Granulation of hydrometallurgically synthesized spinel lithium manganese oxide using cross-linked chitosan for lithium adsorption from water.

A drastic increase in demand for electric vehicles and energy storage systems increases lithium (Li) need as a critical metal for the 21st century. Lithium manganese oxides stand out among inorganic adsorbents because of their high capacity, chemical stability, selectivity, and affordability for lithium recovery from aqueous media. This study investigates using hydrometallurgically synthesized lithium manganese oxide (Li1.6Mn1.6O4) in granular form coated with cross-linked chitosan for lithium recovery from water. Characterization methods such as SEM, FTIR, XRD, and BET reveal the successful synthesis of the composite adsorbent. Granular cross-linked chitosan-coated and delithiated lithium manganese oxide (CTS/HMO) adsorbent demonstrated optimal removal efficiency of 86 % at pH 12 with 4 g/L of adsorbent dosage. The Langmuir isotherm at 25 °C, which showed monolayer adsorption with a maximum capacity of 4.94 mg/g, a better fit for the adsorption behavior of CTS/HMO. Adsorption was endothermic and thermodynamically spontaneous. Lithium adsorption followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model.

Breakthrough curve analysis of phosphorylated hazelnut shell waste in column operation for continuous harvesting of lithium from water.

In batch-scale operations, biosorption employing phosphorylated hazelnut shell waste (FHS) revealed excellent lithium removal and recovery efficiency. Scaling up and implementing packed bed column systems necessitates further design and performance optimization. Lithium biosorption via FHS was investigated utilizing a continuous-flow packed-bed column operated under various flow rates and bed heights to remove Li to ultra-low levels and recover it. The Li biosorption capacity of the FHS column was unaffected by the bed height, however, when the flow rate was increased, the capacity of the FHS column decreased. The breakthrough time, exhaustion time, and uptake capacity of the column bed increased with increasing column bed height, whereas they decreased with increasing influent flow rate. At flow rates of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mL/min, bed volumes (BVs, mL solution/mL biosorbent) at the breakthrough point were found to be 477, 369, and 347, respectively, with the required BVs for total saturation point of 941, 911, and 829, while the total capacity was calculated as 22.29, 20.07, and 17.69 mg Li/g sorbent. In the 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 cm height columns filled with FHS, the breakthrough times were 282, 366, and 433 min, respectively, whereas the periods required for saturation were 781, 897, and 1033 min. The three conventional breakthrough models of the Thomas, Yoon-Nelson, and Modified Dose-Response (MDR) were used to properly estimate the whole breakthrough behavior of the FHS column and the characteristic model parameters. Li's extremely favorable separation utilizing FHS was evidenced by the steep S-shape of the breakthrough curves for both parameters flow rate and bed height. The reusability of FHS was demonstrated by operating the packed bed column in multi-cycle mode, with no appreciable loss in column performance.

Liquefaction of Oak Wood Using Various Solvents for Bio-oil Production.

Rapidly increasing global energy demand resulting from the growing population and worldwide development has increased the consumption of limited fossil fuel. The usage causes severe environmental deterioration by CO2 emission, which has sparked interest in finding green, renewable, and sustainable alternative sources of energy. Bio-oil, derived from several biomasses via liquefaction, is a promising candidate to replace fossil fuels. Turkey's land (27%) is covered with forested areas (consisting of mostly oak trees). Therefore, it has great potential for cheap lignocellulosic feedstock forest residues from industrial applications and harvesting. In the present study, the thermal liquefaction of oak wood particles (OWP) was performed using various solvents in addition to water, namely, ethanol, 1-butanol, and 1,4-dioxane. The experiments were carried out in a batch reactor for 1 and 2 h residence times at different temperatures (210, 240, and 270 °C). Bio-oil samples obtained at 270 °C and a 1 h residence time determined as optimum conditions were analyzed with TGA, CHNS elemental analysis, FTIR, and GC-MS. 1,4-Dioxane showed the best performance in yielding the maximum bio-oil with 51.8% at those conditions. The higher heating values of the bio-oils ranged from 22.1 to 35 MJ/kg. Phenolic groups were the predominant components of bio-oil produced from OWP, while the intensity of alcohols, ketones, and acids varied based on used solvents. Based on energy recovery calculations, the enhancement of pristine OWP's energy efficiency depended on bio-oil yield, and quality was confirmed for all solvent types (1,4-dioxane > 1-butanol > water > ethanol).

