pectins and ferric-ferrocyanide

This work focused on the development of pectin-stabilized magnetic graphene oxide Prussian blue (PSMGPB) nanocomposites for removal of cesium from wastewater. The PSMGPB nanocomposite showed an improved adsorption capacity of 1.609mmol/g for cesium, compared with magnetic graphene oxide Prussian blue, magnetic pectin Prussian blue, and magnetic Prussian blue nanocomposites, which exhibited adsorption capacities of 1.230, 0.901, and 0.330mmol/g, respectively. Increased adsorption capacity of PSMGPB nanocomposites was attributed to the pectin-stabilized separation of graphene oxide sheets and enhanced distribution of magnetites on the graphene oxide surface. Scanning electron microscopy images showed the effective separation of graphene oxide sheets due to the incorporation of pectin. The optimum temperature and pH for adsorption were 30°C and 7.0, respectively. A thermodynamic study indicated the spontaneous and the exothermic nature of cesium adsorption. Based on non-linear regression, the Langmuir isotherm fitted the experimental data better than the Freundlich and Tempkin models.

Topics: Adsorption; Aniline Compounds; Cesium; Coloring Agents; Ferrocyanides; Graphite; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Nanocomposites; Pectins; Photoelectron Spectroscopy; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Temperature; Thermodynamics; Wastewater; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Pollutants, Radioactive; X-Ray Diffraction

Cesium-137 (137Cs) is one of the most important nuclear fission elements that contaminated the environment after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (1986). The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of two chelating agent, Prussian blue and apple-pectin on 137cesium decorporation in rats. Rats were intravenously injected with a solution of 137cesium (5 kBq per rat). Chelating agents, Prussian blue or apple-pectin were given immediately after Cs contamination and during 11 days by addition of each chelating agent in drinking water at a concentration corresponding to 400 mg kg(-1) day(-1). Efficiency was evaluated 11 days after contamination (at the end of treatment) through their ability to promote Cs excretion and to reduce the radionuclide accumulation in some retention compartments (blood, liver, kidneys, spleen, skeleton and in the remaining carcass). In these conditions after treatment with Prussian blue a fivefold increase in fecal excretion of Cs was observed and was associated with a reduction in the radionuclide retention in the main organs measured. In contrast, no significant differences were observed between untreated rats and rats treated with apple-pectin. These observations were discussed in terms of ability of pectins to bind Cs and compared to recently published results obtained after treatment of Cs-contaminated children with this chelate.

Topics: Animals; Biological Transport; Cesium Radioisotopes; Ferrocyanides; Male; Malus; Pectins; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley