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In recent years, during industrial development, the expanding discharge of harmful metallic ions from different industrial wastes (such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, or zinc) into different water bodies has caused serious concern, with one of the problematic elements being represented by selenium (Se) ions. Selenium represents an essential microelement for human life and plays a vital role in human metabolism. In the human body, this element acts as a powerful antioxidant, being able to reduce the risk of the development of some cancers. Selenium is distributed in the environment in the form of selenate (SeO42–) and selenite (SeO32–), which are the result of natural/anthropogenic activities. Experimental data proved that both forms present some toxicity. In this context, in the last decade, only several studies regarding selenium’s removal from aqueous solutions have been conducted. Therefore, in the present study, we aim to use the sol–gel synthesis method to prepare a nanocomposite adsorbent material starting from sodium fluoride, silica, and iron oxide matrices (SiO2/Fe(acac)3/NaF), and to further test it for selenite adsorption. After preparation, the adsorbent material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The mechanism associated with the selenium adsorption process has been established based on kinetic, thermodynamic, and equilibrium studies. Pseudo second order is the kinetic model that best describes the obtained experimental data. Also, from the intraparticle diffusion study, it was observed that with increasing temperature the value of the diffusion constant, Kdiff, also increases. Sips isotherm was found to best describe the experimental data obtained, the maximum adsorption capacity being ~6.00 mg Se(IV) per g of adsorbent material. From a thermodynamic point of view, parameters such as ΔG0, ΔH0, and ΔS0 were evaluated, proving that the process studied is a physical one.

Adsorption recovery of precious metals on a variety of solid substrates has steadily gained increased attention in recent years. Special attention was paid to the studies on the characterization of the adsorptive properties of materials with a high affinity for gold depending on the nature of the pendant groups present in the structure of the material. The aim of the present work was to synthesize and characterize a new material by using the sol-gel synthesis method (designated as BCb/CB). In this case, synthesis involved the following precursors: bismuth carbonate (III), carbon black, and IGEPAL surfactant (octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol). Immobilization of the heterojunction as bismuth oxide over a flexible support such as carbon black (CB) can prevent their elution in solution and make it versatile for its use in a system. In this work, a new adsorbent material based on bismuth carbonate supported over carbon black (BCb/CB) was developed and used further for gold recovery from aqueous solutions. The required material was characterized physically/chemically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX); X-ray diffraction (XRD); thermal analysis (DTG/DTA); atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method was used to determine the specific surface area indicating a value of approximately 40 m2/g, higher than the surface of CB precursor (36 m2/g). The adsorptive properties and the adsorption mechanism of the materials were highlighted in order to recover Au(III). For this, static adsorption studies were carried out. The parameters that influence the adsorption process were studied, namely: the pH, the contact time, the temperature, and the initial concentration of the gold ions in the used solution. In order to establish the mechanism of the adsorption process, kinetic, thermodynamic, and equilibrium studies were carried out. Experimental data proved that the gold recovery can be conducted with maximum performance at pH 3, at room temperature. Thermodynamic studies proved that the gold adsorption on BCb/CB material is a spontaneous and endothermal process. The results indicate a total adsorption capacity of 13.1 mg Au(III)/g material. By using this material in real solutions, a recovery efficiency of 90.5% was obtained, concomitant with a higher selectivity (around 95%).

Aggressive industrial development over the last century involved different heavy metals being used, including high quantities of molybdenum, which need to be treated before discharge in industrial waters. Molybdenum’s market price and industrial applicability make its recovery a big challenge. In the present study the possibility to recover molybdenum ions from aqueous solutions by adsorption on a composite material based on silica matrix and iron oxides—SiO2FexOy—was evaluated. Tests were performed in order to determine the influence of adsorbent material dose, initial solution pH, contact time and temperature over adsorption capacity of synthesized adsorbent material. For better understanding of the adsorption process, the obtained experimental data were modelled using Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips adsorption isotherms. Based on the obtained data, it can proved that the Sips isotherm was describing with better orderliness the studied process, obtaining a maximum adsorption capacity of 10.95 mg MoO42− for each gram of material. By modelling the studied adsorption process, it was proven that the pseudo-second order model is accurately describing the adsorption process. By fitting experimental data with Weber-Morris model, it was proven that MoO42− adsorption is a complex process, occurring in two different steps, one controlled by diffusion and the second one controlled by mass transfer. Further, studies were performed in order to determine the optimum pH value needed to obtain maximum adsorption capacity, but also to determine which are the adsorbed species. From pH and desorption studies, it was proven that molybdate adsorption is a physical process. In order to establish the adsorption mechanism, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG0, ΔH0 and ΔS0) were determined.

