Gas-to-aqueous Phase Transfer for Three Paint Solvents Injected into an Abiotic, Industrial Biotrickling Filter Measured with a Flame Ionization Detector

This is a knowledge contribution to the unsatisfactory biodegradation problem, when biotrickling filters are purifying mixed paint solvents. A biotrickling filter manufacturer reported low biodegradation rates during the purification of a hydrocarbon pollutant mix from an industrial paint spraying floor. From a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer analysis both hydrophilic and hydrophobic solvents were found in the polluted air. It is known that biodegradation is retarded, if the pollutant does not transfer from gas to liquid into the biofilm and it was therefore suspected that hydrophobic pollutants do not sufficiently migrate into the water/biofilm. To test this hypothesis, pure, rather than mixed pollutants, were injected into the abiotic biotrickling filter. When hydrophobic paint solvent (xylene) was sprayed into the biotrickling filter, the solvent load at the outlet of the filter was almost as high as at the inlet. But when pure, hydrophilic paint solvent (PGME) was sprayed into the abiotic biotrickling filter, the solvent load measured at the outlet of the filter was zero, indicating complete dissolution into the circulation water. Carbon/solvent loads at the filter outlet and inlet were measured with a portable flame ionization detector instrument. The experiment confirms that the hydrophobic solvent does not migrate into the liquid phase. This poor mass transfer of hydrophobic solvents is likely to be the reason for the low biodegradation rate. The result is highly relevant to the paint spraying industry and manufacturers of exhaust gas treatment equipment alike, who spend millions in non-sustainable incineration of exhaust gases.

Corrosion Inhibition of Low-Carbon Steel by Hydrophobic Organosilicon Dispersions

This article proposes a method for obtaining stable hydrophobic inhibitor dispersions, where the micelle core contains a hydrophobic solvent, a corrosion inhibitor and an organosilane. Such compositions can be used as polymer-type corrosion inhibitors for low-carbon steel. Using electrochemical methods, corrosion tests and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, features of the formation of polymeric layers of hydrophobic organosilicon dispersions were studied.

Investigating the structural properties of hydrophobic solvent-rich lipid bilayers.

In vitro reconstitutions of lipid membranes have proven to be an indispensable tool to rationalize the complexity of lipid membranes and to understand their role in countless cellular processes. However,...

Microfluidic Chip-Based Induced Phase Separation Extraction as a Fast and Efficient Miniaturized Sample Preparation Method

Induced phase separation extraction (IPSE) is an efficient sample clean-up technique that can replace liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). The purpose of this study was to miniaturize IPSE by carrying it out in a microfluidic chip. An IPSE chip was designed and evaluated for its ability to separate and purify samples on a microscale. The 5 × 2 cm chip was fed with a solution of polar to non-polar model compounds in acetonitrile-water (1:1). In the 100 µm wide and 40 µm deep microchannels, the sample solution was efficiently separated into two immiscible phases by adding a hydrophobic solvent as inducer. Analytes present in the sample solution each migrated to their own favorable phase upon phase separation. After optimization, extraction and fractionation were easily and efficiently achieved. The behavior of analytes with a pH-dependent partitioning could be influenced by adjusting the pH of the sample solution. Scutellaria baicalensis extract, used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), was successfully separated in aglycones and glycosides. In this microscale system, the sample and solvent consumption is reduced to microliters, while the time needed for the sample pretreatment is less than one minute. Additionally, the extraction efficiency can reach up to 98.8%, and emulsion formation is avoided.

The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using a combination of a hydrophobic solvent and water

The use of a hydrophobic solvent in combination with water leads to significant suppression of H2O2 degradation pathways over a AuPd/C catalyst.

Forcing single-chain nanoparticle collapse through hydrophobic solvent interactions in comb copolymers

We demonstrate that we can tune the chain collapse of comb copolymers into single-chain nanoparticles upon UV irradiation through solvency control.

Solvent Effect on the Self-Assembly of a Thin Film Consisting of Y-Shaped Copolymer

The self-assembly of an amphiphilic Y-shaped copolymer consisting of two hydrophilic branches and one hydrophobic branch in a thin film is investigated under different conditions by virtue of mesoscopic computer modelling, accompanied by doping with a single solvent, doping with a binary solvent, and those solvent environments together with the introduction of confinement defined by various acting distances and influencing regions. A cylindrical micellar structure is maintained, as it is in the thin film with the doping of either 10% hydrophobic solvent or 10% hydrophilic solvent, whose structure consists of the hydrophobic core and hydrophilic shell. Attributed to the hydrophobicity/hydrophilia nature of the solvents, different solvents play an obvious role on the self-assembled structure, i.e., the hydrophobic solvent presents as a swelling effect, conversely, the hydrophilic solvent presents as a shrinking effect. Further, the synergistic effect of the binary solvents on the self-assembly produces the lowest values in both the average volumetric size and free energy density when the quantity of hydrophobic solvent and hydrophilic solvent is equivalent. Interestingly, the solvent effect becomes more pronounced under the existent of a confinement. When a lateral-oriented confinement is introduced, a periodically fluctuating change in the cylindrical size occurs in two near-wall regions, but the further addition of either hydrophobic or hydrophilic solvent can effectively eliminate such resulting hierarchical-sized cylinders and generate uniform small-sized cylinders. However, with the introduction of a horizontal-orientated confinement, the copolymers self-assemble into the spherical micellar structure. Moreover, the further addition of hydrophobic solvent leads to a decrease in the average size of micelles via coalescence mechanism, in contrast, the further addition of hydrophilic solvent causes an increase in the average size of micelles via splitting mechanism. These findings enrich our knowledge of the potential for the solvent effect on the self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymer system, and then provide theoretical supports on improving and regulating the mesoscopic structure of nanomaterials.