Fabrication of Core-Shell Hydrogel Bead Based on Sodium Alginate and Chitosan for Methylene Blue Adsorption

A novel core-shell hydrogel bead was fabricated for effective removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solutions.The core,made of sodium alginate-g-polyacrylamide and attapulgite nanofibers,was cross-linked by Calcium ions(Ca^(2+)).The shell,composed of a chitosan/activated carbon mixture,was then coated onto the core.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the grafting polymerization of acrylamide onto sodium alginate.Scanning electron microscopy images showed the core-shell structure.The core exhibited a high water uptake ratio,facilitating the diffusion of methylene blue into the core.During the diffusion process,the methylene blue was first adsorbed by the shell and then further adsorbed by the core.Adsorption tests showed that the coreshell structure had a larger adsorption capacity than the core alone.The shell effectively enhanced the adsorption capacity to methylene blue compared to the single core.Methylene blue was adsorbed by activated carbon and chitosan in the shell,and the residual methylene blue diffused into the core and was further adsorbed.

Adsorption of Cu^(2+)by Crosslinked Graft Copolymers of Starch

With the use of acrylic acid(AA)as a monomer,humic acid(HA)and starch as raw materials,potassium persulfate(KPS)as initiator,and N,Ndimethylacrylamide(MBA)as a cross-linking agent,AA/HA/Starch graft copolymer was prepared and characterized by SEM and FT-IR.The effects of temperature,adsorption time,adsorbent dosage,pH value and Cu^(2+)initial concentration of the solution on the adsorption performance of the crosslinked graft copolymer were also investigated.The results showed that the Cu^(2+)adsorption capacity of the AA/HA/Starch graft copolymer increased firstly and then decreased with increasing adsorbent dosage and the initial pH value of Cu^(2+)solution.With the increase of Cu^(2+)initial concentration and the extension of adsorption time,the adsorption amount of Cu^(2+)increased rapidly and then stabilized.And it decreased slightly with the increase of temperature.At pH value of 5.5,temperature of 298 K,adsorbent dosage of 50 mg,adsorption time of 125 min,and 100 mL Cu^(2+)solution with Cu^(2+)initial concentration of 100 mg/L,the Cu^(2+)adsorption capacity of the crosslinked graft copolymer was 238 mg/g.The adsorption of Cu^(2+)by the adsorbent followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and Langmuir isothermal adsorption model,and the adsorption was attached to monolayer chemical adsorption.This study proved that AA/HA/Starch graft copolymer could be used as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of harmful and toxic metal cations such as Cu^(2+)from industrial wastewater.

Alginate Composite Hydrogel Bead with Multilayer Flake Structure for Dye Adsorptions

With the rapid development of textile industry,a large amount of dye-contaminated effluents was produced and caused serious environmental problem.To remove the dye from effluents,adsorption materials have been applied because of their relatively cheap,high efficiency,and easy handling.In this study,a novel composite hydrogel bead with unique multilayer flake structure was fabricated by alginate,acrylamide and attapulgite for dye adsorption.Acrylamide was grafted polymerization onto alginate to obtain alginate-g-poly(acrylamide).Then alginate-g-poly(acrylamide)was cross-linked by Ca2+ions in present of attapulgite to form composite hydrogel bead.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)results show that the freeze dried composite hydrogel bead has multilayer flake structure incorporating attapulgite.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)and Thermo-gravimetric analysis(TGA)results indicate that acrylamide has been successfully grafted polymerization on sodium alginate.Grafting polymerization of acrylamide onto sodium alginate obviously enhances the swelling of hydrogel bead.Incorporating of attapulgite into hydrogel bead effectively enhances the adsorption capacity to methylene blue and the maximum adsorption capacity is 155.7 mg g-1.Multilayer flake structure increases the adsorption area for methylene blue,but hinders the diffusion of methylene blue into the inner of composite hydrogel bead.High pH solution is beneficial to the adsorption.Pseudo-second order model and Fraundlinch model best describe the adsorption kinetic and isotherm,respectively.These results indicate that composite hydrogel bead is a promising adsorption material for dye-contaminated water treatment.

