Processing of a Zinc Leach Residue by a Non-Fossil Reductant.

The suitability of a non-fossil reductant in high-temperature treatment of a zinc leach residue was studied in laboratory-scale experiments. The pyrometallurgical experiments carried out at temperatures of 1200-1350 °C consisted of melting the residue under an oxidizing atmosphere to produce an intermediate, desulfurized slag, which was further cleaned of metals such as Zn, Pb, Cu, and Ag, using renewable biochar as a reductant. The aim was to recover valuable metals and produce a clean, stable slag for use as construction material, for example.

In vitro cytotoxicities of ionic liquids: effect of cation rings, functional groups, and anions.

In vitro cytotoxicities were measured for ionic liquids (ILs) containing various cations and anions using the MCF7 human breast cancer cell line. We measured the cytotoxicities of ionic liquids containing the cations pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, piperidinium, or imidazolium with various alkyl chain lengths, and the anions bromide, bis(trifluoromethanesulfone)imide (Tf(2)N), trifluoromethylsulfonate (TfO), or nonafluoromethylsulfonate (NfO). Three new hydrophobic, task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs), namely, [MBCNPip](+)[Tf(2)N](-), [MPS(2)Pip](+)[Tf(2)N](-), and [MPS(2)Pyrro](+)[Tf(2)N](-) designed for metal-ion extraction were also evaluated.