Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, a three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design with response surface methodology were used to maximize the TOC removal and minimize the H2O2 residual in the effluent of the combined UV-C/H2O2-VUV system for the treatment of an actual slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW) collected from one of the meat processing plants in Ontario, Canada. The irradiation time and the initial concentrations of total organic carbon (TOCo) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2o) were the three predictors, as independent variables, studied in the design of experiments. The multiple response approach was used to obtain desirability response surfaces at the optimum factor settings. Subsequently, the optimum... 

In this study, the enhanced trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation performance was investigated by polyvinyl alcohol coated calcium peroxide nanoparticles (PVA@nCP) as an oxidant in Fe(II)-based catalytic systems. The nanoscale iron sulfide (nFeS), having an average particle size of 115.4 nm, was synthesized in the laboratory and characterized by SEM, TEM, HR-TEM along with EDS elemental mapping, XRD, FTIR, ICP-OES, and XPS techniques. In only ferrous iron catalyzed system (PVA@nCP/Fe(II)), TCE degradation was recorded at 58.9% in 6 h. In comparison, this value was increased to 97.5% or 99.7% with the addition of citric acid (CA) or nFeS in PVA@nCP/Fe(II) system, respectively. A comparative... 

In this study, the enhanced trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation performance was investigated by polyvinyl alcohol coated calcium peroxide nanoparticles (PVA@nCP) as an oxidant in Fe(II)-based catalytic systems. The nanoscale iron sulfide (nFeS), having an average particle size of 115.4 nm, was synthesized in the laboratory and characterized by SEM, TEM, HR-TEM along with EDS elemental mapping, XRD, FTIR, ICP-OES, and XPS techniques. In only ferrous iron catalyzed system (PVA@nCP/Fe(II)), TCE degradation was recorded at 58.9% in 6 h. In comparison, this value was increased to 97.5% or 99.7% with the addition of citric acid (CA) or nFeS in PVA@nCP/Fe(II) system, respectively. A comparative... 

Herein, we demonstrate a facile low temperature approach to prepare a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) based on the triiodide/iodide redox couple in a quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Only one polymeric agent (i.e., hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)) is used for the preparation of a non-volatile GPE system for the standard liquid electrolyte containing 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (MPII). The prepared GPE completely penetrates into a TiO2 photoanode at room temperature due to the uniform distribution of Ti, Ru and I elements in the cross-section of the electrode, forming an interpenetrating GPE/TiO2 network to access all dye molecules. The GPE with the optimum HPC : MPII... 

In this study, an enzymatic pathway has been developed to replicate the Calvin Cycle by creating the individual steps of the carbon cycle in a bioreactor. The technology known as “artificial photosynthesis” converts CO2 emissions into a variety of intermediates that serve as precursors to high-value products. CO2, light, water, and electricity were used as feedstock. An electrochemical reactor was also studied for the regeneration of active NADH operating at constant electrode potential. Initially, a batch electrochemical reactor containing 80 mL of 0.2 mM NAD+ in Tris-buffer (pH 7.40) was used to evaluate the electrode material operating at normal temperature and pressure. The results... 

The simultaneous oxidation performance of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) by nanoscale calcium peroxide particles (nCaO2) activated with ferric ions (Fe(III)) and the mechanism of the enhancement of BTEX degradation by L-cysteine (L-cys) were investigated. The batch experimental results showed that the nCaO2/Fe(III)/L-cys process was effective in the destruction of BTEX in both ultrapure water and actual groundwater. A proper amount of L-cys could enhance BTEX degradation due to the promotion of Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox cycles by the participation of L-cys, but an excessive presence of L-cys would cause inhibition. Adding 1.0 mM L-cys to the nCaO2/Fe(III) system, the... 

This study develops a photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cell (PMMFC) engaged Chlorella vulgaris microalgae to investigate effect of light intensities and illumination regimes on simultaneous production of bioelectricity, biomass and wastewater treatment. The performance of the system under different light intensity (3500, 5000, 7000 and 10,000 lx) and light/dark regimes (24/00, 12/12, 16/8 h) was investigated. The optimum light intensity and light/dark regimes for achieving maximum yield of PMMFC were obtained. The maximum power density of 126 mW m−3, the coulombic efficiency of 78% and COD removal of 5.47% were achieved. The maximum biomass concentration of 4 g l−1 (or biomass yield... 

The direct growth of self-supported metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) thin film can be considered as an effective strategy for fabrication of the advanced modified electrodes in sensors and biosensor applications. However, most of the fabricated MOFs-based sensors suffer from some drawbacks such as time consuming for synthesis of MOF and electrode making, need of a binder or an additive layer, need of expensive equipment and use of hazardous solvents. Here, a novel free-standing MOFs-based modified electrode was fabricated by the rapid direct growth of MOFs on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE). In this method, direct growth of MOFs was occurred by the formation of vertically... 

