Tahseen Kamal

Adsorption and photocatalyst assisted dye removal and bactericidal performance of ZnO/chitosan coating layer.

Pure chitosan and its zinc oxide composite coatings were applied on microfibriller cellulose mat (MCM) to prepare chitosan coated microfibriller cellulose (Chi-MCM) and zinc oxide/chitosan coated microfibriller cellulose (ZnO/Chi-MCM), respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were used to characterize the samples in this study. SEM images showed that dense chitosan solutions (3 and 5wt%) made a thick layer over MCM while diluted solution (1wt%) resulted in wrapping of the chitosan over the individual microfibers and avoided the thick layer formation. Removal of an azo dye methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution using adsorption and combined adsorption with photodegradation activity of the Chi-MCM and ZnO/Chi-MCM were evaluated, respectively. Compared in the absence of UV light, ZnO/Chi-MCM showed faster and higher degree of dye removal by photocatalytic dissociation and adsorption under ultraviolet irradiation. Various parameters including pH of MO solution and its initial concentration were tested for the removal of MO dye. ZnO/Chi-MCM showed maximum adsorption capacity of 42.8mg/g. Antibacterial activities were also evaluated where ZnO/Chi-MCM displayed a remarkable performance inhibiting the Escherichia coli growth.

Dye adsorption and bactericidal properties of TiO2/chitosan coating layer.

A new kind of titanium oxide dispersed in chitosan (TiO2/CS) nanocomposite adsorbent was prepared and adhered to high surface area substrate, cellulose microfibers mat (CMM). CS-CMM and TiO2/CS-CMM were used for the thymol violet (TV) dye removal from wastewater. Characterization of materials was carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The adsorption properties of both the CS-CMM and TiO2/CS-CMM were investigated as a function of adsorbent dosage, solution pH, and contact time. It was revealed that the composites pretreated in the solution with higher pH value exhibited larger adsorption capacities. Kinetic studies showed that the composites could adsorb TV dye rapidly and reached the equilibrium in 90min. The adsorption process followed pseudo-second order kinetics and involved particle diffusion mechanism. The calculated maximum adsorption capacities of CS-CMM and TiO2/CS-CMM were 84.32 and 97.51mgg(-1), respectively. Compare to CS, the TiO2/CS nanocomposite coated CMM showed higher antibacterial characteristics as tested against Escherichia coli.

CuO embedded chitosan spheres as antibacterial adsorbent for dyes.

Chitosan/copper oxide (CS/CuO) composite spheres were prepared by simple mixing of CuO nanomaterials in CS solution followed by dropwise addition to NH4OH solution. The characterizations of all the prepared spheres were carried out by FESEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, and FTIR analyses while the thermal properties were analyzed by TGA. Further the ability of composite spheres was tested as an easily removable pollutant adsorbent from water containing different dyes and compared with pure CS. Composite spheres were found to be the best adsorbent when applied to remove indigo carmine (IC), congo red (CR) and methyl orange (MO) from water. Amongst the three dyes, CS/CuO composite spheres were more selective toward MO adsorption. CS/CuO composite spheres also displayed significant antibacterial activity by inhibiting Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth. Thus the fabricated composite spheres can be used as a biosorbent in the future.

Antibacterial nanocomposites based on chitosan/Co-MCM as a selective and efficient adsorbent for organic dyes

Chitosan/cobalt-silica (Co-MCM) nanocomposites were synthesized for the purification of effluent by adding 5, 15 and 25mL of Co-MCM solution to the aqueous chitosan solution for the formation of chitosan/Co-MCM-5, chitosan/Co-MCM-15 and chitosan/Co-MCM-25, respectively. These different nanocomposites were characterized by FESEM, EDS, X-ray crystallography and IR spectrophotometer and employed for the adsorption of various dyes (methyl orange, acridine orange, indigo carmine and congo red). The respective nanocomposites showed good adsorption toward methyl orange, indigo carmine and congo red while all nanocomposites were inactive for acridine orange dye. Among the nanocomposites, chitosan/Co-MCM-15 showed the highest adsorption performance which might be due to ideal dispersion of Co-MCM inside the chitosan polymer host. Chitosan/Co-MCM-15 exhibited high adsorption for methyl orange as compared to indigo carmine. We have further checked the biological potential of chitosan/Co-MCM nanocomposites against gram positive and negative bacteria as well as multi drug resistant bacteria. The results favor the strongest bioactivities of chitosan/Co-MCM-15 against various gram positive and gram negative bacteria as well as multi drug resistant bacteria, which further suggest the ideal dispersion of Co-MCM in chitosan polymer host and is responsible for the improvement of both adsorption as well as biological performance.

