Cationic Polyacrylamide Research Articles

Mechanism and Influence of Dispersants on the Action of Polymer Flocculants Used in Slurry Separation.

The application of polymer flocculants plays a pivotal role in the slurry separation process of shields, and the dispersant used for treating cutter mud cakes can significantly impact the effectiveness of polymer flocculants, potentially leading to reduced efficiency in slurry separation. Experiments were conducted to select appropriate flocculants and investigate the influence of dispersants on flocculant effectiveness, aiming to assess the effect of flocculants and explore the relationships and mechanisms governing their influence. Changes in the patterns of slurry flocculation were revealed in terms of flocculation-driven precipitation and vacuum-filtration effects. The purpose of this article is to provide a reference for the field application of polymer flocculants in the shield field. The conclusions are as follows. Inorganic flocculants containing 0.5% polyaluminum chloride (PAC) exhibit the most effective flocculation, demonstrating strong charge neutralization action. Organic flocculants containing 0.1% cationic polyacrylamides (CPAM) exhibit the most effective flocculation, demonstrating strong bridging and net capture effects. The dispersant sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) can significantly weaken the charge-neutralizing action of flocculants and slightly enhance bridging and net capture effects. SHMP can impede the flocculation of slurry with PAC. For CPAM, SHMP can enhance the flocculation of slurry at a low mass fraction (0.1% and 0.3%), while SHMP can significantly hinder flocculation at a high mass fraction (0.5% and 1%). A low mass fraction of SHMP reduced slurry viscosity to 246.3 mPa.s and enhanced vacuum filtration, while a high mass fraction of SHMP increased slurry viscosity to 667.2 mPa.s and hindered vacuum filtration. In conclusion, while dispersants reduce the effectiveness of inorganic flocculants at any mass fraction, a small number of dispersants enhances the performance of organic flocculants; thus, the organic flocculant CPAM is recommended for slurry separation.

Full biomass-based multifunctional flocculant from lignin and cationic starch

Flocculation is a common process for wastewater treatment. However, the most commonly used organic synthetic flocculants such as polyacrylamide are petroleum-based. In this work, biomass lignin was grafted with cationic starch to synthesize low-cost, green and fully biomass-based multifunctional flocculants. The cationic polyacrylamide was replaced by cheap industrial cationic starch. Hyperbranched multifunctional lignin-grafted cationic starch flocculant (CS-L) was successfully prepared via ring-opening reaction with epichlorohydrin. The mass content of lignin in the grafted product was between 16.6 % and 70.1 %. With the dosage of CS-L between 4.0 and 7.5 mg/l, the turbidity removal rate for 500 mg/l kaolin suspension reached more than 97 %. When the dosage of CS-L was 24 mg/l, the removal rate of 50 mg/l Cu2+ reached 85.7 %. Importantly, when the mixed solution of kaolin particles and Cu2+ was treated, the synchronous removal rates of kaolin and Cu2+ reached 90 % and 72 % respectively in the range of 8.0–12.0 mg/l flocculant addition. The synthesized lignin-grafted cationic starch flocculant showed an excellent multifunctional flocculation function.

Facile synthesis and ultrastrong adsorption of a novel polyacrylamide-modified diatomite/cerium alginate hybrid aerogel for anionic dyes from aqueous environment

