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Insecticides pose hazardous environmental effects and can enter the food chain and contaminate water resources. Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently drawn much interest as environmentally friendly solvents and have been an efficient choice for extracting pesticides because of their outstanding thermophysical characteristics and tunable nature. In this study, ILs were screened using COSMO-RS (Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents) to extract organochlorine insecticides from water at 289 K. A total of 165 ILs, a combination of 33 cations with five anions, were screened by COSMO-RS to predict the selectivity and capacity of the organochlorine insecticides at infinite dilution. The Organochlorine insecticide compounds, such as benzene hexachloride (BHC), Heptachlor, Aldrin, Gamma-Chlordane (γ-Chlordane), Endrin, and Methoxychlor are selected for this study. Charge density profiles show that Endrin and Methoxychlor compounds are strong H-bond acceptors and weak H-bond donors, while the rest of the compounds are H-bond donors with no H-bond acceptor potential. Moreover, it has been shown that ILs composed of halides and heteroatomic anions in conjunction with cations have enhanced selectivity and capacity for insecticides. Moreover, the hydrophobic phosphonium-based ILs have enhanced selectivity and capacity for insecticides. In BHC extraction, the selectivity of 1,3-dimethyl-imidazolium chloride was found to be the highest at 1074.06, whereas 2-hydroxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride exhibited the highest capacity being 84.0.1,3-dimethyl-imidazolium chloride exhibits the highest performance index, which is 57064.77. In addition, the ILs that have been chosen are well-recognized as environmentally friendly and very effective solvents to extract insecticides from water. As a result, this study evaluated that ILs could be promising solvents that may be further developed for the extraction of insecticides from contaminated water.

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Addressing the critical issue of water pollution, this review article emphasizes the need to remove hazardous dyes and phenolic compounds from wastewater. These pollutants pose severe risks due to their toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic properties. The study explores various techniques for the remediation of organic contaminants from wastewater, including an enzymatic approach. A significant challenge in enzymatic wastewater treatment is the loss of enzyme activity and difficulty in recovery post-treatment. To mitigate these issues, this review examines the strategy of immobilizing enzymes on newly developed nanostructured materials like graphene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials offer high surface areas, excellent porosity, and ample anchoring sites for effective enzyme immobilization. The review evaluates recent research on enzyme immobilization on these supports and their applications in biocatalytic nanoparticles. It also analyzes the impact of operational factors (e.g., time, pH, and temperature) on dye and phenolic compound removal from wastewater using these enzymes. Despite promising outcomes, this review acknowledges the challenges for large-scale implementation and offers recommendations for future research to tackle these obstacles. This review concludes by suggesting that enzyme immobilization on these emerging materials could present a sustainable, environmentally friendly solution to the escalating water pollution crisis.

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Drilling fluids, commonly referred to as drilling mud, are pumped into the wellbore to expedite the drilling process by moving drilling cuttings to the surface, suspending cuttings, controlling pressure, stabilizing exposed rock, and providing buoyancy, cooling, and lubrication. Understanding the settling of drilling cuttings in base fluids is crucial for successfully mixing drilling fluid additives. In this study, the response surface method Box-Benhken design (BBD) is used to analyze the terminal velocity of the drilling cuttings in a polymeric base fluid of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The impact of polymer concentration, fiber concentration, and cutting size on the terminal velocity of the cuttings is investigated. The BBD of the three factors (low, medium, and high) is used for two fiber aspect ratios (3 and 12 mm length). The size of the cuttings varied between 1 and 6 mm, while the concentration of CMC was between 0.49 and 1 wt %. The concentration of the fiber was in the range of 0.02-0.1 wt %. Minitab was utilized to determine the optimum conditions for reducing the terminal velocity of the suspended cuttings and then evaluate the effects and interactions of the components. The results show good agreement between model predictions and the experimental results (R2 = 0.97). According to the sensitivity analysis, cutting size and polymer concentration are the most crucial factors affecting the terminal cutting velocity. Large cutting sizes have the most significant impact on polymer and fiber concentrations. The optimization results revealed that a CMC fluid with a viscosity of 630.4 cP is sufficient to maintain a minimum cutting terminal velocity of 0.234 cm/s with a cutting size of 1 mm and a 0.02 wt % of the 3 mm length fiber.

