Mincong Zhu

Supported cobalt oxide on graphene oxide: highly efficient catalysts for the removal of Orange II from water.

The current paper investigated the removal of the azo dye Orange II from water using advanced oxidation processes based on sulfate radicals. The cobalt oxide catalyst immobilized on graphene oxide (GO) can activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the degradation of Orange II in water. The Co(3)O(4)/GO catalyst system was characterized via X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray spectroscopy. Results showed that Co(3)O(4) was distributed on GO. The Co(3)O(4)/GO catalyst system exhibited high activity in Orange II oxidation when the Co(3)O(4)/GO catalyst has an optimum Co(3)O(4) loading. In addition, 100% decomposition could be achieved within 6 min with 0.2mM Orange II, 0.1 g L(-1) catalyst, and 2mM PMS. Meanwhile, inductively coupled plasma analysis revealed that the leach of cobalt ions was low. The catalyst also exhibited stable performance after several rounds of regeneration. Several operational parameters, such as catalyst amount, oxidant amount, pH, temperature, and oxidation rate, affected the degradation of Orange II.

Studies on the properties of graphene oxide–alkaline protease bio-composites

Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets as functional material have a unique planar structure and intriguing mechanical that have attracted intensive interests recently. A method was developed for the immobilization protease on GO sheets using glutaraldehyde as cross-linking reagent. The results showed that the thermostability and reusability of immobilized protease have been obviously improved compared to the free enzyme. However, there was no significant change in optimum pH value between the free and immobilized protease. The immobilized protease exhibited good operational stability. The apparent K(m) and V(max) for free and immobilized alkaline protease were determined, and the bio-catalytic activity was not impaired by immobilization.

Synthesis and Characterization of Eco-friendly Composite: Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Grafted Expanded Graphite/Polyaniline

In this paper, synthesis and characterization of poly(ethylene glycol)- grafted expanded graphite/polyaniline (PEG-grafted EG/PANi) as a novel ecofriendly composite material was reported. EG as substrate prepared from expandable graphite was firstly synthesized by in-situ polymerization at the presence of aniline (An) to obtain EG/PANi, and then graft polymerization with as-prepared PEG-grafted PANi (PEG-g-PANi) composite under no tough conditions. Structural characteristics of the products were evaluated by infrared spectrum (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The experimental results have shown that the product of PEGgrafted EG/PANi composite were synthesized by facile method.

Optimized Process for Efficiently Extraction Protein from Excess Activated Sludge by Alcalase Hydrolysis

In this paper, we developed the utilization of excess activated sludge (EAS) to extract protein. Firstly, activated sludge was hydrolyzed, using six different commercial proteolytic enzymes by the Kjeldahl method, at their optimal conditions respectively, and Alcalase was chosen as the ideal for further analysis. Secondly, important parameters on protein extraction efficiency(PEE) of EAS by hydrolysis were investigated. Experimental results have been shown that 52.5% of protein was extracted from EAS (accounting for 30.5% of initial dry sludge (DS) weight) and reducing the quality of activated sludge about 35% under optimum hydrolysis conditions. This novel technology is more environmentally friendly than the conventional sludge treatments.