Sharif Digital Repository

A multicomponent polysaccharide obtained from dried tubers of certain natural terrestrial orchids was chemically modified by sulfonation using chlorosulfonic acid-dimethylformamide (HClSO3-DMF) complex as a reagent. For a structural characterization of salep sulfate 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves were recorded. The sulfate content of modified salep was determined using elemental analysis. This modified biopolymer was used to prepare a new environment-friendly heavy metal ion adsorbent, salep sulfate-graft-polyacrylic acid hydrogel (SS-g-PAA). Swelling rate and equilibrium water absorbency in various... 

Novel types of highly swelling hydrogels (superabsorbent) were prepared by grafting crosslinked poly acrylic acid-co-2-hydroxyethylmetacrylate (PAA-co-HEMA) chains onto starch through a free radical polymerization method. The effect of grafting variables (i.e., concentration of methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), acrylic acid/2-hydroxy methymetacrylate (AA/HEMA) weight ratio, ammonium persulfate (APS), starch, neutralization percent, were systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with a maximum swelling capacity. The superabsorbent (SAP) formation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The controlled-release behavior of... 

Novel ZnO-carbon and ZnO nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning of polymer precursor followed by subsequent annealing in nitrogen and air, respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated the smooth and beadless nanofibers with wurtzite crystal structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of oxygen vacancies (VO) and chemisorbed O2 on the surface of the samples. Band gap narrowing of the ZnO-carbon nanofibers in comparison to ZnO were measured by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Photo-degradation of azo dye under the UV and visible light was evaluated and ZnO-carbon showed an enhancement in... 

A new cationic flocculant was synthesized by graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and 3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]trimethylammonium chloride (MAPTAC) onto salep using free radical polymerization initiated by ammonium persulfate (APS) to produce cationic salep [S-g-P(AM-co-MAPTAC)]. Reaction parameters (monomers/salep ratio, concentration of reactants, MAPTAC/AM ratio, and APS) were optimized using a full factorial experimental design to obtain the highest settling rate for cement suspensions. The best performing product was characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), FTIR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The resulted cationic flocculant may be... 

The relatively new applications of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) in cement based materials call for investigations regarding their behaviors in relation to other constituents in the system. Colloidal silica nanoparticles (CS) are becoming increasingly important for the improvement of strength and durability of cement based materials. In this study, a poly (AA-co-AM) SAP was synthesized by free radical polymerization, and its behaviors in cement based composites incorporating CS were investigated. These included swelling behavior, setting time, mechanical performance in different curing conditions, and rheological properties of fresh pastes. The observation of an unusual reduction in... 

This article reports the first oil-absorbent cross-linked copolymer consisting of modified multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and showing high oil absorbency. Also, to investigate and evaluate the effective parameters on oil absorbency, cross-linked dodecyl methacrylate (DDMA)-diphenylacrylamide (DPAA) and DDMA-butyl acrylate (BA) copolymers were synthesized. DDMA was copolymerized with different mol% of DPAA or BA and cross-linked using azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator and various weight percentages of 1,4-butandiol dimethacrylate, methylene bisacrylamide, or vinyl group-modified MWCNT cross-linkers. The effects of monomer feed composition, cross-linker concentration, and the... 

Bromophenols are known as antioxidant radical scavengers for some biomolecules such as those in marine red alga. Full understanding of the role played by bromophenols requires detailed knowledge of the radical scavenging activities in probable pathways, a focus of ongoing research. To gain detailed insight into two suggested pathways, H-atom transfer and electron transfer, theoretical studies employing first principle quantum mechanical calculations have been carried out on selected bromophenols. Detailed investigation of the aforementioned routes revealed that upon H-atom abstraction or the electron transfer process, bromophenols cause an increase in radical species in which the unpaired... 

Novel class of polyelectrolyte gels based on the copolymer of vinylimidazolium-typed ionic liquid monomer and Dodecyl methacrylate was prepared by free radical polymerization. A small amount of 3-n-Dodecyl-1- vinylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate is incorporated into crosslinked polyacrylates to provide new lipophilic polyelectrolyte gels that evaluated for swelling in less-polar and nonpolar organic solvents. Their swelling degree becomes more than 50 times as much as their dried weights in some organic solvents. By varying the polarity of the neutral monomer in these polyelectrolyte gels, the design of gels that can absorb solvents of nearly any polarity is demonstrated. The present... 

Rice bran is one of the most important co-products in the rice milling. In this research, antioxidant activity of two Iranian rice bran varieties, Fajr and Tarem, extracted by three different solvents (methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate) was evaluated. The order of antioxidant activity was evaluated by measurement of total phenolic content, antioxidant activity in linoleic acid system, reducing power and scavenging capacity by DPPH radical. The methanolic extract of Fajr rice bran showed a total phenolic content of 3.31 mg Gallic acid/gr rice bran and a DPPH free radical-scavenging activity of 93.91%, achieved at 50 mg/ml concentration, and a percent inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation... 

Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles, Zn1−xMnxO, were synthesised by a polyethylene glycol (PEG) sol–gel method and the physicochemical properties of compounds were characterised by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic degradation of an organic dye, methylene blue (MB), in the presence of Zn1−xMnxO as the catalyst and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as the oxidant at room temperature in water has been studied. Effects of oxidant, catalyst amount, catalyst composition, pH value of the solution and an OH-radical... 

In this work, a novel method to synthesis of an acrylic superabsorbent hydrogel was reported. In the two stage hydrogel synthesis, first copolymerization reaction of acrylonitrile (AN) and acrylamide (AM) monomers using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator was performed. In the second stage, the resulted copolymer was hydrolyzed to produce carboxamide and carboxylate groups followed by in situ crosslinking of the polyacrylonitrile chains. The results from FTIR spectroscopy and the dark red-yellow color change show that the copolymerization, alkaline hydrolysis and crosslinking reactions have been do take place. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) verifies that the synthesized...