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This study aims to prepare an ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) using copper sulfate as a template and potassium persulfate as an initiator to selectively adsorb copper ions (Cu2+) from aqueous solutions and in an attempt to also test its applicability for removing strontium ions (Sr2+). The prepared polymer was denoted by IIP-Cu. Various physical and chemical characterizations were performed for the prepared IIP-Cu. The scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses confirmed the cavities formed after the removal of the template. It also indicated that the IIP-Cu had a rough and porous topology. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the successful removal of the Cu template from IIP-Cu. The Brunauer-Emmet-Teller revealed that the surface area of IIP-Cu is as high as 152.3 m2/g while the pore radius is 8.51 nm. The effect of pH indicated that the maximum adsorption of Cu2+ was achieved at pH 8 with 98.7%. Isotherm studies revealed that the adsorption of Cu2+ was best explained using Langmuir models with a maximum adsorption capacity of 159 mg/g. The effect of temperature revealed that an increase in temperature had an adverse impact on Cu2+ removal from the aqueous solution, which was further confirmed by thermodynamic studies. The negative value of standard enthalpy change (-4.641 kJ/mol) revealed that the adsorption of Cu2+ onto IIP-Cu was exothermic. While the continuous increase in Gibbs free energy from -6776 kJ/mol to -8385 kJ/mol with the increase in temperature indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and feasible. Lastly, the positive value of the standard entropy change (0.023 J/mol.K) suggested that the Cu2+ adsorption onto IIP-Cu had a good affinity at the solid-liquid surface. The efficiency of the prepared IIP-Cu was also tested by studying the adsorption capacity using Sr2+ and real brine water. The results revealed that IIP-Cu was able to remove 63.57% of Sr2+ at pH 8. While the adsorption studies revealed that the experiment was best described using the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 76.92 mg/g. Additionally, IIP-Cu was applied in a real brine sample, which consisted of various metal ions. The highest percentage of Cu2+ removal was 90.6% and the lowest was 65.63% in 1:4 and 1:1 brine ratios, respectively. However, this study indicates the successful application of IIP-Cu in a real sample when it comes to the effective and efficient removal of Cu2+ in a solution consisting of various competing ions.

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In this study, three types of adsorbents were used to remove and recover strontium ions (Sr2+) from aqueous and brine solution of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), namely roasted date pits (RDP) and RDP modified using copper and nickel salts of potassium hexacyanoferrates to obtain RDP-FC-Cu, and RDP-FC-Ni, respectively. Additionally, the influence of various parameters, including pH, temperature, initial concentration, and co-existing ions was also evaluated. The results revealed that pH 10 was the optimum pH in which the maximum Sr2+ ions were adsorbed. Additionally, all adsorbents had a high adsorption capacity (99.9 mg/g) for removing Sr2+ ions at the highest concentration (100 mg/L) and a temperature of 45 °C was found to be the optimum temperature. A scanning electron microscopy for the adsorbents before and after the adsorption of strontium showed the remarkable pore filling onto the active sites of all adsorbents. The thermodynamics parameter demonstrated that the adsorption occurred in an endothermic environment, and that, the reaction was spontaneous, and favorable at all the temperatures investigated. According to isotherm studies, the Langmuir model was the best-fit isotherm model; indicating that strontium adsorption involved the formation of monolayers and multilayers at higher temperatures (45 °C). Furthermore, high desorption percentages (above 90%) were achieved for all the adsorbents when an HCl concentration of 0.5 M was used. This showed the high reusability of the adsorbents. Lastly, the adsorption of strontium from the SWRO brine containing a number of metal ions was extremely sufficient as all the adsorbents were efficient to adsorb a high amount of Sr2+ despite the presence of other competing ions.

