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Phosphorus (P) in sediments plays an important role in shallow lake ecosystems and has a major effect on the lake environment. The mobility and bioavailability of P primarily depend on the contents of different P forms, which in turn depend on the sedimentary environment. Here, sediment samples from Baiyangdian (BYD) lake were collected and measured by the Standards, Measurements, and Testing procedure and Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P NMR) to characterize different P forms and their relationships with sediment physicochemical properties. The P content in the sediments varied in different areas and had characteristics indicative of exogenous river input. Inorganic P (334-916 mg/kg) was the dominant form of P. The 31P NMR results demonstrated that orthophosphate monoesters (16-110 mg/kg), which may be a source of P when redox conditions change, was the dominant form of organic P (20-305 mg/kg). The distribution of P forms in each region varied greatly because of the effects of anthropogenic activities, and the regions affected by exogenous river input had a higher content of P and a higher risk of P release. Principal component analysis indicated that P bound to Fe, Al, and Mn oxides and hydroxides (NaOH-P) and organic P were mainly derived from industrial and agricultural pollution, respectively. Redundancy analysis indicated that increases in pH lead to the release of NaOH-P. Organic matter plays an important role in the organic P biogeochemical cycle, as it acts as a sink and source of organic P.

For electrocatalysts with a layered structure, ion intercalation is a common phenomenon. Gaining reliable information about the intercalation of ions from the electrolyte is indispensable for a better understanding of the catalytic performance of these electrocatalysts. Here, we take a holistic approach for following intercalation processes by studying the dynamics of the catalyst, water molecules, and ions during intercalation using operando soft X ray absorption spectroscopy XAS . Sodium and oxygen K edge and nickel L edge spectra were used to investigate the Na intercalation in a Ni0.8Fe0.2Ox electrocatalyst during the oxygen evolution reaction OER in NaOH 0.1 M . The Na K edge spectra show an irreversible intensity increase upon initial potential cycling and a reversible intensity increase at the intercalation potential, 1.45 VRHE, coinciding with an increase in the Ni oxidation state. Simultaneously, the O K edge spectra show that the Na intercalation does not significantly impact the hydration of the catalyst

Agriculture waste such as sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is composed mostly of cellulose, a very versatile natural biopolymer with well-established applications in many industries. The purpose of this study was to use combination treatment methods which include alkaline treatment and mild acid hydrolysis assisted with ultrasonication to extract cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from sugarcane bagasse. Initially, the SCB fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide and aqueous hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent before subjected to mild acid hydrolysis followed by ultrasonication at 70% amplitude to defibrillate and disperse the fibers. The study focused on acid hydrolysis using mild sulfuric acid to the alkaline treated cellulose fibers extracted from SCB. The FESEM images of isolated CNFs exhibited diameter in the range 20–30 nm and length of up to several micrometers. This observation suggests that the combined treatment methods are highly effective in isolating CNFs from the plant biomass. Moreover, XRD analysis reveals the presence of peaks at 2θ of 15.2° and 22°, indicating cellulose type I with the crystallinity of 42%. Meanwhile, the FTIR spectra prove that individual CNF was successfully isolated due to the removal of non-cellulosic constituents. This result verifies that amorphous portions such as lignin and hemicellulose were completely removed. CNFs with long entangled network fibrils were successfully extracted from SCB through the combination of alkaline treatment and mild acid hydrolysis assisted with ultrasonication. The CNFs are expected to have high strength and aspect ratio that can be used as reinforced material in manufacturing nanocomposites.

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the durability properties of metakaolin (MK) and bottom ash (BA) blended geopolymer under different environmental exposure. The blended geopolymer concrete (GPC) was prepared with sodium based alkaline activators under ambient curing temperature. The concentration of sodium hydroxide used was 8 M. The ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide was kept as 2.0. The performance of blended geopolymer concrete was compared with conventional concrete (CC). The test results reveal that blended geopolymer concrete develops a better performance against sulphate and acid resistance. Also, MK-BA GPC shows enhanced performance over the conventional concrete in terms of sorptivity, rapid chloride and water absorption.

The concrete is expected to have features like high fluidity, self-compact ability, high strength, high durability, greater serviceability and long service life of concrete structures. rationalised and labour-saving benefits in manufacture and placement of concrete SCC is a highly designed concrete which addresses these needs. In this work the SCC samples with different percentage addition of ggbfs, fly ash and polypropylene fibres cured with Concentrated Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at the period of 60, 80 and 120 days and it was tested under the temperature of 200 °C and 400 °C and it was tested for the compressive strength. Comparing the results with the samples without addition of polypropylene fibres (1% and 2%) there is a marked improvement in the compressive strength.

In this study, the biomass of Phragmites australis was chemically modified using NaOH and subsequently citric acid to produce an effective adsorbent named SA-RPB. The absorbent was characterized using XRD, SEM, BET, and FT-IR methods. The study’s findings indicated that the adsorbent existed mainly as cellulose crystals, contained micropores with an average diameter of 15.97 nm, and had a large number of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the surface. The adsorption process of SA-RPB was evaluated through the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solution. Adsorption kinetics showed that the pseudo-second-order model well described the adsorption process. The adsorption isotherm process satisfactorily fitted with the Langmuir model with the maximum adsorption capacity of 191.49 mg/g at 303 K. These findings show that MB may be efficiently removed from aqueous solutions using the adsorbent made from the raw biomass of Phragmites australis treated with NaOH and then citric acid.