Novel Hybrid Adsorption-Electrodialysis (AdED) System for Removal of Boron from Geothermal Brine.

A novel hybrid adsorption-electrodialysis (AdED) system to remove environmentally harmful boron from geothermal brine was designed and effective operating parameters such as pH, voltage, and flow rate were studied. A cellulose-based adsorbent was synthesized from glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) grafted cellulose and modified with a boron selective n-methyl-d-glucamine (NMDG) group and characterized with SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and TGA analyses. Batch adsorption studies revealed that cellulose-based adsorbent showed a remarkable boron removal capacity (19.29 mg/g), a wide stable operating pH range (2-10), and an adsorption process that followed the Freundlich isotherm (R 2 = 0.95) and pseudo-second-order kinetics (R 2 = 0.99). In the hybrid AdED system, the optimum operating parameters for boron removal were found to be a pH of 10, a voltage of 10 V, a flow rate of 100 mL/min, and an adsorbent dosage of 4 g/L. The presence of the adsorbent in the hybrid system increased boron removal from real geothermal brine (containing 199 ppm boron) from 7.2% to 73.3%. The results indicate that the designed AdED system performs better than bare electrodialysis for boron removal from ion-rich real geothermal brine while utilizing environmentally friendly cellulose-based adsorbent.

Cross-Linked Phosphorylated Cellulose as a Potential Sorbent for Lithium Extraction from Water: Dynamic Column Studies and Modeling.

Phosphorylated functional cellulose was cross-linked with epichlorohydrin at different ratios because it is a very hydrophilic substance that instantly swells to form a hydrogel when it comes into contact with water. It was aimed to utilize a continuously packed bed column to recover lithium from water under varying operating conditions such as flow rate and bed height. The characterization results confirmed cross-linking based on morphology, structure, surface area, and thermal stability differences. Lithium recovery was more efficient with a low flow rate, but the dynamic sorption process was independent of bed height. The total capacities at the three flow rates with 1.5 cm bed height were 33.56, 30.15, and 25.54 mg g-1, and the total saturation times at the three different bed heights with 0.5 mL min-1 flow rate were 659, 1001, and 1007 min, respectively. Only 15.75 mL of 5% H2SO4 solution was required to desorb approximately 100% of Li from the saturated sorbent.

Box-Behnken Design for Hydrogen Evolution from Sugar Industry Wastewater Using Solar-Driven Hybrid Catalysts.

Hydrogen is a clean and green fuel and can be produced from renewable sources via photocatalysis. Solar-driven hybrid catalysts were synthesized and characterized (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DSR)), and the results implied that graphene-supported LaRuO3 is a more promising photocatalyst to produce hydrogen and was used to produce hydrogen from sugar industry wastewater. To investigate the main and interaction effects of reaction parameters (pH, catalyst amount, and [H2O2]0) on the evolved hydrogen amount, the Box-Behnken experimental design model was used. The highest hydrogen evolution obtained was 6773 µmol/gcat from sugar industry wastewater at pH 3, 0.15 g/L GLRO, and 15 mM H2O2. Based on the Pareto chart for the evolved hydrogen amount using GLRO, among the main effects, the only effective parameter was the catalyst amount for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from sugar industry wastewater. In addition, the squares of pH and two-way interaction of pH and [H2O2]0 were also statistically efficient over the evolved hydrogen amount.

Selective catalytic hydrogenation of cellulose into sorbitol with Ru-based catalysts.

Sorbitol is one of the platform chemicals and can be produced from various renewable and sustainable sources via different processes. Hydrothermal liquefaction is an effective and promising approach to produce sorbitol, since the subcritical reaction media and appropriate catalysts provide a selective production of platform chemicals. In this study, sorbitol was produced from different renewable sources (cellulose and glucose) in the presence of Ru-based catalysts (Ru/SiO2, Ru/AC, Ru/SBA-15, and Ru/SBA-15-SO3) under subcritical conditions. The highest cellulose conversion was achieved as 90% in the presence of Ru/SBA-15-SO3 for 1 h of reaction duration. The highest sorbitol yield (%) by hydrothermal liquefaction of cellulose was obtained as 6.2% by using Ru/AC for 1 h of reaction duration. A total of 99.9% of glucose conversion was achieved in the presence of all catalysts. The highest sorbitol yield (%) by hydrothermal liquefaction of glucose was found as 3.8% for 1 h of reaction duration. Owing to the results of GC-MS analysis, the intermediate products were identified, and, thus, a reaction pathway was proposed.

The Effect of Type and Daily Doses of Insulin to Treatment Success in Type 2 Diabetes Patients who are Receiving Basal-bolus Insulin Therapy.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to compare different types of insulin concerning treatment success and insulin dose requirement in type 2 diabetes patients who were receiving basal-bolus insulin therapy and to evaluate the causes of treatment failure despite high doses of insulin. METHODS: In our retrospective study, 198 type 2 diabetes patients who were receiving basal-bolus insulin therapy included. Patients were divided into three groups according to the insulin types (Group 1: short and long-acting analogue insulin users (n=83), Group 2: short and long-acting human regular insulin users (n=58), Group 3: human regular insulin + long-acting analogue insulin users (57)). Demographic data and daily insulin doses were recorded from the patient follow-up files. These data and the rates of achievement of the target HbA1c levels were also compared between groups. In addition, insulin doses of the patients whose glycemic targets could and could not be achieved were compared. RESULTS: In this study, 123 (62.1%) of the 198 patients were female and 65 (47.9 %) were male. The mean age of the three groups was 55.81±8.1, 58.3±8.9, 58.3±8.8, respectively. HbA1C values were 8.72±1.65% in group 1, 9.0±1.98% in group 2 and 9.05±2.24% in group 3. The rates of achievement HbA1c value below 7% were 27.7% in analogue insulin group, 25.9% human regular insulin group and 31.6% in regular + analogue insulin group (p >0.05). There were no significant differences in daily basal and bolus insulin doses, total daily and per kg insulin doses and basal-bolus rates between groups. Higher total daily insulin doses were determined in patients who could not achieve target glycemic values than achieved it in group 1 and 2. Higher basal insulin doses were determined in patients who could not achieve target glycemic values than could achieved it in group 3. CONCLUSION: In our study, in which we did not find any significant difference in the dose analysis between analogue and regular insulin, the findings showed that high insulin doses might not be sufficient for glycemic control. The underlying causes should be investigated and correctible reasons should be eliminated in these patients.

The Relation between Homocysteine Levels in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and Grace Score.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the correlation between homocysteine levels in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and GRACE Score. METHODS: This study included 191 cases -140 Non-ST MI cases and 51 MI with ST-elevation cases in Sisli Etfal Training and Research Hospital Coronary Intensive Care Unit between December 2008 and March 2010. Homocysteine was measured by immulite 2000 device, using kemiluminesans method and competitive immunoassay principle and a kit by DPC was used during the measurement. The reference range given by the producing company was between 5-15 Mmol/L for male and female adults. The patients were classified into three risk groups as low, medium and high on the basis of the criteria identified in GRACE risk score: age, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, serum creatine levels, Killip classification, cardiac arrest on admission, increased cardiac enzymes and ST segment depression. The relation between homocysteine levels in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and GRACE risk score was evaluated. RESULTS: In the Non-ST MI group, a statistically-moderate positive correlation was seen between homocysteine and GRACE risk score during the study (p<0.05). However, in the MI with ST-elevation group, no correlation was found between homocysteine and GRACE risk score (p>0.05). Overall, despite the low figures, a meaningful positive relation was observed between homocysteine and GRACE risk score in all cases. CONCLUSION: Homocysteine is independent of other classic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we believe that routine plasma homocysteine levels should be checked when evaluating risk factors for Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery disease.

The Compatibility of Hemoglobin A1c with Oral Glucose Tolerance Test and Fasting Plasma Glucose.

OBJECTIVES: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disease requiring lifelong medical care, and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. Early diagnosis of prediabetes and diabetes is significant in view of the mortality, morbidity and cost associated with them. Because of the difficulties in application and reproducibility of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), which is considered to be the gold standard in the diagnosis of DM, more feasible diagnostic tests are needed. This study aims to evaluate the validity of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in predicting prediabetes and diabetes in the Turkish population and to evaluate the compatibility of HbA1c with other diagnostic tests. METHODS: The patients who were admitted to Health Sciences University Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital internal diseases and endocrinology outpatient clinics between 01.01.2013 and 30.06.2014 enrolled in this study. The participants were >18 years of age and were not diagnosed with prediabetes or DM earlier. The results of OGTT, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c tests were retrospectively screened, and the correlation of them was analyzed. RESULTS: In this study, 201 participants enrolled. Of these cases, 127 were women and 74 were men. Mean age of the group was 49.3±10.4 years. HbA1c was observed <5.7% in the 15%, 5.7-6.4% in the 60%, and ≥ 6.5% in the 25% of the cases. While FPG was <100 mg/dL in 24% of the participants, it was found to be between 100-126 mg/dL in 71% and ≥126 mg/dL in 5% of the participants. According to the OGTT data, 23% of the cases were healthy, 59% were prediabetic and 18% were diabetic. The sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c were calculated as 50% and 80%, respectively. While the sensitivity of FPG was 17% and specificity was 97%. CONCLUSION: The data obtained from our study show that HbA1c is a more sensitive test compared to FPG in the diagnosis of DM. Prospective studies with broad participation at national and international levels are needed to redefine HbA1c cut-off points for the diagnosis of DM and prediabetes. Thus, it will be possible to revise the diagnostic guidelines accordingly.

