Background Environmental pollution with heavy metal (HM) may be associated with human reproductiv... more Background Environmental pollution with heavy metal (HM) may be associated with human reproductive failure where pollutants are accumulated in marine organisms and sediment and subsequently transferred to man through food chain. Oxidative stress and disruption of homeostatic regulation of reproductive hormones has been implicated in HM induced reproductive toxicity. The HM, indices of oxidative stress, reproductive hormone and red cell indices in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) were assessed in this study. Methods Seventy-six women (20–35 years) categorized into 18 fertile women without RPL (control group), and Groups I, II and III comprising 24, 18 and 16 women with RPL (2, 3, and > 3 abortions respectively) were studied. Whole blood samples were collected for the estimation of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), metallothionein (rbcMT), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), progesterone, haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin...
This attempt has been made to synthesize the cellulose di-acetate in a solvent-free acetylation s... more This attempt has been made to synthesize the cellulose di-acetate in a solvent-free acetylation system of cotton Giza 86 cellulose with Ac2O (200 and 300 ml) in the presence of NiCl2.6HO (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g) as an effectively available and new catalyst by the conventional reflux and microwave irradiation methods. This study also illustrates the preparation of a dialysis membrane made from a cellulose di-acetate–dichloromethane-methanol-polyethylene glycol (MW: 200) casting solution. The microwave irradiation method for the synthesis of cellulose di-acetate showed excellent yields and short reaction time, which is an important feature of this method. The impact of the two methods on the cellulose di-acetate formation and its used in the dialysis membrane formulations was studied. The experimental degree of substitution of the prepared cellulose di-acetate values (DS = 2.00–2.7) showed an agreement with the calculated values by FTIR and 1H-NMR analysis methods. The formation of cellul...
Starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/Pterocladia capillacea–derived activated carbon (St-g-P(AA)/P-AC) com... more Starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/Pterocladia capillacea–derived activated carbon (St-g-P(AA)/P-AC) composites were prepared via aqueous solution graft copolymerization using starch, acrylic acid, and activated carbon of red alga Pterocladia capillacea (0–10%) with N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (NH4)2S2O8 initiator. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to characterize St-g-P(AA)/P-AC composites. Additionally, St-g-P(AA)/P-AC composites were investigated for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from water. The impact of the beginning concentration of MB dye, temperature, pH, and adsorption time on MB dye removal was examined. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained at pH 8 was 496.29 mg/g at 0.02 mg/L composites dose and 100 mg/L MB dye. The properties of adsorption were...
Sugarcane bagasse has been used as a substrate for the development of microporous nano-activated ... more Sugarcane bagasse has been used as a substrate for the development of microporous nano-activated carbons for the treatment and elimination of dissolved materials from aquatic environment. The activated carbon was produced using chemical activation in one-step method with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as the activating agent at a carbonization temperatures range from 500 to 900 °C. The effects of temperature and time of carbonization on the activated carbon product properties were thoroughly studied. The activated carbons that resulted were characterized using the N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method (BET), pore property analysis, micropore (MP) surface area, t-plot surface area, TGA, FTIR, SEM, TEM, and EDX analyses. The prepared activated carbon's point of zero charge, Boehm titration process, iodine removal percentage, and methylene blue number were also investigated. The prepared activated carbon's maximum surface area was achieved using a 2/1 impregn...
In this work, microporous nano-activated carbon (MNAC) was prepared from orange peel by chemical ... more In this work, microporous nano-activated carbon (MNAC) was prepared from orange peel by chemical activation with zinc chloride (ZnCl2). MNAC has been characterized by FTIR, BET, TGA, TEM, SEM, and EDAX analyses. The fabricated MNAC has 1228.2 m2/g-specific surface area and was considered microporous nano-material. The MNAC has been tested for the adsorption of hexavalent chromium from its aqueous solution. MNAC showed good adsorption behavior towards Cr(VI) ions from aqueous environment. To achieve the optimum condition for the adsorption process, solution pH, time of reaction, adsorbent dose, initial concentration of Cr(VI) ions, and solution temperature have been investigated. The maximum monolayer capacity (133.33 mg/g) of MNAC was achieved at pH 1, 100-min reaction time, and 1.0 g/L adsorbent dosage. The pseudo-second-order model described the kinetics of Cr(VI) ions adsorption (R2 > 0.9972). Isotherm results showed that both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models are applicable to the batch experimental data, with the Langmuir model considered as the most applicable model. Thermodynamic parameters explained that the process of adsorption is appropriate in nature, endothermic, and spontaneous. The thermodynamic parameters, such as Gibb’s free energy (∆G°), standard entropy (∆S°), and standard enthalpy changes (∆H°), were estimated. The value of ∆G° was found to be negative for the adsorption of Cr(VI) ions, which confirmed the feasibility and spontaneous probability of the adsorption process.