Herein, a facile wet-spinning strategy was used for the fabrication of mechanically strong all-chitin filaments from an aqueous NaOH solution using β-chitin nanofibers (β-ChNFs). It is hypothesized that to reach high mechanical performance it is important to preserve the crystalline structure of chitin during fabrication. To explore this possibility, β-ChNFs were disintegrated from squid pens by a mild procedure and showed a uniform diameter of 10-25 nm, length of a few microns, and a high aspect ratio of more than 200. An interesting finding was that gel-like β-ChNF filaments were directly formed in aqueous NaOH without using any organic or ionic agents. The gelation of β-ChNF

Ultrafiltration (UF) has been increasingly implemented in drinking water treatment plants; however, algae and their secretions can cause severe membrane fouling and pose great challenges to UF in practice. In this study, a simple and practical chemically enhanced backwashing (CEB) process was developed to address such issues using various cleaning reagents, including sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium citrate, and their combinations. The results indicate that the type of chemical played a fundamental role in alleviating the hydraulically irreversible membrane fouling (HIMF), with NaClO as the best-performing reagent, followed by NaCl. Furthermore, a CEB process using a combination of NaClO with NaCl, NaOH, or sodium citrate delivered little improvement in the alleviation of membrane fouling compared with NaClO alone. The optimized dosage and dosing frequency of NaClO were 10 mg·L−1 two times per day. Long-term pilot-scale and full-scale experiments further verified the feasibility of the CEB process in relieving algae-derived membrane fouling. Compared with the conventional hydraulic backwashing without chemical involvement, the CEB process can effectively remove the organic foulants including biopolymers, humic substances, and protein-like substances by means of oxidization, thereby weakening the cohesive forces between the organic foulants and the membrane surface. Therefore, the CEB process can efficiently alleviate the algae-related membrane fouling with lower chemical consumption, and is proposed as an alternative to control membrane fouling in treating the algae-containing surface water.

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used implant materials. Once inserted into the body, the interface of the biomaterials is the most likely site for the development of implant-associated infections. Imparting the titanium substrate with high-aspect-ratio nanostructures, which can be uniformly achieved using hydrothermal etching, enables a mechanical contact-killing (mechanoresponsive) mechanism of bacterial and fungal cells. Interaction between cells and the surface shows cellular inactivation via a physical mechanism meaning that careful engineering of the interface is needed to optimse the technology. This mechanism of action is only effective towards surface adsorbed microbes, thus any cells not directly in contact with the substrate will survive and limit the antimicrobial efficacy of the titanium nanostructures. Therefore, we propose that a dual-action mechanoresponsive and chemical-surface approach must be utilised to improve antimicrobial activity. The addition of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles will provide a secondary, chemical mechanism to escalate the microbial response in tandem with the physical puncture of the cells.Hydrothermal etching is used as a facile method to impart variant nanostrucutres on the titanium substrate to increase the antimicrobial response. Increasing concentrations (0.25 M, 0.50 M, 1.0 M, 2.0 M) of sodium hydroxide etching solution were used to provide differing degrees of nanostructured morphology on the surface after 3 h of heating at 150 °C. This produced titanium nanospikes, nanoblades, and nanowires, respectively, as a function of etchant concentration. These substrates then provided an interface for the deposition of silver nanoparticles via a reduction pathway. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcous aureus (MRSA) and Candida auris (C. auris) were used as model bacteria and fungi, respectively, to test the effectiveness of the nanostructured titanium with and without silver nanoparticles, and the bio-interactions at the interface.The presence of nanostructure increased the bactericidal response of titanium against MRSA from ∼ 10 % on commercially pure titanium to a maximum of ∼ 60 % and increased the fungicidal response from ∼ 10 % to ∼ 70 % in C. auris. Introducing silver nanoparticles increased the microbiocidal response to ∼ 99 % towards both bacteria and fungi. Importantly, this study highlights that nanostructure alone is not sufficient to develop a highly antimicrobial titanium substrate. A dual-action, physical and chemical antimicrobial approach is better suited to produce highly effective antibacterial and antifungal surface technologies.

The process of skeletal processing which involves soft tissues removal, bone cleaning, articulation and labelling is a fundamental step in achieving gross anatomical and archeological studies in museum display of skeletal specimens. It also helps to further highlight the functional anatomy of bones. Several methods of bone preparation have been practiced so as to achieve desired quality bone specimens in the shortest possible time with limited resources. To this end, this study was carried out on 16 (8 males and 8 females) helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagridis) a representative of the avian species using four different bone preparation methods (Burial, cold maceration, chemical and insect larvae) at 31ºc to determine the most suitable in this species. Dissection to remove feathers, skin and internal organs was performed prior to each method. Burial in soil took 14 days for complete bone recovery, turned the bones uniformly light brown while producing an indelible putrefying smell with no evidence of cracks on the bones. Cold maceration also took 14 days for complete bone recovery, however, the bones turned whitish, producing a strong putrid smell with no cracks on the bones observed. Chemical method using 3 concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (2%, 3% and 5%) took approximately 10 hours, 8 hours and 4 hours respectively for complete cream coloured bone recovery with no odour but cracks were conspicuous on the bones with increasing concentration of sodium hydroxide. Use of insect larvae took approximately 4 months to produce non-uniform brown-coloured bones articulated via the ligaments having an unpleasant odour with no cracks. Considering the pros and cons of the effects associated with each method, this study concludes that the use of insect larvae was most suitable for a non-urgent bone recovery while the use of NaOH at 3% concentration was suitable for urgent bone recovery of the helmeted guinea fowl.

Tongue epithelium is one of the most proliferative and regenerative epithelia in our body. However, tongue stem cell research is hampered partly by the lack of optimal animal models to study tongue injury, repair, and regeneration. Here, we establish a novel chemically induced tongue injury-recovery mouse model. Focal application of sodium hydroxide for a limited time led to the denudation of suprabasal layers, leaving the basal layer. Time course study revealed that tongue epithelial cells robustly proliferate over one week after the tongue injury. Importantly, we demonstrated that our novel mouse model could be employed in the lineage tracing of the tongue stem cells under the injury and repair process and further showed that tongue stem cells proliferate faster and generate larger clones in the injury condition than in the steady state condition. Our data indicate the development of a novel chemically induced tongue injury-recovery mouse model for tongue stem cell research, which will significantly facilitate the preclinical study for the pathogenesis and treatment of caustic ingestion.

In this study, activated carbon (AC) was chemically activated using sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and polyethyleneimine (PEI) was grafted onto the AC using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. Then the modified AC was applied to treat water samples containing copper ions (Cu2+). Preparation of AC-NaOH@PEI. The grafted AC was characterized, demonstrating that the specific surface area of material decreased from 959.3 to 556.9 m2/g. The ζ-potential changed from −27.2 to 10.4 mV, and the presence of a distinct flocculation on the surface of the AC was observed via scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that PEI was successfully grafted onto the surface of AC. Furthermore, the adsorption results indicated that the Cu2+ adsorption capacity of AC-NaOH@PEI was greatly enhanced with increasing PEI loading. The adsorption amount of Cu2+ by the grafted AC-NaOH@PEI-200 increased from 20.02 to 47.8 mg/g. In addition, the adsorption of Cu2+ by AC-NaOH@PEI was a pH dependent process. At a pH of 6, the maximum removal rate reached 93%. The adsorption process is better described by the Langmuir and quasi-second order adsorption models, signifying that the adsorption of Cu2+ on AC@PEI consists of monolayer adsorption and chemisorption. After four adsorption-desorption cycles, AC@PEI exhibited high adsorption capacity for Cu2+, indicating that it has good regeneration ability. It is a promising adsorbent material.

