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Light-driven water splitting has gained increasing attention as an eco-friendly method for hydrogen production. There is a pressing need to enhance the performance of catalysts for the commercial viability of this reaction. Many methods have been proposed to improve catalyst performance; however, an economical and straightforward approach remains a priority. This paper presents an uncomplicated technique called acid treatment, which augments the catalytic performance of nanoparticles. The method promotes a change in the catalytic reactivity by causing a deficit in electron density of Ti and O on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles without altering their size, morphology, or crystal structure. In the Eosin Y sensitized photocatalytic hydrogen production system, nitric acid treated TiO2 (16.95 μmol/g) exhibited 1.5 times the hydrogen production compared to bare TiO2 (11.15 μmol/g).

In karst areas, the drainage pipes of aging tunnels are prone to be clogged by precipitated carbonates, resulting in lining cracking and tunnel leaking. As a result, not only the driving safety will be deteriorated, but also the water pressure on the lining might also be elevated significantly. For the structural stability and service lifespan of old tunnels, it is of great importance to remove these precipitated carbonates in time. Traditional treatment methods are often destructive to some extent or not efficient enough. This study aims to experimentally develop an eco-friendly acid-based chemical cleaning method to remove carbonate precipitations efficiently. The proposed chemical cleaning agent is an aqueous solution with strong acidity, consisting of sulfamic acid, water, and additives. The factors affecting the cleaning efficiency include the acid solubility, temperature and flow rate of the cleaning agent, as well as additives. Elevating the solution temperature to 50 °C or a flow rate of no less than 0.2 m/s can improve cleaning efficiency. Although the salt effect cannot work, 1 wt% of polymaleic acid as a surfactant could further promote the cleaning rate. The cleaning efficiency will increase with the flow rate in a power function. The relatively low flow rate that improves the cleaning rate considerably can avoid high-pressure-induced mechanical damage to tunnel drainpipes. The waste could be easily treated to acceptable levels using commercial sewage treatment products and can also be recycled in agriculture. With the chemical cleaning, the water pressure at the arch springing of the lining will reduce with the increased radius of transverse drainpipes in a power function. The proposed acid-based cleaning method, which is highly efficient, non- or low-destructive to aging tunnels, sufficiently safe for humans, and friendly enough to the environment, will offer a promising alternative to remove the precipitated carbonates in tunnel drainpipes efficiently.

This study assesses the potential of the eggshells as a promising and alternative CO2 adsorbent. With the aim of enhancing the CO2 capture performance of raw eggshell, it was modified by sol-gel citric acid treatment. Both adsorbents were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, XRF, XRD and SEM techniques. Preliminary adsorption tests in TGA revealed that the acid-modified eggshell achieved significantly higher carbonation conversion than the raw eggshell adsorbent in the 650–750 ºC adsorption temperature range, reaching a carbonation conversion of 69% at 700 ºC. The cyclic performance of the modified eggshell, tested in TGA at 700 ºC under 15 vol% CO2, confirmed that sol-gel acid treatment led to a very stable adsorbent, with a slight improvement in CO2 adsorption capacity during the first four cycles (from 0.54 to 0.58 gCO2 gads−1), followed by stable performance due to self-reactivation phenomena. Moreover, additional experiments were carried out in a fixed bed reactor under more realistic conditions to study the influence of temperature (600–750 ºC) and CO2 flow rate (50–125 mL min−1) using the modified eggshell. An increase in temperature under 15 vol% CO2 stream led to a decrease in the carbonation conversion of the adsorbent, with the maximum CO2 uptake at 600 ºC (0.64 gCO2 gads−1). Regarding the role of the CO2 flow rate at 700 ºC, increasing from 75 to 125 mL min−1 CO2 had minimal effect, maintaining a capture amount of approximately 0.49 gCO2 gads−1. These results confirmed the potential of the acid-modified eggshell as a low-cost and environmental friendly adsorbent for CO2 capture, which indeed may significantly improve the economic feasibility of the CCUS processes.