In recent years, a range of studies have been conducted with the aim to design and characterize delivery systems that are able to release multiple therapeutic agents in controlled and programmed temporal sequences, or with spatial resolution inside the body. This sequential release occurs in response to different stimuli, including changes in pH, redox potential, enzyme activity, temperature gradients, light irradiation, and by applying external magnetic and electrical fields. Sequential release (SR)-based delivery systems, are often based on a range of different micro- or nanocarriers and may offer a silver bullet in the battle against various diseases, such as cancer. Their distinctive... 

Injectable hydrogels which mimic the physicochemical and electromechanical properties of cardiac tissue is advantageous for cardiac tissue engineering. Here, a newly-developed in situ forming double-network hydrogel derived from biological macromolecules (oxidized alginate (OA) and myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM)) with improved mechanical properties and electrical conductivity was optimized. 3-(2-aminoethyl amino) propyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS)-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (Amine-rGO) was added to this system with varied concentrations to promote electromechanical properties of the hydrogel. Alginate was partially oxidized with an oxidation degree of 5% and the resulting OA... 

Mass transfer efficiency and catalytic reactivity are the two major hurdles for heterogeneous catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) technologies. To address these issues, nanocomposite CuFeO2/Al2O3 was synthesized and assessed as a novel catalyst for enhanced adsorption and oxidation of anionic pollutants (catechol and reactive red 195 (RR195)) in waters. With a positive charge on the nanocomposite by introducing Al2O3, the adsorption of anionic pollutants was promoted. The surface complexation reaction on CuFeO2/Al2O3, which fits well to the Langmuir isotherm, has engined the mass transfer of pollutants to the nanocatalyst that demonstrated 96.46% and 99.75% removal of catechol and RR195... 

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... 

Carbonaceous materials (CMs) have been applied extensively for enhancing the catalytic performance of environmental catalysts, however, the self-catalytic mechanism of CMs for groundwater remediation is rarely investigated. Herein, we unveiled the catalytic ability of various CMs via Fe(III) reduction through polyvinyl alcohol-coated calcium peroxide nanoparticles (PVA@nCP) for trichloroethylene (TCE) removal. Among selected CMs (graphite (G), biochar (BC) and activated carbon (AC)), BC and AC showed enhancement of TCE removal of 89% and 98% via both adsorption and catalytic degradation. BET and SEM analyses showed a higher adsorption capacity of AC (27.8%) than others. The generation of... 

Carbonaceous materials (CMs) have been applied extensively for enhancing the catalytic performance of environmental catalysts, however, the self-catalytic mechanism of CMs for groundwater remediation is rarely investigated. Herein, we unveiled the catalytic ability of various CMs via Fe(III) reduction through polyvinyl alcohol-coated calcium peroxide nanoparticles (PVA@nCP) for trichloroethylene (TCE) removal. Among selected CMs (graphite (G), biochar (BC) and activated carbon (AC)), BC and AC showed enhancement of TCE removal of 89% and 98% via both adsorption and catalytic degradation. BET and SEM analyses showed a higher adsorption capacity of AC (27.8%) than others. The generation of... 

FeVO4/CeO2 was applied in the electro-Fenton (EF) degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) as a model of wastewater pollution. The results of the characterization techniques indicate that FeVO4 with triclinic structure and face-centered cubic fluorite CeO2 maintained their structures during the nanocomposite synthesis. The effect of applied current intensity, initial pollutant concentration, initial pH, and catalyst weight was investigated. The MO removal reached 96.31% and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal 70% for 60 min of the reaction. The presence of CeO2 in the nanocomposite plays a key role in H2O2 electro-generation as a significant factor in the electro-Fenton (EF) system. The metal... 

Background: Glucose sensors have been extensively researched in patent studies and manufactured a tool for clinical diabetes diagnosis. Although some kinds of electrochemical enzymatic glucose sensors have been commercially successful, there is still room for improvement, in selectivity and reliability of these sensors. Because of the intrinsic disadvantages of enzymes, such as high fabrication cost and poor stability, non-enzymatic glucose sensors have recently been promoted as next generation diagnostic tool due to their relatively low cost, high stability, prompt response, and accuracy. Objective: In this research, a novel free standing and binder free non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor... 

H2S and CO2 are the main impurities in raw natural gas, which needs to be purified before use. However, the comprehensive utilization of H2S and CO2 has been ignored. Herein, we proposed a fully resource-based method to convert toxic gas H2S and greenhouse gas CO2 synchronously into CO and elemental S by using a novel electrochemical reactor. The special designs include that, in the anodic chamber, H2S was oxidized rapidly to S based on the I−/I3− cyclic redox system to avoid anode passivation. On the other hand, in the cathodic chamber, CO2 was rapidly and selectively reduced to CO based on a porous carbon gas diffusion electrode (GDE) modified with polytetrafluoroethylene and cobalt...