In patients undergoing interventional or surgical coronary revascularization, subclinical hypothyroidism is common and associated with worse outcome, including the need for postoperative inotropic support. In isolated rat hearts with global ischemia/reperfusion, exogenous triiodothyronine (T3) reduces infarct size. Aim of this study was, to investigate whether or not exogenous T3 protects human myocardium from ischemia/reperfusion injury.Right atrial trabeculae from patients undergoing routine coronary artery bypass grafting were isolated and transferred to Tyrode's buffer. Electrically initiated (1 Hz) contractile stress (mN/mmAt baseline, contractile stress was comparable. T3 improved the cumulative recovery of contractile stress during reoxygenation from 41 ± 16 with NaOH to 55 ± 11% of baseline with T3, when given continuously in A or from 52 ± 13 with NaOH to 63 ± 11% of baseline with T3 when given just before and during reoxygenation in B. The ratio of mitochondrial complex I matrix arm to membrane NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunits (NDUF)V2 to NDUFA9 was reduced, reflecting increased complex I activity.T3 increases contractile recovery of human right atrial trabeculae from hypoxia/reoxygenation.

This article presents a range of mix design formulations to obtain metakaolin-based geopolymer synthesis. Geopolymer samples were synthesized from metakaolin, a 10 M sodium hydroxide solution, and alkaline sodium silicate. These three components were mixed in different proportions to form a paste which was molded in a cylindrical shape, set at room temperature for 24 hours, and demolded. The workability of the paste, the integrity of the samples, development of efflorescence, and the presence of undissolved metakaolin particles in the microstructure of the geopolymer matrix were observed. Since sodium and water play a vital role in the geopolymerization and were added at fixed proportions, a mix design was employed based on the molar proportions of aluminum, silicon, and sodium plus water. The simplex design plot was able to separate the regions of a mix of the components that showed different behaviors according to the observed responses. The dissolution of metakaolin, condensation of ortho-sialate and silicate species, which are expected to interact with each other according to the model of geopolymerization of Davidovits, can explain the observed results. “Good results” (no release of white powder, no efflorescence, no shrinkage, and no cracks) after 28 days of curing at room conditions were observed for the molar proportions 0.097 < Al < 0.112, 0.120 < Si < 0.178, and 0.711 < Na+H2O < 0.775 (Na/H2O = 0.185).

Aims and objectives: In this study, an attempt was made to synthesize, characterize, and develop many applications of functionalized rare metal oxide nanoparticles. Herein, a new strategy for drug delivery is developed to functionalize magnetite nanoparticles to improve their performances in the delivery of celecoxib. Materials and methods: Magnetite Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized by the sol-gel method. The surface of the hydroxyl groups was extended by treating with cerium nitrate salt; finally, sodium hydroxide was anchored to the surface hydroxyl groups to produce cerium oxidefunctionalized Fe3O4@SiO2@CeO2 magnetic nanoparticles (FSC). The synthesized sample was characterized by FT-IR, FESEM, VSM, TGA, and XRD. Afterward, the functionalized nanoparticles were examined in the delivery of celecoxib as an active drug model involving cerium oxide and hydroxyl functional groups. Results: For this purpose, the amount of loading/release of the drug was investigated in different amounts of nanocomposite and pH values. Conclusion: The results of the present investigation indicate that the formulations (mFSC=5 mg, pH=3.3) can be considered as best among various formulations with respect to particle size, entrapment efficiency, and in-vitro successful drug release.

In this study, we evaluate the desorption or recovery capacity of chromium(VI) ions using desorption solutions containing sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or sodium sulfate (Na

Saccharides form one of the major constituents of biological macromolecules in living organisms. Many biological processes including protein folding, stability, immune response and receptor activation are regulated by glycosylation. In this work, we optimized a capillary electrophoresis method with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection for the separation of eight monosaccharides commonly found in glycoproteins, namely D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, D-fucose, N-acetylneuraminic acid, and D-xylose. A highly alkaline solution of 50 mM sodium hydroxide, 22.5 mM disodium phosphate, and 0.2 mM CTAB (pH 12.4) was used as a background electrolyte in a 10 µm id capillary. To achieve baseline separation of all analytes, a counter-directional pressure of -270 kPa was applied during the separation. The limits of detection of our method were below 7 µg/ml (i.e., 1.5 pg or 1 mg/g protein) and the limits of quantification were below 22 µg/ml (i.e., 5 pg or 3 mg/g protein). As a proof of concept of our methodology, we performed an analysis of monosaccharides released from fetuin glycoprotein by acid hydrolysis. The results show that, when combined with an appropriate pre-concentration technique, the developed method can be used as a monosaccharide profiling tool in glycoproteomics and complement the routinely used LC-MS/MS analysis.

The fur color constitutes one of the most important economic characteristics of fur animals and is determined by the content of melanin. A previous study has shown that the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) is a member of the protein kinase family, involved in forming the color of the fur in Rex rabbits. However, its effect on the melanocytes remains unclear.This study aimed to provide evidence for the role of CDK1 in melanogenesis.This study measured the expression of CDK1 in Rex rabbit skins of six coat colors using qRT-PCR. The CDK1-mediated regulation of the pigmentation-related genes and cyclin-dependent kinases were analyzed. The melanin content, proliferation, and apoptosis of the melanocytes were analyzed using the NaOH, CCK8, and Annexin V-FITC methods.The CDK1 expression in the skin of the rex rabbits with different coat colors was found to be regular, and the expression level was found to be the highest in the skin of the black rex rabbits (P 0.05). The overexpression/knockdown of CDK1 was found to significantly increase/decrease the melanin content in the melanocytes (P 0.01). Besides, CDK1 was found to significantly promote the proliferation of the melanocyte and inhibit apoptosis (P 0.01). Furthermore, the overexpression of CDK1 was found to significantly affect the expression of the other melanin-related genes like TYR, PMEL, DCT, as well as the mRNA expression of the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4, CDK6, CDK8, CCNB1.The results indicated that CDK1 can serve as a key gene regulating melanogenesis, melanocyte proliferation, and apoptosis, providing a new theoretical basis for studying the mechanism by which the different colors of the fur evolve in mammals.

