Performance of p-Toluenesulfonic Acid–Based Deep Eutectic Solvent in Denitrogenation: Computational Screening and Experimental Validation

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are green solvents developed as an alternative to conventional organic solvents and ionic liquids to extract nitrogen compounds from fuel oil. DESs based on p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) are a new solvent class still under investigation for extraction/separation. This study investigated a new DES formed from a combination of tetrabutylphosphonium bromide (TBPBr) and PTSA at a 1:1 molar ratio. Two sets of ternary liquid–liquid equilibrium experiments were performed with different feed concentrations of nitrogen compounds ranging up to 20 mol% in gasoline and diesel model fuel oils. More than 99% of quinoline was extracted from heptane and pentadecane using the DES, leaving the minutest amount of the contaminant. Selectivity was up to 11,000 for the heptane system and up to 24,000 for the pentadecane system at room temperature. The raffinate phase’s proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and GC analysis identified a significantly small amount of quinoline. The selectivity toward quinoline was significantly high at low solute concentrations. The root-mean-square deviation between experimental data and the non-random two-liquid (NRTL) model was 1.12% and 0.31% with heptane and pentadecane, respectively. The results showed that the TBPBr/PTSADES is considerably efficient in eliminating nitrogen compounds from fuel oil

Variation of the crystal growth of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and the evaluation to ibuprofen loading and release

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were synthesized with variable microwave power in the range of 100-450W, and the resulting enhancement of MSN crystal growth was evaluated for the adsorption and release of ibuprofen. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that the MSN prepared under the highest microwave power (MSN450) produced the most crystallized and prominent mesoporous structure. Enhancement of the crystal growth improved the hexagonal order and range of silica, which led to greater surface area, pore width and pore volume. MSN450exhibited higher ibuprofen adsorption (98.3mg/g), followed by MSN300(81.3mg/g) and MSN100(74.1mg/g), confirming that more crystallized MSN demonstrated higher adsorptivity toward ibuprofen. Significantly, MSN450 also contained more hydroxyl groups that provided more adsorption sites. In addition, MSN450 exhibited comparable ibuprofen adsorption with conventionally synthesized MSN, indicating the potential of microwave treatment in the synthesis of related porous materials. In vitrodrug release was also investigated with simulated biological fluids and the kinetics was studied under different pH conditions. MSN450showed the slowest release rate of ibuprofen, followed by MSN300 and MSN100. This was due to the wide pore diameter and longer range of silica order of the MSN450. Ibuprofen release from MSN450 at pH 5 and 7 was found to obey a zero-order kinetic model, while release at pH 2 followed the Kosmeyer-Peppas model

Abstracts of the International Conference on Business, Accounting and Finance 2023: Embracing New Business Paradigm Shifts

This book presents the abstracts of the selected contributions to the second International Academic Conference 2023, held on 25-26 February 2023 by the International University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. IAC 2023 is the coming together of researchers and industry. It’s a place to gather and share groundbreaking ideas, discoveries, and experiences on a variety of thought leadership topics covered under this year’s conference theme, “Embracing New Business Paradigm Shifts". Conference Title: International Academic Conference 2023Conference Acronym: IAC 2023Conference Theme: Embracing New Business Paradigm ShiftsConference Date: 25-26 February 2023Conference Venue: IUMW, MalaysiaConference Organizer: International University of Malaya-Wales, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysi