The retention behaviour and separation of some water-soluble organophosphorus insecticides on polyester-based polyurethane foams.
This paper reports the concentration of some dissolved organic phosphorus insecticides in water by open-cell polyurethane foam. The results of preliminary screening tests on the retention of the tested insecticides (Diazinon, Malathion and Chloropyrifos) by polyester foams indicated that a very high percent removal of the insecticides was obtained. The retention rate was fast and reaches equilibrium in a few minutes. The various parameters affecting the preconcentration of the tested insecticides by unloaded foam, e.g. pH, extraction media, shaking time, salt effect, flow rate, temperature and sample volumes have been optimized via the static mode of separation. The unloaded foams were employed in columns for the retention and recovery of the tested species. The sorption efficiency and the recovery of the tested compounds by the unloaded foam column were found to be up to 95.5%. The equivalent to a theoretical plate by the unloaded foam was found in the range 1.12 - 1.32 +/- 0.2 mm. The sorption mechanism of the tested species by the foam is discussed. The separation of some of the tested species in a mixture was achieved. The foam membrane offers unique advantages over conventional bulk-type granular sorbents and solvent extraction in offering high flow rates, rapid, versatile, effective separation and preconcentration of different species from aqueous samples. The foam provides the advantages of being, insoluble, easily separable and non-polluting, as well as inexpensive.
Employment of polyurethane foam for the adsorption of Methylene Blue in aqueous medium.
This work presents a detailed study about the adsorption of Methylene Blue (MB) onto polyether type polyurethane foam (PUF). The adsorption process is based on the formation of a hydrophobic ionic-pair between cationic dye MB and dodecylsulfate anion (SDS), which present high affinity by PUF. Set-up employed in the study was built up by adjusting a 200mg cylinder of PUF to the arm of an overhead stirrer. The system was characterized in relation to equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic aspects and it was modeled by employing Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Obtained results showed that the ratio between SDS and MB concentrations plays an important role on the adsorption process. According to Langmuir isotherm, a maximum adsorption capacity of 7.20 x 10(-5) mol MBg(-1) was achieved when optimized operational conditions were employed. The adsorption rate seems to be regulated by an intraparticle diffusion mechanism. Adsorption process was spontaneous (negative DeltaG) at ambient temperature and presented an endothermic characteristic (positive DeltaH). Sequential extraction experiments were carried out by changing PUF plugs in 30 min time intervals and around 96% of the MB present in solution could be removed through consecutive extractions with six 200 mg PUF cylinders.
Fully Integrated Bidirectional CMOS-MEMS Flow Sensor With Low Power Pulse Operation
Leveraging More-than-Moore technology, we demonstrate an integrated CMOS MEMS flow sensor via a very compact system on chip (SoC) that can sense the bidirectional N2 gas flow. Our SoC features a very low-noise instrumentation amplifier that is implemented on a CMOS wafer and serves as a readout integrated circuit for a thermoresistive micro-calorimetric flow sensor which is fabricated on a MEMS wafer. A compact heterogeneous integration is achieved by combining the two wafers via the proprietary InvenSense AlN process. The measured sensitivity of our CMOS MEMS flow sensor is 98 mV/sccm which is three times better than the state-of-the-art counterpart. The flow range measured by our SoC is from −26 to 26 m/s (from −50 to 50 sccm). Moreover, the pulsed heater operation makes this proposed SoC flow sensor a very low power (<9 mW) and, thus, a promising candidate for the Internet-of-Things applications in smart home/green buildings.