Pure LTA zeolites of high crystallinity have been synthesized from coal fly ash (CFA) by utilizing a method of microwave and ultrasound collaborative activation (MUCA) in situ for the first time. Compared to the activation method of only microwave or ultrasound, the MUCA have more efficient ability to dissolve silica-aluminum species from CFA while avoiding the digestion of other impurities, greatly reduced the energy consumption. While the liquid-solid ratio (LSR) of sodium hydroxide solution to CFA was 10 mL/g, the molar conversion rates of silicon and aluminum were 70.26% and 68.03%, respectively. Furthermore, with different LSR, pure LTA zeolite could be synthesized by adjusting the ratio of Si/Al. The CFA used in this paper contains Fe2O3 of about 12 wt percentage, and there have found almost no element of iron existing in the LTA zeolite products, indicating that the method of MUCA is suitable for the preparation of high purity zeolite. Finally, according to the mechanism of crystallization-dissolution-recrystallization, the morphology of LTA products could be well tuned by adjusting parameters such as LSR or crystallization time. The maximum BET surface area was 474 m2/g without additional calcium ion exchange steps by direct using of municipal water instead of deionized water, and the maximum CO2 adsorption capacity was 1.96 mol/g under 0 ℃. The mesoporous LTA zeolite also have been prepared just through the adjustment of crystallization time without addition of any other templates, the intramesopores of about 17 nm made greatly improvement in catalytic cracking of 1,3,5-tri-isopropylbenzene which is inaccessible to the conventional LTA micropores, and the conversion rate of 1,3,5-tri-isopropylbenzene reached to 25.40% as well as 11.05% of the selectivity of secondary cracking product benzene.

Drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) generated from water treatment plants is a global issue because of the environmental risks it imposes. Managing the abundance of DWTS in landfills remains an important issue. The reuse of these sludges as a construction material could contribute to the development of a geopolymer and mitigate the harmful effects of the excessive production of these sludges on the environment. This study aims to evaluate the effect of DWTS on the properties of Class F fly ash (FFA) geopolymers. Seven geopolymer blends were made with the addition of DWTS in the total fly ash weight of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, and 40%, and with an alkaline solution composed of 12 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na

This study aimed to evaluate the properties of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) with different hemicellulose contents and cellulose II polymorphs. A link was found between these polysaccharides and the properties of CNFs. A decrease in crystallinity (from 69 to 63%) and changes in the crystalline structure of cellulose subjected to an alkaline environment were observed, promoting the partial conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II (from 2 to 42%) and preventing CNFs production at NaOH concentrations higher than 5%. Most treatments showed pseudoplastic fluid behavior, except for the 10% NaOH treatment over 2 h, which showed Newtonian fluid behavior. The quality index of the reference CNFs (TEMPO-oxidized) was the highest (80 ± 3), followed by that of the 5% NaOH-treated (68 ± 3 and 22% energy savings compared to the untreated sample), and the untreated (63 ± 3) samples; and the 10% NaOH treatments had quality indices of 51 ± 3 and 32 ± 1, respectively.

The purpose of this study was to create and verify a simple and accurate UV-Spectrophotometric technique for determining Folic acid in bulk and tablet dosage form. The approach was based on the measurement of folic acid solution absorbance at 255nm in 0.01M NaOH. In the concentration range of 10-50 g/ml, the constructed calibration curve was found to be linear (R2 = 0.9996). Limits of detection and quantification were 2.73 µg/ml, and 8.27 µg/ml, respectively. The precision of the developed method was confirmed by the obtained low RSD% values. Recoveries percentages were found 98.46%±1.42, 100.0%±0.20, 98.92%±1.12; n=3 for 50%, 100% and 150% levels, respectively indicating the method accuracy and freedom of interference from excipients. Folic acid content percent in the two analyzed brands were found to be equal 96.59%±0.005; n=3, and 97.28%±0.003; n=3 which complies with the official range (90-110%).

Most of the series of nanochitins have been produced by the break-down process. In this study, chitin nanoparticles were prepared by a bottom-up process. Chitin was treated with sodium hydroxide to obtain an alkaline chitin aqueous solution. The alkaline chitin was regenerated by neutralization and then vigorously stirred to obtain chitin nanoparticles. The average particle size of the chitin nanoparticles was 7 nm. The individual particles were stably dispersed in water. Chitin nanoparticles had lower crystallinity than the raw material chitin and the surface of the chitin nanoparticles regenerated in water were presumed to be hydrophilic. The low crystallinity and the high hydrophilicity of the surface contributed to the high dispersibility of the chitin nanoparticles in water. Chitin nanoparticles had higher heat resistance than the raw material chitin, suggesting a large change in the higher-order structure associated with dissolution and subsequent regeneration of chitin. Since chitin nanoparticles interact with each other less than chitin nanofibers produced by mechanical treatment, the viscosity of nanoparticles was smaller than that of nanofibers. Therefore, it can be prepared at a high concentration. In addition, the chitin nanoparticles can be easily redispersed in water after being concentrated by centrifugation.

Effective hemorrhage control is indispensable for life-threatening emergencies in defense fields and civilian trauma. During major injuries, hemostatic agents are applied externally to mimic and accelerate the natural hemostasis process. Commercially available topical hemostatic agents are associated with several limitations

BACKGROUND: Hempseed meal, a by-product of the hempseed oil processing stream, is a potential alternative source for food proteins. Efficient extraction of proteins from hempseed meal is challenging owing to differences in the structure and solubility of various protein fractions present in the seed. In the present study, protein was extracted from hempseed meal using four different solvents, including aqueous NaOH, KOH, NaHCO3 and NaCl, at four different concentrations with the aim of improving the recovery of protein fractions rich in essential amino acids. RESULTS: Extraction using alkaline solvents provided superior protein recovery (60–78%) compared with NaCl solution and control extractions (20–48% and 21%, respectively). The concentration of alkali or salt (0.25–1 mol L−1) had a minor but significant impact on the yield. Amino acid composition analysis revealed that hempseed meal contains 24% (54.5 ± 0.19 mg g−1) essential amino acids of total amino acids, and extraction with NaOH, KOH, NaHCO3 or NaCl did not improve the selective extraction of essential amino acids compared to control experiments. Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis allowed the identification of edestin and albumin in the extracts obtained with NaHCO3 and NaCl solvents, with results further showing that the type of extraction solvent influences protein extraction selectivity. CONCLUSION: Although alkali solvents provide superior extraction yields, extraction with water resulted in extracts containing the highest proportion of proteins bearing essential amino acids. According to the results of SDS-PAGE, extraction using alkali solvents induced protein crosslinking.