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The rheological studies of Lactic Acid (LA)-based Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) are provided in the present investigation. Those mechanisms were also studied in which three distinct Hydrogen Bond Acceptors (HBAs) of Choline Chloride (ChCl), Betaine (Be), and ß-Alanine (ß-Al), after being added to a specific Hydrogen Bond Donor (HBD) at a predefined mole-to-mole ratio of 1:1, affected the rheological properties of the prepared NADES. The alterations in the rheology-related characteristics in association with the mechanical and physical properties indicate the tolerance of the material under various operational conditions in the field and show their potential utilization as environmentally suitable and feasible solvents for industrial applications. In the present research, the viscoelastic properties of the three samples of NADES were assessed along with their shear flow properties. The backward and forward temperature change in the Apparent Viscosity (AV) pattern related to the NADES system was described by a rheogram. Furthermore, the density was determined and compared with the AV while considering the temperature-related factor. On a further note, the viscoelastic characteristics were utilized in describing and investigating the network disturbance on the level of the microstructure of NADES upon frequency sweep. A series of experiments were carried out using Thermogravimetry Analysis (TGA) to investigate the thermo-physical properties to optimize them. The rheological properties of shear flow measurements were analyzed using the Bingham model that is best suited for the AV developed with the shear rate with the dynamic yield stress of three systems. The Bingham model was used to determine the lowest stress necessary to disturb the network structure and commence the flow of LA-based NADES. Overall, the viscoelastic behavior of the LA-based NADES revealed the dissimilarity between their strength and viscosity. In addition, shear flow investigations demonstrated that LA-based NADES systems exhibit non-Newtonian properties and substantial shear-thinning effects equivalent to those of alternative IL sorbents. Assessing the rheological properties of LA-based NADES is crucial for a better understanding the key challenges associated with high viscosity. Defining the transport yield stress requirements for NADES systems under different conditions benefits their future development and potentially opens the door to more challenging applications.

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The calcium carbonate (CaCO3) scale is one of the most common oilfield scales and oil and gas production bane. CaCO3 scale can lead to a sudden halt in production or, worst-case scenario, accidents; therefore, CaCO3 scale formation prevention is essential for the oil and gas industry. Scale inhibitors are chemicals that can mitigate this problem. We used two popular theoretical techniques in this study: Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD). The objective was to investigate the inhibitory abilities of mixed oligomers, specifically acrylamide functionalized silica (AM-Silica). DFT studies indicate that Ca2+ does not bind readily to acryl acid and acrylamide; however, it has a good binding affinity with PAM and Silica functionalized PAM. The highest binding affinity occurs in the silica region and not the -CONH functional groups. AIMD calculations corroborate the DFT studies, as observed from the MD trajectory that Ca2+ binds to PAM-Silica by forming bonds with silicon; however, Ca2+ initially forms a bond with silicon in the presence of water molecules. This bonding does not last long, and it subsequently bonds with the oxygen atoms present in the water molecule. PAM-Silica is a suitable calcium scale inhibitor because of its high binding affinity with Ca2+. Theoretical studies (DFT and AIMD) have provided atomic insights on how AM-Silica could be used as an efficient scale inhibitor.

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In this paper, novel composite materials from modified roasted date pits using ferrocyanides were developed and investigated for the recovery of lithium ions (Li+) from seawater reverse osmosis (RO) brine. Two composite materials were prepared from roasted date pits (RDP) as supporting material, namely potassium copper hexacyanoferrate-date pits composite (RDP-FC-Cu), and potassium nickel hexacyanoferrate-date pits composite (RDP-FC-Ni). The physiochemical characterization of the RO brine revealed that it contained a variety of metals and salts such as strontium, zinc, lithium, and sodium chlorides. RDP-FC-Cu and RDP-FC-Ni exhibited enhanced chemical and physical characteristics than RDP. The optimum pH, which attained the highest adsorption removal (%) for all adsorbents, was at pH 6. In addition, the highest adsorption capacities for the adsorbents were observed at the initial lithium concentration of 100 mg/L. The BET surface area analysis confirmed the increase in the total surface area of the prepared composites from 2.518 m2/g for RDP to 4.758 m2/g for RDP-FC-Cu and 5.262 m2/g for RDP-FC-Ni. A strong sharp infrared peak appeared for the RDP-FC-Cu and RDP-FC-Ni at 2078 cm-1. This peak corresponds to the C≡N bond, which indicates the presence of potassium hexacyanoferrate, K4[Fe(CN)6]. The adsorption removal of lithium at a variety of pH ranges was the highest for RDP-FC-Cu followed by RDP-FC-Ni and RDP. The continuous increase in the adsorption capacity for lithium with increasing initial lithium concentrations was also observed. This could be mainly attributed to enhance and increased lithium mass transfer onto the available adsorption active sites on the adsorbents' surface. The differences in the adsorption in terms of percent adsorption removal were clear and significant between the three adsorbents (P value < 0.05). All adsorbents in the study showed a high lithium desorption percentage as high as 99%. Both composites achieved full recoveries of lithium from the RO brine sample despite the presence of various other competing ions.

