Water pollution and the unsustainable use of fossil fuel derivatives require advanced catalytic methods to clean waters and to produce fine chemicals from modern biomass. Classical homogeneous catalysts such as sulfuric, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acid are highly corrosive and non-recyclable, whereas heterogeneous catalysts appear promising for lignocellulosic waste depolymerization, pollutant degradation, and membrane antifouling. Here, we review the use of sulfonated graphene and sulfonated graphene oxide nanomaterials for improving membranes, pollutant adsorption and degradation, depolymerization of lignocellulosic waste, liquefaction of biomass, and production of fine chemicals. We also discuss the economy of oil production from biomass. Sulfonated graphene and sulfonated graphene oxide display an unusual large theoretical specific surface area of 2630 m2/g, allowing the reactants to easily enter the internal surface of graphene nanosheets and to reach active acid sites. Sulfonated graphene oxide is hydrophobic and has hydrophilic groups, such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, and epoxy, thus creating cavities on the graphene nanosheet’s surface. The adsorption capacity approached 2.3–2.4 mmol per gram for naphthalene and 1-naphthol. Concerning membranes, we observe an improvement of hydrophilicity, salt rejection, water flux, antifouling properties, and pollutant removal. The nanomaterials can be reused several times without losing catalytic activity due to the high stability originating from the stable carbon–sulfur bond between graphene and the sulfonic group.
Air pollution has been an increasing concern within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. In this work the authors present an analysis of daily ozone (O3), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulate matter (<10 μm aerodynamic diameter; PM10) concentrations for two years (2010 and 2011) at sites in and around the coastal city of Jeddah, as well as a remote background site for comparison. Monthly and weekly variations, along with their implications and consequences, were also examined. O3 within Jeddah was remarkably low, and exhibited the so-called weekend effect—elevated O3 levels on the weekends, despite reduced emissions of O3 precursors on those days. Weekend O3 increases averaged between 12% and 14% in the city, suggesting that NOx/volatile organic compound (VOC) ratios within cities such as Jeddah may be exceptionally high. Sites upwind or far removed from Jeddah did not display this weekend effect. Based on these results, emission control strategies in and around Jeddah must carefully address NOx/VOC ratios so as to reduce O3 at downwind locations without increasing it within urban locations themselves. PM10 concentrations within Jeddah were elevated compared with North American cites of similar climatology, though comparable to other large cities within the Middle East.
Implications:Daily concentrations of O3, PM10, and NOx in and around the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, are analyzed and compared with those of other reference cities. Extremely low O3 levels, along with a significant urban weekend effect (higher weekend O3, despite reduced NOx concentrations), is apparent, along with high levels of PM10 within the city. Urban O3 in Jeddah was found to be lower than that of other comparable cities, but the strong weekend effect suggests that care must be taken to reduce downwind O3 levels without increasing them within the city itself. Further research into the emissions and chemistry contributing to the reduced O3 levels within the city is warranted. 相似文献
The objective of this work was to isolate cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) from oil palm fronds (Elaeis guineensis) and its subsequent characterization. Isolation involves sodium hydroxide/anthraquinone pulping with mechanical refining followed by total chlorine free bleaching (includes oxygen delignification, hydrogen peroxide oxidation and peracetic acid treatment) before acid hydrolysis. Bleaching significantly decreased kappa number and increased α-cellulose percentage of fibers as confirmed by Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry standards. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis revealed that acid hydrolysis along with bleaching improved crystallinity index and thermal stability of the extracted nanocrystals. It was observed that CNC maintained its cellulose 1 polymorph despite hydrolysis treatment. Mean diameter as observed by TEM and average fiber aspect ratio of obtained CNC was 7.44 ± 0.17 nm and 16.53 ± 3.52, respectively making it suitable as a reinforcing material for nanocomposite. 相似文献
