Preparation of Nitriles from Aldehydes using Ammonium Persulfate by means of a Nitroxide-Catalysed Oxidative Functionalisation Reaction

A methodology for the preparation of nitriles from aldehydes by means of an oxidative functionalisation reaction is reported. It employs employs ammonium persulfate as the primary oxidant and the nitrogen...

MB Dye Adsorption Behavior on Poly (N cyclohexylacrylamide-co-Acrylamide/Maleicacid)/ OMMT Nanocomposite Hydrogels

A series of poly (N-cyclohexylacrylamide-co-Acrylamide/Maleic acid) /OMMT nanocomposite hydrogels (NC) were prepared from free-radical copolymerization in water/methanol medium using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator and N,N’- methylene-bis-acryl amide(MBA) as the cross-linker at 60˚C. The nanocomposite hydrogels were synthesized via in situ polymerization using organo modified MMT (O-MMT) nano clay. The optimum swelling of nanocomposite superabsorbents was achieved at 0.150g of OMMT nanoclay. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by FTIR, SEM, XRD and TGA techniques. Swelling and diffusion parameters in water and dye solution were calculated. The effect of two cationic salt solutions on the swelling was studied. The hydrogel nanocomposites showed up to 99.9% removal efficiency towards methylene blue dye adsorption study.

Fracturing Fluid Design: A Closer Look at Breaker and Surfactant Selection

Guar and its derivatives are the most commonly used gelling agents for fracturing fluids. At high temperature, higher polymer loadings are required to maintain sufficient viscosity for proper proppant carry and creating the fracture geometry. To minimize fracturing fluids damage and optimize fracture conductivity, it is necessary to design a fluid that is easy to clean up by ensuring proper breaking and sufficiently low surface tension for flow back. Therefore, breakers and surfactants must be carefully selected and optimally dosed to ensure the success of fracturing treatments. In this study, two fracturing fluids were evaluated for moderate to high temperature applications with a focus on post-treatment cleanup efficiency. The first is a guar-based fluid with a borate crosslinker evaluated at 280°F and the second is a CMHPG-based fluid with a zirconate crosslinker evaluated at 320°F. The shear viscosities of both fluids were tested with a live sodium bromate breaker, a polymer encapsulated ammonium persulfate breaker and a dual breaker system combining the two breakers. Different anionic and nonionic surfactant chemistries (aminosulfonic acid and alcohol based) were investigated by measuring surface tension of the surfactant solutions at different concentrations. The compatibility of the surfactants with other fracturing fluid additives and their adsorption in Berea sandstone was also investigated. Finally, the damage caused by leak-off for each fracturing fluid was simulated by using coreflooding experiments and Berea sandstone core plugs. Lab results showed the guar and CMHPG fluids maintained sufficient viscosity for the first two hours at baseline, respectively. The encapsulated breaker proved to be effective in delaying the breaking of the fracturing fluids. The dual breaker system was the most effective and the loading was optimized for each tested temperature to provide the desired viscosity profile. Two of the examined surfactants were effective in lowering surface tension (below 30 dyne/cm) and were stable for all tested temperatures. The guar broken fluid showed better regained permeability (up to 94%) when compared to the CMHPG (up to 53%) fluid for Berea sandstone. This paper outlines a methodical approach to selecting and optimizing fracturing fluid chemical additives for better post-treatment cleanup and subsequent well productivity.

A Novel Optimized Formulation for Cooling Tower Effluent Disinfection: Tarasht Power Plant Case Study

Since the operating conditions of the cooling tower units provide such a suitable environment for the growth of bacteria and algae, taking measures for the disinfection process is strongly recommended. The cooling tower unit is proceeded by RO and the disinfection strategy is sodium hypochlorite, combined with this new formulation. The sampling result revealed that bacteria counts from the effluent of the cooling tower are 2600 CFU/ml while the microbial load of the water in the pond is 220 CFU/ml. Herein, two type formulations are introduced for cooling tower output stream while the pond water comes along with a NaOCl injection. The dosage of A: Glucose Oxidase, B: ammonium persulfate, and C: Amoxicillin, and D: the order of use are chosen as the four independent variables whose effects and their binary interactions on microbial load and disinfection efficiency were investigated via Box–Behnken design (BBD) combined with response surface methodology (RSM). The ANOVA results show that the most significant variable is amoxicillin in the presence of bleach. Meanwhile, high values for R2 > 0.99 and the model F-value 45.64 in addition to diagnostic tests confirmed the reliability of the model. Several solutions have been introduced as optimum formulations. The pre-scale up and economic considerations have been included.

Synthesis, Characterization and Antibacterial Application of Copolymers Based on N,N-Dimethyl Acrylamide and Acrylic Acid

Hydrogel copolymers based on N,N-dimethyl acrylamide (DMA) and acrylic acid (AAc) were synthesized using a solution polymerization technique with different monomer ratios and ammonium persulfate as an initiator. This paper investigates the thermal stability, physical and chemical properties of the hydrogel copolymer. Testing includes Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis (CHNS). The copolymer composition was determined by elemental analysis, and the reactivity ratios of monomers were calculated through linearization methods such as Fineman–Ross (FR), inverted Fineman–Ross (IFR), Kelen–Tudos (KT) and Mayo–Lewis (ML). Good agreement was observed between the results of all four methods. The ratio of r1 and r2 were 0.38 (r1) and 1.45 (r2) (FR), 0.38 (r1) and 1.46 (r2) (IFR), 0.38 (r1) and 1.43 (r2) (KT), and 0.38 (r1) and 1.45 (r2) (ML). Hydrogel copolymers exhibited good thermal stability, and SEM showed three-dimensional porous structures. Antibiotic-free and antibiotic-loaded hydrogels demonstrated antimicrobial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. As the ratio of DMA in hydrogel copolymer increased, the activity of copolymer against bacteria enhanced. The results indicated that these hydrogels have the potential to be used as antibacterial materials.

