Sharif Digital Repository

A mesophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, has been isolated (33 °C) from a typical, chalcopyrite concentrate of the Sarcheshmeh copper mine in the region of Kerman located in the south of Iran. In addition, a thermophilic iron oxidizing bacterium, Sulfobacillus, has been isolated (60 °C) from the sphalerite concentrate of Kooshk lead and zinc mine near the city of Yazd in the center point of Iran. Variation of pH, ferrous and ferric concentration on time and effects of some factors such as temperature, cell growth, initial ferrous concentration and pH on bioleaching of low-grade complex zinc-lead ore were investigated. The results obtained from bioleaching... 

Water adsorption by bis-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) during the extraction of zinc, cobalt and nickel using a D2EHPA-kerosene/H2O mixture is investigated. Based on the experimental results, about 1 mol of water is adsorbed by 2 mol of D2EHPA (which exists in the form of a dimer), irrespective of the pH. Water adsorption decreases with presence of zinc, cobalt and nickel. The stoichiometric coefficients of D2EHPA in water adsorption reactions are determined with and without zinc, cobalt and nickel by applying the slope-analysis method. It is experimentally confirmed that 1.0, 1.8 and 1.2 mol of adsorbed water will be rejected from the organic phase when zinc, cobalt and nickel are... 

A pyrophosphate based solution, as an acidic electrolyte, was developed for bronze electroplating. By using a statistical experimental design, response surface method, the effects of five factors [copper concentration (Cu), tin concentration (Sn), pyrophosphate concentration (P), current density j and pH] on the composition of the electroplated alloy as well as the process efficiency were evaluated. Statistical analysis indicated that all the parameters were significant and a second order polynomial model was successfully fitted to the data for both the alloy composition and the process efficiency. Based on the results obtained, a solution of Cu(II)8.04 g L -1, Sn(II)=26.36 g L -1, P=113.22... 

In this paper, uranium sorption onto amberlite CG-400 anion exchange resin in the presence of phosphate anions was studied. The effect of contact time between the sorbent and aqueous solution, pH, initial concentration of uranium and temperature were also investigated. Kinetic studies show that uranium sorption onto amberlite CG-400 resin in the presence of phosphate is a fast process and follows pesudo-second-order kinetics. It was also found that the pH value and the presence of phosphate play very important roles in the uranium sorption onto CG-400 resin. Optimum pH for uranium sorption in the presence of phosphate anions was about 3.5. The experimental sorption isotherm is successfully... 

The removal performance of total poly phenols and orthodiphenols (o-diphenols) content in olive mill waste (OMW) was investigated with a three stages cross flow laboratory scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) in the present study. Due to high COD and other pollutant existed in the original OMW, before biological treatment of OMW by the RBC system, physico-chemical treatment was effected for COD and other pollutant reduction. Inoculation of RBC was effected by sludge from olive oil factory, and microbial acclimation was continued to 49 days and the system was adapted to about 300ppm of OMW poly phenols and o-diphenols. In biological treatment, effect of operating parameters such as... 

The photocatalytic degradation of Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) dye has been studied using TiO2 nanofibre as the photocatalyst in aqueous solution under UV irradiation. Titanium dioxide nanofibre was prepared using a templating method with tetraisopropylorthotitanate as a precursor. The experiments were carried out in the presence of the TiO2 nanofibre, and the effects of pH and electron acceptors on the degradation process were investigated. In order to observe the quality of the aqueous solution, chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements were also carried out before and after the treatments. The photocatalytic decomposition of RB19 was most efficient in acidic solution. With the addition of... 

Metal pH50 and ΔpH50 values were determined and compared for a number of organic systems to select a synergistic system for the separation of Cd from Zn. The largest ΔpH50(Zn-Cd) value was obtained with HRJ-4277 (nonylsalicylic acid)/Cyanex 471X (triisobutyl phosphine sulphide or TIBPS) system and reached 1.53 pH units, indicating excellent separation of Cd from Zn with this system. Shellsol 2046 was chosen as the diluent of the system due to its larger ΔpH50(Zn-Cd) and excellent phase separation compared with other diluents. Distribution isotherms and subsequent McCabe-Thiele diagrams indicate that 99% Cd could be extracted in two stages at pH 3.80 and A / O ratio of 1.5 : 1. The extraction... 

Rhenium distribution between Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) dissolved in kerosene and sulfuric aqueous media is investigated under different temperatures, acidities, and TBP concentrations. Results show an exothermic extraction reaction with a distribution factor that decreases with the increase of the temperature and increases with the increase of the acidity and the TBP concentration. The stoichiometry of the reaction indicates neutralization of 1 mole of H+ with 1 mole of ReO4- and solvating of a neutral molecule with four molecules of TBP. The structure of the complexes formed is, therefore, 4TBP · HReO4. The apparent Gibbs free energy of the formation of 4TBP · HReO4 from TBP, ReO4-, and... 

CdS nanoparticles were grown using CdSO4 and Na 2S2O3 as the precursors and thioglycerol (TG) as the capping agent. TG was shown to exhibit a catalytic role in the reaction and also acted as a capping agent. It was demonstrated that size growth is linearly related to the temperature of the reaction, i.e.the sizes can be controllably adjusted by temperature. The crystalline phase of the nanocrystals was also dependent on the temperature of growth: higher temperature favours the cubic phase. The pH also plays an important role in nanoparticle growth, as lower pH leads to a higher release rate of sulfur species. At pH as high as 10, the growth rate remains slow even at boiling temperature. This... 

Nanostructured molybdenum oxide having a particle size in the range of 30-80 nm was prepared by potentiodynamic electrodeposition method, and the effects of H2SO4 concentration on its capacitive behavior were studied by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Poor to fair capacitive behaviors were witnessed depending on the electrolyte concentration and conditions of charge/discharge. Increasing acid concentration to 0.02 M had favorable effect, while beyond that, the effect was detrimental. Capacitance around 600 F g-1 was recorded in the potential range of 0 to -0.55 V vs. Ag/AgCl  

In this study the effects of initial concentration of Fe(II) and Fe(III) ions as well as initial pH on the bioleaching of a low-grade sphalerite ore in a leaching column over a period of 120 days with and without bacteria were investigated. Four different modifications of medium were used as column feed solutions to investigate the effects of initial concentration of Fe(II) and Fe(III) ions on zinc extraction. The experiments were carried out using a bench-scale, column leaching reactor, which was inoculated with mesophilic iron oxidizing bacteria, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, initially isolated from the Sarcheshmeh chalcopyrite concentrate (Kerman, Iran). The effluent solutions were... 

The nitrate-citrate gels exhibit auto-catalytic behavior, which can be used to synthesize the nanocrystalline YIG powders. In this study yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12) nanocrystalline powders were prepared by a sol-gel auto-combustion process. The influence of pH value of the precursor solution on the combustion behavior and the garnet phase formation of synthesized powders were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis (DTA/TGA), infrared (IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction technique (XRD). The results show that with increasing pH value, the combustion rate increases. The as-burnt powder prepared with pH 1 yielded a single phase YIG after calcination at 800... 

Novel types of highly swelling hydrogels were prepared by grafting crosslinked polyacrylic acid-co-poly-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (PAA-co-PAMPS) chains onto κ-carrageenan through a free radical polymerization method. Here, we propose a mechanism for κ-carrageenan-g-PAA-co-PAMPS formation and confirm the hydrogel structure using FTIR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables (i.e. concentration of methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), acrylic acid/-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AA/AMPS) weight ratio, ammonium persulfate (APS), κ-carrageenan, neutralization percent and reaction temperature) were systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with a maximum swelling... 

The purpose of this study was to produce intelligent pectin-based superabsorbent polymers (SAP) to be used as pH- and thermosensitive carriers for the controlled delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The superabsorbent formation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of pH, ionic strength, temperature, porosity, particle size and levels of loaded drug on drug release profile in various surrounding media were investigated. Each sample was well characterized through swelling studies. The molecular weight between crosslinks (M̄C), crosslinking density (ve) polymer-solvent interaction parameter... 

Molybdenum oxide nanostructures were synthesized utilizing the solution combustion method where the ammonium molybdate powder and an organic additive were used as precursors. Different organic additives including ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200), sorbitol and urea were used as surfactants in order to investigate the effect of additive structure on morphology and particle size of products. Also various reaction parameters such as the additive/Mo molar ratio, concentration of metal ion in solution, pH of the reaction, and temperature of the synthesis media were changed to study effects on product morphology and size. Outcomes were characterized by... 

In this article, we synthesize a novel gelatin-based superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AAm) onto gelatin backbones. The polymerization reaction was carried out in an aqueous medium and in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and N,N-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. The hydrogel structures were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables, i.e. concentration of MBA and APS, AA/AAm weight ratio, and reaction time and temperature, was systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with swelling capacity as high as possible. The swelling behavior of these absorbent polymers... 

A novel full-polysaccharide hydrogel was prepared by crosslinking of chitosan with periodate-oxidized sucrose. A tetraaldehyde molecule is synthesized via periodate oxidation of sucrose and then applied as a crosslinking agent to form a new hydrogel network. A mechanism for the superabsorbent hydrogel formation via reductive N-alkylation was also suggested. The structure of the hydrogel was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It is shown that crosslinking of chitosan can improve its thermal stability. The effects of crosslinker concentration, pH, and inorganic salt on the swelling behavior of the hydrogel were studied. The... 

Synergistic effects of Cyanex 272 mixed with D2EHPA and Cyanex 302 mixed with D2EHPA were investigated for the separation of cobalt and nickel from a dilute sulfate media with the aim of reducing the reagent cost. Selective extraction of cobalt over nickel improved with respect to D2EHPA, but worsened with respect to Cyanex 272. By the application of the slope analysis method, the stoichiometric coefficient of the extractant was found to be four for cobalt and five for nickel, in a mixture of D2EHPA with Cyanex 302. However, it was four for both cobalt and nickel in a mixture of D2EHPA with Cyanex 272. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was utilized to examine the... 

A batch extraction of an essential amino acid, Phenylalanine, from an aqueous solution of different concentrations by an Emulsion Liquid Membrane (ELM) was developed using D2EHPA as a cationic carrier, Span 80 as the surfactant, paraffin and kerosene as the diluents, and HCl as the internal electrolyte. All effective parameters such as pH of initial aqueous external phase, electrolyte concentration in aqueous internal phase, carrier and surfactant concentration in emulsion, volume ratio of the organic to aqueous internal phase (Roi), volume ratio of the W/O emulsion to aqueous external phase (Rew) and time were examined and optimized using Taguchi method which was the first time of... 

In this paper, the sorption of uranium onto nanoporous silica adsorbent in the presence of nitrate, sulfate, chloride, fluoride and phosphate was studied. The effect of contact time between the nanoporous sorbent and aqueous solution, pH and initial concentration of uranium was also investigated. Uranium sorption onto nanoporous silica adsorbent is a very fast process as sorption rate increases with pH increment. Optimum pH for uranium sorption was 4-8. Experimental sorption isotherm is successfully described by Langmuir and Freundlich models. The results obtained by batch experiments showed that the presence of high concentration of nitrate, sulfate, chloride and phosphate anions alone had...