An eco-friendly cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM)-modified diatomite/Ce(III)-crosslinked sodium alginate hybrid aerogel (CPAM-Dia/Ce-SA) was synthesized successfully and characterized by SEM-EDS, XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis and XPS. Adsorption performance, interaction mechanism and reusability of CPAM-Dia/Ce-SA used for the removal of acid blue 113 (AB 113), acid blue 80 (AB 80), acid yellow 117 (AY 117), Congo red (CR) and Direct Green 6 (DG 6) anionic dyes from aqueous media were investigated in detail. The results demonstrate that CPAM-Dia/Ce-SA aerogel is macroscopic polymer hybrid spheres with a particle size of around 1.3 mm, unique undulating mountain-like surface and porous mesostructure, and exhibits outstanding adsorption capacity for anionic dyes and good reusability. The maximum adsorption amounts of AB 113, AB 80, AY 117, CR and DG 6 by CPAM-Dia/Ce-SA were 3008, 1208, 914, 1832 and 1232 mg/g at pH 2.0, 60 min contact time and 25 °C, and corresponding removal efficiency reached individually 97.5, 96.6, 99.7, 99.9 and 98.5 % respectively and were less affected by increasing pH up to 10.0. Dye adsorption behaviour and adsorption processes with spontaneous and exothermic nature were perfectly interpreted by the Langmuir and Pseudo-second-order rate models respectively. Physicochemical and multisite-H-bonding synergies promoted the ultrastrong biosorption of anionic dyes by CPAM-Dia/Ce-SA.

A comprehensive study on the performance and mechanism of microplastics removal by enhanced coagulation methods

Drinking water is probably the main route for microplastics (MPs) to enter the human body. However, due to factors such as density and volume, MPs are difficult to remove during coagulation. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to study the removal efficiency of MPs in water supply treatment. Parameter optimization during coagulation, as well as the pre-oxidation process and addition of coagulant aids were investigated to explore the sedimentation efficiency of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) MPs. The experimental results showed that the extension of stirring time, the increase of PAC dosage, and the addition of pre-oxidation could not significantly improve the removal of MPs, while the addition of cationic/anionic PAM can effectively improve the low removal rate of MPs (removal rates were PET: 60.5 %, PS: 40.5 %, and PET: 67.9 %, PS: 67.5 % when cationic PAM and anionic PAM were added respectively). Characterization results showed that pre-oxidation, coagulation, and the addition of cationic PAM mainly played the role of double-layer compression. The anionic PAM had a strong adsorption effect and the efficiency was further improved through enmeshment by a precipitate. In summary, coagulant aids may be an effective method for the removal of MPs and are worth further studying.

Enhancing biofilm growth in an integrated fixed-film activated sludge process through modification of polypropylene carriers

Biofilm is crucial in implementing integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) systems. However, current carriers face challenges in long-term stable operations. This study proposes using cationic polyacrylamide (PAM) as a positive-charged addictive and surface abrasion to modify polypropylene (PP) pipes to enhance biofilm growth and maintain long-time operation in IFAS applications. The modified PP carriers have significantly increased specific surface area compared to unmodified ones. The growth of biofilm on modified carriers is as much as over four times due to the improved biocompatibility of the material. The follow-up aerobic IFAS process achieves over 40% total nitrogen (TN) removal through simultaneous nitrification and denitrification with no specific anoxic stages or reactors. The sludge settling performance of the system is also improved with a stable 30-min sludge settling ratio of 18%. The maximum specific denitrification rate of the detached biofilm is 17.82 mg NO3−-N/g MLVSS/h, which is 33% higher than the pure activated sludge system. The high-throughput sequencing analysis results reveal that the abundance of biofilm-formation beneficial microbes increased from 0.02% to 16.47%.

Enhanced dewaterability of sewage sludge by grafted cationic lignin-based flocculants

Lignin-based flocculants are widely used for wastewater purification, but their application in sludge dewatering has not yet been documented. In this study, a novel cationic lignin-based flocculant named LS-g-CPA was prepared by grafting cationic polyacrylamide (CPA) synthesized from methacryloyloxy ethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC) and acrylamide (AM) onto sodium lignosulfonate (LS), and its roles and underlying mechanisms in sludge conditioning were investigated. The results showed that LS-g-CPA effectively improved the dewaterability of sludge, reducing the filtration resistance and filter cake moisture content of sludge from 0.61 ± 0.05 × 1012 m/kg to 0.14 ± 0.02 × 1012 m/kg and 85.64 ± 0.25 % to 76.84 ± 0.41 %, respectively. The dewatering performance of LS-g-CPA was positively correlated with the DMC/AM ratio. The quaternary ammonium groups brought by DMC disrupted the reticular structure of extracellular polymeric substances, exposing hydrophobic residues and releasing bound water. Nevertheless, the key to LS-g-CPA for improving sludge dewatering lies more in the amphoteric flocculant properties that enhance sludge flocculation and the octopus-type structure that provides good drainage channels. This study reveals that lignin-based flocculants are effective in improving the dewaterability of sludge, which provides direct evidence for their application in sludge dewatering.

