Amination of biochar surface from watermelon peel for toxic chromium removal enhancement

Watermelon peel residues were used to produce a new biochar by dehydration method. The new biochar has undergone two methods of chemical modification and the effect of this chemical modification on its ability to adsorb Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution has been investigated. Three biochars, Melon-B, Melon-BO-NH_2 and Melon-BO-TETA, were made from watermelon peel via dehydration with 50% sulfuric acid to give Melon-B followed by oxidation with ozone and amination using ammonium hydroxide to give Melon-BO-NH_2 or Triethylenetetramine(TETA) to give Melon-BO-TETA. The prepared biochars were characterized by BET, BJH,SEM, FT-IR, TGA, DSC and EDAX analyses. The highest removal percentage of Cr(VI) ions was 69% for Melon-B,98% for Melon-BO-NH_2 and 99% for Melon-BO-TETA biochars of 100 mg·L~(-1) Cr(VI) ions initial concentration and 1.0 g·L~(-1) adsorbents dose. The unmodified biochar(Melon-B) and modified biochars(Melon-BO-NH_2 and Melon-BO-TETA) had maximum adsorption capacities(Qm) of 72.46, 123.46, and 333.33 mg·g~(-1), respectively.The amination of biochar reduced the pore size of modified biochar, whereas the surface area was enhanced.The obtained data of isotherm models were tested using different error function equations. The Freundlich,Tempkin and Langmuir isotherm models were best fitted to the experimental data of Melon-B, Melon-BO-NH_2 and Melon-BO-TETA, respectively. The adsorption rate was primarily controlled by pseudo-second–order rate model. Conclusively, the functional groups interactions are important for adsorption mechanisms and expected to control the adsorption process. The adsorption for the Melon-B, Melon-BO-NH_2 and Melon-BO-TETA could be explained for acid–base interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction.     

Macrophage Immunomodulation Through New Polymers that Recapitulate Functional Effects of Itaconate as a Power House of Innate Immunity

Itaconate (ITA) is an emerging powerhouse of innate immunity with therapeutic potential that is limited in its ability to be administered in a soluble form. A library of polyester materials that incorporate ITA into polymer backbones resulting in materials with inherent immunoregulatory behavior is developed. Harnessing hydrolytic degradation release from polyester backbones, ITA polymers result in the mechanism specific immunoregulatory properties on macrophage polarization in vitro. In a functional assay, the polymer-released ITA inhibits bacterial growth on acetate. Translation to an in vivo model of biomaterial associated inflammation, intraperitoneal injection of ITA polymers demonstrate a rapid resolution of inflammation in comparison to a control polymer silicone, demonstrating the value of sustained biomimetic presentation of ITA.     

Structural Investigation of the Binding of 5‐Substituted Swainsonine Analogues to Golgi α‐Mannosidase II

Golgi α‐mannosidase II (GMII) is a key enzyme in the N‐glycosylation pathway and is a potential target for cancer chemotherapy. The natural product swainsonine is a potent inhibitor of GMII. In this paper we characterize the binding of 5α‐substituted swainsonine analogues to the soluble catalytic domain of Drosophila GMII by X‐ray crystallography. These inhibitors enjoy an advantage over previously reported GMII inhibitors in that they did not significantly decrease the inhibitory potential of the swainsonine head‐group. The phenyl groups of these analogues occupy a portion of the binding site not previously seen to be populated with either substrate analogues or other inhibitors and they form novel hydrophobic interactions. They displace a well‐organized water cluster, but the presence of a C(10) carbonyl allows the reestablishment of important hydrogen bonds. Already approximately tenfold more active against the Golgi enzyme than the lysosomal enzyme, these inhibitors offer the potential of being extended into the N‐acetylglucosamine binding site of GMII for the creation of even more potent and selective GMII inhibitors.     

Mechanical properties of gamma‐irradiated styrene‐butadiene rubber/acid‐treated vermiculite clay/maleic anhydride nanocomposites

Nanoparticle vermiculite (VMT) clay was prepared by treatment with hydrochloric acid. Styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing different contents (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 phr) of untreated (VMT) and acid‐treated (DVMT) vermiculite clay, respectively. In addition, different contents (3, 7, and 10 phr) of maleic anhydride (MA) as compatibilizer were mixed via direct melt compounding in internal mixer. The effect of gamma irradiation, VMT clay, and MA contents on the mechanical properties was studied. The acid‐treated VMT clay was characterized by x‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy. Meanwhile, the SBR/VMT composites, SBR/DVMT, and SBR/DVMT/MA nanocomposites were characterized via crosslinking density and tensile mechanical testing and FT‐IR spectroscopic analysis. The results indicated that good yield of nanoparticle vermiculite was achieved when the acid treatment was carried out for 120 h. In addition, the results showed that the presence of DVMT clay improved the chemical bonding in the SBR nanocomposites and hence their mechanical properties. The highest improvement was obtained when the contents of DVMT clay, MA, and irradiation dose were 10 phr, 3 phr, and 100 kGy, respectively. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:355–364, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Controlled Individual Skyrmion Nucleation at Artificial Defects Formed by Ion Irradiation

Magnetic skyrmions are particle‐like deformations in a magnetic texture. They have great potential as information carriers in spintronic devices because of their interesting topological properties and favorable motion under spin currents. A new method of nucleating skyrmions at nanoscale defect sites, created in a controlled manner with focused ion beam irradiation, in polycrystalline magnetic multilayer samples with an interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, is reported. This new method has three notable advantages: 1) localization of nucleation; 2) stability over a larger range of external field strengths, including stability at zero field; and 3) existence of skyrmions in material systems where, prior to defect fabrication, skyrmions were not previously obtained by field cycling. Additionally, it is observed that the size of defect nucleated skyrmions is uninfluenced by the defect itself—provided that the artificial defects are controlled to be smaller than the inherent skyrmion size. All of these characteristics are expected to be useful toward the goal of realizing a skyrmion‐based spintronic device. This phenomenon is studied with a range of transmission electron microscopy techniques to probe quantitatively the magnetic behavior at the defects with applied field and correlate this with the structural impact of the defects.     

