Synthesis of composite nanostructure natural ZrO2 and magnetite particles (Fe3O4@ZrO2) and study of its lead ion adsorption efficiency

The potential of zircon minerals in Indonesia, especially in Central Kalimantan, has not been adequately explored and developed into valuable materials with high technical and economic value and environmentally friendly. This research has the potential to be processed and formed into advanced materials, seeing its high potential as an excellent adsorbent for anions/cations in water treatment and industrial wastewater. This research aims to develop raw zircon minerals into zircon oxides, which will later be composited with magnetic nanoparticles. The zircon mineral processing is carried out using hydrothermal methods. It is known that the physical and mechanical characteristics are suitable to be developed by having good reusability and durability as advanced materials. The adsorbent characterizations of FTIR, SEM, and XRF analysis showed that the Fe3O4@ZrO2 had many different functional groups and a high specific surface area for adsorption processes. The Fe3O4@ZrO2 showed high adsorption uptake capacity and selectivity for the lead in the Sasirangan textiles wastewater. Therefore, the Fe3O4@ZrO2 have the potential to be used as an adsorbent in water and wastewater treatment.

Aggregation Properties of Albumin in Interacting with Magnetic Fluids

In this study, interactions of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles with serum albumin biomolecules in aqueous solutions were considered. The studies were conducted with the laser correlation spectroscopy and optical analysis of dehydrated films. It was shown that the addition of magnetite to an albumin solution at low concentrations of up to 10−6 g/L led to the formation of aggregates with sizes of up to 300 nm in the liquid phase and an increase in the number of spiral structures in the dehydrated films, which indicated an increase in their stability. With a further increase in the magnetite concentration in the solution (from 10−4 g/L), the magnetic particles stuck together and to albumin, thus forming aggregates with sizes larger than 1000 nm. At the same time, the formation of morphological structures in molecular films was disturbed, and a characteristic decrease in their stability occurred. Most stable films were formed at low concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles (less than 10−4 g/L) when small albumin–magnetic nanoparticle aggregates were formed. These results are important for characterizing the interaction processes of biomolecules with magnetic nanoparticles and can be useful for predicting the stability of biomolecular films with the inclusion of magnetite particles.

A Kinetic Study on the Reduction of Single Magnetite Particle with Melting Products at High Temperature Based on Visual and Surface Analytical Techniques

In this study, the reduction characteristics of single magnetite particles with melting products at high temperature were investigated by using visualization and surface analytical techniques. The morphology evolution, product type, reduction degree, and reduction rate of single magnetite particles during the reduction process were analyzed and compared at different reduction temperatures. The results showed that the morphology of the product formed at the reduction temperature of 1300 °C was a mainly nodular structure. When the reduction temperature was above 1400 °C, the products were melted to liquid and flowed out of the particle to form a layered structure. The morphology of the melted products finally transformed to be root-like in structure on the plate around the unmelted core. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the product types during the reduction process. Experiments studying the effects of gas flowrate and particle size on the reduction degree were carried out, and the results showed that both increasing the temperature and gas flowrate can increase the reduction degree. The internal/external diffusion influence can be ignored with a particle size smaller than 100 μm and a gas flowrate more than 200 mL/min. However, owing to the resistance of the melted products to gas diffusion, the reduction rates at 1400 and 1500 °C were reduced significantly when the reduction degree increased from 0.5 to 1.0. Conversely, the formation of the liquid enlarged the contact area of the reducing gas and solid–liquid and further increased the reduction degree. The kinetics parameters, including average activation energy and pre-exponential factor, were calculated from the experimental data. The reduction kinetics equation of the single magnetite particle, considering the effect of melted products is also given in this study.

Properties of Polypropylene Yarns with a Polytetrafluoroethylene Coating Containing Stabilized Magnetite Particles

This paper describes an original method for forming a stable coating on a polypropylene yarn. The use of this method provides this yarn with barrier antimicrobial properties, reducing its electrical resistance, increasing its strength, and achieving extremely high chemical resistance, similar to that of fluoropolymer yarns. The method is applied at the melt-spinning stage of polypropylene yarns. It is based on forming an ultrathin, continuous, and uniform coating on the surface of each of the yarn filaments. The coating is formed from polytetrafluoroethylene doped with magnetite nanoparticles stabilized with sodium stearate. The paper presents the results of a study of the effects of such an ultrathin polytetrafluoroethylene coating containing stabilized magnetite particles on the mechanical and electrophysical characteristics of the polypropylene yarn and its barrier antimicrobial properties. It also evaluates the chemical resistance of the polypropylene yarn with a coating based on polytetrafluoroethylene doped with magnetite nanoparticles.

Optimization of Microalga Chlorella vulgaris Magnetic Harvesting

Harvesting of microalgae is a crucial step in microalgae-based mass production of different high value-added products. In the present work, magnetic harvesting of Chlorella vulgaris was investigated using microwave-synthesized naked magnetite (Fe3O4) particles with an average crystallite diameter of 20 nm. Optimization of the most important parameters of the magnetic harvesting process, namely pH, mass ratio (mr) of magnetite particles to biomass (g/g), and agitation speed (rpm) of the C. vulgaris biomass–Fe3O4 particles mixture, was performed using the response surface methodology (RSM) statistical tool. Harvesting efficiencies higher than 99% were obtained for pH 3.0 and mixing speed greater or equal to 350 rpm. Recovery of magnetic particles via detachment was shown to be feasible and the recovery particles could be reused at least five times with high harvesting efficiency. Consequently, the described harvesting approach of C. vulgaris cells leads to an efficient, simple, and quick process, that does not impair the quality of the harvested biomass.