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In this study, carbon nanotube-based adsorbents, oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotube (OMWCNT) with non-magnetic property and OMWCNT-Fe3O4 and OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 nanocomposites with magnetic property, having different structural and surface properties were prepared and their adsorptive properties for the removal of toxic diquat dibromide (DQ) herbicide from water by adsorption were determined in detail. For each adsorption system, the effects of initial DQ concentration, contact time and temperature on the adsorption processes were determined. Equilibrium time was found to be 300 min for DQ solutions. OMWCNT showed faster adsorption and higher maximum adsorption capacity value than magnetic adsorbents. With increasing initial herbicide concentration from 5.43 mg.L−1 to 16.3 mg.L−1, the values of initial sorption rate exhibited a decrease from 29.1 mg.g−1.min−1 to 4.28 mg.g−1.min−1 for OMWCNT-DQ system, from 1.21 mg.g−1.min−1 to 0.823 mg.g−1.min−1 for OMWCNT-Fe3O4-DQ system and from 0.674 mg.g−1.min−1 to 0.612 mg.g−1.min−1 OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 system. Maximum adsorption capacity value of OMWCNT was approximately 2.8-fold higher than magnetic OMWCNT-Fe3O4 and 5.4-fold higher than magnetic OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 at 25 °C. Adsorption kinetic and isotherm data obtained for all adsorption systems were well-fitted by pseudo second-order and Langmuir models, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of DQ onto carbon nanotube-based adsorbents was spontaneous and endothermic process. Furthermore, OMWCNT having the highest herbicide adsorption capacity could be regenerated and reused at least five times. This study showed that carbon nanotube-based adsorbents with magnetic and non-magnetic property were of high adsorption performance for the removal of DQ from water and could be promising adsorbent materials for the efficient removal of herbicides from wastewaters.

In the present study, polyethyleneimine (PEI) coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) having the size of 15 nm in diameter with high magnetic saturation (60 emu/g) have been prepared by co-precipitation method. The synthesized PEI-Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been fully characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The free amine groups on the PEI-Fe3O4 surface has been covalently functionalized with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) by the catalysis of N,N'-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and N, N'-Dimethylpyridin-4-amine (DMAP) coupling to produce CMC-Fe3O4 nanocarriers. The prepared CMC-Fe3O4 nanocarriers have been loaded with a well-known anti-tumor drug doxorubicin (Dox) and investigated its loading and releasing profiles from the nanocarrier. The CMC acted as an excellent nanocarrier for Dox with a loading efficiency ≈ 86%. The drug releasing profile has been studied at different pH values (3.5; 5.5; and 7.4). When the pH of the release medium (phosphate buffer solution) was changed from 7.4 to 5.5 or 3.6, the drug release has been increased which indicates that the drug releasing is pH dependent. No sponsor

In this study, magnetic oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube (OMWCNT)-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 nanocomposite was prepared as a new adsorbent and characterized by specific surface area, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. Magnetic adsorbent displayed a super-paramagnetic property. Cationic Crystal Violet (CV) and anionic Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dyes were used to evaluate the adsorption ability of magnetic OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 nanocomposite. The effect of contact time, initial dye concentration, pH and temperature on the adsorption process was investigated. The equilibrium time was determined to be 300 min. An increase in the initial dye concentrations and the temperature of dye solutions led to an increase in the adsorption amounts of magnetic adsorbents. A decrease in the adsorption amount of CV dye was observed at low pH values, on the contrary to RB5 dye. For the adsorption of CV and RB5 dyes onto magnetic adsorbent, the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo second-order model. Langmuir isotherm model exhibited the best fitting with the experimental isotherm data obtained at 25, 35 and 45 °C. Thermodynamic parameters showed that adsorption processes are spontaneous and endothermic. On the contrary to anionic RB5 dye, the adsorption capacity of magnetic OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 nanocomposite for cationic CV dye is higher than that of magnetic OMWCNT-Fe3O4 nanocomposite. Therefore, magnetic OMWCNT-κ-carrageenan-Fe3O4 nanocomposite may be used as a potential adsorbent to remove the cationic dyes from aqueous solution.

In the present study, for the first time, agar/κ-carrageenan and agar/κ-carrageenan/montmorillonite hydrogel materials were prepared by the free-radical crosslinking reaction of agar and κ-carrageenan in the presence of triethylene glycol divinyl ether (TEGDE) as the crosslinker agent. Here, montmorillonite (MMT) modified with phenylalanine was used as additive agent. Agar/κ-carrageenan hydrogel materials with and without MMT were characterized by FTIR, SEM and XRD analyses. The effect of free radical initiator (ammonium persulfate, APS) concentration, crosslinking agent (TEGDE) concentration, reaction temperature, polysaccharide ratio and MMT concentration on the swelling performance and surface property of hydrogel material was investigated and optimum reaction conditions were determined. Maximum equilibrium swelling capacity of the agar/κ-carrageenan hydrogel was found to be 2523 % under the optimum conditions ([APS] = 5 × 10−4 M, [TEGDE] = 5 × 10−4 M, T = 70 °C and magar:mκ-carrageenan = 1:4). An increase of the MMT content within hyrogel matrix led to a decrease in the swelling values of hydrogels. All of the hydrogels prepared in various formulations exhibited non-Fickian swelling behavior. New hydrogel materials obtained from this study could be potential candidates for biomedical applications.

In this study, carbon nanotube-based adsorbents, oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotube (OMWCNT) with non-magnetic property and OMWCNT-Fe

In this study, gelatin-based conductive hydrogels doped with carbon nanotube (CNT), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver (Ag) nanoparticle were prepared for use in biopotential measurements. Gelatin was modified by various concentrations of methacrylic anhydride (MA) to obtain photo-crosslinkable gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) polymer with low (21%), medium (44%) and high (78%) methacrylation degree. Chemical modification of gelatin was characterized by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. It was observed that mechanical properties of the GelMA hydrogels were highly dependent on methacrylation degree. Ultimate compressive stress of low, medium and high methacrylated gelatin hydrogel was measured to be 9.97 ± 0.14 kPa, 17.83 ± 1.73 kPa and 38.23 ± 2.96 kPa, respectively. Surface morphology of hydrogels was visualized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The pore size of methacrylated gelatin hydrogel significantly reduced with the addition of CNT, PEDOT:PSS and Ag nanoparticle into the hydrogel matrix. The results of thermal gravimetric analysis showed that conductive hydrogels were of higher thermal stability than nonconductive GelMA hydrogel. The suitability of the prepared hydrogels for biopotential measurements was determined by equivalent impedance measurements. Impedance values of hydrogel samples were obtained in the frequency range of 20 Hz–500 Hz. The hydrogel materials prepared in this study exhibited high impedance at low frequencies and low impedance at high frequencies. The results of this study showed that the hydrogels produced with Ag nanoparticle are more suitable electrode materials for physiological measurement systems such as electrocardiography (ECG) and electroencephalography (EEG).