Hou Chen

Adsorption of Pb(II) from aqueous solution by silica-gel supported hyperbranched polyamidoamine dendrimers.

The adsorption properties of silica-gel supported hyperbranched polyamidoamine dendrimers (SiO(2)-G0-SiO(2)-G4.0) have been investigated by batch method. The effect of pH of the solution, contact time, initial Pb(II) ion concentration, temperature and coexisting metal ions have been demonstrated. The results indicated that the optimum pH value was 5. Adsorption kinetics was found to follow the pseudo-second-order model and controlled by film diffusion. The adsorption isotherms were fitted by Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. Langmuir isotherm model was found to be more suitable to describe the equilibrium data, suggesting the uptake of Pb(II) ions by monolayer adsorption. From D-R isotherm model, the calculated mean free energy E demonstrated the adsorption processes occurred by chemical ion-exchange mechanism. FTIR analysis revealed that amine groups were mainly responsible for the adsorption of Pb(II) by amino-terminated adsorbents, while CO of ester groups also participated in the adsorption process of ester-terminated ones. The adsorbents can selectively adsorb Pb(II) from binary ion systems in the presence of Mn(II), Cu(II), Co(II), and Ni(II). Based on the results, it is concluded that SiO(2)-G0-SiO(2)-G4.0 had great potential for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution.

Synthesis of porous acrylonitrile/methyl acrylate copolymer beads by suspended emulsion polymerization and their adsorption properties after amidoximation

Porous acrylonitrile (AN)/methyl acrylate (MA) copolymer beads were prepared by suspended emulsion polymerization. The cyano groups in AN/MA copolymer beads were converted to amidoxime (AO) groups by reaction with hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH(2)OH.HCl) to remove metal ions in aqueous solution. The untreated AN/MA and amidoximated AN/MA (AO AN/MA) copolymer beads were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, and porous structural analysis. Both mesopores and macropores were presented in AN/MA and AO AN/MA copolymer beads. Qualitative experiments of adsorption were conducted to evaluate modified and unmodified resins on fixing Hg(2+), Ag(+), Cu(2+), Fe(3+) and Pb(2+) from aqueous solution using batch extractions. It was found that AO AN/MA copolymer beads have excellent adsorption capacities for Hg(2+), Ag(+) and Cu(2+), especially for Hg(2+), and it have good selectivity for Hg(2+). The equilibrium was established in 10h through adsorption kinetics study. The Langmuir model was much better than the Freundlich model to describe the isothermal process.

Removal and recovery of Hg(II) from aqueous solution using chitosan-coated cotton fibers

Two types of chitosan-coated cotton fibers (SCCH and RCCH) were applied to remove and recover Hg(II) ions in aqueous solution. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of the two fibers for Hg(II) were investigated at different temperatures. The results revealed that the adsorption kinetic processes of SCCH and RCCH fibers for Hg(II) followed the pseudo second-order model at lower temperatures and the pseudo first-order model at higher temperatures. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich models well described the adsorption isotherms of SCCH and RCCH fibers for Hg(II) in the temperature range studied. SCCH and RCCH fibers selectively adsorbed Hg(II) from binary ion systems in the presence of Pb(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Mn(II) and Ag(I). Increased temperature was beneficial to adsorption. The recovery of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions was also studied as a function of sample flow rate and volume, concentration and volume of eluent, elution rate, quantity of adsorbents added and concomitant ions. The results showed that the two fibers efficiently enriched and recovered Hg(II) in the presence of alkali and alkaline earth metals and some heavy metals under optimum conditions. The RCCH fiber exhibited better stability than the SCCH fiber following repeated use.

Synthesis of polyacrylonitrile-grafted cross-linked N-chlorosulfonamidated polystyrene via surface-initiated ARGET ATRP, and use of the resin in mercury removal after modification

A novel method of surface modification was developed via iron (III)-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization, with activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET ATRP) on the surfaces of polystyrene resin-supported N-chlorosulfonamide groups. The well-defined polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was grafted onto the surfaces of the polystyrene (PS). The graft reaction exhibited first-order kinetics with respect to the polymerization time in the low-monomer-conversion stage. The cyano group of PAN-g-PS was modified by NH(2)OH·HCl to yield amidoxime (AO) groups. The AO groups had been demonstrated to be an efficient Hg-specific sorbent, which can remove Hg(2+) from solutions. No interference arose from common metal ions, such as Pd(2+), Ag(+), and Cu(2+). Three adsorption-desorption cycles demonstrated that this resin is suitable for reuse without any considerable change in adsorption capacity.

Synthesis of silica gel supported salicylaldehyde modified PAMAM dendrimers for the effective removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solution.

