Investigating the synthesis parameters of durian skin-based activated carbon and the effects of silver nanocatalysts on its recyclability in methylene blue removal.

Activated carbon (AC) is the most common and economically viable adsorbent for eliminating toxic organic pollutants, particularly dyes, from wastewater. Its widespread adoption is due to the simplicity and affordable production of AC, wherein low-cost agricultural wastes, such as durian skin can be used. Converting durian skin into AC presents a promising solution for its solid waste management.

Alginate and alginate composites for biomedical applications.

Alginate is an edible heteropolysaccharide that abundantly available in the brown seaweed and the capsule of bacteria such as sp. and sp. Owing to alginate gel forming capability, it is widely used in food, textile and paper industries; and to a lesser extent in biomedical applications as biomaterial to promote wound healing and tissue regeneration.

Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: A Powerful Platform for Noble-Metal Nanocluster Analysis.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is an analytical technique that measures the mass of a sample through "soft" ionization. Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth of its application in noble-metal nanocluster (NC) analysis. ESI-MS is able to provide the mass of a noble-metal NC analyte for the analysis of their composition (n, m, q values in a general formula [M L ] ), which is crucial in understanding their properties.

Hydride-induced ligand dynamic and structural transformation of gold nanoclusters during a catalytic reaction.

Quasi-homogeneous ligand-protected gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) with atomic precision and well-defined structure offer great opportunity for exploring the catalytic nature of nanogold catalysts at a molecular level. Herein, using real-time electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), we have successfully identified the desorption and re-adsorption of p-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) ligands from Au25(p-MBA)18 NC catalysts during the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol in solution. This ligand dynamic (desorption and re-adsorption) would initiate structural transformation of Au25(p-MBA)18 NC catalysts during the reaction, forming a mixture of smaller Au NCs (Au23(p-MBA)16 as the major species) at the beginning of catalytic reaction, which could further be transformed into larger Au NCs (Au26(p-MBA)19 as the major species).

Tuning the Accessibility and Activity of Au (SR) Nanocluster Catalysts through Ligand Engineering.

In this work, the effects of thiolate ligands (-SR, e.g., chain length and functional moiety) on the accessibility and catalytic activity of thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters (e.

Evaluation of solvent system for the enzymatic synthesis of ethanol-based biodiesel from sludge palm oil (SPO).

A green technology of biodiesel production focuses on the use of enzymes as the catalyst. In enzymatic biodiesel synthesis, suitable solvent system is very essential to reduce the inhibition effects of the solvent to the enzymes. This study produced ethanol-based biodiesel from a low-cost sludge palm oil (SPO) using locally-produced Candida cylindracea lipase from fermentation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) based medium.