An improved theoretical procedure for the pore-size analysis of activated carbon by gas adsorption

Amorphous carbon materials play a vital role in adsorbed natural gas(ANG) storage. One of the key issues in the more prevalent use of ANG is the limited adsorption capacity, which is primarily determined by the porosity and surface characteristics of porous materials. To identify suitable adsorbents, we need a reliable computational tool for pore characterization and, subsequently, quantitative prediction of the adsorption behavior. Within the framework of adsorption integral equation(AIE), the pore-size distribution(PSD) is sensitive to the adopted theoretical models and numerical algorithms through isotherm fitting. In recent years, the classical density functional theory(DFT) has emerged as a common choice to describe adsorption isotherms for AIE kernel construction. However,rarely considered is the accuracy of the mean-field approximation(MFA) commonly used in commercial software. In this work, we calibrate four versions of DFT methods with grand canonical Monte Carlo(GCMC) molecular simulation for the adsorption of CH_4 and CO_2 gas in slit pores at 298 K with the pore width varying from 0.65 to 5.00 nm and pressure from 0.2 to 2.0 MPa. It is found that a weighted-density approximation proposed by Yu(WDA-Yu) is more accurate than MFA and other non-local DFT methods. In combination with the trapezoid discretization of AIE, the WDA-Yu method provides a faithful representation of experimental data, with the accuracy and stability improved by 90.0% and 91.2%, respectively, in comparison with the corresponding results from MFA for fitting CO_2 isotherms. In particular, those distributions in the feature pore width range(FPWR)are proved more representative for the pore-size analysis. The new theoretical procedure for pore characterization has also been tested with the methane adsorption capacity in seven activated carbon samples.

Gas adsorption in shaped zeolitic imidazolate framework-8

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8(ZIF-8) was prepared through a solve-thermal reaction method and then shaped using different additives. The in fluence of the shaping conditions on the microstructure of the shaped samples was characterized by the XRD, BET, and SEM techniques. The results demonstrate that the compressive strength of the various shaped tablets is greatly increased and capable of meeting the industrial requirements compared to the unshaped ZIF-8 and that the loss rate of speci fic surface areas was maintained at 10% after the addition of 10%(by mass) binder and 10%(by mass) solvent. The adsorption isotherms of CO2, CH4, C3H8, and C3H6 on powdery ZIF-8and the shaped tablets(T-shaped ZIF-8, C-shaped ZIF-8, and N-shaped ZIF-8) were determined through volumetric measurements under different pressures and temperatures(298.2, 323.2, and 348.2 K). The adsorption capacities of the gases on both the ZIF-8 powder and the shaped tablets follow the order C3H6 N C3H8N CO2 N CH4. Furthermore,the results show that the adsorption capacities of the gases on the shaped tablets are lower by approximately 10%–20% than those on the powdery ZIF-8. In fact, the adsorption equilibrium isotherms for CO2, CH4, C3H8, and C3H6 on both powdery and shaped ZIF-8 can be well described by the Langmuir equation.

Polyethyleneimine-integrated composite sorbents for emerging pollutants remediation in water: Cross-linking strategy and tailored affinity

The removal and enrichment of pollutants in industrial wastewater using efficient adsorption processes have been a hot scientific topic in the field of environmental chemistry and green chemistry.Compared with the progress in the design,synthesis,and performance of polyethyleneimine-modified adsorbent materials at home and abroad,there are few reviews on how to modify polyethyleneimine(PEI)in adsorbent materials through functional group reactions.Therefore,this review attempts to provide a systematic review of how PEI can prepare adsorbent materials by functional group reaction and the adsorption mechanism of inorganic metal ions,phosphates,and dyes in wastewater by PEI.On this basis,future research directions of adsorbent materials are prepared by PEI prospects.

Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites-calcium silicate hydrate composite from coal fly ash with co-activation of Ca(OH)_(2)-NaOH for aqueous heavy metals removal

Coal fly ash is a typical secondary aluminum/silicon resource.The preparation of zeolite-type absorbent is a potential way for its value-added utilization,while the purity and adsorption property of zeolite are limited due to the occurrence of side reactions in the synthesis process.In this study,a designated composite consisted of crystalline zeolites and amorphous calcium silicate hydrate was selected,which was direct synthesized from fly ash under conditions of a Ca/Si molar ratio of 0.8,an initial NaOH concentration of 0.5 mol/L,a hydrothermal temperature of 170℃and a liquid–solid ratio of 15 mL/g.The results indicated that this composite had superior adsorption property for a variety of heavy metals,which was based on the exchange of calcium and sodium ions in zeolites and calcium silicate hydrate.Its adsorption capacities for Pb^(2+),Ni^(2+),Cd^(2+),Zn^(2+),Cu^(2+)and Cr^(3+)attained 409.4,222.4,147.5,93.2,101.1 and 157.0 mg/g,respectively,in single solution with a pH of 4.5.After regulating the synthesis conditions,the transformation of amorphous calcium silicate hydrate into crystallized tobermorite weakened the adsorption capacity of the composite.Besides,due to the competitive adsorption in a multiple ions solution,the adsorption capacities for these heavy metals had a reduction.