Synthesis and catalytic properties of silver nanoparticles supported on porous cellulose acetate sheets and wet-spun fibers

Cellulose acetate fibers (CAfiber), and sheets (CAsheet) were prepared by wet-spinning, and doctor blade methods, respectively. For CAfiber, the CA-acetone solution was pushed through narrow orifice of the medical syringe into a coagulating bath containing water. The same polymer solution was used for the fabrication of CAsheet. The prepared CAfiber and CAsheet were dipped in a 0.1M aqueous AgNO3 solution followed by treatment with 0.1M NaBH4 aqueous solution to synthesize the Ag nanoparticles over stated substrates. The virgin CAfiber and CAsheet as well as Ag nanoparticles containing samples (Ag/CAfiber and Ag/CAsheet) were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, FTIR, and TGA. These materials were tested as catalysts in hydrogenation of the 2,6-dinitrophenol (2,6-DNP) by NaBH4. The Ag/CAfiber played better catalytic role in the hydrogenation of 2,6-DNP as compared to the Ag/CAsheet. Moreover, the catalyst amount effect on the reaction rate constant, ease of separation and reusability of the prepared materials were discussed.

Recent Development of Chitosan Nanocomposites for Environmental Applications.

BACKGROUND Potable, clean and safe water is the basic need for all human beings. Major portion of the earth is occupied by water, however, this is contaminated by rapid industrialization, improper sewage and natural calamities and man-made activates, which produce several water-borne and fetal diseases. In this review we presented some recent patent for environmental remediation. METHODS Various technologies have been developed for the treatment of waste water consist of chemical, membrane, filtration, sedimentation, chlorination, disinfection, electrodialysis, electrolysis, reverse osmosis and adsorption. Among these entire phenomenons, adsorption was the most efficient method for wastewater treatment, because it is a quick and cheap technology which signifies extensive practical applications. Adsorption phenomenon has been tactfully used for the removal of biological waste as well as soluble and insoluble material with a removal efficacy of 90-99%. RESULTS Clean water supply is limited to human beings. The people in the developing countries have less or no access to the clean and potable water. The shortage of potable water resources and long term safe water deficiencies are some of the leading problems worldwide. In this review, we have explained in the detail adsorption phenomena of chitosan, pharmaceutical importance and other applications. It is worth to say that adsorption technologies using chitosan and its derivative is one of the quickest and cost effective methods for the wastewater treatment. The review comprises of ninety eight references. This review also covers various patents vis-a-vis the role of chitosan-nanocomposite in environmental application for wastewater treatment. CONCLUSION Chitosan is a pseudo-neutral cationic polymer which is formed by the de-acetylation of chitin polymer. Various patent on chitosan and chitosan-nanocomposite were taken into account related to wastewater purification. We have found that chitosan and chitosan-nanocomposite are used for the removal of viruses, bacteria, cryptosporidium oocysts and giardia cysts, soluble and insoluble organic pollutants, poly aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals from wastewater. In this study, we also found that chitosan and chitosan-nanocomposite are selected for the removal of transition metals.

Novel combination of zero-valent Cu and Ag nanoparticles @ cellulose acetate nanocomposite for the reduction of 4-nitro phenol

A very simple and low-cost procedure has been adopted to synthesize efficient copper (Cu), silver (Ag) and copper-silver (Cu-Ag) mixed nanoparticles on the surface of pure cellulose acetate (CA) and cellulose acetate-copper oxide nanocomposite (CA-CuO). All nanoparticles loaded onto CA and CA-CuO presented excellent catalytic ability, but Cu-Ag nanoparticles loaded onto CA-CuO (Cu0-Ag0/CA-CuO) exhibited outstanding catalytic efficiency to convert 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) into 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH4. Additionally, the Cu0-Ag0/CA-CuO can be easily recovered by removing the sheet from the reaction media, and can be recycled several times, maintaining high catalytic ability for four cycles.

