Specific polymeric material applications as bioactive molecules delivery systems involve a strictly controlled degradation of polymer matrixes. One possibility to obtain a zero-order kinetic for small molecules release consists in a simple hydrolysis of ester groups contained in the macromolecular structure. The chemical degradation can lead to the continuous surface erosion of the formulated resins without loss of their mechanical properties and to a permanent activity of the delivery systems. Hydrolysis is a very well-known reaction in the case of organic molecules containing ester groups. The mechanism seems to be more complicated when ester groups are located in macromolecular structures. With the aim of antifouling applications, acrylic acid polymers bearing lateral ester groups of different chemical structures (hydrophilic, hydrophobic, hydrolyzable) have been prepared, characterized, and immersed in water, at pH 8, and their hydrolysis has been studied. Experimental data display two parameters, at least, which must be taken into account: the reactivity of the ester groups toward hydrolysis and the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of the polymer. The susceptibility of the acrylic polymers to hydrolysis has been compared to the erosion characteristics of the corresponding films. The results confirm that hydrolysis is necessary to obtain a regular degradation of the films without loss of mechanical properties. A relationship has been observed between the characteristics of hydrolysis and erosion for each studied polymer. 相似文献
Activated sludges originated from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an important role in heavy metal removal from effluents. Extracellular polymers (ECP) form a major part of the activated sludge and are heavily involved in biosorption of heavy metals. The complexation of three heavy metals (Cd, Cu and Pb) with ECP extracted from six activated sludges, originated from different WWTPs, was investigated at pH 7.
ECP in the study were shown to be mainly composed of proteins, humic acids, uronic acids and polysaccharides along with smaller amounts of lipids and nucleic acids. IR spectra confirmed the presence of the functional groups usually found in the ECP and the content in each fraction was determined using colorimetric methods. The determination of surface charge was carried out on each ECP sample and allowed two pKa values characteristic of two distinctive functional groups to be determined. At the pH used in the study, the value of these constants indicates that only one functional group is under protonated form.
A polarographic method was used to determine the complexation parameters (number of binding sites and complexation constant) of ECP solutions towards metals. The following orders were established for the number of binding sites: Cu > Pb Cd and for the stability of the ECP–metal complex: Cd > Pb Cu.
A matrix of correlation between the composition of the polymers and the complexation parameters showed that the number of binding sites and the complexation constant were strongly linked to proteins, polysaccharides and humic substances content. 相似文献
It is urgent to explore effective suppression methods for gas fires and explosions to ensure the safe utilizations of combustible gases in industrial processes. In this work, experiments are performed to study the effect of spherical ceramic pellets on premixed methane-air flame propagation in a closed duct. High-speed schlieren photography and pressure transducers are used to record the flame propagation and pressure transient, respectively. Behaviors of the flame propagating through a section of the duct filled with ceramic pellets in mixtures at different equivalence ratios are scrutinized. Three different diameters of pellets are considered in the experiments. The result shows that the flame can be quenched in the case with a smaller pellet diameter (3 mm) for a wide range of equivalence ratios from fuel-lean to fuel-rich mixture. For larger pellet diameter (5 or 10 mm), flame extinction occurs in fuel-rich mixtures (e.g. Φ = 1.1, 1.2). For the cases of flame surviving through the pellets bed, the pellets show a significant influence on the flame structure and behavior. The flame propagation depends on the porosity and the mean void diameter of the porous media in the pellets bed. Small void diameter is beneficial to flame quenching, while large porosity can accelerate the flame propagation. The pressure dynamics evolution is closely related to the interaction of flame with the pellets, and it depends on whether the flame quenches in the pellets bed. Overall, d = 3 mm ceramic pellets display the best suppression effect on flame propagation and pressure buildup in this study. The results of this study are of great significance to guide the safety design of spherical suppression materials in engineering applications for process safety researchers and engineers. 相似文献