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Drilling fluid and filtrates invasion often alter the near-wellbore flow properties during overbalanced drilling. The utilization of polymeric gels to prevent drilling fluid loss reduces the risk of formation damage caused by this alteration. In this study, the internal and external filter cake evolution by polyacrylamide (PAM) cross-linked with polyethylenimine (PEI) was investigated. The analysis conducted in this study showed that the cross-linked polymer activates and forms a mature gel inside the formation's pores. Gel also formed a dense uniform structure on the rock's surface, preventing further fluid loss. A high sealing pressure of up to 1000 psi was achieved, allowing drilling to continue without the need for additional casing string to prevent lost circulation. Moreover, the PAM/PEI formula showed less invasion of filtrate and evolution of a thin shallow internal filter cake that penetrated less than half of the filter disk thickness. In comparison to the full invasion and particle depositions that occurred with the water-based mud (WBM), the PAM/PEI formula is expected to reduce the impact of lost circulation materials (LCMs) on formation damage.

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Fibers are extensively used as a fluid additive in the oil and gas industry to improve hole-cleaning performance, control fluid filtration loss, and enhance hydraulic fracturing effectiveness. Generally, a small amount of fiber is dispersed in the base fluid to achieve the desired results without increasing the viscosity of the base fluid. Nevertheless, sustaining a uniform fiber dispersion can be challenging under wellbore conditions, which is essential for fibers' functionality. Consequently, a better understanding of fiber suspension or stability in base fluids is necessary for their efficient utilization in drilling and completion operations. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) and box-behnken design (BBD) are used to investigate the stability of fiber in polymeric base suspensions, including carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC), polyacrylamide (PAM), and xanthan gum (XG). The BBD of three factors was selected to observe the influence of polymer concentration, fiber concentration, and temperature on fibrous suspension stability, with three levels of design factors (low, mid, and high) and two fiber aspect ratios (3 and 12 mm fibers). The base fluid polymer concentration ranged from 1 to 8 vol %, fiber concentration ranged from 0.01 to 0.08 wt %, and the temperature was varied from 25 to 80 °C. The stability measurements were analyzed using Minitab, subsequently, evaluating the factors' impact and interactions and determining the optimum conditions for the stability of the fibrous suspensions. The results predicted by the developed model were in good agreement with the experimental results R 2 ≥ 0.91-0.99. The sensitivity analysis showed that base fluid polymer concentration is the most significant factor affecting fibrous suspension stability. At high polymer concentrations, fiber concentration and temperature effects are minimal, while the temperature effect on the stability was observed at low concentrations (e.g., low suspension viscosities). The fiber aspect ratio indirectly affects system stability. Long fibers have a better tendency to entangle and form a structured network, which in turn hinders the buoyancy that induces individual fiber migration. On the contrary, short fibers do not form a network, allowing them to easily migrate to the surface and agglomerate at the top layer (unstable region). Optimization results revealed that suspensions with viscosities above 50 mPa·s are sufficient to maintain the stability of the suspensions at ambient (25 °C) and elevated (80 °C) temperatures.

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In this study, municipal solid waste bottom ash (MSW-BA) and fly ash (MSW-FA) were used as a source of aluminosilicate to prepare geopolymer (GEO) adsorbents (GEO-MSWBA and GEO-MSWFA) for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from water. The effects of temperature, pH, and initial concentration on the MB adsorption onto GEO-MSWBA and GEO-MSWFA were evaluated. The adsorption isotherms parameters and thermodynamics were also determined. Detailed physical and chemical characterizations of the prepared adsorbents were carried out to further understand their impact on MB adsorption. The results from the scanning electron microscopy revealed a uniform granule-sphere like structure on both prepared geopolymers, which would facilitate the MB adsorption onto the adsorbents. The X-ray diffraction allowed observation of the microstructural transformations that occur after the alkaline activation. The surface areas of the GEO-MSWBA and the GEO-MSWFA were recorded as 32.78 m2/g and 4.5 m2/g, respectively. From the Fourier transform infrared, a stretching vibration of the aluminosilicate tetrahedral was observed, which indicated the success of geopolymerization. The prepared geopolymers showed a high capability of MB adsorption from an aqueous solution. The adsorption process was best suited and explained using the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 666.7 mg/g for the GEO-MSWBA (at 25°C) and 769.2 mg/g for the GEO-MSWFA (at 35°C). The positive value of the enthalpy (ΔHo) for the GEO-MSWBA suggested the reaction favored endothermic reaction while the negative value of entropy (ΔSo) indicated a solid/liquid random interaction. On the other hand, the negative ΔHo value for the GEO-MSWFA indicated the reaction followed an exothermic reaction causing energy to be released, the positive ΔSo value indicated a good affinity at the solid-liquid surface. The overall negative value for Gibbs free energy (ΔGo) for both adsorbents suggested the adsorption was spontaneous and feasible. It was also inferred that n- π interaction, direct and indirect hydrogen bond, and electrostatic interaction between the MB and the prepared geopolymers facilitated the adsorption process. The current study shows that the GEO-MSWBA and the GEO-MSWFA have a great potential of removing MB as a cationic dye from water without performing any sort of laborious pretreatments.