Anti-bacterial chitosan/zinc phthalocyanine fibers supported metallic and bimetallic nanoparticles for the removal of organic pollutants

In this report, we prepared chitosan (CS) membrane, CS/zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc-CS) composite fibers and pellets as support for the synthesis of zero valent metal nanoparticles. The composite fibers and pellets of ZnPc-CS were prepared by simply dispersing 5wt% of ZnPc in CS solution. ZnPc-CS composite were applied as economical host material for the development of metallic and bimetallic zero valent nanoparticles. The composites of ZnPc-CS were put in 0.1M metals salt solutions (mono- and bi-metallic) for the adsorption of metal ions. The metal ions adsorbed ZnPc-CS fibers were treated with 0.1M sodium borohydride (NaBH4) aqueous solution for conversion of metal ions into nanoparticles. Thus, through water based in-situ preparation process, metals nanoparticles loaded on ZnPc-CS composite fibers and pellets were achieved. The presence of respective metals nanoparticles on the composite fibers was confirmed using FE-SEM, XRD and FTIR. Moreover, we determined that these composites exhibit excellent catalytic efficiency and recyclability in the reduction reactions of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), methyl orange (MO) and cango red (CR). In addition, these composites displayed high antibacterial activity as tested against pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli.

Anti-bacterial PES-cellulose composite spheres: dual character toward extraction and catalytic reduction of nitrophenol

Polyethersulfone (PES) based hybrid adsorbents were used for the removal of different phenols from aqueous solutions, which are categorized as major aquatic organic pollutants. In an effort to develop adsorbents with high surface area, PES, PES-silica (PES-SiO2), PES-carbon black (PES-CB) and PES-cellulose acetate-CB (PES-CA-CB) were prepared in the form of spheres and characterized by using FESEM, TEM, EDS, XRD, FTIR, and TGA. All the hybrid spheres were selective toward adsorption of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and among different hybrid spheres, PES-CA-CB spheres possessed high affinity and competent selectivity toward 4-NP. Therefore, different adsorption parameters have been optimized for PES-CA-CB spheres. The adsorption uptake of 4-NP onto PES-CA-CB spheres was highly dependent on pH and concentration of 4-NP. The highest adsorption was recognized at a pH around 6. The adsorption isotherm of 4-nitrophenol on PES-CA-CB obeyed the Langmuir model with an adsorption capacity of 128.79 mg g−1. Further, all hybrid spheres were utilized as supporting materials for Cu nanoparticles. Hybrid spheres supported Cu nanoparticles were applied for the catalytic reduction of 4-NP. Among all the hybrid spheres supported Cu nanoparticles, PES-CA-CB spheres supported Cu (Cu@PES-CA-CBspheres) nanoparticles exhibited high catalytic activity. Finally, Cu@PES-CA-CBspheres showed excellent antibacterial activity compared to all the hybrid spheres and hybrid spheres supporting Cu nanoparticles. All these adsorbents and catalysts can be prepared by a very simple method, are easily recovered by just removing the pellet from the solution and can be used several times.

Thin layer chitosan-coated cellulose filter paper as substrate for immobilization of catalytic cobalt nanoparticles

A facile approach utilizing synthesis of cobalt nanoparticles in green polymers of chitosan (CS) coating layer on high surface area cellulose microfibers of filter paper (CFP) is described for the catalytic reduction of nitrophenol and an organic dye using NaBH4. Simple steps of CFP coating with 1wt% CS aqueous solution followed by Co2+ ions adsorption from 0.2M CoCl2 aqueous solution were carried out to prepare pre-catalytic strips. The Co2+ loaded pre-catalytic strips of CS-CFP were treated with 0.19M NaBH4 aqueous solution to convert the ions into nanoparticles. Successful Co nanoparticles formation was assessed by various characterization techniques of FESEM, EDX and XRD analyzes. TGA analyses were carried out on CFP, CS-CFP, and Co-CS-CFP for the determination of the amount of Co particles formed on the CS-FP, and to track their thermal properties. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the Co-CS-CFP showed an excellent catalytic activity and reusability in the reduction reactions a nitroaromatic compound of 2,6-dintirophenol (2,6-DNP) and brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) dye by NaBH4. The Co-CS-CFP catalyzed the reduction reactions of 2,6-DNP and BCB by NaBH4 with psuedo-first order rate constants of 0.0451 and 0.1987min-1, respectively.