Municipal waste has the potential to be a significant source of energy production. This study investigated pretreatment methods such as NaOH, hydrothermal, and ozonation to increase biomethane production from municipal waste. In addition, these pretreatments were further evaluated using ultrasonic pretreatment after achieving optimal conditions by RSM CCD methods. The optimum pretreatment conditions were observed to be 8% NaOH concentration, 132 °C hydrothermal temperature, and O

The study's objective was to adapt the Sperm Chromatin Dispersion (SCD) protocol to evaluate sperm DNA fragmentation and implement a fragmentation control in dogs. Correlation between DNA status and routine sperm parameters was also analysed. To adapt the SCD, two different mercaptoethanol (ME) concentrations were assayed (2.5% and 5%) in fourteen ejaculates from seven dogs and semen incubation with 0.3 M NaOH for 15 min at room temperature was assayed as a control for sperm DNA fragmentation. Data were analysed using a Mann-Whitney test and either Pearson's or Spearman's correlation. The selected ME concentration to use in the SCD test was 5%, as it produced the largest DNA dispersion halo while preserving the core nucleus structure. Four DNA halo patterns were identified as follows: large dispersion halos, medium halos, small halos and nuclei without halos. Semen incubated with NaOH showed 100% sperm without halos (damaged DNA). A significant positive correlation was observed between sperm with fragmented DNA and sperm with coiled tails. Thus, it was possible to adapt the SCD protocol to evaluate dog sperm DNA fragmentation in raw semen without using a commercial kit and establish incubation with NaOH as a DNA fragmentation control. Only coiled tails showed correlation with DNA fragmentation.

Hydrolysis is the first step and also rate-limiting step of anaerobic digestion which recovers energy from waste sludge. In order to accelerate the reaction rate of the hydrolysis, many pretreatment conditions had been taken into account. In this study, thermal pretreatment and alkaline pretreatment were combined with each other, serving as a thermal-alkaline pretreatment approach. Firstly, an orthogonal designed batch experiment was conducted to evaluate the pretreatment conditions, and then the optimal conditions were applied to an osmotic membrane bioreactor for a long-term investigation. Based on batch experiments, sludge treated by NaOH at pH 9 or 10 showed a better effect in cell solubilization. Sludge treated by Ca(OH)2 at pH 9, and sludge treated by NaOH at pH 9 or 10 showed advantages in methane production. Ultimately, sludge treated by NaOH at pH 9 and then heated at 90 °C for 60 min was selected as the optimal pretreatment condition. During the long-term operation of osmotic membrane bioreactor for sludge anaerobic digestion, the volume methane production of the sludge treated by thermal-alkaline was maintained at around 200–300 mL/L/d, which was 2–3 times of the sludge treated by ultrasound.

Prucalopride succinate is a selective 5-HT4 receptor agonist. Two simple UV spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the estimation of Prucalopride succinate in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The absorption maxima (λmax) of prucalopride succinate in Acetate buffer (PH-5.0) and 0.1N NaoH was found to be 222nm and 228nm respectively and Beer-Lambert’s law was obeyed over the concentration range 2- 16µg/ml. LOD and LOQ values of prucalopride succinate was found to be 0.143 µg/ml, 0.472 µg/ml and 0.112 µg/ml, 0.369 µg/ml in Acetate buffer and 0.1N NaoH respectively. The validation parameters were treated statistically with ‘t’ test and significant differences were noted. The study clearly revealed that the solvents influence the determination of Prucalopride succinate. The methods described were rapid and easy can be applied for the estimation of Prucalopride succinate in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations.

This paper tests the development of a silica fume-based material, capable to be used as a solid activator for the one-part geopolymerization of fly ash. Through a simple procedure, a mixture of silica fume, an amorphous and silicon-rich by-product, sodium hydroxide and water, is converted, after a low temperature treatment, to a new powder product mainly containing sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). Two different treatment methods are tested for the synthesis of the solid activator: heat and microwave treatment. Microwave processing is more sustainable and more efficient than thermal treatment, since purer products are produced with less energy consumption. The use of these low embodied energy products, as the only solid activator of fly ash, leads to geopolymers with comparable mechanical performance to those prepared with commercial products revealing their potential successful addition in the geopolymer market.

In this study, waste glass was alkali-activated by activators with different amounts of sodium hydroxide and subjected to aging. The chemical reactions and resulting microstructures and properties of the alkali-activated glass inorganic binders (AAGIBs) were affected by the aging temperature and duration. An activation energy approach was used to evaluate the effects of aging temperature and duration on the 4-day compressive strengths of the AAGIB specimens. When the amount of sodium hydroxide in the activators was low, the activation energies for the dissolution and polycondensation reactions of the AAGIBs were 83.3 kJ/mol and 44.6 kJ/mol, respectively. As the weight fraction of sodium oxide (FSO) in the activators was increased, the microstructure of the hardened binder was destroyed because of vigorous stirring during aging. Consequently, the activation energy of the AAGIB polycondensation reaction increased to 76.2 kJ/mol when FSO > 5%.

Nitrobenzene is a widespread contaminant in water. Biochar (BC) is a promising material for removing organic pollutants, but the adsorption capacity of pristine BC is low. Chemical modification is often used to improve the adsorption performance, but information on the sorption of nitrobenzene by modified BC is rare. In this study, BCs pyrolyzed at 300, 500, and 700 °C were modified by hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulfuric acid (H

In this paper, we present a methodology for measuring the reaction degree of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in alkali-activated cements using neural network based image analysis. The new methodology consists of an image analysis routine in which the segmentation of the back scattered electron (BSE) (SEM) images is based on a deep learning U-net. This methodology was applied to and developed for NaOH-activated slag cements and validated against independently measured XRD results. In a next step the developed method was applied to NaOH-Na

This paper discusses the effects of the silicon dioxide to aluminium oxide molar ratio, sodium oxide to aluminium oxide molar ratio and concentration of sodium hydroxide on the water absorption and compressive strength of synthesised fly ash-based geopolymers. Geopolymer pastes were prepared using fly ash mixed with an alkaline activator consisting of sodium hydroxide solution and sodium silicate solution. The phase composition, microstructure and chemical bonding of the synthesised products were characterised after 7 and 28 days using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The synthesised geopolymer with a silicon dioxide to aluminium oxide molar ratio of 5 and a sodium oxide to aluminium oxide molar ratio of 1.2, activated with 10 M sodium hydroxide, was found to have the highest strength and the lowest water absorption. The compressive strength was observed to increase with increasing silicon dioxide to aluminium oxide molar ratio. A high initial molar ratio of sodium oxide to aluminium oxide enhances the water absorption and decreases the strength of the geopolymer sample. The dissolution of silica and alumina from the starting materials becomes more efficient as the concentration of sodium hydroxide increases.

