A comparative study on Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB composites for As(V) removal from water: preparation, characterization and reaction mechanism

Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB composites were prepared using an ionotropic gelation method. Various techniques were used to analyze the morphology, structure, and property of the adsorbents, including SEM, EDS, FT-IR, XPS, and zeta potential. Compared with Fe(III)-chitosan, Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB was more effective for As(V) adsorption at a wide range of pH (3–8). The adsorption of As(V) onto Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB could reach equilibrium in 20 min, and their maximum adsorption capacities were 33.85 and 31.69 mg g‒1, respectively. The adsorption kinetics was best described by the pseudo-second-order model (R2=0.998 and 0.992), whereas the adsorption isotherms was fitted well by the Freundlich model (R2=0.963 and 0.987). The presence of H2PO4− significantly inhibited the adsorption of As(V) onto Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB, and humic acid also led to a slight decrease in As(V) adsorption by Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB. Over 94% of As(V) at the initial concentration of no more than 5 mg L−1 was removed from real water by the two adsorbents. 1% (w/v) NaOH solution was determined to be the most suitable desorption agent. Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB still maintained their initial adsorption capacities after five adsorption-desorption cycles. Based on different characterization results, both electrostatic attraction and surface complexation mechanisms played important roles in As(V) adsorption on Fe(III)-chitosan and Fe(III)-chitosan-CTAB.

hoto-sensitive Hybrids Constructed from Diphenyliodonium and Metal-thiocyanates: Photo-induced Structure and Property Transformation

Strong electron-poor cation diphenyliodonium was firstly incorporated with transition metal thiocyanates to obtain three new photo-sensitive hybrids, (DPI)3[Mn(SCN)5(H2O)]∙0.25H2O (α-1), {(DPI)2[Ni(SCN)4]}n (α-2) and {(DPI)6[Cd3(SCN)12]}n (α-3) (DPI+ =diphenyliodonium), whose photo-induced structural transformations...

Determination of Uric Acid in Biological Fluids by Ceria Nanoparticles Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Voltammetric Sensor

High levels of uric acid (UA) in the human body usually cause diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis, kidney diseases, and neurological diseases. Hence, it is important to develop sensitive methods for UA determination. In this paper, nanocomposite composed of ceria nanoparticles and reduced graphene was successfully modified on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (ceria NPs-rGO/GCE) by a simple electroreduction method. The morphology, structure and property of the ceria NPs-rGO/GCE was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The electrocatalytic activity of the ceria NPs-rGO/GCE for uric acid (UA) oxidation was studied in detail. The results showed that the ceria NPs-rGO/GCE exhibited excellent selectivity and high sensitivity for UA detection. In 0.05 M H2SO4 solution, a linear range of 0.02-20 M and a low detection limit of 8.0 nM of UA were obtained on the ceria NPs-rGO/GCE. This developed method was successfully applied for the detection of UA in human serum and urine samples, and its recoveries reached 95.8%-105.0%.

The In Situ Ion Irradiation Toolbox: Time-Resolved Structure and Property Measurements

The dynamic interactions of ions with matter drive a host of complex evolution mechanisms, requiring monitoring on short spatial and temporal scales to gain a full picture of a material response. Understanding the evolution of materials under ion irradiation and displacement damage is vital for many fields, including semiconductor processing, nuclear reactors, and space systems. Despite materials in service having a dynamic response to radiation damage, typical characterization is performed post-irradiation, washing out all information from transient processes. Characterizing active processes in situ during irradiation allows the mechanisms at play during the dynamic ion-material interaction process to be deciphered. In this review, we examine the in situ characterization techniques utilized for examining material structure, composition, and property evolution under ion irradiation. Covering analyses of microstructure, surface composition, and material properties, this work offers a perspective on the recent advances in methods for in situ monitoring of materials under ion irradiation, including a future outlook examining the role of complementary and combined characterization techniques in understanding dynamic materials evolution.

Structure Characteristics, Biochemical Properties, and Pharmaceutical Applications of Alginate Lyases

Alginate, the most abundant polysaccharides of brown algae, consists of various proportions of uronic acid epimers α-L-guluronic acid (G) and β-D-mannuronic acid (M). Alginate oligosaccharides (AOs), the degradation products of alginates, exhibit excellent bioactivities and a great potential for broad applications in pharmaceutical fields. Alginate lyases can degrade alginate to functional AOs with unsaturated bonds or monosaccharides, which can facilitate the biorefinery of brown algae. On account of the increasing applications of AOs and biorefinery of brown algae, there is a scientific need to explore the important aspects of alginate lyase, such as catalytic mechanism, structure, and property. This review covers fundamental aspects and recent developments in basic information, structural characteristics, the structure–substrate specificity or catalytic efficiency relationship, property, molecular modification, and applications. To meet the needs of biorefinery systems of a broad array of biochemical products, alginate lyases with special properties, such as salt-activated, wide pH adaptation range, and cold adaptation are outlined. Withal, various challenges in alginate lyase research are traced out, and future directions, specifically on the molecular biology part of alginate lyases, are delineated to further widen the horizon of these exceptional alginate lyases.

Hybrid Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) Simulation: A Tool for Structure-based Drug Design and Discovery

: Quantum mechanics (QM) is physics based theory which explains the physical properties of nature at the level of atoms and sub-atoms. Molecular mechanics (MM) construct molecular systems through the use of classical mechanics. So, hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) when combined together can act as computer-based methods which can be used to calculate structure and property data of molecular structures. Hybrid QM/MM combines the strengths of QM with accuracy and MM with speed. QM/MM simulation can also be applied for the study of chemical process in solutions as well as in the proteins, and has a great scope in structure-based drug design (CADD) and discovery. Hybrid QM/MM also applied to HTS, to derive QSAR models and due to availability of many protein crystal structures; it has a great role in computational chemistry, especially in structure- and fragment-based drug design. Fused QM/MM simulations have been developed as a widespread method to explore chemical reactions in condensed phases. In QM/MM simulations, the quantum chemistry theory is used to treat the space in which the chemical reactions occur; however the rest is defined through molecular mechanics force field (MMFF). In this review, we have extensively reviewed recent literature pertaining to the use and applications of hybrid QM/MM simulations for ligand and structure-based computational methods for the design and discovery of therapeutic agents.