Transthyretin Mimetics as Anti‐β‐Amyloid Agents: A Comparison of Peptide and Protein Approaches

β‐Amyloid (Aβ) aggregation is causally linked to neuronal pathology in Alzheimer's disease; therefore, several small molecules, antibodies, and peptides have been tested as anti‐Aβ agents. We developed two compounds based on the Aβ‐binding domain of transthyretin (TTR): a cyclic peptide cG8 and an engineered protein mTTR, and compared them for therapeutically relevant properties. Both mTTR and cG8 inhibit fibrillogenesis of Aβ, with mTTR inhibiting at a lower concentration than cG8. Both inhibit aggregation of amylin but not of α‐synuclein. They both bind more Aβ aggregates than monomer, and neither disaggregates preformed fibrils. cG8 retained more of its activity in the presence of biological materials and was more resistant to proteolysis than mTTR. We examined the effect of mTTR or cG8 on Aβ binding to human neurons. When mTTR was co‐incubated with Aβ under oligomer‐forming conditions, Aβ morphology was drastically changed and Aβ‐cell deposition significantly decreased. In contrast, cG8 did not affect morphology but decreased the amount of Aβ deposited. These results provide guidance for further evolution of TTR‐mimetic anti‐amyloid agents.     

Rapid synthesis of cellulose triacetate from cotton cellulose and its effect on specific surface area and particle size distribution

A highly rapid process is described for the preparation of cellulose triacetate and its effect on particle size and surface area of the product. The process involves microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of cellulose triacetate with very low amount of acetic anhydride (10–15% of acetic anhydride is used in conventional methods) in the presence of iodine as a catalyst using a designed reaction vessel. The technique used is simple and rapid; it is also characterized by a high conversion ratio (yield 100%). A small amount of iodine (115 and 230 mg, 1.15 and 2.3% of cellulose weight) was found to be effective in the production of cellulose triacetate using 25, 30 to 40 mL acetic anhydride for 10 g cellulose under microwave irradiation for 2–4 min. The production of cellulose triacetate and the degree of substitution were confirmed by FTIR, Raman, ¹H NMR, and thermogravimetric analysis. The optimal reaction condition was discovered to be 3 min microwave radiation and 30 mL acetic anhydride in the presence of 230 mg iodine for 10 g cellulose. The effects of the amount of acetic anhydride, and amount of catalyst and reaction time on the specific surface area, pore volume, mean pore diameter, and particle size distribution were investigated. The highest surface area obtained was 39.63 m²/g. The specific surface area and particle size distribution are highly dependent on the amount of acetic anhydride and I₂ catalyst. About 10% of the synthesized cellulose acetate showed particle size less than 200 nm.     

Treatment of wastewater containing toxic chromium using new activated carbon developed from date palm seed

The use of a new activated carbon developed from date palm seed wastes, generated in the jam industry, for removing toxic chromium from aqueous solution has been investigated. The activated carbon has been achieved from date palm seed by dehydrating methods using concentrated sulfuric acid. The batch experiments were conducted to determine the adsorption capacity of the biomass. The effect of initial metal concentration (25-125mgl(-1)), pH, contact time, and concentration of date palm seed carbon have been studied at room temperature. A strong dependence of the adsorption capacity on pH was observed, the capacity increase as pH value decrease and the optimum pH value is pH 1.0. Kinetics and adsorption equilibrium were studied at different sorbent doses. The adsorption process was fast and the equilibrium was reached within 180min. The maximum removal was 100% for 75mgl(-1) of Cr(+ concentration on 4gl(-1) carbon concentration and the maximum adsorption capacity was 120.48mgg(-1). The kinetic data were analyzed using various kinetic models - pseudo-first order equation, pseudo-second order equation, Elovich equation and intraparticle diffusion equation - and the equilibrium data were tested using several isotherm models, Langmuir, Freundlich, Koble-Corrigan, Redlich-Peterson, Tempkin, Dubinin-Radushkevich and Generalized isotherm equations. The Elovich equation and pseudo-second order equation provide the greatest accuracy for the kinetic data and Koble-Corrigan and Langmuir models the closest fit for the equilibrium data. Activation energy of sorption has also been evaluated as 0.115 and 0.229kJmol(-1).     

Survival of toxigenic Escherichia coli on chamomile,peppermint, green,black, ginger,and cinnamon teas during storage and brewing

In this study, the persistence of toxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) on dried chamomile, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, black and green teas stored under 4, 10, and 25°C was determined. The E. coli survival rate in ginger and cinnamon teas decreased below 0 on Day 5. In the other tested teas, E. coli survivability showed a downward trend over time, but never dropped to 0. Chamomile tea retained the greatest population of viable E. coli. Meanwhile, die-off of E. coli was higher at 25°C compared to lower temperatures. Additionally, fate of E. coli during brewing at 60, 70 and 80°C was evaluated. The E. coli population was reduced to below 2 Log colony forming units (CFU)/g after 1 min at 80°C, At the same time, the E. coli survival at 60°C was higher than that at 70°C in all tested teas. The data indicated that if E. coli survives after storage of prepared teas, it may also survive and grow after the brewing process, especially if performed using temperatures <80°C. Finally, we analyzed the correlations between temperature, time, tea varieties and E. coli survival, and successfully constructed a random forest regression model. The results of this study can be used to predict changes in E. coli during storage and fate during the brewing process. Results will form the basis of undertaking a risk assessment.