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Incineration has emerged as one of the acceptable ways to treat municipal solid waste (MSW) due to its potential in reducing the mass and volume of the waste. However, it produces two major by-product residues, namely MSW-bottom ash (MSW-BA) and MSW-fly ash (MSW-FA). These residues have gained great attention to their hazardous nature and potential to be reused and recycled. In this paper, the physicochemical characterizations of the MSW-BA and the MSW-FA were performed, followed by a systematic investigation of metals extraction from MSW-BA and MSW-FA. Various extracting agents were used to investigate the possibility to extract 21 metals including cadmium (Cd), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb). It was revealed that some metals were present in a high amount in the MSW-BA while other metals were higher in the MSW-FA. Moreover, the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results revealed that the MSW-BA was dominated by oxygen (O) 55.4 ±0.6 wt%, silicon (Si) 22.5 ±0.3 wt%, and calcium (Ca) 18.5 ±0.2 wt%. On the other hand, the MSW-FA was enriched with Ca 45.2 ±0.5 wt%, and O 40.3 ±0.4 wt%. From the scanning electron microscopy, the MSW-BA was observed as flaky with an irregular surface that consisted of large pores, while, the MSW-FA was present as agglomerated particles and had a bimodal distribution. Moreover, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that Al-Fe-OH, Al-Al-OH, Si-O, C-O, and C-H were some of the major functional groups present in the ashes. The F-tests concluded that the metal extraction from the MSW-BA and MSW-FA were significantly affected by the acid type. it is concluded that nitric acid and phosphoric acid were the best-suited acid for the MSW-BA while sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid for the MSW-FA. More than 11 wt% of Cd and 9 wt% of Cu were extracted from MSW-BA while 6 wt% of Pb and 4.5 wt% of V were extracted from the MSW-FA. The present methodology is an interesting development in metal extraction from the MSW-BA and the MSW-FA, which can develop in a cost-effective and sustainable option to utilize MSW.

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Excessive water production from natural gas reservoirs is a main challenge facing the industry nowadays. Polymeric gelants have been widely applied to seal the water production zones, leading to a more feasible production operation. Nevertheless, conventional treatments fail in reservoirs characterized with the presence of sour gases. In this paper, aluminum-based salts are investigated as potential replacement for the conventional chromium acetate as crosslinkers for polyacrylamide (PAM), where aluminum has the advantage of being more environment-friendly besides its abundance. The investigation covers the whole pH range and examines the rheological behavior of the mature gels in the temperature range between 25 and 100 °C. While chromium acetate was proven to be sensitive to the presence of sour gases, namely, CO2 and H2S, because of the inability to produce a stable gel at the acidic conditions, this paper presents aluminum-based crosslinkers that are more tolerable toward high acidity. Unlike the conventional crosslinkers, the gelation rate in aluminum acetate and aluminum aminoacetate systems was found to decrease with the increase in pH. Both the crosslinkers succeeded in producing a strong gel with a storage modulus of more than 2000 Pa. Moreover, this study relates the physical stability of the colloidal aluminum crosslinkers with the viscoelastic behavior of the mature gel. The results reveal that aluminum acetate, among the screened salts, has a controllable gelation time at pH conditions between 3.5 and 8.5 and is the most stable in the temperature range 25-100 °C. PAM/AlAc system has a gelation time of around 50 min at 75 °C making it suitable for near-wellbore treatments, while the gelation time increased to 80 min upon increasing the pH of the system from 4.1 to 4.6. Moreover, the system showed good stability in saline conditions with NaCl concentration of up to 50,000 ppm. Scanning electron microscopy of freeze-dried samples proved the uniform distribution of colloidal crosslinkers and showed sheets wrapping around the colloidal particles. The performance of the new crosslinker is compared with available commercial crosslinkers.

