Jan Nisar

Mutagenicity and cytotoxicity evaluation of photo-catalytically treated petroleum refinery wastewater using an array of bioassays.

Degradation and detoxification of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) was carried out by advanced oxidation processes (UV/TiO2/H2O2 and gamma radiation/H2O2). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the independent variables. The cytotoxicity was evaluated using Allium cepa, brime shrimp and haemolytic assays; whereas mutagenicity was tested by Ames tests (TA98 and TA100 strains). Maximum reductions in COD and BOD were recorded as 78% and 87% for UV/TiO2/H2O2 and 77% and 86% for gamma ray/H2O2, respectively. Treatments with both methods at optimized conditions reduced the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of PRW, however, UV/TiO2/H2O2 system was found slightly efficient as compared to gamma ray/H2O2. From the results, it can be concluded that AOPs can successfully be utilized for the degradation of toxic pollutants in petroleum refinery wastewater. Moreover, the bioassays used in this study offered a good reliability for checking the detoxification of treated and un-treated PRW wastewater.

Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Norfloxacin in Aqueous Media by Hydrothermally Synthesized Immobilized TiO2/Ti Films with Exposed {001} Facets

In this study, a novel immobilized TiO2/Ti film with exposed {001} facets was prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal route for the degradation of norfloxacin from aqueous media. The effects of various hydrothermal conditions (i.e., solution pH, hydrothermal time (HT) and HF concentration) on the growth of {001} faceted TiO2/Ti film were investigated. The maximum photocatalytic performance of {001} faceted TiO2/Ti film was observed when prepared at pH 2.62, HT of 3 h and at HF concentration of 0.02 M. The as-prepared {001} faceted TiO2/Ti films were fully characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). More importantly, the as-prepared {001} faceted TiO2/Ti film exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance toward degradation of norfloxacin in various water matrices (Milli-Q water, tap water, river water and synthetic wastewater). The individual influence of various anions (SO42-, HCO3-, NO3-, Cl-) and cations (K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Na+, Fe3+) usually present in the real water samples on the photocatalytic performance of as-prepared TiO2/Ti film with exposed {001} facet was investigated. The mechanistic studies revealed that •OH is mainly involved in the photocatalytic degradation of norfloxacin by {001} faceted TiO2/Ti film. In addition, norfloxacin degradation byproducts were investigated, on the basis of which degradation schemes were proposed.

VUV-Photocatalytic Degradation of Bezafibrate by Hydrothermally Synthesized Enhanced {001} Facets TiO2/Ti Film

In the present study, a novel TiO2/Ti film with enhanced {001} facets was synthesized by the hydrothermal technique followed by calcination for studying the removal of bezafibrate (BZF), from an aqueous environment. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, HR-TEM, and PL-technique. The second-order rate constant of (•)OH with BZF was found to be 5.66 × 10(9) M(-1) s(-1). The steady state [(•)OH] was measured as 1.16 × 10(-11) M, on the basis of oxidation of terephthalic acid. The photocatalytic degradation of BZF followed pseudo-first-order kinetics according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model (k1 = 2.617 mg L(-1) min(-1) and k2 = 0.0796 (mg L(-1))(-1)). The effects of concentration and the nature of various additives including inorganic anions (NO3(-), NO2(-), HCO3(-), CO3(2-), Cl(-)) and organic species (fulvic acid) and initial solution pHs (2, 4, 6, 9) on photocatalytic degradation of BZF were investigated. It was found that the nature and concentration of studied additives significantly affected the photocatalytic degradation of BZF. The efficiency of the photocatalytic degradation process in terms of electrical energy per order was estimated. Degradation schemes were proposed on the basis of the identified degradation byproducts by ultraperformance liquid chromatography.

Evaluation of electrical, dielectric and magnetic characteristics of Al–La doped nickel spinel ferrites

The paper reports the effects of lanthanum and aluminum ions, on the structural, electrical and magnetic properties of NiFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles. The precursors have been synthesized via a hydrothermal route in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) using urea as a reducing agent and fuel for maintaining the uniform morphology and equal particle size distribution. In order to find out the optimum temperature (1023 K) for the formation of the spinel phase of the doped nickel ferrite, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for the un-annealed samples was performed. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that NiFe2−2xAlxLaxO4 have been well crystallized to spinel ferrite crystal structure with the Fd3m space group. The average crystallite size obtained is in the range of 9–19 nm, a size useful for attaining a suitable signal-to-noise ratio in high-density recording media and in electrical devices. In order to render the synthesized samples for diminishing eddy current losses, we were able to enhance the room temperature resistivity through proper selection of dopant used. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreased with applied frequency for all the samples showing normal behavior of ferrites. The calculated magnetic parameters such as saturation magnetization (Ms), remanence (Mr) and coercivity (Hc), showed increased values for some Al–La doped samples.

A gas-phase kinetic study on the thermal decomposition of 2-chloropropene

AbstractThe gas-phase thermal decomposition of 2-chloropropene in the presence of a radical inhibitor was studied in the temperature range of 668.2–747.2 K and pressure between 11–76 Torr using the conventional static system. The dehydrochlorination to propyne and HCl was the only reaction channel and accounted for >98% of the reaction. The formation of propyne was found to be homogeneous and unimolecular and follows a first-order rate law. The observed rate coefficient is expressed by the following Arrhenius equation:

Comparison of HeNe laser and sinusoidal non-uniform magnetic field seed pre-sowing treatment effect on Glycine max (Var 90-I) germination, growth and yield.

k_{total} = 10^{13.05 \pm 0.46} (s^{ - 1} )\exp ^{ - 242.6 \pm 6.2({{kJ} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{kJ} {mol}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {mol}})/RT} .

Muscilage characterization, biochemical and enzymatic activities of laser irradiated Lagenaria siceraria seedlings

The hydrogen halide elimination is believed to proceed through a semipolar four-membered cyclic transition state. The presence of a methyl group on the α-carbon atom lowered the activation energy by 47 kJ mol−1. The experimentally observed pressure dependence of the rate constant is compared with the theoretically predicted values that are obtained by RRKM calculations.

Thiamine-functionalized silver nanoparticles for the highly selective and sensitive colorimetric detection of Hg2+ ions

An experimental study of the thermal decomposition of polyethylene in an inert atmosphere has been carried out in the temperature range 300-800°C using Shimadzu PYR-2A pyrolyzer for heating the sample. The method allows the accurate control and measurement of the pyrolysis temperature. The production of hydrocarbons and the corresponding monomers of these polymeric systems were monitored. The effects of variation of temperature, sample size, pyrolysis atmosphere, residence time and catalyst on the distribution of these products were studied. As the carrier gas rapidly swept the primary products from the hot zone into the chromatographic column, so the secondary decomposition is largely eliminated and the pyrolysis products give accurate information about the nature, composition and structure of the pyrolysis material.