Bioinspired, Robust, and Absorbable Cellulose Nanofibrils/Chitosan Filament with Remarkable Cytocompatibility and Wound Healing Properties.

Surgical threads are of great importance to prevent wound infection and accelerate tissue healing in surgical treatment. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and chitosan (CS) are attracting increasing attention to be employed as biomedicine materials due to their nontoxicity, cytocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, a robust and absorbable cellulose-based surgical thread has not been explored. Therefore, in this work, a bioinspired CNF/CS composite thread containing 5% cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) by the mass of CS was prepared, and the obtained CNF/CS-5C thread exhibited excellent mechanical properties and low swelling ratio in water due to the high cross-link degree. Especially, the tensile strength (1877 ± 107 MPa) of this thread was much higher than that of most reported CNF-based threads. Meanwhile, compared with commercial silk and Vicryl surgical threads, the CNF/CS-5C thread exhibited better in vitro cytocompatibility toward endothelial and fibroblast cells and lower inflammatory response in vivo to subcutaneous tissues of rats. In addition, the obtained thread could be regarded as a promising absorbable suture, which exhibited excellent wound healing performances in vivo. Therefore, the prepared absorbable thread will open a new window to prepare novel and advanced cellulose-based threads for medical applications.

Investigation of flocculation and rheological properties of microalgae suspensions cultivated in industrial process wastewater

Microalgae harvesting at an industrial scale remains a techno-economic bottleneck for large-scale microalgae production that can account for up to 30% of the total cost ofbiomass production. A wide range of harvesting techniques have been applied commercially, among which, coagulation-flocculation techniques prove to be both convenient and cost-effective as pre-treatment techniques used in conjunction with other methods. In this study, process wastewater acquired from onshore natural gas facilities in Qatar was utilized to cultivate freshwater microalgae specie Scenedesmus sp. for simultaneous pollution abatement and biomass harvesting applications. Scenedesmus sp. was cultivated in two growth phases (fast and slow growth phases) to examine the influence of the microalgae growth phase on the flocculation process and rheological behavior. Effective flocculation was achieved using a commercial high charge density and high molecular weight cationic polyacrylamide-based flocculant. Flocculation efficiencies exceeded 97% for both fast and slow growth phase suspensions at an optimum flocculant dose of 10 mg/L. Optimum conditions were well corroborated by residual turbidity and zeta potential measurements. For fast growth phase suspensions, the optimum PAM dose coincided with a minimum residual turbidity of 2.35 NTU and a zeta potential of −0.52 mV. Similarly, the optimum PAM dose was fixed based on a minimum residual turbidity of 2.30 NTU and a zeta potential of +0.63 mV for slow growth phase suspensions. Large, easily settleable and compact flocs were obtained with average D50 values of 70.7 μm and 142.0 μm recorded for fast and slow growth phase suspensions, respectively, at optimum PAM dose. Moreover, based on rheological characterization studies, the flocculated suspensions demonstrated an overall non-Newtonian pseudoplastic (shear thinning) fluid behavior. Introduction of cationic PAM significantly improved the viscosity and yield stress of the flocculated suspensions around the optimum PAM dose range. At the optimum PAM dose, the initial viscosities were recorded as 10.37 and 39.19 mPa.s with yield stresses of 12.84 and 16.59 N/m2 for fast and slow growth phase suspensions, respectively. The flocculated biomass further displayed a viscoelastic solid (gel) behavior, characterized by high gel strength and resistance to shearing around optimum flocculant doses. At the optimum PAM dose, the storage moduli were recorded as 886.2 and 1068.6 mPa for fast and slow growth phase suspensions, respectively.

