Effective Removal of Methyl blue and Crystal Violet Dyes Using Improved Polysulfone / ZIF-8 Nanocomposite Ultrafiltration Membrane

Zeolitic Imidazole framework 8 (ZIF-8) was successfully prepared in an aqueous medium and then dissolved with concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 5% in polysulfone (PSF) to prepare an ultrafiltration membrane. ZIF-8 nanosized material uniformly distributed in the PSF membrane ultrafiltration membrane was prepared in a polar solvent of N,N'-dimethyl formamide (DMF) by phase inversion procedure. Significantly, ZIF-8 enhanced the membrane flux from 50.42 L/m2.h (PSF) to 83.65 L/m2.h at 100 Kpa, and the rejection of methyl blue and crystal violet dyes up to 95.1% and 89.65 %, respectively compared to the PSF membrane without ZIF-8, 41.08%, 46.32%. Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, and dead-end filtration experiment were carried out to characterize the morphology and performance of the prepared ZIF-8 and membranes. The hydrophilicity of the membrane was determined by a contact angle test between water and membrane. SEM was used to study the surface and the cross-sectional morphologies.

Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Antidiabetic Activity of Novel Pyrazoline Fused Indole Derivatives

The primary purpose of this research work is to synthesize, characterize and biological evaluation of novel pyrazoline fused indole derivatives lead to creating a new molecular frame work. Methodology: In the present study, the new series of novel pyrazoline fused indole derivatives were synthesized from from indole and substituted acetophenone by the 4 step process. In the first step indole and dimethyl formamide were coupled by using phosphorous oxychloride and NaOH to prepare the compound 1 Indole-3-aldehyde. In the second step compound 1 was condensed with substituted aetophenone to synthesis the compound 2 chalcones (a-h). In the third step chalcones 2(a-h) were coupled with semicarbazide or thiosemicarbazide to synthesis the compound 3(a-p). In the final step compound 3(a-p) were coupled with indole-3-aldehyde to prepare the final product of R-substitutedN-((1H-indol-3-yl)methylene)-5-(1H-indol-3-yl)-3-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamide and R-substitutedN-((1H-indol-3-yl)methylene)-5-(1H-indol-3-yl)-3-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carbothioamide 4(a-p). Results: The chemical structures of the synthesized compounds were characterized by means of IR, Mass and NMR spectroscopy. The compounds were screened for anti-diabetic activity by In-vitro and In-vivo methods. In In-vivo method 4a, 4m have exhibited moderate anti-diabetic activity as that of standard drug, glibenclamide. In In-vitro method 4a, 4e & 4m have shows moderate anti-diabetic activity as that of reference standard, acarbose. Conclusion: The synthesized novel pyrazoline fused indole derivatives have moderate antidiabetic activity as that of standard drug by In-vitro and In-vivo methods. These compounds can be further exploited to get the potent lead compound.

The Photochemistry of Organic Materials for Photonic Devices

<p>Optically active organic chromophores have attracted much interest in recent years for their potential for use in photonic devices. Chromophores such as compound (1) have been found to have a very high second order nonlinear susceptibility ( β ) value of 650 × 10⁻³⁰esu in dimethyl formamide.¹ The performance of 1 in a polymer film is much lower than this due to the formation of aggregates which hinder the poling process necessary to ensure a noncentrosymmetric arrangement of the molecules in order to display second order nonlinear behaviour. The molecular aggregation behaviour of a set of second order nonlinear compounds based on compound 1 have been studied in this thesis. These compounds share the backbone shown in figure 1 with pendant groups added to the R₁ R₂ and R₃ positions, with the aim of finding substituent groups that can be added to the optically active merocyanine backbone that reduce the aggregation and increase the solubility of the compounds. This in turn will make them more suitable for use in photonics devices. It was found that a C₁₁H₂₃ alkyl chain added to the R₃ position made the largest contribution to decreasing aggregation. Bulky groups on the R₁ and R₂ positions also reduced aggregation. As a result compounds 5 and 8, with R₃ = C₁₁H₂₃ and bulky groups attached displayed the least aggregation of the compounds studied. ¹ See Figure 1 (pg. i): Merocyanine backbone with substituent positions marked.</p>

The Photochemistry of Organic Materials for Photonic Devices

<p>Optically active organic chromophores have attracted much interest in recent years for their potential for use in photonic devices. Chromophores such as compound (1) have been found to have a very high second order nonlinear susceptibility ( β ) value of 650 × 10⁻³⁰esu in dimethyl formamide.¹ The performance of 1 in a polymer film is much lower than this due to the formation of aggregates which hinder the poling process necessary to ensure a noncentrosymmetric arrangement of the molecules in order to display second order nonlinear behaviour. The molecular aggregation behaviour of a set of second order nonlinear compounds based on compound 1 have been studied in this thesis. These compounds share the backbone shown in figure 1 with pendant groups added to the R₁ R₂ and R₃ positions, with the aim of finding substituent groups that can be added to the optically active merocyanine backbone that reduce the aggregation and increase the solubility of the compounds. This in turn will make them more suitable for use in photonics devices. It was found that a C₁₁H₂₃ alkyl chain added to the R₃ position made the largest contribution to decreasing aggregation. Bulky groups on the R₁ and R₂ positions also reduced aggregation. As a result compounds 5 and 8, with R₃ = C₁₁H₂₃ and bulky groups attached displayed the least aggregation of the compounds studied. ¹ See Figure 1 (pg. i): Merocyanine backbone with substituent positions marked.</p>

