Biofilm hydrogel derived from physical crosslinking (self-assembly) of xanthan gum and chitosan for removing Cd, Ni, and Cu from aqueous solution.

This study aimed to fabricate a series of biodegradable hydrogel films by gelating/physically crosslinking a blend of xanthan gum (XG) and chitosan (CS) in various combinations using a facile, green, and low cost solution casting technique. The adsorption of Cd, Cu and Ni by the XG/CS biofilm in aqueous solution was studied in batch experiments to determine how the pH of the solution, contact time, dosage of adsorbent, initial metal ion concentration and ionic strength affect its adsorption. A highly pH-dependent adsorption process was observed for three metal ions.

A self-assembling hydrogel nanocomposite based on xanthan gum modified with SiO NPs and HPAM for improved adsorption of crystal violet cationic dye from aqueous solution.

This paper presents the rational design and novel synthesis of multifunctional nanocomposite hydrogel derived from xanthan gum (XG) modified with silica nanoparticles and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) via H-bonding interactions (self-assembly) through the "green" gelation process in water. Different techniques have been employed to characterize HPAM/SiO@XG, including FT-IR, FE-SEM, XRD, TEM, BET, and TG/DTG as well as swelling kinetics. Crystal violet (CV)'s adsorption performance was investigated using batch experiments by varying various variables involving adsorbent composition, pH, adsorbent quantity, contact time, CV concentration, ionic strength, and temperature.

Preparation of chitosan-based ternary nanocomposite hydrogel film by loading graphene oxide nanosheets as adsorbent for enhanced methylene blue dye removal.

Our objective in this study is to fabricate a novel chitosan-based ternary nanocomposite hydrogel film by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets into a chitosan/partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) network to boost adsorption efficiency through one step self-assembly process in water. Basically, H-bonding interactions drive the formation of a crosslinking network structure. The Batch adsorption experiments evaluated the hydrogel nanocomposite's MB adsorption performance.

Two-Step Physical Deposition of a Compact CuI Hole-Transport Layer and the Formation of an Interfacial Species in Perovskite Solar Cells.

A simple and practical approach is introduced for the deposition of CuI as an inexpensive inorganic hole-transport material (HTM) for the fabrication of low cost perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by gas-solid phase transformation of Cu to CuI. The method provides a uniform and well-controlled CuI layer with large grains and good compactness that prevents the direct connection between the contact electrodes. Solar cells prepared with CuI as the HTM with Au electrodes displays an exceptionally high short-circuit current density of 32 mA cm(-2) , owing to an interfacial species formed between the perovskite and the Cu resulting in a long wavelength contribution to the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE), and an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.