Study on instability mechanism of KCl/PHPA drilling waste fluid

Abstract The KCl/PHPA waste drilling fluid is produced during drilling operations in Bohai Oilfield, China, which cannot be directly used or discharged, it needs to be flocculated. In order to know the aggregation mechanism of colloidal particles in KCl/PHPA drilling fluid, the calculation method of zeta potential and the relationship between the stability of waste fluid and zeta potential are discussed in detail in this article. The process of decreasing the zeta potential of waste fluid due to the addition of cationic polyacrylamide is called instability. The process in which unstable particles aggregate into larger particles is called coagulation, and the process in which unstable particles aggregate into large flocs is called flocculation. According to the types of treatment agents in KCl/PHPA waste drilling fluid, the structure and energy changes formed between low-viscosity polyanionic cellulose, partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, xanthan gum, starch, and water molecules are constructed. The energy of the four treatment agent systems decreased by 21.4–67.5% after the cationic polyacrylamide was added. The reduction of system energy reduced the repulsive force between colloidal particles in the waste fluid and promoted the agglomeration of colloidal particles. The agglomeration mechanism of waste liquid particles was obtained.

A new solvent-free pathway for inducing quaternized lignin-derived high molecular weight polymer

In this work, kraft lignin (KL) was polymerized with vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) in a molar ratio of 1.8:1 (KL: VBC) using sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) as an initiator at pH 9–10 and temperature of 80–90 °C for 3 h to produce polymer kraft lignin-g-poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride) KL-poly(VBC) 1. Then, the grafting reaction was conducted with two different imidazole-based monomers of different side-chain lengths (methyl and n-butyl), namely, 1-methylimidazole (MIM), 1-n-butylimidazole (BIM), which led to the formation of novel polymers, kraft lignin-g-poly(4-vinylbenzyl-1-methylimidazolium chloride) KL-poly(VBC-MIM) 2a and kraft lignin-g-poly(4-vinylbenzyl-1-n-butyl imidazolium chloride) KL-poly(VBC-BIM) 2b. The polymer 2a generated a larger molecular weight polymer with a higher charge density and solubility than polymer 2b since the n-butyl group would cause steric hindrance and weaker monomer to react with intermediate polymer 1 in the second stage. The contact angle analysis confirmed more hydrophilicity of polymer 2a, and elemental analysis confirmed the more successful polymerization of polymer 2a. Applying the generated polymers as flocculants for a kaolin suspension confirmed that polymer 2a had similar performance with commercial cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) flocculants, even though polymer 2a had a smaller molecular weight. This polymerization offers a promising pathway for generating cationic polymers with excellent performance as a flocculant for suspensions.

Efficient magnetic flocculation for microalgae harvesting using a novel composite flocculant of Fe3O4-based starch-grafted-cationic polyacrylamide

As a flocculant for algae harvesting, a novel magnetic starch-grafted-cationic polyacrylamide composite (MAG@ST-g-CPAM) was developed in this study, and the harvesting efficiency of the composite was assessed with comparison to starch, Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles, cationic polyacrylamide and starch-grafted-cationic polyacrylamide. The feeding ratios for flocculant synthesis were optimized, and impacting factors were examined. Magnetic particles were recovered for cyclic use, and the effect of MAG@ST-g-CPAM flocculation on water reuse was examined. The results showed that MAG@ST-g-CPAM flocculation successfully achieved harvesting efficiencies of 93.2 % and 97.3 % at doses of 25 mg/L and 30 mg/L, respectively, which were superior to those of other flocculants. The optimized feeding ratio of acrylamide:Fe3O4:starch was 6:4:3. The late exponential algal growth solution with a pH range of 5–6 was most favorable for algae flocculation. A total of 93.7 % of Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles was recovered at pH = 3, and flocculation facilitated the reuse of water by effectively eliminating fulvic acids from the culture solution. This study demonstrated that MAG@ST-g-CPAM is a promising flocculant for algae harvesting.

