Selective Adsorption of Ionic Species Using Macroporous Monodispersed Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate/Acrylic Acid Microgels with Tunable Negative Charge

In this work, the possibility of fabricating composite magneto-optical ceramics by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of nanopowders and high-temperature vacuum sintering of the compacts was investigated. Holmium oxide was chosen as a magneto-optical material for the study because of its transparency in the mid-IR range. Nanopowders of magneto-optical (Ho0.95La0.05)2O3 (HoLa) material were made by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. Nanopowders of (Y0.9La0.1)2O3 (YLa) were made by laser synthesis for an inactive matrix. The process of formation of one- and two-layer compacts by EPD of the nanopowders from alcohol suspensions was studied in detail. Acetylacetone was shown to be a good dispersant to obtain alcohol suspensions of the nanopowders, characterized by high zeta potential values (+29–+80 mV), and to carry out a stable EPD process. One-layer compacts were made from the HoLa and YLa nanopowders with a density of 30–43%. It was found out that the introduction of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) into the suspension leads to a decrease in the mass and thickness of the green bodies deposited, but does not significantly affect their density. The possibility of making two-layer (YLa/HoLa) compacts with a thickness of up to 2.6 mm and a density of up to 46% was demonstrated. Sintering such compacts in a vacuum at a temperature of 1750 °C for 10 h leads to the formation of ceramics with a homogeneous boundary between the YLa/HoLa layers and a thickness of the interdiffused ion layer of about 30 μm

Selective Adsorption of Ionic Species Using Macroporous Monodispersed Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate/Acrylic Acid Microgels with Tunable Negative Charge

Monodispersed polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA)/acrylic acid (AA) microgels with a tuneable negative charge and macroporous internal structure have been produced using a Lego-inspired droplet microfluidic device. The surface charge of microgels was controlled by changing the content of AA in the monomer mixture from zero (for noncharged PEGDA beads) to 4 wt%. The macroporosity of the polymer matrix was introduced by adding 20 wt% of 600-MW polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a porogen material into the monomer mixture. The porogen was successfully leached out with acetone after UV-crosslinking, which resulted in micron-sized cylindrical pores with crater-like morphology, uniformly arranged on the microgel surface. Negatively charged PEGDA/AA beads showed improved adsorption capacity towards positively charged organic dyes (methylene blue and rhodamine B) compared to neutral PEGDA beads and high repulsion of negatively charged dye molecules (methyl orange and congo red). Macroporous microgels showed better adsorption properties than nonporous beads, with a maximum adsorption capacity towards methylene blue of 45 mg/g for macroporous PEGDA/AA microgels at pH 8.6, as compared to 23 mg/g for nonporous PEGDA/AA microgels at the same pH. More than 98% of Cu(II) ions were removed from 50 ppm solution at pH 6.7 using 2.7 mg/mL of macroporous PEGDA/AA microgel. The adsorption of cationic species was significantly improved when pH was increased from 3 to 9 due to a higher degree of ionization of AA monomeric units in the polymer network. The synthesized copolymer beads can be used in drug delivery to achieve improved loading capacity of positively charged therapeutic agents and in tissue engineering, where a negative charge of scaffolds coupled with porous structure can help to achieve improved permeability of high-molecular-weight metabolites and nutrients, and anti-fouling activity against negatively charged species

Membrane-Assisted Liquid-Phase Extraction of Lu(III) in a U-Shaped Contactor with a Single Hollow Fiber Membrane

Extraction of Lu(III) from an aqueous LuCl3 solution at pH 3.5 into an organic phase containing 5% (v/v) di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA) in di-n-hexyl ether (DHE) immobilized within a polypropylene hollow fiber membrane and a simultaneous back extraction of Lu(III) into 2 mol dm(-3) HCl solution has been investigated using two miniaturized supported liquid membrane (SLM) systems: (i) a single hollow fiber membrane, with stagnant acceptor phase in the lumen, immersed into a donor phase reservoir; and (ii) a U-shaped module containing a single hollow fiber membrane with a closed loop recirculation of aqueous phases through the module. In the stagnant SLM system, the maximum extraction efficiency was 8.8% due to limited acceptor volume and absence of flow within the lumen. In recirculating SLM system, after 80 mm of operation at the donor phase flow rate of 5.3 cm(3) min(-1), the acceptor phase flow rate of 0.4 cm(3) min(-1) and the donor-to-acceptor phase volume ratio of 6.7, the equilibrium removal efficiency of Lu(III) reached 88% and less than 5% of Lu(III) extracted from the feed solution was kept in the organic phase. For shell side flow of the donor phase at Reynolds numbers of Re = 3-34, the overall mass-transfer coefficient was proportional to the donor flow rate raised to the power of 0.63 and increased from 2.3 x 10(-5) m s(-1) to 8.8 x 10(-5) m s(-1). The rate-limiting step was the mass transfer of Lu(III) within the boundary layer of the donor phase adjacent to the outer wall of the hollow fiber

Extraction of lutetium(III) from aqueous solutions by employing a single fibre-supported liquid membrane