This study aimed to evaluate the comparative biological effects of Polygonum aviculare L. herba (PAH) extract and quercetin-entrapped liposomes on doxorubicin (Doxo)-induced toxicity in HUVECs. HUVECs were treated with two formulations of liposomes loaded with PAH extract (L5 and L6) and two formulations of liposomes loaded with quercetin (L3 prepared with phosphatidylcholine and L4 prepared with phosphatidylserine). The results obtained with atomic force microscopy, zeta potential and entrapment liposome efficiency confirmed the interactions of the liposomes with PAH or free quercetin and a controlled release of flavonoids entrapped in all the liposomes. Doxo decreased the cell viability and induced oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA lesions and apoptosis in parallel with the activation of Nrf2 and NF-kB. Free quercetin, L3 and L4 inhibited the oxidative stress and inflammation and reduced apoptosis, particularly L3. Additionally, these compounds diminished the Nrf2 and NF-kB expressions and DNA lesions, principally L4. PAH extract, L5 and L6 exerted antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, reduced γH2AX formation and inhibited extrinsic apoptosis and transcription factors activation but to a lesser extent. The loading of quercetin in liposomes increased the cell viability and exerted better endothelial protection compared to free quercetin, especially L3. The liposomes with PAH extract had moderate efficiency, mainly due to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and the inhibition of extrinsic apoptosis.

Medical and pharmaceutical research has shown that liposomes are very efficient in transporting drugs to targets. In this study, we prepared six liposome formulas, three in which we entrapped caffeic acid (CA), and three with only phospholipids and without CA. Determination of entrapment efficiency (EE) showed that regardless of the phospholipids used, the percentage of CA entrapment was up to 76%. The characterization of the liposomes was performed using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), zeta potential and polydispersity and showed that about 75–99% of the liposomes had dimensions between 40 ± 0.55–500 ± 1.45 nm. The size and zeta potential of liposomes were influenced by the type of phospholipid used to obtain them. CA release from liposomes was performed using a six-cell Franz diffusion system, and it was observed that the release of entrapped CA occurs gradually, the highest amount occurring in the first eight hours (over 80%), after which the release is much reduced. Additionally, the time stability of the obtained liposomes was analysed using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Therefore, liposomes offer great potential in CA entrapment.

Gold is one of the precious metals with multiple uses, whose deposits are much smaller than the global production needs. Therefore, extracting maximum gold quantities from industrial diluted solutions is a must. Am-L-GA is a new material, obtained by an Amberlite XAD7-type commercial resin, functionalized through saturation with L-glutamic acid, whose adsorption capacity has been proved to be higher than those of other materials utilized for gold adsorption. In this context, this article presents the results of a factorial design experiment for optimizing the gold recovery from residual solutions resulting from the electronics industry using Am-L-GA. Firstly, the material was characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), to emphasize the material’s characteristics, essential for the adsorption quality. Then, the study showed that among the parameters taken into account in the analysis (pH, temperature, initial gold concentration, and contact time), the initial gold concentration in the solution plays a determinant role in the removal process and the contact time has a slightly positive effect, whereas the pH and temperature do not influence the adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity of 29.27 mg/L was obtained by optimizing the adsorption process, with the control factors having the following values: contact time ~106 min, initial Au(III) concentration of ~164 mg/L, pH = 4, and temperature of 25 °C. It is highlighted that the factorial design method is an excellent instrument to determine the effects of different factors influencing the adsorption process. The method can be applied for any adsorption process if it is necessary to reduce the number of experiments, to diminish the resources or time consumption, or for expanding the investigation domain above the experimental limits.