Fiber-type supercapacitor (FSC) is indispensable for soft electronics. Modifying substrate without depositing electroactive material can prevent electroactive material from peeling off and enhance flexibility of FSC. Acid treatment is one of the most effective methods to enhance energy storageability of carbon fiber (CF) via inducing functional groups and creating defects for charge accumulation. In this work, it is firstly to apply sonication and heat treatments on CF electrodes in acid mixture to enhance hydrogen ion diffusion path and acid etching rate. The highest specific capacitance (CL) of 319.0 mF/cm is obtained at 20 mV/s for the CF electrode prepared using full sonication for 45 min and heat treatment at 80 °C at last 25 min, while the untreated CF electrode only shows CLvalue of 8.3 mF/cm. The FSC with optimized CF electrodes shows maximum energy density of 12 μWh/cm at 250 μW/cm. After 10,000 times repeated charge/discharge process, CLretention of 78% and Coulombic efficiency of 88% are achieved. Excellent flexibility is attained with high CLretentions with bending angle of 180° and bended for 1000 times. Other energy supplying methods are expected to promote the acid treatment on CF and create more efficient FSC in near future.

The surface chemistry of an exemplary hot-dip galvanized Zn–Al–Mg coating comprising 1.6 wt.% aluminum and 1.1 wt.% magnesium was characterized by means of secondary and transmission electron microscopy as well as synchrotron radiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Lamellae of the coating prepared via focused ion beam technique were examined through energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Further the effect of alkaline and acid treatment respectively was investigated by employing time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. Throughout this work it is shown that both alkaline (NaOH) and acid (H2SO4) solutions alter the chemical composition when applied to the coating surface. With the native Zn–Al–Mg system yielding a complex microstructure covered by a magnesium and aluminum rich oxide film, highly alkaline surroundings (pH > 13) caused a decrease of aluminum at the uppermost surface. Every deployed acid solution (pH

With the rapid development of photocatalysis field, photocatalysts have received increasing attention due to their important role in environmental pollution and energy crisis. As a nonmetallic polymeric material, graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is rich in sources and its preparation is simple, and thus has been widely used as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst. In this review, we have summarized the recent progress related to the design, modification, and construction of g-C3N4 based photocatalysts with excellent photocatalytic performances. First, we have described the basic structure and properties of g-C3N4. Thereafter, we have pointed out that the defects of pristine g-C3N4 and illustrated the general design principles for all of modified strategies. Subsequently, we have discussed various strategies to optimize the photocatalytic properties of g-C3N4 in detail, including constructing Z-scheme heterojunctions based on g-C3N4, morphological controlling, metal deposition, ion doping, dye sensitization, quantum dots modification, and acid treatment. Particularly, we have comprehensively explicated the critical factors governing the performance of the photocatalyst and the enhanced photocatalytic mechanisms of each modification strategy with examples. Finally, we have indicated the challenges of photocatalysis technology using g-C3N4 and proposed the opportunities for further development.

To develop an effective method to eliminate green macroalgae attached to Neopyropia aquaculture nets, we explored the influence of mixed acid solution on the photosynthetic fluorescence characteristics of Ulva spp. (green macroalgae) and Neopyropia yezoensis (red macroalgae) from Dafeng and Rudong aquaculture areas in Jiangsu Province, China. Treatment with mixed acid solution (0.0475 % hydrochloric acid:citric acid (pH 2.0) at a ratio of 4:3) for 60 s caused death of Ulva spp., but did not affect N. yezoensis. Additionally, a mixed acid solution effectively eliminated green macroalgae from Neopyropia aquaculture rafts and the marine environment remained unaffected. Hence, the application of mixed acid solution treatment has demonstrated significant efficacy in eradicating green macroalgae adhered to Neopyropia aquaculture rafts, thus presenting a promising strategy for mitigating green macroalgae proliferation in Neopyropia aquaculture areas and curbing their contribution to green tides., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of modified montmorillonites were prepared by acid modification method prior to the organosilicon grafting. Aflatoxin B1, zearalenone and deoxynivalenol (DON) were selected to evaluated the mycotoxin adsorption performance of modified montmorrillonites. The experimental results suggest that under acidic conditions, the higher the charge density in the covalent orbital of the active group, the stronger the interaction between it and the DON molecule, and the better the corresponding modified montmorillonite adsorbs DON. Silicified montmorillonite with active groups of cyano group and methacryloyloxy group has the best adsorption performance for DON, and the adsorption degree are 51.6% and 39.0%, respectively. However, under alkaline terms, due to the hydrolysis of active groups, the adsorption degree of montmorillonite on DON dropped steeply.