Characterization of a polyaniline/pre-oxidized fiber felt electromagnetic wave absorbing composite

Firstly, a polyaniline/pre-oxidized fiber felt composite was prepared by in situ polymerization using pre-oxidized fiber felt as the substrate, aniline as the monomer, ammonium persulfate as the oxidant, and p-toluenesulfonic acid as the dopant. Secondly, the electromagnetic wave absorbing property and tensile property of the polyaniline/pre-oxidized fiber felt composite were investigated. Finally, the structure and composition were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that the reflection loss of the polyaniline/pre-oxidized fiber felt composite is the smallest at the 3000 MHz frequency, reaching –8.23 dB, and the average surface resistance is 2059.84 Ω, with good conductivity. The characterization analysis shows that polyaniline has been successfully loaded on the pre-oxidized fiber felt, and the protonation reaction occurs at the nitrogen atom on the imine -N-. The polyaniline structure is doped by p-toluenesulfonic acid with a certain degree of order and crystallinity, and the composite has good thermal stability.

Silica-Supported Styrene-Co-Divinylbenzene Pickering Emulsion Polymerization: Tuning Surface Charge and Hydrophobicity by pH and Co-Aid Adsorption

In this work, polymerizations of styrene (St) in the presence of divinylbenzene (DVB) as a crosslinking agent and sodium 4-vinylbenzenesulfonate (VBS) have been performed in Pickering emulsions, using silica nanoparticles (SNps) as stabilizing agents and ammonium persulfate as a hydrophilic initiator. In oil-in-water Pickering emulsions with alkaline continuous phase (pH = 9) at 1, 2, and 3 wt% DVB (relative to St), polydisperse spheroid copolymer submicronic nanoparticles were obtained. Comparatively, polymerizations performed in Pickering emulsions with acidic continuous phase (pH = 5) allowed preparing St-co-DVB microspheres with core–shell structures at 1 wt% DVB and St-co-DVB hybrid monoliths with bi-continuous morphologies at 2 and 3 wt% DVB. It is noteworthy that this work reports Pickering emulsion polymerization as a new strategy for preparing hybrid percolated scaffolds with bi-continuous porosity. The proposed mechanisms originated by pH, DVB, and VBS and the drastic impact caused on the final morphology obtained, either hybrid particles or monoliths, are discussed herein.

3D Hierarchical Polyaniline–Metal Hybrid Nanopillars: Morphological Control and Its Antibacterial Application

Effective and reliable antibacterial surfaces are in high demand in modern society. Although recent works have shown excellent antibacterial performance by combining unique hierarchical nanotopological structures with functional polymer coating, determining the antibacterial performance arising from morphological changes is necessary. In this work, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical polyaniline–gold (PANI/Au) hybrid nanopillars were successfully fabricated via chemical polymerization (i.e., dilute method). The morphology and structures of the PANI/Au nanopillars were controlled by the reaction time (10 min to 60 h) and the molar concentrations of the monomer (0.01, 0.1, and 1 M aniline), oxidant (0.002, 0.0067, 0.01, and 0.02 M ammonium persulfate), and acid (0.01, 0.1, 1, and 2 M perchloric acid). These complex combinations allow controlling the hierarchical micro- to nanostructure of PANI on a nanopillar array (NPA). Furthermore, the surface of the 3D PANI/Au hierarchical nanostructure can be chemically treated while maintaining the structure using initiated chemical vapor deposition. Moreover, the excellent antibacterial performance of the 3D PANI/Au hierarchical nanostructure (HNS) exceeds 99% after functional polymer coating. The excellent antibacterial performance of the obtained 3D PANI/Au HNS is mainly because of the complex topological and physicochemical surface modification. Thus, these 3D PANI/Au hierarchical nanostructures are promising high-performance antibacterial materials.

Synthesis, Characterization, In-Vitro and In-Vivo Evaluation of Ketorolac Tromethamine-Loaded Hydrogels of Glutamic Acid as Controlled Release Carrier

Glutamic acid-co-poly(acrylic acid) (GAcPAAc) hydrogels were prepared by the free radical polymerization technique using glutamic acid (GA) as a polymer, acrylic acid (AAc) as a monomer, ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker, and ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. Increase in gel fraction was observed with the increasing concentration of glutamic acid, acrylic acid, and ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate. High percent porosity was indicated by developed hydrogels with the increase in the concentration of glutamic acid and acrylic acid, while a decrease was seen with the increasing concentration of EGDMA, respectively. Maximum swelling and drug release was exhibited at high pH 7.4 compared to low pH 1.2 by the newly synthesized hydrogels. Similarly, both swelling and drug release increased with the increasing concentration of glutamic acid and acrylic acid and decreased with the increase in ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate concentration. The drug release was considered as non-Fickian transport and partially controlled by viscoelastic relaxation of hydrogel. In-vivo study revealed that the AUC0–∞ of fabricated hydrogels significantly increased compared to the drug solution and commercial product Keten. Hence, the results indicated that the developed hydrogels could be used as a suitable carrier for controlled drug delivery.