Comparison of adsorption ability of PAM, APAM and CPAM on Sodium-Montmorllonite surface: A molecular dynamics study

Swelling of clay minerals caused by the adsorption of water is one of the main problems encountered in oil well drilling industry during the operations of drilling with water-based fluids. Different types of chemicals can be used as inhibitor to solve the hydration of clay minerals in drilling fluids operations. So, the adsorption process of novel polymer inhibitor remained as well a complex surface phenomenon to understand. Recently, the polymer adhesion mechanism and the development of novel polymer inhibitors that can impart improved adhesion characteristics have become ultimately important to the drilling process. In this research, molecular dynamics simulations are applied to quantify and compare the adsorption density of PAM (Nonionic Polyacrylamide), APAM (Anionic Polyacrylamide) and CPAM (Cationic Polyacrylamide) on Sodium Montmorllonite (Na-MMT) Surface. And also to analyze the hydration inhibition effectiveness for solving shale swelling problem while drilling well. This work mainly explained and summarized the parameters which achieve directly the adsorption mechanism and affect the inhibition process. Including the adsorption characteristics of PAM, APAM and CPAM. The simulation results show that PAM and APAM molecules have low adsorption density on Na-MMT surface compared to CPAM molecules. PAM and APAM molecules interact more through h-bonding with their own molecules leading to a weak interaction with Na-MMT particles. CPAM molecules provide high mobility and have good attraction with Na-MMT particles through electrostatic forces, Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding. APAM exhibit high energy, as the distance between its molecules and MMT increase, due to high electrostatic repulsion caused by the negative charge. The adhesion of CPAM molecules affects the inhibition of Na-MMT surface hydration more than PAM and APAM.

Aligned cellulose nanocrystal composite filament with high tensile strength enhanced by cationic polyacrylamide via flow focusing approach

Aligned cellulose nanocrystal composite filament with high tensile strength enhanced by cationic polyacrylamide via flow focusing approach

Improving the Removal of Anionic Surfactant in Cardboard Industry Wastewater by Coagulation/Flocculation: Process Optimization with Response Surface Methodology

Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design (BBD) were investigated to optimize the coagulation–flocculation process (CF) of cardboard industry effluent using polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and cationic polyacrylamides (c-PAM). The aim is to identify the optimum combination of coagulant dose, pH, and flocculant dosage for the highest removal efficacy of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and anionic surfactant removal. According to the results, COD reduction was principally controlled by PAC and c-PAM, while anionic surfactant was affected by pH and PAC. In addition, COD and anionic surfactant removal models fitted well with the experimental results (R2 > 0.85). Coagulation/flocculation using optimum conditions of pH, PAC, and c-PAM led to the total removal of anionic surfactant and the reduction of more than 95% of COD.

Enhancing shear strength and handleability of dewatered clay-rich coal tailings for dry-stacking

