Azadirachta indica leaf powder as an effective biosorbent for dyes: a case study with aqueous Congo Red solutions

In the present work, the leaves of Azadirachta indica (locally known as the Neem tree) in the form of a powder were investigated as a biosorbent of dyes taking aqueous Congo Red solution as a model system. The sorbent was made from mature Neem leaves and was investigated in a batch reactor under variable system parameters such as concentration of the aqueous dye solution, agitation time, adsorbent amount, pH, and temperature. An amount of 0.6 g of the Neem leaf powder (NLP) per litre could remove 52.0-99.0% of the dye from an aqueous solution of concentration 2.87 x 10(-2) mmol l(-1) with the agitation time increasing from 60 to 300 min. The interactions were tested with respect to both pseudo first-order and second-order reaction kinetics; the latter was found to be more suitable. Considerable intra-particle diffusion was found to occur simultaneously. The sorption process was in conformity with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms yielding values of the adsorption coefficients in the following ranges: Freundlich n: 0.12-0.19, Kf: 0.1039-0.2648 L g(-1); Langmuir qm: 41.24-128.26 g kg(-1), b: 443.3-1898.0 l mmol(-1), which supported favourable adsorption. The Langmuir monolayer capacity (qm) was high and the values of the coefficient b indicated the equilibrium, dye + NLP = dye...NLP being shifted overwhelmingly towards adsorption. Thermodynamically, the sorption process was exothermic with an average heat of adsorption of -12.75 kJ mol(-1). The spontaneity of the sorption process was also confirmed by the favourable values of Gibbs energy (mean values: -1.09 to -1.81 kJ mol(-1)) and entropy of adsorption (range: -18.97 to -56.32 J mol(-1)K(-1)). The results point to the effectiveness of the Neem leaf powder as a biosorbent for removing dyes like Congo Red from water.     

Immunostimulants for shrimp aquaculture: paving pathway towards shrimp sustainability

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - At present, food security is a matter of debate of global magnitude and fulfilling the feeding requirement of?>?8 billion human...     

Epigenetics: a new warrior against cardiovascular calcification,a forerunner in modern lifestyle diseases

Arterial and aortic valve calcifications are the most prevalent pathophysiological conditions among all the reported cases of cardiovascular calcifications. It increases with several risk factors like age, hypertension, external stimuli, mechanical forces, lipid deposition, malfunction of genes and signaling pathways, enhancement of naturally occurring calcium inhibitors, and many others. Modern-day lifestyle is affected by numerous environmental factors and harmful toxins that impair our health rather than providing benefits. Applying the combinatorial approach or targeting the exact mechanism could be a new strategy for drug designing or attenuating the severity of calcification. Most of the non-communicable diseases are life-threatening; thus, altering the phenotype and not the genotype may reveal the gateway for fighting with upcoming hurdles. Overall, this review summarizes the reason behind the generation of arterial and aortic valve calcification and its related signaling pathways and also the detrimental effects of calcification. In addition, the individual process of epigenetics and how the implementation of this process becomes a novel approach for diminishing the harmful effect of calcification are discussed. Noteworthy, as epigenetics is linked with genetics and environmental factors necessitates further clinical trials for complete and in-depth understanding and application of this strategy in a more specific and prudent manner.