This study reports the production of pure titanium carbonitride powder via carbonitrothermic reduction of low grade titanium ore. High temperature reduction of the as-milled samples in a nitrogen-containing atmosphere at 1400 °C for 20 min was maintained for the synthesis of the Fe – TiCN composite. An acid solution of 10% concentration, which contains HCl acid, was used to purify the Fe – TiCN composite, for the purpose of obtaining a high purity TiCN powder. The obtained TiCN powder was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction spectrometer (XRD), particle size analyser (PSA), LECO non – metal analyser, Raman spectroscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) was used to study the powder lattice orientation and particle distribution. The overall results of these analyses confirm the formation of high grade TiCN powder, as the synthesized powder was free of iron and other impurities, and its mean particle size was found to be 4.687 μm.

For A-site substituted AA'BO3 perovskite, the doped A' element is easy to migrate to the surface and form segregation of A'Ox, which could partially block active B sites and thus reduce catalytic activity. In the present work a La0.8Sr0.2CoO3-δ perovskite-type solid was first prepared and then treated with acetic acid to eliminate SrO segregation on its surface. The obtained catalyst (LCSO-a) possessed a significantly enhanced catalytic activity for toluene oxidation in the 220–260 °C range. This promotion effect might be attributed to the increase in the concentration of active surface oxygen species and the reduction in their binding strength. In addition, the LCSO-a catalyst showed very good stability and water resistance.

The electrical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) sheet manufactured using different production (standard and enhanced) and post-processing (none, acid treatment, polymer intercalation) methods were analyzed. These properties included the electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE). The acid treatment significantly improved the electrical conductivity of the CNT sheet, while polymer intercalation did not affect the electrical conductivity. The enhanced production reduced the electrical conductivity by more than 40% for all specimen sets. With the exception of the acid-treated standard specimen, the EMI SE was consistent throughout all specimen sets. The electrical conductivity and EMI SE were presented as functions of the thickness, areal density, and density. There was no correlation between these material properties and the electrical conductivity of the untreated or polymer-intercalated specimens. The production method seems to influence how these properties affect the acid-treated specimens. The EMI SE was directly correlated to the thickness and inversely correlated to the density. The EMI SE was directly correlated to the areal density for almost all specimen types. Scanning electron microscopy revealed an increase in catalyst impurities in the enhanced production specimens and an increase in CNT agglomeration in both the acid-treated and polymer-intercalated specimens.