Activated carbon with high specific surface area has been produced from green alga Ulva lactuca b... more Activated carbon with high specific surface area has been produced from green alga Ulva lactuca by using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) solution as an activating agent under carbonization temperature ranged from 500 to 900 °C. The effects of carbonization temperatures, holding time, and amount of ZnCl2 followed by soaking in hydrochloric acid on the specific surface area, pore morphology, and mass yield of the prepared activated carbon were investigated. In this work, the activated carbon with high specific surface area was achieved using 1:2 (ZiCl2: Ulva lactuca) impregnation agent, 700 °C as activation temperature, 30 min as holding time, and soaking with 3.0 M hydrochloric acid as the optimum conditions. This condition produced an activated carbon with specific surface area (SBET) and micropore surface area (Smi) of 1486.3 and 1582.04 m2/g, respectively, with mean pore diameter (DP) of 2.39 nm. The results showed that the chemical activation by ZnCl2 is a useful technique for obtaining activated carbon from Ulva lactuca with desired pore size distributions and morphology at moderate activation temperatures.
PCBs and pesticides were determined in wild mussel samples collected from nine hot points from no... more PCBs and pesticides were determined in wild mussel samples collected from nine hot points from north coast of Egypt in April 2007. The pollutants studies were 10 individual polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, HCHs, cyclodienes (aldrin, dieldrin, endrin), and DDT and its metabolite. The concentration levels are low to moderate in relation to the published data from worldwide coastal areas. The concentrations of organochlorine pollutants found in mussels tissues were decreased in the order of cyclodienes > PCBs > HCHs > DDTs for most of the studied samples. The DDT to DDE ratios in this study reflects the recent exposure to DDT. The PCBs concentrations were ranged from ND to 53.0 ng/g dry weights with an average concentration of 9 ηg/g dry weight. The PCBs 101, 180, 153 and 118, in which hexachlorobiphenyls and pentachlorobiphenyls comprised the major portion of PCBs, were the predominant PCBs in most studied locations. The bioaccumulation factors were determined to kno...
Biosorption of colors is an important technology for treatment of different types of industrial w... more Biosorption of colors is an important technology for treatment of different types of industrial wastewaters containing dyes. The objective of this study was to convert green algae Ulva lactuca to dye adsorbents for wastewater treatment. The important of commonly available green algae U. lactuca was investigated as viable biomaterials for biological treatment of synthetic basic blue 9 (5-Ch1oro-N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-5λ4-phenothiazine-3, 7-diamine) effluents.
Coastal marine sediment samples were collected from 31 sampling stations along the Egyptian Medit... more Coastal marine sediment samples were collected from 31 sampling stations along the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea coast. All sediment samples were analyzed to determine aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as well as total organic carbon (TOC) contents and grain size analysis. Total concentrations of 16 EPA-PAHs in the sediments were varied from 88 to 6338 ng g−1 with an average value of 154 ng g−1 (dry weight). However, the concentrations of total aliphatic were varied from 1.3 to 69.9 ng g−1 with an average value of 15.6 ng g−1 (dry weight). The highest contents of PAHs were found in the Eastern harbor (6338 ng g−1), Manzala (5206 ng g−1) and El-Jamil East (4895 ng g−1) locations. Good correlations observed between a certain numbers of PAH concentrations allowed to identify its origin. The average total organic carbon (TOC) percent was varied from 0.91 to 4.54%. Higher concentration of total pyrolytic hydrocarbons (∑COMB) than total fossil hydrocarbons (∑PHE) declared...
