Sharif Digital Repository

As the first part of a continued research on conversion of carboxymethyl cellulose-sodium salt (CMC) to useful biopolymer-based materials, large numbers of cyanide functional groups were introduced onto CMC by grafting with polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The graft copolymerization reactions were carried out under nitrogen atmosphere using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator. Evidence of grafting was obtained by comparing FTIR spectra of CMC and the graft copolymer as well as solubility characteristics of the products. The synthetic conditions were systematically optimized through studying the effective factors including temperature and concentrations of initiator, acrylonitrile monomer,... 

The morphological manipulation, structural characterization, and optical properties of different cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanostructures are reported. Two different CdSe nanostructures, i.e., nanorods and nanoparticles, were grown by controlling the concentration of precursors (i.e., cadmium nitrate and selenium dioxide) in ethanolamine solvent. By manipulating the kinetic parameter of the process (i.e., growth rate) under constant growth driving force (i.e., degree of supersaturation), the morphology of CdSe nanostructures can be tailored from nanorods to nanoparticles. The optical properties of CdSe nanostructures were investigated using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The... 

The main goal of this research is to use the biomass productivity, carbohydrate content, and carbohydrate productivity as useful responses for optimization of macronutrients concentrations (K2HPO4, NaHCO3, and NaNO3) in cultivation of Spirulina microalgae as a feedstock for bioethanol production. In this study, individual and synergistic effects of medium components on the mentioned responses were investigated. The culture medium was optimized using central composite design for achieving the maximize biomass productivity (165 mg L−1 day−1 at K2HPO4: 438 mg L−1, NaHCO3: 15.92 g L−1, and NaNO3: 0.5 g L−1), carbohydrate content (42.0% of dry mass at K2HPO4: 192 mg L−1, NaHCO3: 5.71 g L−1, and... 

A moving bed biofilm reactor with pre-denitrification configuration was fed with a synthetic wastewater containing high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia. By changing different variables including ammonium and COD loading, nitrification rate in the aerobic reactor and denitrification rate in the anoxic reactor were monitored. Changing the influent loading was achieved via adjusting the inlet COD (956-2,096 mg/L), inlet ammonium (183-438 mg/L), and hydraulic retention time of the aerobic reactor (8, 12, and 18 hours). The overall organic loading rate was in the range of 3.60-17.37 gCOD/m2·day, of which 18.5-91% was removed in the anoxic reactor depending on the operational conditions.... 

Superhydrophobic surfaces demonstrate significant characteristics which make them suitable for a wide variety of applications. In this study, we propose a facile, one-step, and cost-effective anodizing scheme using aluminum nitrate/stearic acid mixture solution to create a superhydrophobic surface on an aluminum mesh. The surface outperforms the surface anodized by the widely used oxalic acid solution in terms of superhydrophobicity and water-surface friction behavior. The proposed surface reduced the friction by 11% on average respective to the surface prepared by oxalic acid. The durability of the introduced superhydrophobic surface has also been investigated. The proposed surface retained... 

This review paper is devoted to the intensification of processes for nitrate removal. First, the developments of microfluidic sensors for nitrate detection and analysis have addressed. Second, the process variables of photocatalytic nitrate removal have been categorized according to their relationship with activity, selectivity and stability of the catalyst. The objective of this classification is to generate guidelines toward the photocatalytic process optimization. Third, because of the fact that a single method for nitrate removal faces some challenges, hybrid methods have been presented, and the best choice for nitrate removal can be referred to as photocatalytic – reverse osmosis... 

This review paper is devoted to the intensification of processes for nitrate removal. First, the developments of microfluidic sensors for nitrate detection and analysis have addressed. Second, the process variables of photocatalytic nitrate removal have been categorized according to their relationship with activity, selectivity and stability of the catalyst. The objective of this classification is to generate guidelines toward the photocatalytic process optimization. Third, because of the fact that a single method for nitrate removal faces some challenges, hybrid methods have been presented, and the best choice for nitrate removal can be referred to as photocatalytic – reverse osmosis... 

Urea is a major source of nitrogen pollution in domestic sewage and its denitrification is difficult since it is very likely to be converted into ammonia or nitrate instead of expected N2. Herein, we propose an exhaustive denitrification method for urea via the oxidation of amine/ammonia-N with chlorine oxide radical, which induced from a bi-functional RuO2//WO3 anode, and the highly selective reduction of nitrate-N on cathode in photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). Under illumination, the WO3 photoanode side promotes the quantities hydroxyl and reactive chlorine radical, and these radicals are immediately combined to stronger chlorine oxide radical by RuO2 side, which obviously enhances the... 

A novel catalyst of sulfidated iron-nickel supported on biochar (S-FeNi@BC) was synthesized to activate persulfate (PS) for the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE). A number of techniques including XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, BET and EDS were employed to characterize S-FeNi@BC. The influence of sulfur to iron ratio (S/F) on TCE removal was investigated by batch experiments and a higher TCE removal (98.4%) was achieved at 0.22/1 ratio of S/F in the PS/S-FeNi@BC oxidation system. A dominant role in iron species conversion was noticed by the addition of sulfur in FeNi@BC system. Significant enhancement in recycling of the dissolved and surface Fe(II) was confirmed which contributed to the generation of... 

In this study, solvent extraction method has been utilized for separation of molybdenum and vanadium from nitrate solution by utilizing coupling of acid and solvating extractants (D2EHPA and TBP extractants). The outcomes demonstrated that synergistic solvent extraction improves stability of formatted complexes for transfer to the organic phase. The main parameters such as pH value, concentration of extractants, NH4OH concentration as the stripping agent and contact time were optimized at 0.4, 15% (v/v) D2EHPA, 10% (v/v) TBP, 2 M and 30 min, respectively. The maximum separation factor of 24.84 was obtained with a new synergistic mixture of D2EHPA and TBP diluted with kerosene. According to...