Adsorption is a simple and efficient phosphorus removal method used to control the eutrophication of water bodies. A simple and gentle atmospheric pressure hydrothermal method by adjusting the dosage of ammonium chloride and sodium hydroxide was used to synthesize amorphous, monoclinic, and tetragonal zirconia nano-powders with high specific surface areas (383.91 m2/g, 330.01 m2/g, and 234.36 m2/g) and particle size of about 40 nm for phosphate adsorption. When pH = 6.3, the phosphate adsorption capacity of the amorphous monoclinic phase and the tetragonal phase respectively reached 102.58 mg P/g, 68.11 mg P/g, and 37.25 mg P/g and the adsorption process of the three crystal forms of zirconia powders conformed to the Langmuir adsorption model. In the first 2 min of rapid adsorption, amorphous zirconia completed 76.23% of the adsorption process and the monoclinic phase also completed more than 60%. The adsorption process of the three crystal forms of zirconia was completed within 240 min and conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Their adsorption characteristics of the three crystal forms of zirconia decreased with the increase in pH. While the pH was above than the isoelectric point of the solution, the adsorption capacity was significantly reduced. The large specific surface area and high hydroxyl content of the zirconia nano-powder made a great contribution to the adsorption process.

Ingrown nails are frequently encountered in dermatology practice. The recurrence tendency of the disorder makes chemical cauterization essential during surgical procedures. In studies comparing nail matrix cauterization with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) versus phenol, phenol's application time was highly variable.To compare the therapeutic outcomes of matrix cauterization for a standard duration of one minute for NaOH versus phenol in stage II and III ingrown nails.The medical records of patients undergoing matrix cauterization with 10% NaOH or 88% phenol were evaluated. The primary outcome measure was the lack of recurrences on long-term follow-up. The secondary outcome measures were complete healing duration, patient-reported pain scores, and adverse effects related to the procedure.Enrolled in this study were 62 ingrown toenail sides treated with 10% NaOH and 56 ingrown toenail sides treated with 88% phenol. The mean follow-up duration was 25.17 months. Recurrence was observed in four nail sides of the NaOH group (%6.45) and three nail sides of the phenol group (%5.35). The difference between the recurrence rates did not reach statistical significance. Patients treated with both methods were free of pain on the post-procedural tenth day. The visual analog scale pain scores and complete healing duration were similar between the two groups (p0.05).In a large group with long-term follow-up results, the short-term and long-term post-operative treatment outcomes were similar between the one-minute applications of 10% NaOH versus 88% phenol groups.

Hydrolytic loss of nucleobases from the deoxyribose backbone of DNA is one of the most common unavoidable types of damage in synthetic and cellular DNA. The reaction generates abasic sites in DNA and it is important to understand the properties of these lesions. The acidic nature of the α-protons of the ring-opened abasic aldehyde residue facilitates β-elimination of the 3’-phosphoryl group. This reaction is expected to generate a DNA strand break with a phosphoryl group on the 5’-terminus and a trans-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde residue on the 3’-terminus; however, a handful of studies have identified noncanonical sugar remnants on the 3’-terminus, suggesting that the products arising from strand cleavage at AP sites in DNA may be more complex than commonly thought. We characterized the strand cleavage induced by treatment of an abasic site-containing DNA oligonucleotide with heat, NaOH, piperidine, spermine, and the base excision repair glycoslyases Fpg and Endo III. The results showed that, under multiple conditions, cleavage at an abasic site in a DNA oligomer generated noncanonical sugar remnants including cis-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, 2-deoxyribose, and 3-thio-2,3-dideoxyribose products on the 3’-terminus of the strand break.

This study aims to develop the alkali activated slag-fly ash concrete (AASFC) using precious slag (PS) ball as the fine aggregate. The slag-fly ash proportion, sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide (SS/SH) ratio and sodium hydroxide concentration are the prime variables. The fresh concrete properties like workability, setting time and the hardened concrete properties of AASFC developed under ambient curing were analyzed and similar way by replacing with fly ash (FA). The sodium hydroxide concentration of 8 M, 10 M and 12 M, SS/SH ratio of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0, alkaline liquid to binder ratio of 0.35 and variation in slag-fly ash proportion as major inputs for mix design. The test results showed that, the fresh state of AASFC blend has a shorter setting time of 12–16 min, because of calcium mineral from the FA, the workability and setting time of AASFC mix was enhanced by the addition of the tri-sodium phosphate as a retarder. At the higher SS/SH extent, the workability and setting time exaggerated, whereas the increased FA content and sodium hydroxide concentration had a greater influence on the fresh state of concrete. Also, the sodium hydroxide concentration, SS/SH ratio and slag-fly ash proportion are the most inducing parameters on the workability, setting time and strength parameters of AASFC.

Zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) nanomaterial can be facilely and conveniently synthesized via the co-precipitation method from aqueous Zn2+ and Fe3+ salt solutions using sodium hydroxide as the precipitant. However, zinc hydroxide is amphoteric and can be soluble at low and high pH values; therefore, the study on pH for simultaneous precipitation of Fe3+ and Zn2+ to achieve pure ZnFe2O4 spinel is essential. In the present study, we elaborate a theoretical equation expressing the relationship between the zinc concentration in complex formation and pH value in the co-precipitation step. Since then, we synthesized ZnFe2O4 spinel and analyzed the products via various techniques such as thermoanalysis (TG-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Vis spectra to investigate the appropriate pH for simultaneous precipitation of Fe3+ and Zn2+. The results indicate that in a wide range of pH values, from 7 to 12, ZnFe2O4 single-phase spinel ferrite structure is formed after calcination of the precipitate at 800 °C, the average particle sizes (SEM, nm) of ZnFe2O4 samples are in the range of 59.5 nm–85.5 nm (but is non-linear change), and their bandgap values are similar, around 1.96 eV. However, the unwanted appearance of α-Fe2O3 phase, the shifting in peak position and the decrease in intensity in the XRD pattern of the spinel products synthesized at pH of 6 and 13, respectively, reflect that the stoichiometric ratio of Zn2+ to Fe3+ in the spinel products is not achieved to 1:2. Such results provide a fundamental basis for choosing the appropriate pH in synthesizing ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with orientationally structural and optical characteristics.

