Therapeutic effects of medicinal plants on isoproterenol-induced heart failure in rats.

Aims: Natural products still serves as a hope for some illnesses which modern medicine fails to cure. Many people, either knowing their effects or not, are using these herbal products. Treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF) is yet a complicated clinical challenge and there is need to improve or make new therapeutic targets.

Low-fouling biomimetic membranes fabricated by direct replication of self-cleaning natural leaf.

The membrane fouling has always been a big issue for developing membrane applications. Surface morphology and roughness affect remarkably on the membrane tendency to fouling. In this study, a biomimetic technique, as a simple, cost-effective and time-saving method was employed to replicate Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium) leaf surface on the surface of a commercial thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane using polyethersulfone (PES) moulds.

Flux enhancement of thin-film composite membrane by graphene oxide incorporation.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a rapid-developing desalination technology; however, it suffers from inefficient energy consumption. To reduce energy consumption, in this study, reverse osmosis thin-film composite membrane (TFC) module was prepared and composed of m-phenylenediamine (MPD), graphene oxide, and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl chloride (TMC) by interfacial polymerization on the surface of a polysulfone substrate. The graphene oxide was embedded in the mentioned thin-film composite by adding it to MPD aqueous solution to enhance permeation flux and, thus, reduce energy consumption.

Electrodialysis heterogeneous ion exchange membranes modified by SiO2 nanoparticles: fabrication and electrochemical characterization.

In the current study mixed matrix heterogeneous cation exchange membranes were prepared by solution casting technique. The effect of SiO(2) nanoparticles in the polymeric solution on the physicochemical properties of prepared membranes was studied. Scanning optical microscope images showed uniform particle distribution and relatively uniform surfaces for the prepared membranes.

PES mixed matrix nanofiltration membrane embedded with polymer wrapped MWCNT: Fabrication and performance optimization in dye removal by RSM.

MWCNTs were wrapped by poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS), and different amounts of raw and polymer wrapped MWCNTs were implemented to fabricate PES mixed matrix membranes by phase inversion method. Success of wrapping was probed by FTIR spectroscopy, and prepared membranes were characterized by SEM, AFM, porosity, and water contact angle measurements. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the permeate flux and dye removal efficiency of membranes with three variables of concentration, pH of dye solution, and membrane composition.