Introduction: This study evaluated the microtensile bond strength of calcium silicate-based sealers and epoxy resin-based sealer, depending on the use of phosphoric acid (PA) etching before immediate resin restoration., Methods: Exposed dentin surfaces of extracted human third molars were randomly assigned to 3 groups depending on sealer type (AH Plus [Dentsply DeTrey], CeraSeal [Meta Biomed Co.], and EndoSeal MTA [Maruchi]). Half of the samples were treated with PA for 30 seconds, and the other half were cleaned with water. Completely untreated specimens were used as controls. Self-etching adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond, Kuraray) was applied and composite resin (Tetric N-Ceram, Ivoclar Vivadent) was used to create build-ups. After 24 hours, the microtensile bond strength was measured (EZ Test, Shimadzu Co.). The failure mode was determined by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. One-way analysis of variance with the Bonferroni correction was used to analyze the data (P < .05)., Results: The bond strength of the water-washed dentin surfaces in the calcium silicate-based sealer groups did not differ significantly from those of the control surfaces but the PA-pretreated surfaces exhibited relatively low-bond strength. The AH Plus-treated group had lower bond strength than the control group when no PA treatment was applied, but PA treatment restored the bond strength. The adhesive failure mode was most frequently found in the AH Plus group without PA etching., Conclusions: When a water-soluble calcium silicate-based sealer is used, sufficient bond strength can be obtained by washing with water alone, with no need for PA use., (Copyright © 2023 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The synthesis of materials of high added value from a natural kaolin has been studied. The kaolin was pre-activated by means of calcination to obtain the metakaolins, which are amorphous solids capable of being modified by simple and non expensive chemical treatments. These solids were then submitted to acid and basic treatments to modify their structure and properties. The acid activation under specific conditions gave place to the synthesis of solids mainly constituted by silica with good textural properties, developing so much their external and internal surface, these solids may be used like adsorbentes and catalytic supports. On the other hand, the basic activation produced the modification of the metakaolins and it gave place to the crystallisation of the zeolite K-F (Z), appearing as a simple and effective method for the synthesis of this material.En este trabajo se ha estudiado la síntesis de materiales de alto valor añadido a partir de un caolín natural. Para ello el caolín fue pre-activado mediante calcinación para dar lugar a la formación de metacaolines, sólidos amorfos susceptibles de ser modificados por tratamientos químicos de una manera sencilla y poco costosa. Estos sólidos fueron posteriormente sometidos a tratamientos ácidos y básicos para modificar su estructura y propiedades. La activación ácida bajo unas condiciones específicas dio lugar a la síntesis de sólidos constituidos mayoritariamente por sílice con buenas propiedades superficiales, desarrollándose tanto su superficie externa como interna, revelándose como sólidos que pueden ser empleados como adsorbentes y soportes catalíticos. Por su parte, la modificación causada por la activación básica dio lugar a la cristalización de la zeolita K-F (Z), presentándose como un método sencillo y eficaz para la síntesis de este material.

Using nanocarriers to load antimicrobial agent instead of direct incorporating into film matrix could avoid burst release. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are natural clays with a unique tubular structure; therefore in many studies it served as carriers to achieve a controlled release of active agents. However, when HNTs biocomposites were loaded into packaging film, the antimicrobial activity was reduced too seriously to preserve the packaged food. This study aimed to improving preservation properties of the fabricated films from two perspectives: enlarging the loading capacity of the carrier, and increasing the concentration of HNTs biocomposites. Brunauer, Emmett, Teller's test (BET) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted to evaluate the performance of acid treated nanocomposites. Results showed that acid treatment expanded the lumen of HNTs, increasing the loading capacity of cinnamaldehyde (Cin) from 14.6 wt% to 25.0 wt%. Active packaging films were then fabricated by incorporating Cin loaded HNTs into poly(lactic acid) matrix, and it revealed bionanocomposites at 30 wt% achieved the optimum film, considering the mechanical performance and controlled release of Cin. Cumulative release rate of the films were further verified by the fumigant antimicrobial activity. This study demonstrates a solution for improving the antimicrobial properties of packaging film without comprising mechanical strength., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that there is no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Self-adhering implantable devices, which can