By polymerizing acrylonitrile in the presence of ammonium persulfate as an initiator and Pterocla... more By polymerizing acrylonitrile in the presence of ammonium persulfate as an initiator and Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (P-AC) as a filler, a composite material polyacrylonitrile/Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (PAN/P- AC) was developed. By reacting hydroxylamine with the composite's nitrile groups, the prepared composite was functionalized by amidoximation. FTIR spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis were all applied to thoroughly characterize the fabricated adsorbent. For the treatment of Cr(VI) ions from synthetic solutions, the adsorption properties of amidoximated polyacrylonitrile/Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (PAO/P-AC) were investigated. The pH effect, uptake kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and thermodynamics studies were used to characterize adsorption properties. As a kinetic model analysis, the data confirmed that the pseudo-second-order rate equation matched well the adsorption process. With coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.9998, the Tempkin isotherm model had the lowest error, suggesting that it is the best fitted model to describe this adsorption mechanism. Thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that Cr(VI) adsorption was endothermic.
In this work, low-cost microporous nano-activated carbon (MNSAC) was prepared from sugarcane baga... more In this work, low-cost microporous nano-activated carbon (MNSAC) was prepared from sugarcane bagasse using chemical activation with zinc chloride. The activated carbon prepared MNSAC was characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). MNSAC had BET, micropore analysis (MP), and t-plot surface area 1174.1, 1322.2, and 1401.5 m2/g, respectively, and was essentially microporous. Batch experiment was used to investigate the efficiency of MNSAC to remove toxic Cr(VI) ions from an artificial wastewater. Different adsorption behaviors towards toxic Cr(VI) ions have been studied to optimize adsorption status such as pH, initial concentration, absorbent dose, contact time, and temperature. Langmuir isothermal well fits experimental data compared to Freundlich isothermal model, which indicates that Cr(VI) ion adsorption process may be monolayer adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) of MNSAC obtained from Langmuir isotherm model was 277.78 mg/g. The regeneration of MNSAC was studied and the maximum removal of Cr(VI) ion was 93.61%, 82.38%, and 64.11% in the consequent three cycles. The pseudo-second-model kinetic well described the experimental data of hexavalent chromium adsorption (R2> 0.9900) compared to the other kinetic models studied. Thermodynamic parameters expose that adsorption process is endothermic, spontaneous, and appropriate in nature. A negative ∆G° value of Cr(VI) ion adsorption was found, which confirmed the spontaneous probability of the adsorption process.
Background Environmental pollution with heavy metal (HM) may be associated with human reproductiv... more Background Environmental pollution with heavy metal (HM) may be associated with human reproductive failure where pollutants are accumulated in marine organisms and sediment and subsequently transferred to man through food chain. Oxidative stress and disruption of homeostatic regulation of reproductive hormones has been implicated in HM induced reproductive toxicity. The HM, indices of oxidative stress, reproductive hormone and red cell indices in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) were assessed in this study. Methods Seventy-six women (20–35 years) categorized into 18 fertile women without RPL (control group), and Groups I, II and III comprising 24, 18 and 16 women with RPL (2, 3, and > 3 abortions respectively) were studied. Whole blood samples were collected for the estimation of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), metallothionein (rbcMT), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), progesterone, haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin...
This attempt has been made to synthesize the cellulose di-acetate in a solvent-free acetylation s... more This attempt has been made to synthesize the cellulose di-acetate in a solvent-free acetylation system of cotton Giza 86 cellulose with Ac2O (200 and 300 ml) in the presence of NiCl2.6HO (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g) as an effectively available and new catalyst by the conventional reflux and microwave irradiation methods. This study also illustrates the preparation of a dialysis membrane made from a cellulose di-acetate–dichloromethane-methanol-polyethylene glycol (MW: 200) casting solution. The microwave irradiation method for the synthesis of cellulose di-acetate showed excellent yields and short reaction time, which is an important feature of this method. The impact of the two methods on the cellulose di-acetate formation and its used in the dialysis membrane formulations was studied. The experimental degree of substitution of the prepared cellulose di-acetate values (DS = 2.00–2.7) showed an agreement with the calculated values by FTIR and 1H-NMR analysis methods. The formation of cellul...
Starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/Pterocladia capillacea–derived activated carbon (St-g-P(AA)/P-AC) com... more Starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/Pterocladia capillacea–derived activated carbon (St-g-P(AA)/P-AC) composites were prepared via aqueous solution graft copolymerization using starch, acrylic acid, and activated carbon of red alga Pterocladia capillacea (0–10%) with N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (NH4)2S2O8 initiator. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to characterize St-g-P(AA)/P-AC composites. Additionally, St-g-P(AA)/P-AC composites were investigated for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from water. The impact of the beginning concentration of MB dye, temperature, pH, and adsorption time on MB dye removal was examined. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained at pH 8 was 496.29 mg/g at 0.02 mg/L composites dose and 100 mg/L MB dye. The properties of adsorption were...