Numerical investigation on freeze-drying of aqueous material frozen with pre-built pores

Freeze-drying of the initially porous frozen material with pre-built pores from liquid material was found experimentally to save drying time by over 30% with an initial saturation being 0.28 compared with the conventional operation with the initial saturation being 1, using mannitol as the solid material. In order to understand the mass and heat transfer phenomena of this novel process, a two-dimensional mathematical model of coupled mass and heat transfer was derived with reference to the cylindrical coordinate system. Three adsorption–desorption equilibrium relationships between the vapour pressure and saturation value namely, power-law, Redhead's style and Kelvin's style equation, were tested. Kelvin's style in exponential form of adsorption equilibrium relation gave an excellent agreement between the model prediction and experimental measurement when the equation parameter, γ, of 5000 was applied. Analyses of temperature and ice saturation profiles show that additional heat needs to be supplied to increase the sample temperature in order to promote the desorption process. Simulation also shows that there is a threshold initial porosity after which the drying time decreased with the increase in the initial porosity. Enhanced freeze-drying is expected to be achieved by simultaneously enhancing mass and heat transfer of the process.

Preparation of Ammonia Adsorbent by Carbonizing and Activating Mixture of Biomass Material and Hygroscopic Salt

We put forward a new and ingenious method for the preparation of a new adsorbent by soaking, carbonizing and activating the mixture of hygroscopic salt and biomass material. The new adsorbent has high porosity, uniform distribution and high content of Ca Cl2, and exhibits high adsorption performance. The ammonia uptake and specific cooling power（SCP） at 5 min adsorption time can reach as high as 0.19 g·g^-1 and 793.9 W·kg^-1, respectively. The concept of utilizing the biomass materials and hygroscopic salts as raw materials for the preparation of adsorbents is of practical interest with respect to the potential quantity of biomass materials around the world, indicating that there would be a new market for biomass materials.Key words： biomass material; adsorption system; ammonia; calcium chloride; activated carbon

Progress on the Structures and Functions of Aerogels

Aerogel materials possess a wide variety of excellent functions,hence a striking number of applications have developed for them.In this paper,we present a historic review of the aerogel materials,showing the main concepts,research methods,important scientific problems,formation mechanism,structure characteristics and essence of aerogel.More applications are evolving as the scientific and engineering community,which becomes familiar with the unusual and exceptional physical properties of aerogels.In addition,we also discuss the huge development potential and prospect of polysaccharide aerogels as the research trend in the future.

Drug carriers based on highly protein-resistant materials for prolonged in vivo circulation time

Long-circulating drug carriers are highly desirable in drug delivery system.However,nonspecific protein adsorption leaves a great challenge in drug delivery of intravenous administration and significantly affects both the pharmacokinetic profiles of the carrier and drugs,resulting in negatively affect of therapeutic efficiency.Therefore,it is important to make surface modification of drug carriers by protein-resistant materials to prolong the blood circulation time and increase the targeted accumulation of therapeutic agents.In this review,we highlight the possible mechanism of protein resistance and recent progress of the alternative protein-resistant materials and their drug carriers,such as poly(ethylene glycol),oligo(ethylene glycol),zwitterionic materials,and red blood cells adhesion.

Preparation and characterization of a lipoid adsorption material and its atrazine removal performance

A novel adsorbent named lipold adsorption material （LAM）, with a hydrophoblc nucleolus （trlolem） and a hydrophlllc membrane structure （polyamide）, was synthesized to remove hydrophobic organic chemicals （HOCs） from solution. Triolein, a type of lipoid, was entrapped by the polyamide membrane through an interfacial polymerization reaction. The method of preparation and the structure of the LAM were investigated and subsequent experiments were conducted to determine the characteristics of atrazine （a type of HOC） removal from wastewater using LAM as the adsorbent. The results showed that LAM had a regular structure compared with the prepolymer, where compact particles were linked with each other and openings were present in the structure of the LAM in which the fat drops formed from triolein were entrapped. In contrast to the atrazine adsorption behavior of powdered activated carbon （PAC）, LAM showed a persistent adsorption capacity for atrazine when initial concentrations of 0.57, 1.12, 8.31 and 19.01 mg/L were present, and the equilibrium time was 12 hr. Using an 8 mg/L initial concentration of atrazine as an indicator of HOCs in aqueous solution, experiments on the adsorption capacity of the LAM showed 69.3% removal within 6-12 hr contact time, which was close to the 75.5% removal of atrazine by PAC. Results indicated that LAM has two atrazine removal mechanisms, namely the bioaccumulation of atrazine by the nucleous material and physical adsorption to the LAM membrane. Bioaccumulation was the main removal mechanism.