Determining INR Awareness of the Patients who Use Warfarin and Rates of Achieving the Target Dosage.

OBJECTIVES: Warfarin is the most frequently used therapy as an oral anticoagulant medication for reducing the risk of thromboembolic complications. However, poor adherence to therapy may cause ineffective INR levels with increased complication risk. In our study, we aimed to show the rates of INR awareness of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) using warfarin and whether they achieved the targeted INR values. METHODS: In this study, 300 male (60%, n=180) and female (40%, n=120) patients over 18 years of age who applied to warfarin polyclinic and were receiving warfarin treatment due to AF were included. The levels of INR between 2-3 were estimated as effective. Same questionnaire was applied to all patients. RESULTS: Our study showed that 57% of the patients who used warfarin were not in the therapeutic range. We also determined that INR awareness was extremely low in the majority of the patients. In this study, 72.2% of the patients who used warfarin did not know the definition of INR, 68% of the patients did not know the side effects of the medicine, 75.7% of the patients did not know the precautions needed to be taken in daily life and 83.7% of the patients did not know the foods rich in vitamin K. Patients who knew the meaning of INR were more likely have INR levels in the effective range, but these rates were not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant relationship between the educational level, marital status, and INR control frequency of the patients with the achievement of targeted INR levels. CONCLUSION: At the beginning of the warfarin treatment, advantages and disadvantages should be balanced by the doctor. The patient and patient's relatives should be informed directly and comprehensibly about the effects and side effects of the medicine, as well as the interactions, pursuance and precautions need to be taken in daily life. Various modern methods should be enabled for surveillance and the patients who are not in the therapeutic range should be followed closer.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and degree of cardiovascular disease risk in patients with Psoriatic Arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and degree of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study on 102 adult patients with PsA and a control group of 102 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MetS was diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. The Framingham risk scores of 10-year risk of CVDs and coronary heart disease (CHD) were also calculated. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS was higher in patients with PsA than in those with RA, according to the NCEP-ATP III (40.6% vs. 24.7%, respectively; p=0.019) and IDF (46.8% vs. 27.9%, respectively; p=0.05) criteria. The prevalence of MetS was higher in female patients with PsA (p=0.009) than in male patients. A significantly increased prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia was determined in patients with PsA (p=0.019). No significant difference existed between the two groups with respect to 10-year CVD (p=0.333) and CHD (p=0.798) risks. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the clinical subtypes of PsA with regard to MetS (p=0.229). CONCLUSION: MetS prevalence increased in patients with PsA compared with those with RA, whereas the risks were similar for CVDs and CHD. For this reason, optimal protection measures should be taken and guidelines should be applied to achieve adequate metabolic control in patients with PsA.

Complete degradation of Orange G by electrolysis in sub-critical water.

Complete degradation of azo dye Orange G was studied using a 500 mL continuous flow reactor made of SUS 316 stainless steel. In this system, a titanium reactor wall acted as a cathode and a titanium plate-type electrode was used as an anode in a subcritical reaction medium. This hydrothermal electrolysis process provides an environmentally friendly route that does not use any organic solvents or catalysts to remove organic pollutants from wastewater. Reactions were carried out from 30 to 90 min residence times at a pressure of 7 MPa, and at different temperatures of 180-250°C by applying various direct currents ranging from 0.5 to 1A. Removal of dye from the product solution and conversion of TOC increased with increasing current value. Moreover, the effect of salt addition on degradation of Orange G and TOC conversion was investigated, because in real textile wastewater, many salts are also included together with dye. Addition of Na(2)CO(3) resulted in a massive degradation of the dye itself and complete mineralization of TOC, while NaCl and Na(2)SO(4) obstructed the removal of Orange G. Greater than 99% of Orange G was successfully removed from the product solution with a 98% TOC conversion.