Abdul-Rauf Ibrahim

Synthesis of Spongy-Like Mesoporous Hydroxyapatite from Raw Waste Eggshells for Enhanced Dissolution of Ibuprofen Loaded via Supercritical CO2

The use of cheaper and recyclable biomaterials (like eggshells) to synthesize high purity hydroxyapatite (HAp) with better properties (small particle size, large surface area and pore volume) for applications (in environmental remediation, bone augmentation and replacement, and drug delivery systems) is vital since high-purity synthetic calcium sources are expensive. In this work, pure and mesoporous HAp nanopowder with large pore volume (1.4 cm3/g) and surface area (284.1 m2/g) was produced from raw eggshells at room temperature using a simple two-step procedure. The control of precursor droplets could stabilize the pH value of the reaction solution, because of the size of the needle (of the syringe pump used for precursor additions) leading to production of HAp with high surface area and pore size. The as-produced HAp revealed high ibuprofen (as a model drug) loading (1.38 g/g HAp), enhanced dissolution and controllable release of the drug via solute-saturated supercritical carbon dioxide.

Rapid Carbonation for Calcite from a Solid-Liquid-Gas System with an Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid

Aqueous carbonation of Ca(OH)2 is a complex process that produces calcite with scalenohedral calcite phases and characterized by inadequate carbonate species for effective carbonation due to the poor dissolution of CO2 in water. Consequently, we report a solid-liquid-gas carbonation system with an ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, in view of enhancing the reaction of CO2 with Ca(OH)2. The use of the IL increased the solubility of CO2 in the aqueous environment and enhanced the transport of the reactive species (Ca2+ and CO32−) and products. The presence of the IL also avoided the formation of the CaCO3 protective and passivation layer and ensured high carbonation yields, as well as the production of stoichiometric rhombohedral calcite phases in a short time.