MgO-based adsorbents for CO2 adsorption:Influence of structural and textural properties on the CO_2 adsorption performance

A series of MgO-based adsorbents were prepared through solution–combustion synthesis and ball-milling process.The prepared MgO-based powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,N_2 physisorption measurements,and employed as potential adsorbents for CO_2 adsorption.The influence of structural and textural properties of these adsorbents over the CO_2 adsorption behaviour was also investigated.The results showed that MgO-based products prepared by solution–combustion and ball-milling processes,were highly porous,fluffy,nanocrystalline structures in nature,which are unique physico-chemical properties that significantly contribute to enhance their CO_2 adsorption.It was found that the MgO synthesized by solution combustion process,using a molar ratio of urea to magnesium nitrate（2：1）,and treated by ball-milling during 2.5 hr（MgO-BM2.5h）,exhibited the maximum CO_2 adsorption capacity of 1.611 mmol/g at 25℃ and 1 atm,mainly via chemisorption.The CO_2 adsorption behaviour on the MgO-based adsorbents was correlated to their improved specific surface area,total pore volume,pore size distribution and crystallinity.The reusability of synthesized MgO-BM2.5h was confirmed by five consecutive CO_2adsorption–desorption times,without any significant loss of performance,that supports the potential of MgO-based adsorbent.The results confirmed that the special features of MgO prepared by solution–combustion and treated by ball-milling during 2.5 hr are favorable to be used as effective MgO-based adsorbent in post-combustion CO_2 capture technologies.

Preparation of porous carbon directly from hydrothermal carbonization of fructose and phloroglucinol for adsorption of tetracycline

Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass is a promising method to prepare carbonaceous materials.Generally,post physical or chemical activation is necessary to increase surface area and porosity of the carbon.Herein,porous carbonaceous material（FPC） with large surface area（481.7 m^2/g） and pore volume（0.73 cm^3/g） was prepared directly from hydrothermal carbonization of fructose and phloroglucinol in hydroalcoholic mixture.Structure characteristics of the FPC and its adsorption capacity for a representative antibiotic tetracycline in aqueous solution were investigated.This work provides a green and efficient method to fabricate porous carbonaceous adsorbent that has great potential applications in chemical and environmental fields.

Novel robust cellulose-based foam with pH and light dual-response for oil recovery

We fabricated pH and light dual-responsive adsorption materials which could induce the transition of surface wettability between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity by using ATRPo The structure and morphology of adsorption materials were confirmed by ATR-FTIR, XPS, TGA and SEM. It showed that the modified cellulose （CE）- based foam was hydrophobic, which can adsorb a range of oils and organic solvents in water under pH = 7.0 or visible light irradiation （λ〉500 nm）. Meanwhile, the wettability of robust CE-based foam can convert hydrophobicity into hydrophilicity and underwater oleophobicity under pH = 3.0 or UV irradiation （λ = 365 nm）, giving rise to release oils and organic solvents. Most important of all, the adsorption and desorption processes of the modified CE-based foam could be switched by external stimuli. Furthermore, the modified CE-based foam was not damaged and still retained original performance after reversible cycle repeated for many times with variation of surface wettability. In short, it indicates that CE-based foam materials with switchable surface wettability are new responsive absorbent materials and have owned potential application in the treatment of oil recovery.

Preparation of ZnO/GO composite material with highly photocatalytic performance via an improved two-step method

ZnO/graphene oxide（ZnO/GO） composite material,in which ZnO nanoparticles were densely coated on the GO nanosheets,was successfully prepared by an improved two-step method and characterized by IR, XRD,TEM,and UV-vis techniques.The improved photocatalytic property of the ZnO/GO composite material,evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange（MO） under UV irradiation,is ascribed to the intimate contact between ZnO and GO,the enhanced adsorption of MO,the quick electron transfer from excited ZnO particles to GO sheets and the activation of MO molecules viaπ-πinteraction between MO and GO.