Fabrication and Process Optimization of Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Nanofibers by Response Surface Methodology.

In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to model and optimize the electrospinning parameters to obtain poly(2-hydroxylethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) nanofibers which is challenging in terms of evaluating the optimum conditions in nanofiber production. A second order (quadratic model) polynomial function was used for correlation between electrospinning parameters (flow rate, applied voltage, polymer/ethanol concentration) and average fiber diameter. An electro-spinning set-up was used to fabricate nanofibers and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the morphology and the size of the nanofibers with diameter ranging from 211 nm to 1661 nm. Results concluded that the concentration of polymer solution played an important role in distribution of fiber diameter. Based on RSM, the optimum pHEMA fibers with 245±35 nm diameter were collected at 13 µL/min flow rate, 12 kV applied voltage at an ethanol:pHEMA ratio of 1.76.

Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA nanocomposites for anticancer drug loading and release studies.

Magnetic nanocomposites (Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA) were synthesized by single oil emulsion method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Particle size of nanocomposites was between 117 nm and 246 nm. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to investigate drug loading (paclitaxel, PTX) and release from Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX nanocomposites. The percentages of drug loading and encapsulation efficiency onto nanocomposites were found as 7.35 and 68.58, respectively. Cytotoxities of free anticancer drug and anticancer drug-loaded nanocomposites were determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. In vitro cell culture studies indicated that Fe3O4-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX had significant toxicity on MG-63 cancer cells.

Adsorption of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols onto organically modified bentonites.

Experiments were conducted on the adsorption characteristics of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols by organically modified bentonites at different temperatures. Two organobentonites (HDTMA-B and PEG-B) were synthesized using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMABr) and poly(ethylene glycol) butyl ether (PEG). Synthesized HDTMA-B and PEG-B were characterized by XRD, FTIR and DTA-TG analyses and their specific surface area, particle size and pore size distributions were determined. BET surface areas and basal spacings (d(001)) of the HDTMA-B and PEG-B were found to be 38.71 m(2)g(-1), 69.04 m(2)g(-1) and 21.96 Å, 15.17 Å, respectively. Increased adsorption with temperature indicates that the process is endothermic for o-nitrophenol. On the other hand m- and p-nitrophenols exhibited lower rates of adsorption at higher temperatures suggesting a regular exothermic process taking place. Results were analyzed according to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Redushkevich (D-R) isotherm equations using linearized correlation coefficient at different temperatures. R(L) separation factors for Langmuir and the n values for Freundlich isotherms showed that m- and p-nitrophenols are favorably adsorbed by HDTMA-B and, p-nitrophenol is favored by PEG-B. Adsorption of o-, m- and p-nitrophenols as single components or from their binary mixtures on HDTMA-B and, p-nitrophenol on PEG-B are all defined to be physical in nature.

Investigation of nickel(II) biosorption on Enteromorpha prolifera: optimization using response surface analysis.

In this study, the biosorption of nickel(II) ions on Enteromorpha prolifera, a green algae, was investigated in a batch system. The single and combined effects of operating parameters such as initial pH, temperature, initial metal ion concentration and biosorbent concentration on the biosorption of nickel(II) ions on E. prolifera were analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum biosorption conditions were determined as initial pH 4.3, temperature 27 degrees C, biosorbent concentration 1.2 g/L and initial nickel(II) ion concentration 100 mg/L. At optimum biosorption conditions, the biosorption capacity of E. prolifera for nickel(II) ions was found to be 36.8 mg/g after 120 min biosorption. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium data and defined very well both isotherm models. The monolayer coverage capacity of E. prolifera for nickel(II) ions was found as 65.7 mg/g. In order to examine the rate limiting step of nickel(II) biosorption, such as the mass transfer and chemical reaction kinetics, the intraparticle diffusion model, external diffusion model and the pseudo second order kinetic model were tested with the experimental data. It was found that for both contributes to the actual biosorption process. The pseudo second order kinetic model described the nickel(II) biosorption process with a good fitting.

Heavy metal removal from aqueous solution by Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf.

The present study was carried out in a batch system using a lichen (Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf) for the sorption of nickel(II) and copper(II) ions from water. Particularly, the effect of pH, contact time and temperature were considered. Pseudevernia furfuracea exhibited nickel(II) and copper(II) uptake of 49.87 and 60.83 mg/g at an initial pH of 4 and 5-6 at 35 degrees C respectively. Both the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models were suitable for describing the biosorption of nickel(II) and copper(II) by the biosorbent. Biosorption showed pseudo first order rate kinetics for nickel and copper ions. Using the equilibrium constant values obtained at 25 and 35 degrees C, the thermodynamics properties of the biosorption (deltaG degrees, deltaH degrees and deltaS degrees) were determined. The biosorption of nickel(II) and copper(II) onto Pseudevernia furfuracea was found to be endothermic.

Equilibrium and kinetic studies for the sorption of 3-methoxybenzaldehyde on activated kaolinites.

The sorption of 3-methoxybenzaldehyde on activated kaolinites has been investigated at different temperatures. Two types of activation tests were performed. The sorption equilibrium was studied by sorption isotherms in the temperature range 303-333K for natural (untreated), thermally and acid activated kaolinites. It was shown that the isotherm shapes were not affected by temperature and activation types of kaolinite. The absorbance data at 312nm were fitted reasonably well with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the model parameters were determined for different temperatures. Thermodynamic quantities such as Gibbs free energy (DeltaG), the enthalpy (DeltaH) and the entropy change of sorption (DeltaS) were determined for natural, thermally and acid activated kaolinites. It was shown that the sorption processes were an endothermic reactions, controlled by physical mechanisms and spontaneously. Adsorption capacity of acid activated kaolinite for 3-methoxybenzaldehyde was higher compared to that of natural and thermally activated kaolinites at various temperatures. The adsorption and desorption rate constants (k(a) and k(d)) were obtained separately by applying a geometric approach to the first order Langmuir model. This method provided good conformity between the K from Langmuir parameters and K(geo) (k(a)/k(d)) from geometric approach.