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Measured viscosity and density data for ternary aqueous solutions of CaCl2 and KCl are presented at temperatures between 293 and 323 K with 5 K increment. A modified Jones-Dole was introduced by adding extra terms and proved to be suitable for modelling of the viscosity data. Goldsack and Franchetto, Hu and Exponential models are used to correlate the viscosity data, too. Al models are correlated as a function of temperature and concentration. All models had successfully predicted the viscosity with high precision reaching a maximum average absolute deviation (AAD) of less than 2.3%. The modified Jones-Dole showed the best results among other models. Viscosity of the ternary solution is higher than the viscosity of water by about 15% at low concentrations and reaches about 270% at the highest concentrations. The amount of CaCl2 has more significant effect on the ternary mixture viscosity compared to KCl. This has created difficulty in measuring the viscosity and consequently the challenge in finding the different models parameters. Ternary solution densities were successfully correlate with Kumar's model with AAD of less than 0.4%. Comparison of the ternary solution density and viscosity with the few available data literature showed a good agreement.

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The rheological characterization for a series of Malic Acid based Hydrogen Bond Donor Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) is studied in this work for their potential usage as sorbents for CO2 capture. Three different NADES combinations were synthesized based on B-Alanine, Betaine and Choline Chloride as Hydrogen Bond Acceptors. The work provides insights on the rheological behaviors of Malic Acid-based NADES at temperature ranges from 25 to 105 °C and shear rates from 0.01 to 1000 s-1, which shows the impact of altering the Hydrogen Bond Acceptor in a NADES system. All Malic Acid-based systems showed non-Newtonian, shear thinning behaviors and diverse viscoelastic flow behavior ranging from as low as 3 × 102 up to 4 × 107 mPa stress requirements showing viscous liquids to solid-like gel structures. The different NADES combinations showed strong temperature dependence behavior, where the density at different temperatures dropped from 1.42 to 1.37 g/cm3 for B-Alanine: Malic Acid. This behavior fits on the Bingham model revealed that the yield stress for all Malic Acid-NADES decreased with increasing temperature as expected for the shear thinning materials. The differences in the yield stress magnitudes of approximately 7 × 102 to 6 × 106 mPa in the case of B-Alanine: Malic Acid for example was attributed to the changes in the nature and the numbers of the interaction forces between the Hydrogen Bond Acceptor and Hydrogen Bond Donor of the NADES and the molecular weight. The viscoelasticity of these NADES systems demonstrated the fundamental differences between the ways the different Hydrogen Bond Acceptor interacts with the Hydrogen Bond Donor. The Linear Viscoelastic Region (LVR) was set to 0.1%-10% according to the type of NADES under a frequency range of 0.1-100 rad/s. The hole theory was used as a theoretical approach to describe the structural differences behind the flow behaviors.

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Over the past 5-10 years it has become apparent that the significant energy benefit provided by forward osmosis (FO) for desalination arises only when direct recovery of the permeate product from the solution used to transfer the water through the membrane (the draw solution) is obviated. These circumstances occur specifically when wastewater purification is combined with saline water desalination. It has been suggested that, for such an "open loop" system, the FO technology offers a lower-cost water reclamation option than the conventional process based on reverse osmosis (RO). An analysis is presented of the costs incurred by this combined treatment objective. Three process schemes are considered combining the FO or RO technologies with membrane bioreactors (MBRs): MBR-RO, MBR-FO-RO and osmotic MBR (OMBR)-RO. Calculation of the normalised net present value (NPV/permeate flow) proceeded through developing a series of empirical equations based on available individual capital and operating cost data. Cost curves (cost vs. flow capacity) were generated for each option using literature MBR and RO data, making appropriate assumptions regarding the design and operation of the novel FO and OMBR technologies. Calculations revealed the MBR-FO-RO and OMBR-RO schemes to respectively offer a ∼20% and ∼30% NPV benefit over the classical MBR-RO scheme at a permeate flow of 10,000 m3  d-1, provided the respective schemes are applied to high and low salinity wastewaters. Outcomes are highly sensitive to the FO or OMBR flux sustained: the relative NPV benefit (compared to the classical system) of the OMBR-RO scheme declined from 30% to ∼4% on halving the OMBR flux from a value of 6 L m-2. h-1.