Sugarcane bagasse has been used as a substrate for the development of microporous nano-activated ... more Sugarcane bagasse has been used as a substrate for the development of microporous nano-activated carbons for the treatment and elimination of dissolved materials from aquatic environment. The activated carbon was produced using chemical activation in one-step method with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as the activating agent at a carbonization temperatures range from 500 to 900 °C. The effects of temperature and time of carbonization on the activated carbon product properties were thoroughly studied. The activated carbons that resulted were characterized using the N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method (BET), pore property analysis, micropore (MP) surface area, t-plot surface area, TGA, FTIR, SEM, TEM, and EDX analyses. The prepared activated carbon's point of zero charge, Boehm titration process, iodine removal percentage, and methylene blue number were also investigated. The prepared activated carbon's maximum surface area was achieved using a 2/1 impregn...
In this work, microporous nano-activated carbon (MNAC) was prepared from orange peel by chemical ... more In this work, microporous nano-activated carbon (MNAC) was prepared from orange peel by chemical activation with zinc chloride (ZnCl2). MNAC has been characterized by FTIR, BET, TGA, TEM, SEM, and EDAX analyses. The fabricated MNAC has 1228.2 m2/g-specific surface area and was considered microporous nano-material. The MNAC has been tested for the adsorption of hexavalent chromium from its aqueous solution. MNAC showed good adsorption behavior towards Cr(VI) ions from aqueous environment. To achieve the optimum condition for the adsorption process, solution pH, time of reaction, adsorbent dose, initial concentration of Cr(VI) ions, and solution temperature have been investigated. The maximum monolayer capacity (133.33 mg/g) of MNAC was achieved at pH 1, 100-min reaction time, and 1.0 g/L adsorbent dosage. The pseudo-second-order model described the kinetics of Cr(VI) ions adsorption (R2 > 0.9972). Isotherm results showed that both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models are applicable to the batch experimental data, with the Langmuir model considered as the most applicable model. Thermodynamic parameters explained that the process of adsorption is appropriate in nature, endothermic, and spontaneous. The thermodynamic parameters, such as Gibb’s free energy (∆G°), standard entropy (∆S°), and standard enthalpy changes (∆H°), were estimated. The value of ∆G° was found to be negative for the adsorption of Cr(VI) ions, which confirmed the feasibility and spontaneous probability of the adsorption process.
Activated carbon with high specific surface area has been produced from green alga Ulva lactuca b... more Activated carbon with high specific surface area has been produced from green alga Ulva lactuca by using zinc chloride (ZnCl2) solution as an activating agent under carbonization temperature ranged from 500 to 900 °C. The effects of carbonization temperatures, holding time, and amount of ZnCl2 followed by soaking in hydrochloric acid on the specific surface area, pore morphology, and mass yield of the prepared activated carbon were investigated. In this work, the activated carbon with high specific surface area was achieved using 1:2 (ZiCl2: Ulva lactuca) impregnation agent, 700 °C as activation temperature, 30 min as holding time, and soaking with 3.0 M hydrochloric acid as the optimum conditions. This condition produced an activated carbon with specific surface area (SBET) and micropore surface area (Smi) of 1486.3 and 1582.04 m2/g, respectively, with mean pore diameter (DP) of 2.39 nm. The results showed that the chemical activation by ZnCl2 is a useful technique for obtaining activated carbon from Ulva lactuca with desired pore size distributions and morphology at moderate activation temperatures.
PCBs and pesticides were determined in wild mussel samples collected from nine hot points from no... more PCBs and pesticides were determined in wild mussel samples collected from nine hot points from north coast of Egypt in April 2007. The pollutants studies were 10 individual polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, HCHs, cyclodienes (aldrin, dieldrin, endrin), and DDT and its metabolite. The concentration levels are low to moderate in relation to the published data from worldwide coastal areas. The concentrations of organochlorine pollutants found in mussels tissues were decreased in the order of cyclodienes > PCBs > HCHs > DDTs for most of the studied samples. The DDT to DDE ratios in this study reflects the recent exposure to DDT. The PCBs concentrations were ranged from ND to 53.0 ng/g dry weights with an average concentration of 9 ηg/g dry weight. The PCBs 101, 180, 153 and 118, in which hexachlorobiphenyls and pentachlorobiphenyls comprised the major portion of PCBs, were the predominant PCBs in most studied locations. The bioaccumulation factors were determined to kno...