Transport behaviour of Lu(III) across a polypropylene hollow fibre-supported liquid membrane containing di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA) in dihexyl ether as a carrier has been studied. The donor phase was LuCl(3) in the buffer solution consisting of 0.2 M sodium acetate at pH 2.5-5.0. A miniaturised system with a single hollow fibre has been operated in a batch mode. The concentration of Lu(III) was determined by indirect voltammetric method using Zn-EDTA complex. The effect of pH and volume of the donor phase, DEHPA concentration in the organic (liquid membrane) phase, the time of extraction and the content of the acceptor phase on the Lu(III) extraction and stripping behaviour was investigated. The results were discussed in terms of the pertraction and removal efficiency, the memory effect and the mean flux of Lu(III). The optimal conditions for the removal of (177)Lu(III) from labelled (177)Lu-radiopharmaceuticals were discussed and identified. The removal efficiency of Lu(III) greater than 99% was achieved at pH of the donor phase between 3.5 and 5.0 using DEHPA concentration in the organic phase of 0.47 M and the ratio of the donor to the acceptor phase of 182

Analysis of concentration boundary layer in thallium (III) extraction with butyl acetate using membrane modules of different length

The development of concentration boundary layer (CBL) inside the hollow fibers, based on the experimental data from membrane-based solvent extraction of thallium (III) from chloride-containing acidic solutions with butyl acetate, was investigated. The experiments have been performed using three laboratory made contactors, consisting of hydrophobic polypropylene or polyvinylidene fluoride fibers of different length. The feed solution flowed inside the fibers, while the organic phase was pumped counter-currently at the module shell side. The influence of aqueous flow rate on the mean mass transfer coefficient in the aqueous phase was investigated. The tube-side Sherwood number was proportional to the Graetz number raised to powers ranging between 0.4 and 0.81. A model for the determination of CBL thickness and entry length was developed and used for the numerical analysis of the process. The entry length, i.e. the axial distance from the fiber inlet at which CBL reaches the axis of the fibers, was directly proportional to the aqueous phase flow rate and inversely proportional to the number of fibers in a module.International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM), Jul 07-12, 2002, Taulouse, Franc

Citric acid functionalized chitosan hydrogel beads for enhanced Cr(VI) removal: Experimental assessment and COMSOL modelling of adsorption in a fixed-bed system

Chitosan hydrogel beads (CHB) and cross-linked CHB functionalized with tricarboxylic citric acid (CA-GLA-CHB) were synthesized and used for the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions in batch and dynamic adsorption systems. Applicability of COMSOL Multiphysics software as a tool for predictive modelling of column dynamics using a minimum set of experimental parameters was tested and compared with experimental results. Batch experiments demonstrated that CA-GLA-CHB showed almost 20% higher adsorption capacity and wider operational pH range compared to non-functionalized CHB. In a dynamic system, CA-GLA-CHB was used as column packing material and the column dynamics was investigated at different conditions. The breakthrough and exhaustion time of the column increased with an increase in bed height and a decrease in feed flow rate and initial Cr(VI) concentration. Computational modeling by COMSOL software with implemented Advection-Dispersion-Reaction (ADR) equation was used to simulate breakthrough curves for the applied dynamic system in order to validate the possibility of its application for process design in the scaled-up fixed-bed column systems for wastewater treatment. The simulated breakthrough curves of Cr(VI) adsorption matched well with the experimental, thus proving that COMSOL Multiphysics software can be used for scaling-up fixed-bed column systems packed with low-cost and effective CA-GLA-CHB bioadsorbent

Novel Sr-90-Y-90 generator system based on a pertraction through supported liquid membrane in hollow fiber contactor

Separation of yttrium(III) from strontium(II) with 15% (v/v) di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA) in dodecane was carried out in a hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (SLM) extraction system operated under closed-loop recirculation of the donor and acceptor phase. The donor phase was a mixture of 5.7 mmol dm(-3) of Sr(II) and 0.23 mmol dm(-3) of Y(III) in 0.1 mol dm(-3) HCl, the acceptor solution was 3 mol dm(-3) HCl, and the donor to acceptor phase volume ratio was 6.2. At the donor flow rate of 4.7 cm(3) min(-1) and the acceptor flow rate of 0.8 cm(3) min(-1), the yield of Y(III) in the acceptor phase (in the form suitable for radiopharmaceutical preparation) reached 60% after 360 min with a molar ratio of Y(III) to Sr(II) in the acceptor of 250:1, as compared to 1:25 in the donor phase. The yield of Y(III) was 72% at the acceptor flow rate to 1.9 cm3 min(-1), but a breakthrough of Sr(II) through liquid membrane increased from 0.02 to 0.2%. (C) 2015 The Institution a Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Citric acid functionalized chitosan hydrogel beads for enhanced Cr(VI) removal: experimental assessment and COMSOL modelling of adsorption in a fixed-bed system

Chitosan hydrogel beads (CHB) and cross-linked CHB functionalized with tricarboxylic citric acid (CA-GLA-CHB) were synthesized and used for the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions in batch and dynamic adsorption systems. Applicability of COMSOL Multiphysics software as a tool for predictive modelling of column dynamics using a minimum set of experimental parameters was tested and compared with experimental results. Batch experiments demonstrated that CA-GLA-CHB showed almost 20% higher adsorption capacity and wider operational pH range compared to non-functionalized CHB. In a dynamic system, CA-GLA-CHB was used as column packing material and the column dynamics was investigated at different conditions. The breakthrough and exhaustion time of the column increased with an increase in bed height and a decrease in feed flow rate and initial Cr(VI) concentration. Computational modeling by COMSOL software with implemented Advection-Dispersion-Reaction (ADR) equation was used to simulate breakthrough curves for the applied dynamic system in order to validate the possibility of its application for process design in the scaled-up fixed-bed column systems for wastewater treatment. The simulated breakthrough curves of Cr(VI) adsorption matched well with the experimental, thus proving that COMSOL Multiphysics software can be used for scaling-up fixed-bed column systems packed with low-cost and effective CA-GLA-CHB bioadsorbent.</p