Biosorption of thorium onto Chlorella Vulgaris microalgae in aqueous media.

Thorium biosorption by a green microalga, Chlorella Vulgaris, was studied in a stirred batch reactor to investigate the effect of initial solution pH, metal ion concentration, biomass dosage, contact time, kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics of uptake. The green microalgae showed the highest Th adsorption capacity at 45 °C for the solution with a thorium concentration of 350 mg L and initial pH of 4. The amount of uptake raised from 84 to 104 mg g as the temperature increased from 15 to 45 °C for an initial metal concentration of 75 mg L at pH 4.

Bacterial Contamination of Collected Cockroaches and Determination Their Antibiotic Susceptibility in Khorramabad City, Iran.

Background: Cockroaches are one of the most important carriers of pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, the presence of cockroaches in public places, especially in hospitals, homes, and restaurants, is dangerous, and threatens the health of society, people, and the environment. The aim of this study was evaluation of bacterial contamination of cockroaches and the sensitivity of these bacteria to various antibiotics, captured from Khorramabad City, Iran.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of two-phase flow patterns in a serpentine microfluidic device.

In the current research work, the flow behavior of a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) process in a serpentine microchannel was analyzed. The simulation was performed using a 3D model and the results were found to be consistent with experimental data. The impact of the flow of chloroform and water on the flow model was also examined.

Applying a microfluidic device to improve the Ca separation performance of the liquid-liquid extraction process.

This study investigates the application of extraction solvent in a new microfluidic apparatus to separate calcium ions (Ca). Indeed, a serpentine microfluidic device has been utilized to separate calcium ions. The flow regime map shows that it is possible to completely separate organic and aqueous phases using the serpentine microfluidic device.

Single and binary ion sorption equilibria of monovalent and divalent ions in commercial ion exchange membranes.

The co-ion and counter-ion sorption of monovalent (Na, K, Cl and NO) and divalent ions (Ca and SO) in commercial Neosepta ion exchange membranes were systemically studied in both single and binary salt systems. The new generation of Neosepta cation exchange membrane (CSE) showed a significant difference in water uptake and co-ion sorption compared to the earlier generation (CMX). Use of the Manning model confirmed that there were significant differences between these membranes, with the estimated value of the Manning parameter changing from 1.

A comparison of multicomponent electrosorption in capacitive deionization and membrane capacitive deionization.

In this study, the desalination performance of Capacitive Deionization (CDI) and Membrane Capacitive Deionization (MCDI) was studied for a wide range of salt compositions. The comprehensive data collection for monovalent and divalent ions used in this work enabled us to understand better the competitive electrosorption of these ions both with and without ion-exchange membranes (IEMs). As expected, MCDI showed an enhanced salt adsorption and charge efficiency in comparison with CDI.

The Role of Ion Exchange Membranes in Membrane Capacitive Deionisation.

Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) are unique in combining the electrochemical properties of ion exchange resins and the permeability of a membrane. They are being used widely to treat industrial effluents, and in seawater and brackish water desalination. Membrane Capacitive Deionisation (MCDI) is an emerging, energy efficient technology for brackish water desalination in which these ion-exchange membranes act as selective gates allowing the transport of counter-ions toward carbon electrodes.