The synthesis and characterization of sodium titanates (ST), and their evaluation in the photocatalytic reduction of nitric oxide (NO) are described herein. The materials were synthesized by a hydrothermal route using 5 M NaOH as the mineralizer agent and a TiO2 content of 0.06 mg/mL (expressed as the mass ratio of TiO2/mL of NaOH), at 170 °C for 48 hours, resulting in sodium tri- and hexa-titanates. A nanotubular morphology was observed for the ST, as proved by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); a subsequent heat-treatment at 400 °C allowed a complete transformation of sodium tri- to hexa-titanates and an increase in bandgap. The obtained ST were impregnated with Ag+ and Zn+ cations, ST-Ag and ST-Zn, respectively, to tune the materials’ bandgap. XPS analysis of the ST-Ag materials showed evidence of metallic Ag, pointing to the formation of silver nanoparticles, whereas for ST-Zn oxide phases were mainly spotted. The materials were evaluated for the photocatalytic reduction of NO using a reactor fed with a continuous flow rate of NO, generated in situ at a flow of 280 mL/min using nitrogen and a 253 nm UV irradiation source. The photocatalytic tests showed that pristine ST (tri- and hexa-titanates) displayed better performance in the reduction of NO with respect to the impregnated samples (ST-Ag, ST-Zn). Maximum degradation efficiencies of 80% were achieved when 1 g of photocatalyst was used with a flow of 280 mL/min and a 253 nm UV lamp.

The traditional sodium desulfurization process for waste lead-acid batteries is beneficial to the environment; however, it is limited by poor economic viability as the cost of desulfurizer is much higher than the value of desulfurization by-products. This study proposes a new closed-loop pre-desulfurization process for lead paste, which consumes only lime as the indirect desulfurizer, produces sodium sulfate as a by-product, and regenerates sodium hydroxide as the direct desulfurizer. The concentration of prepared sodium hydroxide reached 2.57 mol/L when the reaction was conducted at room temperature for 2.0 h, with a sodium oxalate: calcium oxide molar ratio of 1:1.3, a CaO: water mass ratio of 1:6, and magnetic stirring at 600 rpm. Cost estimation and economic analyses were also conducted. The cost of lead paste generated by this new pre-desulfurization process was 37.62 dollars/ton lower than traditional high-temperature smelting, and 44.42 dollars/ton lower than direct sodium pre-desulfurization. Thus, this process provides a practical and feasible clean recycling method for waste lead-acid batteries with significant environmental and economic benefits.

Environmental benefits and amazing performance can be obtained by utilizing palm oil fibres and kenaf fibres which illustrate colossal potential in fibre reinforced composites. An investigation has been made to determine the effects of alkaline treatment on water absorption and swelling behaviour of palm oil fibre composites as well as kenaf fibre composites. Untreated and treated natural fibres and were prepared in random orientation with different volume fraction of palm oil fibres and kenaf fibres; 30%, 40%, and 60. All the treated fibres were treated with 1 w/v% and 5 w/v% of sodium hydroxide concentration. Water absorption test was performed by immersing the sample in the distilled water periodically measuring the sample weight. Thickness swelling test was carried out by measuring the thickness of the specimens before and after soaking in the distilled water within certain period of time. All specimens were observed under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to study the fibre morphology. TPOF_30_5SH achieved the least percentage of water absorption (1.44%) when it was compared with the UPOF_30 and TPOF_40_1SH. UPOF_60 shows the highest percentage of thickness swelling (8.96%). TPOF_30_5SH and TPOF_40_5SH show reduction of water absorption when they were compared with UPOF_30 and UPOF_40 respectively. All the treated kenaf fibre composites with 5 w/v% sodium hydroxide concentration such as TKF_30_5SH, TKF_40_5SH and TKF_60_5SH show improved result of thickness swelling. Materials covering the surface of palm oil fibres and kenaf fibres were more effectively removed with 5 w/v% sodium hydroxide than by treatment with 1 w/v% sodium hydroxide while observing under SEM.

Herein, we report an efficient, environmentally friendly and stable catalyst development to hydrogen evolution from sodium borohydride hydrolysis. For this purpose, Ruthenium complex catalyst successfully fabricated via 5-Amino-2,4-dichlorophenol-3,5-ditertbutylsalisylaldimine ligand and RuCl3·H2O salt. Ru complex catalyst was identified with X-Ray Diffraction Analysis, Infrared Spectroscopy, Elemental Analysis, Transmission electron microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Surface Area Analysis. According to the analysis results, it was confirmed that Ru complex catalyst was successfully synthesized. Ru complex was used as a catalyst in NaBH4 hydrolysis. The kinetic performance of Ru complex catalyst was evaluated at various reaction temperatures, various sodium borohydride concentration, catalyst concentration and sodium hydroxide concentration in hydrogen evolution. The apparent activation energy for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride was determined as 25.8 kJ mol−1. With fully conversion, the promised well durability of Ru complex was achieved by the five consecutive cycles for hydrogen evolution in sodium borohydride hydrolysis The hydrogen evolution rates were 299,220 and 160,832 mL H2 gcat−1 min−1 in order of at 50 °C and 30 °C. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism of Ru complex catalyzed sodium borohydride hydrolysis was defined step by step. This study provides different insight into the rational design and utilization and catalytic effects of ruthenium complex in hydrogen evolution performance.