Hybrid materials based on montmorillonite functionalized with LaMnO3 perovskitic structures were obtained for the first time by ultrasonic method with sonotrode immersed in the reaction medium, followed by heat treatment at a temperature of 600 °C. The clay mineral montmorillonite (Mmt), sodium montmorillonite (Mmt-Na+) and functionalized material (Mmt-LMO) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM/Edx) techniques. The XRD patterns of Mmt-LMO composites show both the presence of the perovskitic phase with orthorhombic structure, and a mixture of aluminosilicates, corresponding to the montmorillonite clay minerals. The (Mmt), (Mmt-Na+) minerals and (Mmt-LMO) hybrid material were used to manufacture modified electrodes whose catalytic properties for the oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions were investigated in alkaline medium. Based on electrochemical experimental results, some of these electrodes are catalytically active toward the hydrogen evolution reaction and the more performant ones were investigated further and it was found that the electrode modified with the composition containing 6 mg LaMnO3 functionalized montmorillonite and 10 µL Nafion solutions have the best electrocatalytic properties. At the current density of −10 mA/cm2 the electrode exhibits an over potentialfor hydrogen evolution of −0.48 V and its Tafel slope was measured to be 70 mV/dec. This study complements the extant scientific knowledge relevant to the water splitting domain.

Intriguing micro-currents in the graphenic oxide flakes obtained from the cracked fullerenes ozopolymers were predicted from their Raman spectra. They are interpreted with the aid of the bondonic theory combined with the inverse information for the quantum observed vs. quantum free evolution ratio, respectively. The peculiar quantum dots of the bondonic propagation in these nanoscopic systems may suggest the potentially critical phenomenology of phase transition, and possible local superconductivity by passing from the C60 derivative graphenic oxide to the C70 based compound. These results may have an impact on the future design of the graphene-based semiconductors, of the quantum graphenic gates, as well as on and the integrated graphenic microcircuits in the generic new field of graphentronics.

Ni11□(HPO3)8(OH)6 nanorods were the focus of three different studies. First, the thermal behaviour of the material was investigated and it outlined a good thermal stability up to 400 °C. Second, a comparative electrochemical study concerning the OER performance in alkaline medium of several graphite electrodes modified with the nickel phosphite was performed. The most promising electrodes were further characterised electrochemically and the electrode modified with Nafion solution and 5 mg Ni11□(HPO3)8(OH)6 exhibited the smallest overpotential value at the 10 mA cm−2 anodic current density (0.59 V), as well as the smallest Tafel slope (0.081 V dec−1). Furthermore, the constant potential electrolysis test revealed that this electrode is fairly stable within a time span of 300 min. Third, the capacity of Ni11□ (HPO3)8(OH)6 nanorods to remove MB and RhB were investigated under simulated visible light irradiation and positive results were obtained for the application as visible-light active photocatalyst. All this together corroborated with the eco-friendly nature of the materials, reinforces the fact that the phosphite type compound is a promising candidate for the design of new multifunctional and advanced materials.

The aim of this study is the enhancement of the electrical properties of thin films obtained from silver nanowires (AgNWs) deposited on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) support. First, AgNWs were obtained by the “polyol” liquid phase synthesis method in the presence of chloride ions. After purification, the AgNWs were successively deposited on a flexible support of PET by doctor blade method. To improve the adhesion of the AgNWs coating to the substrate, thin films of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) were interposed between the layer of AgNWs and PET substrate. The properties of the thin films have been studied depending on the number of AgNWs layers and heat treatment procedure. Characterization of pure AgNWs as well as of AgNWs/PMMA/PET structures has been carried out by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray analysis, transmission electron microscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. The sheet resistance of the transparent conducting...