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This study has demonstrated, for the first time, the potential application of coatings to protect bricks or architectures against detrimental atmospheric effects via a self-cleaning approach. In this research, a facile fabrication method was developed to produce amorphous SiO2 particles and their hierarchical structures via applying trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS). They were fully characterized by various surface analytic tools, including a goniometer, SEM, AFM, zeta sizer, and a spectroscopic technique (FTIR), and then applied as super hydrophobic coatings on glass and sand. The characterization results revealed that the SiO2 particles are amorphous, quasi-spherical particles with an average diameter of 250–300 nm, and the hierarchical structures in the film were assembled from building blocks of SiO2 and TMCS. The wettability of the films can be controlled by changing the pH of the SiO2/TCMS dispersion. A super hydrophobic surface with a water contact angle of 165° ± 1° was achieved at the isoelectric point of the films. The obtained translucent super hydrophobic SiO2/TMCS coatings show good self-cleaning performances for glass and sand as construction materials. This study indicated that the superhydrophobic coatings may have potential applications in the protection of buildings and construction architectures in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a hydrogel system was produced via radical polymerization of N,N-dimethylacrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid in the presence of N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide as a crosslinker and ammonium persulfate as an initiator. Parameters that impact the conversion of copolymerization (such as initial concentration of monomers, temperature, initiator dose, and time) were studied. The swelling degree of the hydrogel was investigated with the addition of a crosslinker and initiator at different pH levels. A hydrogel with high conversion and high swelling degree was selected to investigate their ability for adsorption of Pb(II) ions from solutions. Adsorption behavior of Pb(II) ions in a hydrogel was examined as a function of reaction time and concentration of lead ions from a solution of Pb(II) ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The removal of sulfur compounds, particularly thiophene derivatives, from oil is crucial due to concerns about environmental issues. Therefore, the deep desulfurization of transportation fuels is currently an urgent problem, and numerous attempts have been made in this direction. Membrane-based desulfurization can be a good alternative to the traditional hydrodesulfurization method, which has several limitations. In this work, the use of membranes containing a metal-organic framework, MOF-5, doped with transition metals (Ag, Cu, Ni), in the adsorptive desulfurization process was studied. The efficiency of membranes was evaluated based on selective removal of thiophene and dibenzothiophene from model oil. Characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopic (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), confirmed the successful synthesis and incorporation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) into mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Desulfurization experiments showed that MOF-5/Ag exhibited the highest thiophene adsorption efficiency (86.8%), outperforming MOF-5/Cu and MOF-5/Ni. The enhanced performance is attributed to the strong interaction between silver and sulfur. These findings demonstrate the potential of MOF-based MMMs for efficient and selective desulfurization, offering a viable alternative to traditional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) methods., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)