In this analysis, the alkaline activators prepared by mixing sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate and rice husk ash (RHA) were used as the source material in geopolymer concrete. As fibre reinforcement in geopolymer concrete, basalt fibres (B.F.s) were used. Silica luxurious RHA and alumina luxurious B.F.s proved the best mishmash for rigid pavement abrasion resistance. The ratio of sodium silicate (sdsi) to sodium hydroxide (sdhd), alkaline activator to binder content was maintained as 2.0 and 0.4 respectively, the concentration of sodium hydroxide was maintained as 14 M, the fluidity of geopolymer concrete was improved by superplasticizer, and RHA used was 500 kg/m3 in MRM (control mix which is rice husk ash based geopolymer concrete without basalt fibres). B.F.s were used as 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 per cent by weight of RHA in the MB1, MB5, MB10, MB15, MB20 and MB25 combinations, and the results of B.F.'s blends were compared with the MRM. The results showed that, relative to the control mix and all other mixes, the impact strength in mix MB10 was high. In contrast to the MRM control combination, the seven, twenty-eight, and ninety-day impact strength of MB10 showed a substantial increase of more than 88, 89, and 92 per cent, respectively.

Dyes derived from coconut (Cocos nucifera) husk have materialised as an important substitute to synthetic dyes. However, better extraction techniques are needed to leach out the natural colourants from this plant. The influence of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration (0.2 to 0.8 M) and time of extraction (2 to 10 min) on the maximum extraction yield of natural dye from the mesocarp and exocarp of C. nucifera have been studied. The results indicate a significant (p

The present study is an attempt to examine the feasibility of developing a sustainable self-compacting concrete (SCC) made with geoploymer binder and recycled aggregate. The study explores the effects of four sodium hydroxide (SH) molarities (8 M, 10 M, 12 M and 14 M) on the fresh properties of self-compacting slag-based geopolymer concrete. Eight slag-based geopolymer concrete mixtures were examined. These mixes are divided into two groups: GPN group in which the mixtures are made with natural aggregate (NA) and GPR group in which the mixtures are made with recycled aggregate (RA). Each group includes four mixes made with the four mentioned SH molarities. The mixtures were examined for its flowability, passing ability, viscosity and segregation resistance and the results were tested against the EFNARC recommendations for SCC. It was concluded that recycled aggregate and the molarity of sodium hydroxide affects the fresh properties of SCC. But, developing self-compacting slag-based geopolymer concrete that meets the limits of EFNARC is feasible.

This research included synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, in the first step where the compound [M1] was prepared from the reaction of chloroacetyl chloride with the nitrogenous base uracil using a basic medium. Compound [M1] then were converted into compound [M2] by reacted with hydrazine hydrate (95%) in absolute ethanol using sodium hydroxide (KOH). Schiff bases [M3-M9] were prepared from the reaction of the compound [M2] prepared in the second step with some substitutes of benzaldehyde in absolute ethanol. Tetrazole derivatives [M10-M16] were prepared from the reaction of Schiff bases [M9-M3] with sodium azide in tetrahydrofuran(THF) as a solvent. After purifying the product, the synthetic compounds were diagnosed with some spectral methods such as [UV], [FTIR], [1H NMR] and [13C-{1H}NMR], in addition to determining the melting and purity levels of the prepared compounds and monitoring the progress of the reactions using TLC thin layer chromatography. The effect of some prepared compounds on the growth of two types of bacterial isolates, known to be resistant to antibiotics, one negative for Gram stain [Gr-ve], which is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the second positive for Gram stain [Gr + ve], which is Staphylococcus aurous, were used antibiotics Amoxicillin and Ampicillin. Some of the prepared compounds showed high inhibitory efficacy against the used bacteria in addition, the conformation of prepared compounds at the lower energy level were studied.

Castor bean (Ricinus communis) can be a high-demand crop for the production of biodiesel, an alternative biofuel similar to conventional diesel. The objective of the work has been to optimize the method of obtaining biodiesel from a “green technology” process, directly splitting the seeds of three macerated castor varieties, without prior extraction of the oil with n-hexane as is traditional. Also using low-cost heterogeneous basic catalysts, friendly to the environment. It has been shown that it is feasible to obtain biodiesel as an eco-fuel from castor beans directly, without prior oil extraction with the consequent saving of n-hexane solvent and the non-use of sodium hydroxide. It is feasible to substitute methanol for ethanol (less toxic and cheaper), and as a novel aspect, the use of BaCO3 as a heterogeneous catalyst, not reported in any reference of those consulted. Yield percentages ranging between 31% and 45% were obtained, comparable to those obtained from previous oil extractions. It was concluded that of the three varieties of castor bean evaluated, the variety HG-A-1 (collected in Atotonilco el Grande, Municipality of the State of Hidalgo) classified as IBEA type, is the one that presents the best results. Keywords: Barium carbonate, Castor oil, Eco-fuel, Ethanol, Seed.

The behavior of concrete in the form of an adhesive made with activated silicon and aluminium in a highly alkaline solution is investigated in this study. Research on concrete based on low calcium fly ash is widely used. The fly ash with high calcium content can also be suitable as a base material for producing geopolymers. In this investigation, the exact ideal substitution amount of GGBS: Fly Ash for PPC concrete mix was determined to be 60:40. For different sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate chemical ratios in the concrete mix, different results were produced. This research adds to our understanding of the performance of various strength concretes and GGBS as partial cement substitutes. Mechanical strength and durability properties and acid attack were discovered in the GGBS and Fly Ash concrete mix. Sodium Silicate and sodium hydroxide have been discovered to affect various combinations as well as strength and durability.

During open-pit mining operations of phosphates, huge volume of rocks by products are accumulated and deposited in the mine site. The aim of this paper is to investigate the use of marls as an only aluminosilicate precursor to produce alkali-activated geopolymers. Marls from Moroccan phosphate basins are composed of carbonates, quartz and clays. Raw marl was dried, grinded and calcined at 750 °C. After the heat treatment, the calcined powder was activated using a strong alkali solution, which is a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate with a ratio of 0.5. The physical and chemical properties of raw and calcined marls were analyzed using TGA, BET, Pycnometer, particle size analyzer, XRF, XRD, FTIR and SEM. Furthermore, elaborated geopolymers were characterized after 7 and 120 days of curing at ambient temperature using XRD, XRF, TGA, SEM and the mechanical behavior was tested by measuring the compressive strength. The results showed the formation of both; C-A-S-H (Calcium aluminum silicate hydrate) and N-A-S-H (Calcium aluminum silicate hydrate) gels with a compressive strength of 38 MPa confirming that marls from phosphate extraction by-products could be used as a source for the elaboration of geopolymers.