N,N-Dimethyl Formamide Regulating Fluorescence of MXene Quantum Dots for the Sensitive Determination of Fe3+

Due to the wide use of iron in all kinds of areas, the design and construction of direct, fast, and highly sensitive sensor for Fe3+ are highly desirable and important. In the present work, a kind of fluorescent MXene quantum dots (MQDs) was synthesized via an intermittent ultrasound process using N,N-dimethyl formamide as solvent. The prepared MQDs were characterized via a combination of UV–Vis absorption, fluorescence spectra, X-ray photoelectron energy spectra, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Based on the electrostatic-induced aggregation quenching mechanism, the fluorescent MQDs probes exhibited excellent sensing performance for the detection of Fe3+, with a sensitivity of 0.6377 mM−1 and the detection limit of 1.4 μM, superior to those reported in studies. The present MQDs-based probes demonstrate the potential promising applications as the sensing device of Fe3+.

Incorporation of Biomass-Based Carbon Nanoparticles into Polysulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes for Enhanced Separation and Anti-Fouling Performance

Functionalized carbon nanomaterials are considered to be an efficient modifier for ultrafiltration membranes with enhanced performance. However, most of the reported carbon nanomaterials are derived from unsustainable fossil fuels, while an extra modification is often essential before incorporating the nanomaterials in membranes, thus inevitably increasing the cost and complexity. In this work, novel functionalized biomass-based carbon nanoparticles were prepared successfully from agricultural wastes of corn stalks through simple one-step acid oxidation method. The obtained particles with the size of ~45 nm have excellent dispersibility in both aqueous and dimethyl formamide solutions with abundant oxygen-containing groups and negative potentials, which can endow the polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes with enhanced surface hydrophilicity, larger pore size, more finger-like pores, and lower surface roughness. Therefore, the separation and anti-fouling performance of membranes are improved simultaneously. Meanwhile, the addition of 0.4 wt% nanoparticles was proved to be the best condition for membrane preparation as excess modifiers may lead to particle aggregation and performance recession. It is expected that these biomass-based carbon nanoparticles are potential modifying materials for improving the separation performance and anti-fouling property of the membranes with great simplicity and renewability, which pave a new avenue for membrane modification and agricultural waste utilization.

Sustainable Material Management of Industrial Hazardous Waste in Taiwan: Case Studies in Circular Economy

In recent years, the rapid economic development in Taiwan has resulted in greater complexity in handling industrial hazardous waste. The main aim of this paper was to present a trend analysis of the online reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste from the official database over the past decade (2010–2020). In addition, this study focused on the environmental policies and regulatory measures for the mandatory material resources from industrial hazardous waste according to the promulgation of the revised Waste Management Act. It was found that the annual reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste ranged from 1200 thousand metric tons to 1600 thousand metric tons, reflecting a balanced relationship between the industrial production and waste management. Based on the principles of resource recycling and circular economy, some case studies for specific types of industrial hazardous waste (including spent acid etchant, spent pickling liquid, and spent dimethyl formamide-contained liquid) were compiled to echo the government efforts in sustainable material management. In Taiwan, recycling amounts in 2020 were recorded up to 92,800, 130,460, and 54,266 metric tons, respectively. It was suggested to be a successful circular economy model in the printed circuit boards, steel/iron processing, and synthetic leather industries. In order to effectively reduce the environmental loadings and conserve material resources from industrial hazardous waste, some recommendations were also addressed to provide for the policy makers, environmental engineers and process manager.

DMF Activates NRF2 to Inhibit the Pro-Invasion Ability of TAMs in Breast Cancer

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) account for more than 50% of the cells in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients with breast cancer. A high TAM density is associated with a poor clinical prognosis. Targeting TAMs is a promising therapeutic strategy because they promote tumor growth, development, and metastasis. In this study, we found that dimethyl formamide (DMF) significantly inhibited the tumor invasion-promoting ability of TAMs in the co-culture system and further showed that DMF functioned by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in TAMs. The orthotopic 4T1 cell inoculation model and the spontaneous mouse mammary tumor virus-polyoma middle tumor-antigen tumor model were used to evaluate the antitumor effect of DMF. The results showed that DMF significantly inhibited tumor metastasis and increased T-cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, NRF2 activation was necessary for DMF to exert its function, and DMF can play a role in breast cancer as an anticancer drug targeting TAMs.