James Ramontja

Sodium alginate stabilized silver nanoparticles-silica nanohybrid and their antibacterial characteristics.

Due to the problem of resistance of many infectious agents to the usual treatments, this study addresses the ways of obtaining and using new sodium alginate stabilized-silver/mesoporous silica (Na-Alg-s-AgNPs@SiO2) nanohybrid as antimicrobial agents. Capping AgNPs with a shell of mesoporous SiO2 is a system to build the increase biocompatibility of AgNPs. In this work, we report a simple and green way to deal with setting up a uniform sodium alginate-stabilized silver nanoparticles embedded mesoporous silica (Na-Alg-s-AgNPs@SiO2 nanohybrid). The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra, which exhibited that AgNPs with average of size of ∼7nm were consistently and compactly deposited in the nanocomposite. The nanohybrid demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against both Gram negative (-ve) and Gram positive (+ve) bacteria. Thus, the developed Na-Alg-s-AgNPs@SiO2 nanohybrid has a potential to be used for various antibacterial applications in biotechnology and biomedical fields.

Rapid, facile microwave-assisted synthesis of xanthan gum grafted polyaniline for chemical sensor

Grafting method, through microwave radiation procedure is extremely productive in terms of time consumption, cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness. In this study, conductive and thermally stable composite (mwXG-g-PANi) was synthesized by grafting of aniline (ANi) on to xanthan gum (XG) using catalytic weight of initiator, ammonium peroxydisulfate in the process of microwave irradiation in an aqueous medium. The synthesis of mwXG-g-PANi were confirm by FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. The influence of altering the microwave power, exposure time of microwave, concentration of monomer and the amount of initiator of graft polymerization were studied over the grafting parameters, for example, grafting percentage (%G) and grafting efficiency (%E). The maximum %G and %E achieved was 172 and 74.13 respectively. The outcome demonstrates that the microwave irradiation strategy can increase the reaction rate by 72 times over the conventional method. Electrical conductivity of XG and mwXG-g-PANi composite film was performed. The fabricated grafted sample film were then examined for the chemical sensor. The mwXG-g-PANi, effectively integrated and handled, are NH3 sensitive and exhibit a rapid sensing in presence of NH3 vapor. Chemiresistive NH3 sensors with superior room temperature sensing performance were produced with sensor response of 905 at 1ppb and 90% recovery within few second.

Guar gum-grafted poly(acrylonitrile)-templated silica xerogel: nanoengineered material for lead ion removal

BackgroundPolysaccharides are renewable biodegradable natural materials and are accounted for to control the formation of hybrid silica nanocomposites by sol gel process.MethodsThe synthesis of templated silica xerogel essentially includes two critical steps of hydrolysis and polycondensation reaction that are started by catalyst and silica precursor solution. Aside from this Saponification guar-graft-polyacrylonitrile (s-GG-g-PAN) as a copolymer are included in the precursor solution for providing a novel templating environment for silica matrix formation. The s-GG-g-PAN acts as a template for the silica produced in the blended framework because of the hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl groups at silanols and hydroxyl group and carbonyl groups at the copolymer surface. Connected silanol groups can further hydrolyze and after that take part in the condensation reaction. Accordingly, the s-GG-g-PAN template gets trapped inside the resulting silica system, which on calcining at 900 °C is lost, producing pores of shape and size of the template.ResultsThe surface area and pore volume of the developed templated silica xerogel have been determined. The surface area and pore volume of the template silica xerogel (H900) were observed to be (240 m2 g−1) and (0.286 ccg−1) respectively. The conditions for the adsorption by adsorbent had been enhanced, and kinetics and thermodynamic studies were performed. The best result in terms of lead adsorption was obtained with templated silica xerogel calcined at 900 °C. The % Pb2+ removal is observed to be 96% when H900 adsorbent was treated under ideal adsorption states of measurements 0.05g dose, 500mgL−1 Pb2+ concentration, time 2 h, pH 5 at 30 °C. The adsorption information fitted satisfactorily to Langmuir isotherms, showing unilayer adsorption. In view of the Langmuir model, Qmax was calculated to be 2000 mgg−1. Theadsorption demonstrated pseudo-second-order kinetics. The thermodynamic study revealed the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption. The adsorbent demonstrated good thermal stability and high reusability.ConclusionsThe present study highlights the possibility of silica xerogel derived from saponified guar gum-grafted poly (acrylonitrile) toward its potential application as superior adsorbent for removal of Pb2+ from aqueous solution.

Fast microwave-assisted green synthesis of xanthan gum grafted acrylic acid for enhanced methylene blue dye removal from aqueous solution

In the present project, graft polymerization was employed to synthesis a novel adsorbent using acrylic acid (AA) and xanthan gum (XG) for cationic methylene dye (MB+) removal from aqueous solution. The XG was rapidly grafted with acrylic acid (CH2=CHCOOH) under microwave heating. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques were used to verify the adsorbent formed under optimized reaction conditions. Optimum reaction conditions [AA (0.4M), APS (0.05M), XG (2gL-1), MW power (100%), MW time (80s)] offer maximum %G and %GE of 484 and 78.3, respectively. The removal ratio of adsorbent to MB+ reached to 92.8% at 100mgL-1. Equilibrium and kinetic adsorptions of dyes were better explained by the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic model respectively. The results demonstrate xanthan gum grafted polyacrylic acid (mw XG-g-PAA) absorbent had the universality for removal of dyes through the chemical adsorption mechanism.

Thermally shocked graphene oxide-containing biocomposite for thermal management applications

In this communication, we present a new approach to simultaneously improve the thermal conductivity and ductility of a biobased polylactide blend composite by localizing thermally shocked graphene oxide particles in a dispersed poly(e-caprolactone) phase. The preliminary results presented in this work will pave the way for the development of high performance environmentally benign composite materials for thermal management applications.

Determination of antimony and tin in beverages using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry after ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid phase microextraction

The aim of this study was to develop a simple and fast ultrasound-assisted ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid phase microextraction (UA-IL-DLLME) method for preconcetration of trace antimony and tin in beverage samples. The novelty of this study was based on the application of ligandless UA-IL-DLLME using low-density ionic liquid and organic solvents for preconcentration of Sb and Sn. The concentration of Sb and Sn were quantified using ICP-OES. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration graph was found to be LOQ-250µgL-1 (r2=0.9987) for Sb and LOQ-350µgL-1 for Sn. The LOD and LOQ of Sb and Sn ranged from 1.2to 2.5ngL-1 and 4.0 to 8.3ngL-1, respectively, with high preconcentration factors. The precisions (%RSD) of the proposed method ranged from 2.1% to 2.5% and 3.9% to 4.7% for Sb and Sn, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of Sb and Sn in beverages.