Systematic studies on the effect of structural modification of orange peel for remediation of phenol contaminated water.

In the present study, orange peel biochar has been utilized as the adsorbent for the removal of phenol from contaminated water. The biochar was prepared by thermal activation process at three different temperature 300, 500 and 700°C and are defined as B300, B500, and B700 respectively. The synthesized biochar has been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), RAMAN spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. SEM analysis revealed a highly irregular and porous structure for B700 as compared with others. The parameters such as initial phenol concentration, pH, adsorption dosage, and contact time were optimized, and the maximum adsorption efficiency and capacity of about 99.2% and 31.0 mg/g was achieved for B700 for phenol adsorption. The Branauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and Berrate-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) pore diameter obtained for B700 were about 67.5 m2 /g and 3.8 nm. The adsorption of phenol onto the biochar followed Langmuir isotherm showing linear fit with R2 = 0.99, indicating monolayer adsorption. The kinetic data for adsorption is best fitted for pseudo-second order. The thermodynamic parameters ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS° values obtained are negative, which means that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. The adsorption efficiency of phenol marginally declined from 99.2% to 50.12% after five consecutive reuse cycles. The study shows that the high-temperature activation increased the porosity and number of active sites over the orange peel biochar for efficient adsorption of phenol. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Orange peel is thermally activated at 300, 500, and 700°C for structure modification. Orange peel biochars were characterized for its structure, morphology, functional groups, and adsorption behavior. High-temperature activation improved the adsorption efficiency up to 99.21% due to high porosity.

Influence of ultrasonic condition on phase transfer catalyzed radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in two phase system - A kinetic study.

An ultrasonic condition assisted phase transfer catalyzed radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate was investigated in an ethyl acetate/water two phase system at 60±1°C and 25kHz, 300W under inert atmosphere. The influence of monomer, initiator, catalyst and temperature, volume fraction of aqueous phase on the rate of polymerization was examined in detail. The reaction order was found to be unity for monomer, initiator and catalyst. Generally, the reaction rate was relatively fast in two phase system, when a catalytic amount of phase transfer catalyst was used. The combined approach, use of ultrasonic and PTC condition was significantly enhances the rate of polymerization. An ultrasonic and phase transfer catalyzed radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate has shown about three fold enhancements in the rate compared with silent polymerization of MMA using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as PTC. The resultant kinetics was evaluated with silent polymerization and an important feature was discussed. The activation energy and other thermodynamic parameters were computed. Based on the obtained results an appropriate radical mechanism has been derived. TGA showed the polymer was stable up to 150°C. The FT-IR and DSC analysis validates the atactic nature of the obtained polymer. The XRD pattern reveals the amorphous nature of polymer was dominated.

Solution, solid state, and film properties of a structurally characterized highly luminescent molecular europium plastic material excitable with visible light.

The synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of the ligand L (4,7-dicarbazol-9-yl-[1,10]-phenanthroline) are reported, as well as those of the molecular complex, [Eu(tta)(3)(L)] (1), (tta = 2-thenoyl trifluoroacetylacetonate). Their photophysical properties have been investigated both in solution and in the solid state. It was shown that the ligands used for designing 1 are well-suited for sensitizing the Eu(III) ion emission, thanks to a favorable position of the triplet state as investigated in the Gd(III) complex [Gd(tta)(3)(L)], (2). The low local symmetry of the Eu(III) ion shown by the X-ray crystal structure of 1 is also revealed by luminescence spectroscopy. Because of interesting volatility and solubility properties, 1 is shown to behave as a real molecular material that can be processed both by thermal evaporation and from solution. When doped in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA), 1 forms air-stable and highly red-emitting plastic materials that can be excited in a wide range of wavelengths from the UV to the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (250-560 nm). Absolute quantum yields of 80% have been obtained for films comprising 1-3% of 1. Ellipsometry measurements have been introduced to gain information on physical data of 1. They have been performed on thin films of 1 deposited by thermal evaporation and gave access to the refractive index, n, and the absorption coefficient, k, as a function of the wavelength. A value of 1.70 has been found for n at 633 nm. These thin films also show interesting air-stability.