A series of silica gel supported salicylaldehyde modified PAMAM dendrimers (SiO2-G0-SA ∼ SiO2-G2.0-SA) were synthesized and their structures were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, TGA, and porous structure analysis. The feasibility of these adsorbents for the removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solution was first described and the adsorption mechanism was proposed. The adsorption was found to depend on solution pH, the generation number of salicylaldehyde modified PAMAM dendrimers, contact time, temperature, and initial concentration. Results showed that the optimal pH was about 6 and the adsorption capacity increased with the increasing of generation number. Density functional theory (DFT) method was used to investigate the coordination geometries and the chelating mechanism. Adsorption kinetics was found to follow the pseudo-second-order model with film diffusion process as rate controlling step. Adsorption isotherms revealed that adsorption capacities increased with the increasing of temperature. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models were employed to analyze the equilibrium data. The adsorption can be well described by Langmuir isotherm model and took place by chemical mechanism. The thermodynamics properties indicated the adsorption processes were spontaneous and endothermic nature. The maximum adsorption capacity of SiO2-G0-SA, SiO2-G1.0-SA, and SiO2-G2.0-SA were 0.91, 1.52, and 1.81 mmol g(-1), respectively. The considerable higher adsorption capacity compared with other adsorbents indicates SiO2-G0-SA ∼ SiO2-G2.0-SA are favorable and useful for the uptake of Hg (II), and can be potentially used as promising adsorbents for the effective removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solution.

Adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and isotherm of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions using buckwheat hulls from Jiaodong of China.

The adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms of buckwheat hulls in the region of Jiaodong, China (BHJC) for Hg(II) were investigated. Results revealed that the adsorption kinetics of BHJC for Hg(II) were well described by a pseudo second-order reaction model, and the adsorption thermodynamic parameters ΔG, ΔH and ΔS were -5.83 kJ mol(-1)(35°C), 73.1, and 256 JK(-1) mol(-1), respectively. Moreover, Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models were applied to analyse the experimental data and to predict the relevant isotherm parameters. The best interpretation for the experimental data was given by the Langmuir isotherm equation, and the maximum adsorption capacity for Hg(II) is 243.90 mg/g at 35°C. Furthermore, investigation of the adsorption selectivity showed that BHJC displayed strong affinity for mercury in the aqueous solutions and exhibited 100% selectivity for mercury in the presence of Zn(II) and Cd(II).

Efficient bifunctional catalyst lipase/organophosphonic acid-functionalized silica for biodiesel synthesis by esterification of oleic acid with ethanol.

An efficient bifunctional catalyst lipase/organophosphonic acid-functionalized silica (SG-T-P-LS) has been successfully developed, and biodiesel production of fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) from free fatty acid (FFA) oleic acid with short-chain alcohol ethanol catalyzed by SG-T-P-LS was investigated. The process optimization using response surface methodology (RSM) was performed and the interactions between the operational variables were elucidated, and it was found that the molar ratio of alcohol to acid was the most significant factor. The optimum values for maximum conversion ratio can be obtained by using a Box-Behnken center-united design, and the conversion ratio could reach 89.94 ± 0.42% under the conditions that ethanol/acid molar ratio was 1.05:1 and SG-T-P-LS to FFA weight ratio was 14.9 wt.% at 28.6°C. The research results show that SG-T-P and LS-20 could work cooperatively to promote the esterification reaction, and the bifunctional catalyst SG-T-P-LS is a potential catalyst for biodiesel production.

A chelating resin with bis [2 -(2 -benzothiazolylthioethyl )sulfoxide] : Synthesis, characterization and properties for the removal of trace heavy metal ion in water samples

A new chelating resin containing bis[2-(2-benzothiazolylthioethyl)sulfoxide] was synthesized using chloromethylated polystyrene as material and characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectra. The adsorption capacities of the newly formed resin for Hg(2+), Ag(+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Pb(2+), Mn(2+), Ni(2+), Cd(2+) and Fe(3+) were investigated over the pH range 1.0-6.0. The resin exhibited no affinity for alkali or alkaline earth metal ions. The maximum adsorption capacities of the resin for Hg(2+), Ag(+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Pb(2+), Mn(2+), Ni(2+), Cd(2+) and Fe(3+) were 1.49, 0.96, 0.58, 0.11, 0.37, 0, 0.24, 0.36 and 0.25mmolg(-1), respectively. In column operation it had been observed that Hg(2+) and Ag(+) in trace quantity could be separated from different binary mixtures and Hg(2+) could be effectively removed from industrial wastewater and the natural water spiked with Hg(2+) at usual pH.

Sweet potato starch residue as starting material to prepare polyacrylonitrile adsorbent via SI-SET-LRP.

Sweet potato starch residue (SPSR) was used as starting material to prepare an eco-friendly adsorbent. SPSR was modified by bromoacetyl bromide to obtain a macroinitiator for surface-initiated single electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SI-SET-LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) catalyzed by La(0)/hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in the presence of ascorbic acid (VC). The amidoxime (AO) adsorbent was prepared by the reaction of the graft copolymer bromoactylated sweet potato starch (BSPS)/polyacrylonitrile (BSPS-g-PAN) with hydroxylamine. The maximum adsorption capacity for Hg(II) was 4.03 mmol·g(-1). This simple method provided a novel approach to recycle and reuse agricultural residues for controlling heavy metal pollution.

Triphenylphosphine as Reducing Agent for Copper（II）-catalyzed AGET ATRP

Triphenylphosphine (TPP) was used as reducing agent to continuously generate the Cu(I) activator in copper(II)-catalyzed activators generated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP). For example, the polymers prepared with a molar ratio of [MMA]0/[EBiB]0/[CuCl2]0/[PMDETA]0/[TPP]0 = 500/1/0.1/0.5/0.5 had controlled molecular weights and low molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) values (∼1.2). TPP as a commercial reducing agent provides a convenient copper-catalyzed AGET ATRP procedure for the preparation of well-defined polymers.