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Improvement of sludge dewaterability is greatly hindered by the presence of large amounts of interstitial water molecules trapped in the sludge as a result of strong hydrophilic characteristics. This study has investigated the influence of six different polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculants with different molecular architecture (linear, slightly and highly branched), charge density (CD) and molecular weight (MW) on the electro-kinetics and dewatering of highly stable industrial membrane bioreactor (MBR) sludge. The impact of PAM on flocculation is manifested in the supernatant turbidity, particle zeta potential, sludge capillary suction time (CST), floc size and settleability. Turbidity removal and reduction in zeta potential are used to identify the optimum polymer dose. An optimum dose of 70 mg.L-1 has been determined for linear PAM of 40% CD. However, a highly-branched PAM, with the same CD, has shown an optimum value of 30 mg.L-1. In all cases, a turbidity removal of more than 99% and CST reduction of 51-64% is attained; the linear PAMs have resulted in the highest CST reduction. Higher PAM doses have resulted in larger flocs and the maximum particle size is observed at the saturation point. The reduction in sludge volume relates with the floc size and PAM dose. For sludge conditioning and dewaterability, highly branched PAM with low MW has shown superior performance over linear high MW PAM. Enhancement of flocculation and dewatering is correlated with the surface charge neutralization and bridging mechanisms.

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The aqueous dispersions of a special type of carbon black (CB) in 1 M lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide) electrolyte is mainly controlled by the affinity of the aqueous electrolyte towards the CB particles rather than the particle size. In spite of its small particle size (30 nm), this type of CB forms a three-dimensional open network which is rheologically and electrically percolated at a relatively high threshold (2.0 wt%) with enhanced rheological and electrical properties. At this percolating threshold, replacing a trace amount of CB with equivalent carbon nanofibers (CNFs) produces hybrid dispersions with higher electrical conductivity and comparable rheological behavior to pure CB dispersions. This hybrid dispersion is dominated by a cooperatively supporting network, which is wired by the flexible filamentous nanofibers so that it is able to recover the conductivity loss under flow conditions due to flow-induced breaking up of the conductive pathways of CB and presumably sustain a higher load of active materials. This finding suggests hybrid dispersions as a promising precursor in the formulation of electrode suspensions for aqueous semi-solid redox flow cells.

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The aim of this research was to investigate the potential of raw and iron oxide impregnated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as adsorbents for the removal of selenium (Se) ions from wastewater. The original and modified CNTs with different loadings of Fe2O3 nanoparticles were characterized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area analyzer, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), zeta potential, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The adsorption parameters of the selenium ions from water using raw CNTs and iron oxide impregnated carbon nanotubes (CNT-Fe2O3) were optimized. Total removal of 1 ppm Se ions from water was achieved when 25 mg of CNTs impregnated with 20 wt.% of iron oxide nanoparticles is used. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were used to study the nature of the adsorption process. Pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order models were employed to study the kinetics of selenium ions adsorption onto the surface of iron oxide impregnated CNTs. Maximum adsorption capacity of the Fe2O3 impregnated CNTs, predicted by Langmuir isotherm model, was found to be 111 mg/g. This new finding might revolutionize the adsorption treatment process and application by introducing a new type of nanoadsorbent that has super adsorption capacity towards Se ions.

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Electrocoagulation is an effective electrochemical approach for the treatment of different types of contaminated water and has received considerable attention in recent years due its high efficiency in dealing with numerous stubborn pollutants. It has been successful in dealing with organic and inorganic contaminants with negligible or almost no generation of by-product wastes. During the past decade, vast amount of research has been devoted to utilizing electrocoagulation for the treatment of several types of wastewater, ranging from polluted groundwater to highly contaminated refinery wastewater. This paper offers a comprehensive review of recent literature that has been dedicated to utilizing electrocoagulation for water treatment, focusing on current successes on specific applications in water and wastewater treatment, as well as potentials for future applications. The paper examines such aspects as theory, potential applications, current challenges, recent developments as well as economical concerns associated with the technology. Most of the recent EC research has been focusing on pollutant-specific evaluation without paying attention to cell design, process modeling or industrial applications. This review attempts to highlight the main achievements in the area and outlines the major shortcomings with recommendations for promising research options that can enhance the technology and broaden its range of applications.

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