The presence of antibiotic residues such as ciprofloxacin (CIPR) in an aqueous environment is dangerous when their concentrations exceed the allowable. Therefore, eliminating these residues from the wastewater becomes an essential issue to prevent their harm. In this work, the potential of efficient adsorption of ciprofloxacin antibiotics was studied using eco-friendly ZSM-5 nanocrystals‑carbon composite (NZC). An inexpensive effective natural binder made of the sucrose-citric acid mixture was used for preparing NZC. The characterization methods revealed the successful preparation of NZC with a favorable surface area of 103.739 m2/g, and unique morphology and functional groups. Investigating the ability of NZC for adsorbing CIPR antibiotics conducted at different conditions showed that 0.3 g of NZC achieved outstanding adsorption for 150 ppm CIPR antibiotic from 100 mL solutions at mixing speed of 200 rpm, solution pH of 4–6, and solution temperature of 25–30 ◦C. Estimating the values of ΔH◦, ΔS◦, and ΔG◦ confirmed that the adsorption process of CIPR antibiotics by NZC was feasible, exothermic and spontaneous. The Freundlich and pseudo-second-order models well fitted the adsorption process's experimental data. The results of both the kinetic and isotherm studies showed that the adsorption process of CIPR antibiotics by NZC is simultaneously composed of physical and chemical adsorption on the heterogeneous adsorption sites in multilayers. Also, the intra-particle diffusion was not the controlling step and the external surface adsorption influenced the adsorption of CIPR. From the abovementioned results, NZC is recommended as a highly efficient adsorbent for the removal of CIPR-loaded effluents.
In this study, a 3 mm thickness 7075-T6 aluminium alloy sheet was used in the friction stir welding process. Using the design of experiment to reduce the number of experiments and to obtain the optimum friction stir welding parameters by utilizing Taguchi technique based on the ultimate tensile test results. Orthogonal array of L9 (33) was used based on three numbers of the parameters and three levels for each parameter, where shoulder-workpiece interference depth (0.20, 0.25, and 0.3) mm, pin geometry (cylindrical thread flat end, cylindrical thread with 3 flat round end, cylindrical thread round end), and thread pitch (0.8, 1, and 1.2) mm) this technique executed by Minitab 17 software. The results showed th
... Show MoreThe present study investigates the realization and significance of textual themes in the organizational structure of M.A theses and Ph.D. dissertations, namely: the abstracts, introductions and conclusions, since in such parts the students depend on their own expressions, styles and constructions to express different viewpoints, plans, inferences, etc. The study also investigates the similarities and differences between M.A theses and Ph.D. dissertations concerning the use of textual themes;it sets out to conduct a detailed analysis of textual themes used in such texts. In conducting such an analysis, the study adopts Halliday's (1994) approach of textual themes. The results of such an analysis have clearly shown that, in spite of the di
... Show MoreThe current study performed in order to detect and quantify epicatechin in two tea samples of Camellia sinensis (black and green tea) by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Extraction of epicatechin from black and green tea was done by using two different methods: maceration (cold extraction method) and decoction (hot extraction method) involved using three different solvents which are absolute ethanol, 50% aqueous ethanol and water for both extraction methods using room temperature and direct heat respectively. Crude extracts of two tea samples that obtained from two methods were fractionated by using two solvents with different polarity (chloroform and
... Show MoreBackground: Since carbapenems are currently the preferred treatment for severe infections brought on by multidrug-resistant bacteria which can create Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases (ESBLs), it is extremely concerning that Gram-negative bacteria are becoming resistant to carbapenem. It has been demonstrated that Klebsiella pneumoniae produces a beta-lactamase that hydrolyses the β-lactam ring in antibiotics, making it one of the few bacteria which are currently exhibiting a high value of resistance because of changing in the organism's core genome. Methods: For the current study, 50 samples were gathered from different water sources, and based on morphological and biochemical testing, 10 isolates were determined to be K. pneumoniae. Accord
... Show MoreIn this article, the casting method was used to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)/hydroxyapatite (PMMA/HA) nanocomposite films incorporated with different contents (0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt%) of graphene nanoplatelets (Gnp). The chemical properties and surface morphology of the PMMA/HA blend and PMMA/HA/Gnp nanocomposite were characterized using FTIR, and SEM analysis. Besides, the thermal conductivity, dielectric and electrical properties at (1–107 Hz) of the PMMA/HA blend and PMMA/HA/Gnp composites were investigated. The structural analysis showed that the synthesized composites had a low agglomerated state, with multiple wrinkles of graphene flakes in the PMMA/HA blend. The thermal conductivity was improved by more than 35-fold its value for
... Show MoreSolid dispersion (SD) is one of the most widely used methods to resolve issues accompanied by poorly soluble drugs. The present study was carried out to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of Aceclofenac (ACE), a BCS class II drug with pH-dependent solubility, by the SD method. Effervescent assisted fusion technique (EFSD) using different hydrophilic carriers (mannitol, urea, Soluplus®, poloxamer 188, and poloxamer 407) in the presence of an effervescent base (sodium bicarbonate and citric acid) in different drug: carrier: effervescent base ratio and the conventional fusion technique (FSD) were used to prepare ACE SD. Solubility, dissolution rate, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), PowderX-ray diffraction
... Show MoreThe improvement in Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation when the received signals impinge on Active-Parasitic Antenna (APA) arrays will be studied in this work. An APA array consists of several active antennas; others are parasitic antennas. The responses to the received signals are measured at the loaded terminals of the active element. The terminals of the parasitic element are shorted. The effect of the received signals on the parasites, i.e., the induced short-circuit current, is mutually coupled to the active elements. Eigen decomposition of the covariance matrix of the measurements of the APA array generates a third subspace in addition to the traditional signal and noise subspaces generated by the all-active ante
... Show MoreThe complexity and partially defined nature of jet grouting make it hard to predict the performance of grouted piles. So the trials of cement injection at a location with similar soil properties as the erecting site are necessary to assess the performance of the grouted piles. Nevertheless, instead of executing trial-injected piles at the pilot site, which wastes money, time, and effort, the laboratory cement injection devices are essential alternatives for evaluating soil injection ability. This study assesses the performance of a low-pressure laboratory grouting device by improving loose sandy soil injected using binders formed of Silica Fume (SF) as a chemical admixture (10% of Ordinary Portland Cement OPC mass) to di
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