be immobilized inside the bodies without suturing nor organic glues, made of metallic biomaterials would be optimal devices for preventing device-related complications such as device migration after implantation. We reported previously that acid-treated commercially-pure titanium (CpTi) adhered directly and immediately on hydrous non-keratinized soft tissues. Herein, we investigated the influence of sandblasting as pretreatment for acid-treated CpTi to increase its soft tissue adhesiveness. First, the effects of sandblasting conditions (i.e., pressure, distance and time) were investigated in terms of the sandblasted surface area and the degree of deformation (i.e., internal stress formation) of CpTi films. The effect of the sandblasting on the immediate soft tissue adhesion of acid-treated CpTi was investigated using an ex vivo shear adhesion test with mouse dermal tissues. The optimal sandblasting pretreatment remarkably improved the soft tissue adhesion strength of acid-treated CpTi (102 ± 19 kPa) compared with the non-sandblasted counterparts (41 ± 2 kPa). Finally, the CpTi adhesive was applied for immobilizing a near field communication (NFC) device in vivo, and was shown to have strong immediate adhesion to muscle fascia., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A spent alkaline battery-based (SB) catalyst was prepared from the black mass of a spent alkaline battery to determine the potential of recycling spent alkaline batteries as catalysts for the total oxidation of hydrocarbons. Five different acids (H 2 SO 4 , HNO 3 , C 2 H 2 O 4 , HCl, and H 3 PO 4 ) were used to examine the effect of acid treatment on catalytic activity during catalyst preparation. Hexane, benzene, toluene, and o-xylene (HBTX) were adopted as the VOCs for experiments. The properties of the prepared catalysts were studied using ICP/OES, BET, XRD, ATR/FTIR, TGA, SEM, and H 2 -TPR analyses. The results showed that acid treatment significantly influenced the activity of the SB (400) catalyst, with the type of acid also found to greatly influence the activity of the catalyst. The order of activity according to the type of acid was H 2 SO 4 > HNO 3 > C 2 H 2 O 4 > HCl > H 3 PO 4 > none. Good performance of an acid-treated SB catalyst was associated with high concentrations of manganese and iron and a large BET surface area. In addition, the sequence in which the TPR peaks appeared at low temperatures according to each acid treatment was consistent with that of catalyst activity., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To recover the spent vanadium compound, Rhodamine-B-based Schiff's base ligand (L 1 ) was synthesized via ultrasonication process and was evaluated with vanadyl sulfate (VOSO 4 ), which has shown considerable selectivity towards V(IV). The change of the solution color from colorless to pink is attributed to L 1 after the reaction with vanadium ion owing to the successful formation of the vanadium complex and the opening of the spirolactam ring in the L 1 structure. In FT-IR spectra, the vanadyl peaks are co-existed with the L 1 structure, which confirmed the complex formation of the L 1 with vanadium. Similarly, the binding energy of V(IV) was identified at 516.2 eV for V2p 3/2 in XPS spectra. The new strategy for VOSO 4 recovery was established through solvent extraction and acid leaching. After recovery process, the absence of vanadium peak in the XPS confirmed the complete removal of V(IV) from the complex. The recovered VOSO 4 solution used as an electrolyte in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) systems, where the unit cell performance is comparable with the conventional electrolyte solution. The advantage of study is reuse of VOSO 4 as a resource for energy storage applications., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

LaTi 1- x Mn x O 3+ δ (x = 0.2 and 0.4) perovskite-type catalysts are synthesized by acrylamide polymerization route and etched with diluted HNO 3 for oxidation of toluene as one of typical volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The substitution of Mn cations improves catalytic activity (toluene conversion increased from 0 to 50.6% by substituting 40% of Ti cations with Mn cations) by improving abilities of light absorption and light-to-heat conversion, and acid etching further promotes catalytic activity (toluene conversion increased from 50.6%-95.6% for LaTi 0.6 Mn 0.4 O 3+ δ ) by enlarging specific surface area, generating more surface active oxygen, strengthening mobility of surface oxygen, and improving low-temperature reducibility. To explore the origin of the light-driven photothermocatalytic activity of A-LaTi 0.6 Mn 0.4 O 3+ δ by EPR analysis, O 2 desorption and H 2 consumption, we find that the light is not only as a thermal source to provide energy for toluene oxidation but also can promote oxidation reaction by photoactivation., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Starch extracted from lily bulb (Lilium brownii var. Viridulum Baker) was modified via heat-moisture treatment (HMT) at different moisture levels (15-35%) and acid treatment (AT) with hydrochloric acid at five different concentrations (0.25-2.0 M). The effects of HMT and AT on the physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of lily starch were investigated. HMT and AT led to the clustering of the starch granules, whose surface became rougher, thereby increasing the particle size. X-ray diffraction results showed that HMT increased the relative crystallinity and transformed the crystalline structure from B- to A-type. The relative crystallinity and X-ray patterns of the AT starch significantly increased. The swelling power of HMT and AT starch was significantly reduced, whereas the solubility of HMT starch decreased. The solubility of AT starch was significantly higher than that of native starch (NS) (p < 0.05). Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that the gelatinization temperature of lily starch was higher than that of NS after two modifications, whereas the gelatinization enthalpy of the NS was lower than that of the modified samples. The starch with HMT at 25% showed the highest resistant starch content of 44.15% in cooked samples., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cellulose based hydrogels with a relatively high stretchability were fabricated in the NaOH/urea system via sequential chemical crosslinking and dual network fabrication. The first step involved crosslinking of cellulose using epichlorohydrin as a crosslinker. Cryo-electron microscopy analysis revealed the utilization of diluted acid to treat hydrogels significantly affected the morphology of the first network and improved the mechanical properties. After diffusion of precursors into the first network, the dual network hydrogels were generated after the UV light-initiated polymerization. Raman spectroscopy demonstrated a spatial distribution of second networks within the first network. The compression strength of hydrogels synthesized under the optimized conditions was effectively enhanced from 0.04 MPa to 10.9 MPa. In addition, the tensile properties of hydrogels were easily adjusted via copolymerization of acrylic acid with acrylamide. The highest strain could reach 219.5% with a tensile strength of 1.4 MPa. This work provides a promising and simple strategy to develop a cellulose based hydrogel with enhanced and tunable mechanical properties for wide applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Surface oxidation improves the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in aqueous solutions and plays a key role in the development of biosensors, electrochemical detectors and polymer composites. Accurate characterization of the carbon nanotube surface is important because the development of these nano-based applications depends on the degree of functionalization, in particular the amount of carboxylation. Affinity capillary electrophoresis is used to characterize the oxidation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. A polytryptophan peptide that contains a single arginine residue (WRWWWW) serves as a receptor in affinity capillary electrophoresis to assess the degree of carboxylation. The formation of peptide-nanotube receptor-ligand complex was detected with a UV absorbance detector. Apparent dissociation constants (K D ) are obtained by observing the migration shift of the WRWWWW peptide through background electrolyte at increasing concentrations of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. A 20% relative standard deviation in method reproducibility and repeatability is determined with triplicate analysis within a single sample preparation and across multiple sample preparations for a commercially available carbon nanotube. Affinity capillary electrophoresis is applied to assess differences in degree of carboxylation across two manufacturers and to analyze acid treated carbon nanotubes. The results of these studies are compared to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and zeta potential. Affinity capillary electrophoresis comparisons of carbon nanotube samples prepared by varying acid treatment time from 30 min to 3 h yielded significant differences in degree of carboxylation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was inconclusive due to potential acid contamination, while zeta potential showed no change based on surface charge. This work is significant to research involving carbon nanotube-based applications because it provides a new metric to rapidly characterize carbon nanotubes obtained from different vendors, or synthesized in laboratories using different procedures., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The impact of saline mining effluent has been a significant environmental concern. Natural and modified clay-mineral adsorbents have been receiving increasing attention for salinity reduction of brine-impacted water, especially for natural resource extraction sites and surrounding environments. In this study, a dual-adsorbent treatment based on the sequential application of calcined layered double hydroxide (CLDH) and acid-treated zeolite was developed, evaluated and characterized for the desalination of potash brine-impacted groundwater. Potash brine produced by conventional potash mining in Saskatchewan (Canada) contains a large amount of Na + , K + and Cl - . The CLDH and acid-treated