Mineral tailings dams pose high pollution risks to the environment and catastrophic failures. Dry stacking has been identified as a promising alternative to mitigate these risks and offers various benefits to the mining industry but lacks systematic research outcomes. To facilitate dry stacking, coal tailings slurries were dewatered using either filtration or centrifugation methods, resulting in a semi-solid form (cake) that can be safely disposed of. The handleability and disposability of these cakes are greatly influenced by the selection of chemical aids (such as polymer flocculants) and the mechanical dewatering technique employed. The effects of polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculants with a range of molecular weight, charge, and charge density are presented. Coal tailings samples with differences in clay mineralogy were dewatered using press filtration, solid bowl centrifugation, and natural air drying. Handleability and disposability of the tailings were assessed by their rheological properties, including yield stress, adhesive and cohesive stresses, and stickiness. Residue moisture, type of polymer flocculants, and clay mineralogy were found to be crucial factors affecting the handleability and disposability of the dewatered cakes. The tailing yield stress (shear strength) increased as the solid concentration increased. In the semi-solid regime (above 60 wt% solids), the tailings displayed stiff exponential growth. Similar trends were observed for stickiness and adhesive/cohesive energy of the tailings with a steel (truck) surface. Adding polymer flocculants increased the shear strength of the dewatered tailings by 10–15%, thus favouring disposability. However, the polymer selection for coal tailing handling and processing is a trade-off between its disposability and handleability, which requires a multi-criteria decision-making process. The current results also suggested that cationic PAM could be most suitable for dewatering by press filtration, while anionic PAM should be selected for dewatering by solid bowl centrifugation.

Enhancing algal growth and nutrient recovery from anaerobic digestion piggery effluent by an integrated pretreatment strategy of ammonia stripping and flocculation.

Anaerobic digestion piggery effluent (ADPE) with a quite high ammonium (NH4 +) concentration and turbidity (dark brown color) generally requires high dilution before microalgae cultivation, owing to its NH4 + toxicity and color inhibition to algal growth. An integrated pretreatment strategy of ammonia stripping and chemical flocculation may be a more practical pretreatment procedure for enhancing algae yield and nutrient recovery from anaerobic digestion piggery effluent. In this study, we determined the optimum pretreatment strategy of anaerobic digestion piggery effluent for subsequent microalgae cultivation and nutrient recovery. The results showed that the integrated anaerobic digestion piggery effluent pretreatment strategy of high-temperature ammonia stripping and chemical flocculation at a mixed dosage of 2gL-1 polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and 40mgL-1 cationic polyacrylamide (C-PAM), and 50mgL-1 ammonium nitrogen (NH4 +-N) enrichment provided maximum algal yield (optical density = 1.8) and nutrient removal (95.2%, 98.7%, 99.3%, and 78.5% for the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen, NH4 +-N, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand, respectively) from anaerobic digestion piggery effluent. The integrated pretreatment strategy is expected to become a more practical pretreatment procedure for enhancing algae yield and nutrient recovery from anaerobic digestion piggery effluent.

Response surface optimization of chemical coagulation for solid–liquid separation of dairy manure slurry through Box–Behnken design with desirability function

Discharging livestock manure slurry without proper treatment causes various environmental and sociological problems. Chemical coagulation is a widely used and easily applicable method for treating such wastewater. However, the technique requires optimization to enhance coagulation efficiency while minimizing chemical usage. In this study, we propose an efficient, low-cost, and environmentally safe chemical coagulation method for solid–liquid separation of dairy manure slurry. Experiments were conducted in laboratory jar tests using dairy manure slurry to investigate the impact of coagulants, specifically polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM), as well as pH, on the process of solid-liquid separation. Preliminary ranges of PAC, CPAM, and pH were estimated through single-factor experiments. Coagulation optimization and modeling were performed using the response surface methodology (RSM) with the Box-Behnken design (BBD), wherein the desired goal of each parameter was set to maximize solid–liquid separation efficiency while reducing chemical dosage to maintain residual aluminum (Al) concentrations below water quality standards. Numerical optimization predicted that the optimal dosages were 75 mg/L of PAC and 35 mg/L of CPAM at pH 7. Under these conditions, removal efficiencies of 99% for turbidity and 97% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) were achieved, with a minimal residual Al concentration of 0.045 mg/L. Positive zeta potential values in the treated water confirmed complete separation of negatively charged solids in the dairy manure slurry. The response values predicted by BBD aligned with the experimental results, and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated the predictability and accuracy of the response models. Consequently, this study highlights the practical application of RSM with BBD in optimizing chemical coagulation using PAC and CPAM to achieve efficient solid–liquid separation in livestock wastewater while maintaining low residual Al concentrations.