This is the first study describing the chemical oxidation of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in contaminated soil under water saturated and unsaturated flow through conditions. Soil contaminated with β-HCH (45 mg kg?1) and γ-HCH (lindane, 25 mg kg?1) was sampled from former lindane waste storage site. Efficiency of following treatments was tested at circumneutral pH: H2O2 alone, H2O2/FeII, Na2S2O8 alone, Na2S2O8/FeII, and KMnO4. Experimental conditions (oxidant dose, liquid/solid ratio, and soil granulometry) were first optimized in batch experiments. Obtained results revealed that increasing dose of H2O2 improved the oxidation efficiency while in Na2S2O8 system, maximum HCHs were removed at 300 mM. However, oxidation efficiency was slightly improved by FeII-activation. Increasing the solid/liquid ratio decreased HCH removal in soil samples crushed to 500 μm while an opposite trend was observed for 2-mm samples. Dynamic column experiments showed that oxidation efficiency followed the order KMnO4 > Na2S2O8/FeII > Na2S2O8 whatever the flow condition, whereas the removal extent declined at higher flow rate (e.g., ~50% by KMnO4 at 0.5 mL/min as compared to ~30% at 2 mL/min). Both HCH removal and oxidant decomposition extents were found higher in saturated columns than the unsaturated ones. While no significant change in relative abundance of soil mineral constituents was observed before and after chemical oxidation, more than 60% of extractable organic matter was lost after chemical oxidation, thereby underscoring the non-selective behavior of chemical oxidation in soil. Due to the complexity of soil system, chemical oxidation has rarely been reported under flow through conditions, and therefore our findings will have promising implications in developing remediation techniques under dynamic conditions closer to field applications. 相似文献
The variation of mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural properties of randomly oriented unsaturated polyester
based sisal/carbon fibre reinforced hybrid composites with different fibre weight ratios have been studied. The chemical resistance
test of these hybrid composites to various solvents, acids and alkalies were studied. The effect of NaOH treatment of sisal
fibres on the tensile, flexural and chemical resistance properties of these sisal/carbon hybrid composites has also been studied.
The hybrid composites showed an increase in tensile and flexural properties with increase in the carbon fibre loading. The
tensile properties and flexural properties of these hybrid composites have been found to be higher than that of the matrix.
Significant improvement in tensile properties and flexural properties of the sisal/carbon hybrid composites has been observed
by alkali treatment. The chemical resistance test results showed that these untreated and alkali treated hybrid composites
are résistance to all chemicals except carbon tetra chloride. Hand lay-up technique was used for making the composites and
tests are carried out by using ASTM methods. 相似文献
A novel nanocomposite based on incorporation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was prepared. Proposed nanocomposite was coated on stainless steel wire by deep coating. Composition of nanocomposite was optimized based on results of morphological studies using scanning electron microscopy. The best composition (83% MWCNTs:17% PVC) was applied as a solid phase microextraction fiber. Complex mixture of aromatic (BTEX) and aliphatic hydrocarbons (C5–C34) were selected as model analytes, and performance of proposed fiber in extraction of the studied compounds from water and soil samples was evaluated. Analytical merits of the method for water samples (LODs = 0.10–1.10 ng L−1, r2 = 0.9940–0.9994) and for soil samples (LODs = 0.10–0.77 ng kg−1, r2 = 0.9946–0.9994) showed excellent characteristics of it in ultra trace determination of petroleum type environmental pollutants. Finally, the method was used for determination of target analytes in river water, industrial effluent and soil samples. 相似文献
In this research, hybrid composite materials were prepared from combination of oil palm Empty fruit bunches (EFB) fibre and
jute fibre as reinforcement, epoxy as polymer matrix. This study intended to investigate the effect of jute fiber hybridization
and different layering pattern on the physical properties of oil palm EFB-Epoxy composites. Water absorption and thickness
swelling test reveal that hybrid composite shows a moderate water absorption which is 11.20% for hybrid EFB/Jute/EFB composite
and 6.08% for hybrid Jute/EFB/Jute composite. The thickness swelling and water absorption of the hybrid composites slightly
increased as the layering pattern of hybrid composites changed. Hybrid composites are more water resistance and dimensional
stable compare to the pure EFB composites. This is attributed to the more hydrophilic nature of EFB composites. Hybridization
of oil palm EFB composites with jute fibres can improve the dimensional stability and density of pure EFB and Jute fibre reinforced
composites has higher density of 1.2 g/cm3 compared to all other composites. 相似文献