clinoptilolite zeolites were combined to sequentially remove Cl - and Na + . A series of batch adsorption experiments were conducted for synthetic saline water and potash brine-spiked groundwater using various combinations of adsorbents: natural zeolites (NZ) or acid-treated zeolites (AZ) with or without the CLDH pretreatment. The experiment revealed that the Na + removal percentage was synergistically increased by the dechlorination pretreatment using CLDH, and further improved by AZ. The CLDH-AZ dual adsorbent achieved a Langmuir Na + adsorption capacity of 24.4mg/g, a significant improvement over conventional approaches to zeolite-based desalination. Using the brine-impacted groundwater with a high sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of 13.3±0.1, the CLDH-AZ dual adsorbent decreased the concentrations of Na + , K + , and Cl - by 87, 97, and 87%, respectively (below drinking water standards). It also exhibited the additional advantages of neutralizing the effluent pH and decreasing the hardness, SAR, and total dissolved sulfur concentration. This study addresses the removal mechanisms, which are associated with the structural memory effect, dealumination, protonic exchanges, and zeolite porosity changes. Synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy analyses provided visual evidence of sodium adsorption sites (SiONa and AlONa) associated with dealumination in the acid-treated zeolites. This study is the first report that demonstrates the synergy of the CLDH-AZ dual adsorbent treatment for potash brine-impacted water., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We developed a homogeneous bridging anti-drug antibody (ADA) assay on an electro chemiluminescent immunoassay (ECLIA) platform to support the immunogenicity evaluation of a dimeric domain antibody (dAb) therapeutic in clinical studies. During method development we evaluated the impact of different types of acid at various pH levels on polyclonal and monoclonal ADA controls of differing affinities and on/off rates. The data shows for the first time that acids of different pH can have a differential effect on ADA of various affinities and this in turn impacts assay sensitivity and drug tolerance as defined by these surrogate controls. Acid treatment led to a reduction in signal of intermediate and low affinity ADA, but not high affinity or polyclonal ADA. We also found that acid pretreatment is a requisite for dissociation of drug bound high affinity ADA, but not for low affinity ADA-drug complexes. Although we were unable to identify an acid that would allow a 100% retrieval of ADA signal post-treatment, use of glycine pH3.0 enabled the detection of low, intermediate and high affinity antibodies (Abs) to various extents. Following optimization, the ADA assay method was validated for clinical sample analysis. Consistencies within various parameters of the clinical data such as dose dependent increases in ADA rates and titers were observed, indicating a reliable ADA method. Pre- and post-treatment ADA negative or positive clinical samples without detectable drug were reanalyzed in the absence of acid treatment or presence of added exogenous drug respectively to further assess the effectiveness of the final acid treatment procedure. The overall ADA results indicate that assay conditions developed and validated based on surrogate controls sufficed to provide a reliable clinical data set. The effect of low pH acid treatment on possible pre-existing ADA or soluble multimeric target in normal human serum was also evaluated, and preliminary data indicate that acid type and pH also affect drug-specific signal differentially in individual samples. The results presented here represent the most extensive analyses to date on acid treatment of a wide range of ADA affinities to explore sensitivity and drug tolerance issues. They have led to a refinement of our current best practices for ADA method development and provide a depth of data to interrogate low pH mediated immune complex dissociation., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Potato starch was treated with 0.36% HCl in ethanol and water for various time periods, and its structural changes were evaluated and compared in this study. Acid-ethanol treated starch (AET-s) had relatively low average molecular weight (M w ) and z-average radius of gyration (R g ), and its solubility was higher than that of the counterpart acid-water treated starch (AWT-s). The granular appearance and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) profile demonstrated that acid in ethanol and in water exhibited different attack pathways on the granules. No significant difference in crystallinity was observed for AET-s; however, the ratio of absorbance 1022/995cm -1 and the peak intensity detected by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were increased with increasing treatment time. These results suggested that ethanol-acid treatment simultaneously attacked on the amorphous and crystalline regions, and the degradation extent on crystalline regions caused by ethanol-acid treatment was higher than that observed by acid-water treatment., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)