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To address the challenges associated with the weak affinity and difficult separation of biochar, we developed chitosan–biochar hydrogel beads (CBHBs) as an efficient solution for removing reactive brilliant blue (RBB KN-R) from wastewater. The adsorption behavior and mechanism of RBB KN-R onto CBHBs were extensively studied. Notably, the adsorption capacity of RBB KN-R showed pH-dependence, and the highest adsorption capacity was observed at pH 2. The adsorption process was well fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the intraparticle diffusion model. Film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion were both responsible for the adsorption of RBB KN-R onto CBHBs. At 298.15 K, the maximum adsorption capacity qm was determined to be 140.74 mg/g, with higher temperatures favoring the adsorption process. A complex mechanism involving π–π interactions, electrostatic attraction, hydrophobic interaction, and hydrogen bonding was found to contribute to the overall adsorption process. The experimental data discovered the coexisting substances and elevated ionic strength hindered the adsorption capacity. Significantly, after three cycles of adsorption–desorption, the CBHBs maintained an adsorption capacity above 95% for RBB KN-R. These promising results imply that CBHBs are a durable and cost-effective adsorbent for efficient removal of dyes from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high-speed sawing, the penetration of cutting fluid is limited due to the narrow kerf and large cutting depth. To improve the machining performance of high-speed sawing and the lubrication and cooling efficiency of cutting fluid, a technology named electrostatic minimum quantity lubrication (EMQL) high-speed sawing with water-based nanofluid as cutting fluids was developed. The adsorption and motion characteristics of droplets on the solid surface under airflow were studied. Furthermore, the machinability of EMQL in high-speed sawing was explored. The results show that the charged droplet's surface tension, static contact angle, and velocity under tangential airflow are lower than those of the uncharged droplet, while the dynamic contact angle hysteresis is higher. This indicates that the adsorbability of charged droplets on solid surface is enhanced. In high-speed sawing processing, the principal sawing force is reduced by 19% when the fluid is charged at − 4 kV. The reason may be that charging reduces the drag force of the droplet and increases the capillary force generated by the deformation of the contact line between the droplet and the solid surface, which enhances the adsorption capacity of the charged droplets on the sawtooth surfaces and improves the lubrication performance of the sawing area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • pH showed complicated effects on protein uptake to two PEI-grafted Sepharose. • Both capacity and uptake rate on high-charge resin showed up-down-up trends with pH. • Charge-reduced resin gave both maximal capacity (257 mg/mL) and uptake rate at pH 5.5. • The two resins showed high dynamic capacities at different pH or salt concentrations. • Dynamic capacities over 120 mg/mL were observed on charge-reduced resin at pH 5.5–8. Abstract Previously, we have studied protein adsorption behaviors on a series of poly(ethylenimine) (PEI)-grafted Sepharose FF, and a critical ionic capacity of PEI-grafted resins was observed, above which both protein adsorption capacity (q) and effective pore diffusivity (D e) increased drastically. Moreover, reducing the charge density of the PEI-grafted resins from an ionic capacity of 740 mmol/L (FF-PEI-L740) to 440 mmol/L (FF-PEI-R440) by neutralization of the amino groups of PEI chains with sodium acetate brought out a three-fold increase of D e value at pH 8. In this work, FF-PEI-L740 and FF-PEI-R440 were selected to investigate the complicated effects of pH on protein adsorption behavior using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the model protein. It was found that, for FF-PEI-L740, both the q and D e values decreased significantly when pH decreased from 9 to 5.5, and then increased dramatically at pH 5, and finally decreased remarkably at pH 4.5. The results were considered due to the following causes: The decrease of pH from 9 to 5.5 led to a greatly increased electrostatic repulsion between the PEI chains due to the increased dissociation degree of PEI, which caused the increase in steric hindrance effects and decrease in the bound protein transport by chain delivery. At pH 5, which was near the p I of BSA (∼4.9), the presence of few protein charges greatly decreased the electrostatic hindrance effect on protein transport and the high charge density of FF-PEI-L740 provided extensively accessible binding sites and facilitated the happening of chain delivery as well. At pH 4.5, the net charge of BSA shifted to positive, likely charged with PEI, so the overall electrostatic repulsion greatly hindered protein uptake. For FF-PEI-R440, whose charge density was much lower than FF-PEI-L740, its q and D e values even increased mildly when pH decreased from 8 to 5.5, because its slightly-increased charge density did not cause much increased electrostatic and steric hindrance effects but provided more binding sites for protein adsorption. At pH 5, the few charges of BSA and the low charge density of FF-PEI-R440 could not afford enough electrostatic interaction for protein binding, resulting in significantly decreased q and D e values. Besides, column breakthrough experiments revealed that FF-PEI-R440 kept high dynamic binding capacity (DBC) (>120 mg/mL) at pH 5.5–8, while FF-PEI-L740 offered high DBC (>80 mg/mL) at pH 5, 7 and 8 with a higher salt concentration (100 mmol/L NaCl). These findings demonstrated the excellence of FF-PEI-L740 and FF-PEI-R440 in different conditions, and would help in the design and selection of suitable resins for high-performance protein chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(ethylenimine) (PEI)-grafted Sepharose FF with an ionic capacity (IC) of 740 mmol/L (FF-PEI-L740) was modified with succinic anhydride, and six mix-charged resins of different ionic capacities (ICs) were synthesized [denoted as “Am-Cn” according to their anion exchange groups (amino groups) and cation exchange groups (carboxyl groups)]. Protein adsorption behaviors were investigated using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (LZM) as model proteins. The modification led to the net positive charge decrease to approximately zero (A320-C270), and then reversed the net charge to negative till the maximum negatively charge resin A20-C970. Adsorption capacity for BSA decreased from 205 ± 5 mg/mL (FF-PEI-L740) to 65 ± 3 mg/mL (A320-C270), but increased, for LZM, from 31 ± 1 mg/mL (A320-C270) to 281 ± 13 mg/mL (A20-C970) with increasing net negative charge. The uptake rate of BSA or LZM decreased with decreasing net positive charge or increasing net negative charge due to the decreased flexibility of the PEI chains brought from the increased electrostatic attraction or repulsion and/or tight binding due to the high net charge density. Effect of ionic strength (IS) showed that the resins with high net charge densities exhibited high adsorption capacities at high IS. Besides, dynamic binding capacity values achieved as high as 55 mg/mL for BSA and 143 mg/mL for LZM. Chromatographic experiments demonstrated favorable elution of bound proteins at NaCl lower than 370 mmol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of the innovative adsorption based field emission hydrogen sensing technique is investigated from experimental and first-principles investigations. Hydrogen pressure from 10 −3 to 10 −7 Pa range could be detected. High carbon nanotube (CNT) crystallinity plays key role for the reduction of the effective work function from the dissociated hydrogen adsorption, leading to the field emission current increase. For CNT emitters with high dangling-bond (DB) type of defects/structures, the dissociated H adsorption occurs preferentially on the DB site with negligible work function variation. Joule heating & temperature rising is a core factor to assist the dissociated hydrogen adsorption with enhanced sensing effect. For work function sensitive CNT devices, operations under hydrogen & high temperature conditions may produce performance stability issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]