Biosorption of colors is an important technology for treatment of different types of industrial w... more Biosorption of colors is an important technology for treatment of different types of industrial wastewaters containing dyes. The objective of this study was to convert green algae Ulva lactuca to dye adsorbents for wastewater treatment. The important of commonly available green algae U. lactuca was investigated as viable biomaterials for biological treatment of synthetic basic blue 9 (5-Ch1oro-N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-5λ4-phenothiazine-3, 7-diamine) effluents.
Coastal marine sediment samples were collected from 31 sampling stations along the Egyptian Medit... more Coastal marine sediment samples were collected from 31 sampling stations along the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea coast. All sediment samples were analyzed to determine aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as well as total organic carbon (TOC) contents and grain size analysis. Total concentrations of 16 EPA-PAHs in the sediments were varied from 88 to 6338 ng g−1 with an average value of 154 ng g−1 (dry weight). However, the concentrations of total aliphatic were varied from 1.3 to 69.9 ng g−1 with an average value of 15.6 ng g−1 (dry weight). The highest contents of PAHs were found in the Eastern harbor (6338 ng g−1), Manzala (5206 ng g−1) and El-Jamil East (4895 ng g−1) locations. Good correlations observed between a certain numbers of PAH concentrations allowed to identify its origin. The average total organic carbon (TOC) percent was varied from 0.91 to 4.54%. Higher concentration of total pyrolytic hydrocarbons (∑COMB) than total fossil hydrocarbons (∑PHE) declared...
By polymerizing acrylonitrile in the presence of ammonium persulfate as an initiator and Pterocla... more By polymerizing acrylonitrile in the presence of ammonium persulfate as an initiator and Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (P-AC) as a filler, a composite material polyacrylonitrile/Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (PAN/P- AC) was developed. By reacting hydroxylamine with the composite's nitrile groups, the prepared composite was functionalized by amidoximation. FTIR spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis were all applied to thoroughly characterize the fabricated adsorbent. For the treatment of Cr(VI) ions from synthetic solutions, the adsorption properties of amidoximated polyacrylonitrile/Pterocladia capillacea-activated carbon (PAO/P-AC) were investigated. The pH effect, uptake kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and thermodynamics studies were used to characterize adsorption properties. As a kinetic model analysis, the data confirmed that the pseudo-second-order rate equation matched well the adsorption process. With coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.9998, the Tempkin isotherm model had the lowest error, suggesting that it is the best fitted model to describe this adsorption mechanism. Thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that Cr(VI) adsorption was endothermic.
In this work, low-cost microporous nano-activated carbon (MNSAC) was prepared from sugarcane baga... more In this work, low-cost microporous nano-activated carbon (MNSAC) was prepared from sugarcane bagasse using chemical activation with zinc chloride. The activated carbon prepared MNSAC was characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). MNSAC had BET, micropore analysis (MP), and t-plot surface area 1174.1, 1322.2, and 1401.5 m2/g, respectively, and was essentially microporous. Batch experiment was used to investigate the efficiency of MNSAC to remove toxic Cr(VI) ions from an artificial wastewater. Different adsorption behaviors towards toxic Cr(VI) ions have been studied to optimize adsorption status such as pH, initial concentration, absorbent dose, contact time, and temperature. Langmuir isothermal well fits experimental data compared to Freundlich isothermal model, which indicates that Cr(VI) ion adsorption process may be monolayer adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) of MNSAC obtained from Langmuir isotherm model was 277.78 mg/g. The regeneration of MNSAC was studied and the maximum removal of Cr(VI) ion was 93.61%, 82.38%, and 64.11% in the consequent three cycles. The pseudo-second-model kinetic well described the experimental data of hexavalent chromium adsorption (R2> 0.9900) compared to the other kinetic models studied. Thermodynamic parameters expose that adsorption process is endothermic, spontaneous, and appropriate in nature. A negative ∆G° value of Cr(VI) ion adsorption was found, which confirmed the spontaneous probability of the adsorption process.
Uploads
Papers by Amany El-Sikaily