrogen-ion concentration isfound to be the predominant factor controlling the solubility of REEs in phosphoric acid. In addition, the solubility of REEs inphosphoric acid is found to sharply decrease with increasing temperature, which can be attributed to the increase of the Gibbs energyof the REEPO4 dissolution reaction or the restraint of the disassociation of phosphoric acid molecules owing to the elevatedtemperature.

The fouling properties of SiO2-CaO-P2O5 system in high-temperature rotary kiln phosphoric acid process

Kiln phosphoric acid(KPA)technology could produce P2O5 with high purity and has been applied in thermal phosphoric acid industry;however the formation of fouling in the high-temperature rotary kiln restricts the stable and long-term operation.In this paper,the reaction of phosphate ores with gaseous P2O5 was investigated in a high-temperature reactor,and the Ca O-SiO2-P2O5 ternary phase diagram was analyzed to understand the fouling formation mechanism.The results showed that the low-melting-point products,such as Ca(PO3)2and Ca2P2O7,are responsible for the fouling in the KPA process.In addition,a small amount of impurities,e.g.,aluminum and iron,could facilitate the generation of the low-melting-point products and cause serious fouling.Based on the high-temperature SiO2-P2O5 and CaO-SiO2-P2O5 phase diagram analysis,the control of Si/Ca molar ratio(e.g.,Si/Ca=2.0)was found to avoid fouling formation in the kiln.These results could provide the operation parameters of reaction temperature and feeds composition to suppress the fouling in the kiln reactor for the phosphoric acid production in industry.

Study on reactions of gaseous P_2O_5 with Ca_3(PO_4)_2 and SiO_2 during a rotary kiln process for phosphoric acid production

In a rotary kiln process for phosphoric acid production,the reaction between gaseous phosphorus pentoxide（P2O5）and phosphate ore and silica contained in feed balls（the so-called P2O5＂absorption＂）not only reduces phosphorous recovery but also generates a large amount of low melting-point side products.The products may give rise to formation of kiln ring,which interferes with kiln operation performance.In this study,the reactions of gaseous P2O5with solid calcium phosphate（Ca3（PO4）2）,silica（SiO2）and their mixture,respectively,were investigated via combined chemical analysis and various characterizations comprised of X-ray diffraction（XRD）,Fourier-transform infrared（FT-IR）spectroscopy,thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter（TG＆DSC）,and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer（SEM＆EDS）.Attentions were focused on apparent morphology,phase transformation and thermal stability of the products of the P2O5＂absorption＂at different temperatures.The results show that the temperature significantly affected the＂absorption＂.The reaction between pure Ca3（PO4）2 and P2O5 occurred at 500℃.Calcium metaphosphate（Ca（PO3）2）was the primary product at the temperatures≤900℃ with its melting point≤900℃ while calcium pyrophosphate（Ca2P2O7）was obtained over 1000℃,which has a melting point≤1200℃.The＂absorption＂by pure SiO2 started at 800℃ and the most significant reaction occurred at 1000℃ with formation of silicon pyrophosphate（SiP2O7）product of melting point≤1000℃.Using mixed Ca3（PO4）2and SiO2as raw material,the＂absorption＂by Ca3（PO4）2 was enhanced due to existence of silica.At 600–700℃,silica was inert to P2O5and thus formed a porous structure in the raw material,which accelerated diffusion of gaseous P2O5inside the mixture.At higher temperatures,the combined＂absorption＂by calcium phosphate and reaction between silicon dioxide and the＂absorption＂product calcium pyrophosphate,reinforced the＂absorption＂by the mixture.Besides,it was found that both Ca（PO3）2and SiP2O7were unstable at high temperatures and would decompose to Ca2P2O7and SiO2,respectively,at over 1000℃ and 1100℃ with the release of gaseous P2O5at the same time.

Continuous Melt Suspension Crystallization of Phosphoric Acid

A continuous melt suspension crystallization process has been presented for the purification of the phosphoric acid in this study, which is performed in the cascade of a mixed suspension mixed product removal (MSMPR) crystallizer and a gravity wash column for the subsequent solid-liquid separation. Dynamic behavior in the crystallizer and role of reflux ration on the purification efficiency of column are studied in detail. A reasonable steady state with respect to the liquid phase is achieved after 2 to 3 hrs, which is followed by a solid-phase steady state in terms of the slurry density after 4 hrs. Reflux ratio is the effective parameter for separation and purification by the crystallization equipment from the influences of reflux ratio on the purity of product, the number of theoretical plates and the stability of the operations.