Xu Jiao

Application of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/CuO (CS/PVA/CuO) beads as an adsorbent material for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous environment.

The utilization of CS/PVA/CuO as a novel adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution has been examined in a batch adsorption process with several experimental conditions including initial solution pH, dose, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and temperature. The new and novel material was characterized by structural (XRD), spectral (FTIR), morphological with elemental (SEM with EDS), and size of the nanoparticles (TEM) analyses. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion kinetics equations were used to analyze the kinetic data of the adsorption process and the data was fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R2 values (close to the unity). Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of Pb(II) were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and D-R isotherm models. The best interpretation for the equilibrium data was given by Langmuir isotherm, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 116.84mg/g at pH 5, and adsorbent dose of 100mg at 323K. Different thermodynamic parameters namely, Gibbs free energy change (-8.436, -9.167 and -9.723kJ/mol for 303, 313 and 323K respectively), enthalpy change (11.61, 11.52 and 11.62kJ/mol), and entropy change (0.0661J/mol k), were also evaluated from the temperature dependence, and the results suggest that the adsorption reaction is spontaneous and endothermic in nature.

Magnetic-epichlorohydrin crosslinked chitosan schiff’s base (m-ECCSB) as a novel adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous environment

Metal ions cause a serious public health problem. It is a great challenge to find an effective and efficient adsorbent to remove heavy metals from wastewater. Chitosan-based adsorbents are potential and effective for heavy metal ion removal. Hence a novel m-ECCSB was synthesized, characterized and utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solution. Various factors affecting the uptake behavior such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial concentration of Cu(II) and temperature effect were investigated. Maximum adsorption capability (123.10mg/g) was obtained at pH=6, adsorbent dose of=250mg, rotational speed=200rpm, contact time=60min, and temperature of 323K. The result of the kinetic study shows that the adsorption of Cu(II) could be described by the pseudo-second-order equation. Equilibrium data were analysed with the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms and Langmuir model was found to provide the best fit of the experimental data. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption of Cu(II) onto m-ECCSB was spontaneous (ΔG°=-8.990, -10.00 and -10.593kJ/mol), endothermic (ΔH°=15.674, 15.478 and 15.699kJ/mol) and ΔS° (0.0814J/molK) suggests an increased randomness at the solid/solution interface under the studied conditions.

Antibacterial and wound healing properties of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/zinc oxide beads (CS/PVA/ZnO)

Treatment against bacterial infection is crucial for wound healing. Development of cost-effective antibacterial agent with wound healing properties is still in high demand. In this study we aimed to design chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/zinc oxide (CS/PVA/ZnO) beads as novel antibacterial agent with wound healing properties. CS/PVA/ZnO beads were synthesized, and characterized by using XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM analysis. Pure chitosan exhibits two peaks at 2θ=10 and 20 and the CS/PVA polymer matrix exhibit the peaks at 2θ=19.7° and another of low intensity at 2θ=11.5°. Pure ZnO shows the characteristic peaks at (100), (002), (101), (102), (110), (103), (200), and (112) that were in good agreement with wurtzite ore having hexagonal lattice structure. The antibacterial activity of CS/PVA/ZnO against Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated with the zone of inhibition method. Antibacterial activity of CS/PVA/ZnO was higher than that of chitosan (CS) and poly(vinyl alcohol (PVA). Hemocompatibility and biocompatibility of CS/PVA/ZnO were tested in in vitro. Wound healing properties of CS/PVA/ZnO were tested in mice skin wound. CS/PVA/ZnO showed strong antimicrobial, wound healing effect, hemocompatibility and biocompatibility. Hence the results strongly support the possibility of using this novel CS/PVA/ZnO material for the anti bacterial and wound healing application.