Omer Suat Taskin

Polybenzoxazine: A Powerful Tool for Removal of Mercury Salts from Water

A reusable macroporous polybenzoxazine resin with high specific surface area was prepared as sorbent material for the removal of mercury salts. For this purpose, allyl-functionalized bis-benzoxazine was cured in dimethyl sulfoxide by thermally activated ring-opening polymerization at 180 °C for 3 d followed by a freeze-drying process. The porous structure of the resin was confirmed by SEM analysis and N2 adsorption/desorption studies at 77.3 K. Among various metal ions, namely, Pb(II), Fe(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II), the porous polybenzoxazine resin exhibited a specific sorption behaviour towards Hg(II). Mainly chemisorption and to some extent adsorption mechanisms were proposed for the observed high loading capacity of the resin. As evidenced by FTIR spectral analysis, the chemisorption is attributed to the coordination system formed between free OH and tertiary amino groups in the polybenzoxazine structure and Hg(II) ions. It was also demonstrated that the porous polybenzoxazine can be regenerated simply by treatment with acids. The resin was recycled for up to seven cycles without any significant loss of activity, as proved by sorption and desorption experiments.

Preparation of microporous organic polymer through Schiff base chemistry and its potential application

The uniform microporous organic polymer (MOP) was obtained in one-pot and one-step polymerization process through Schiff base chemistry under thermal conditions. The obtained anthraquinone–melamine based MOP (AM-MOP) displays high surface area (215 m2/g). AM-MOP was manually filled into a column with high pressure and used as packing material in the high-performance liquid chromatographic applications. The analysis of compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, flavonoids, and phenolic acids was performed to display a possible application by using AM-MOP packed column. Compared to the commercial columns, AM-MOP exhibits better selectivity factor and column efficiency arising from its strong π–π interaction activity. Furthermore, it has similar solvent uptake in both polar and nonpolar media, which explains good compatibility of the material with all mobile phases, from acetonitrile to methanol and water.

A novel eco-friendly advanced enzymatic Fenton oxidation process for the treatment of ship wastewater

aDepartment of Chemical Oceanography, Institute of Marine Science and Management, Istanbul University, Vefa 34134, Istanbul, Turkey, emails: nbal@istanbul.edu.tr (N. Balkis), nagihan.ersoy@istanbul.edu.tr (N.E. Korkmaz), aaksu@istanbul.edu.tr (A. Aksu), omert@istanbul.edu.tr (O.S. Taskin) bEnvironment Institute, Marmara Research Center-TUBITAK, Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey, email: ertugrul.aslan@tubitak.gov.tr