Optimization Conditions to Obtain Cationic Polyacrylamide Emulsion Copolymers with Desired Cationic Degree for Different Wastewater Treatments.

The synthesis of cationic polyacrylamides (CPAMs) with the desired cationic degree and molecular weight is essential for various industries, including wastewater treatment, mining, paper, cosmetic chemistry, and others. Previous studies have already demonstrated methods to optimize synthesis conditions to obtain high-molecular-weight CPAM emulsions and the effects of cationic degrees on flocculation processes. However, the optimization of input parameters to obtain CPAMs with the desired cationic degrees has not been discussed. Traditional optimization methods are time-consuming and costly when it comes to on-site CPAM production because the input parameters of CPAM synthesis are optimized using single-factor experiments. In this study, we utilized the response surface methodology to optimize the synthesis conditions, specifically the monomer concentration, the content of the cationic monomer, and the content of the initiator, to obtain CPAMs with the desired cationic degrees. This approach overcomes the drawbacks of traditional optimization methods. We successfully synthesized three CPAM emulsions with a wide range of cationic degrees: low (21.85%), medium (40.25%), and high (71.17%) levels of cationic degree. The optimized conditions for these CPAMs were as follows: monomer concentration of 25%, content of monomer cation of 22.5%, 44.41%, and 77.61%, respectively, and initiator content of 0.475%, 0.48%, and 0.59%, respectively. The developed models can be utilized to quickly optimize conditions for synthesizing CPAM emulsions with different cationic degrees to meet the demands of wastewater treatment applications. The synthesized CPAM products performed effectively in wastewater treatment, with the treated wastewater meeting the technical regulation parameters. 1H-NMR, FTIR, SEM, BET, dynamic light scattering, and gel permeation chromatography were employed to confirm the structure and surface of the polymers.

Controllable interfacial coupling of graphene in papermaking process for selective bio-detection with high sensitivity

Carbon paper-based electrochemical sensors offer the possibility of long-term in vivo monitoring of the biomarkers due to their chemical stability and porous structure. However, the serious self-staking and aggregation of the carbon materials seriously block the diffusion of target biomolecules and limit the sensitivity and selectivity of the device. Here we report a controllable interfacial coupling strategy in which a composite paper electrode made by electrostatic self-assembling reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on carbon fiber (CF) modified with cationic polyacrylamide to avoid the self-stacking in scalable wet papermaking and thus increased accessible electrochemically active surface area and accelerate the diffusion of biomarkers. The resulting composite paper shows improved stability, high selectivity, long-durability, and excellent sensitivity in the electrochemical detection of biomarkers such as ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid. Our approach, which combines mature industrial paper technology with interface engineering and electrochemical reduction, offers a potential avenue for low-cost and scalable implantable electrodes for timely and long-term monitoring in the surgical and clinical applications.

Research on flame-retardant paper prepared by the method of in-pulp addition of ammonium polyphosphate

At present, the production of flame-retardant paper usually uses the impregnation method of phos-phorus-nitrogen flame retardants in paper. There are few reports on the application of an in-pulp addition method. In this paper, the solubility of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and its effect on flame-retardant paper were investigated for use in an in-pulp addition method. It was found that APP particles were square, with an average particle size of 21.88 μm. The particle size decreased significantly after immersion in water at 25°C for 24 h. Furthermore, most of the APPs were dissolved after immersion in water at 90°C for 0.5 h, and the residuals agglomerated and their shape turned into an amorphous form. The APP possessed strong electronegativity and could partially ionize in water. The solubility of APP was 0.18 g/100 mL water at 25°C and increased quickly when the temperature was higher than 30°C. Therefore, APP should be added to the pulp at temperatures below 30°C. The tensile strength of the paper initially increased with the addition of APP, and it reached the maximum value when the APP content was 10% and then gradually decreased. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of the paper was 28.7% when the added amount of APP was 30% and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) was 0.08%, reaching the flame-retardant level.