A novel adsorbent was prepared by introducing xanthate group onto pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for removing Pb (II) from aqueous solution. The structure and property of xanthate-modified MWCNT (MWCNT-X) were detected by the technologies of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The investigation of various parameters, such as initial metal concentration, pH, contact time, and temperature, was taken to illustrate the adsorption behaviors of Pb (II) on MWCNT-X. Based on experimental data, Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic provided a better correspondence to the adsorption process. The negative values of ΔGθand ΔHθ indicated that the adsorption process is exothermic and spontaneous. Besides, the maximum uptake of MWCNT-X reached to 83.01 mg/g, which was much higher than that of pristine MWCNT and hydroxylated MWCNT (MWCNT-OH). Thus, the MWCNT-X can be potentially applied in heavy metal treatment.

In the past decade, ionic liquids have received great attention owing to their potential as green solvent alternatives to conventional organic solvents. In this work, hydrophobic achiral ionic liquids (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-hexafluorophosphate([bmim][PF6]), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate([omim][BF4])) were used as solvents in chiral liquid-liquid extraction separation of mandelic acid (MA) enantiomers with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) derivatives as hydrophilic chiral selectors preferentially forming complexes with (R)-enantiomers. Factors affecting the separation efficiency were optimised, namely the type of the extraction solvents and β-CD derivatives, concentrations of the β-CD derivatives and MA enantiomers, pH, and temperature. Excellent enantioseparation of MA enantiomers was achieved in the ionic liquid aqueous two-phase extraction systems under the optimal conditions of pH 2.5 and temperature of 5°C with the maximum enantioselectivity (α) of 1.74. The experimental results demonstrated that the ionic liquid aqueous two-phase extraction systems with a β-CD derivative as the chiral selector have a strong chiral recognition ability, which might extend the application of ionic liquids in chiral separation.

Chiral ionic liquids (CILs) containing imidazolium cations and L-Proline (L-Pro) anions were applied as chiral selector to separate tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers on a C18 column by ligand exchange chromatography. Several factors influencing Trp enantiomers separation, such as alkyl chain length of CILs, concentrations of Cu2+ and CILs, pH of the mobile phase, flow rate, organic solvent and temperature, were studied. Under the optimal conditions, the Trp enantiomers could be successfully separated within 21 min with the resolution of 2.30. At the same time, some thermodynamical parameters were obtained. The experimental results show that the enthalpy values of the Trp enantiomers are negative, indicating that the separation process is exothermic. And the enthalpy values of D-Trp are larger than those of L-Trp, which indicates that L-Trp could form more stable ternary complexes with tryptophan enantiomers.

We have developed a simple and efficient method for dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of 4-nitrophenol, 2-naphthol and bisphenol A in real water samples. It is making use of solidified floating organic droplets of 1-dodecanol which has low density and a proper melting point. The type and volume of extraction solvent and dispersive solvent, the effect of salts, pH value and extraction time were optimized and resulted in enrichment factors of 84 for 4-nitrophenol, 123 for 2-naphthol, and 97 for bisphenol A. The limits of detection by HPLC are 1.50, 0.10 and 1.02 ng · mL−1, respectively. Excellent linearity is observed in the concentration range from 10 to 800 ng · mL−1, with coefficients of correlation ranging from 0.9988 to 0.9999. The relative standard deviations (for n = 5) are from 3.2 to 5.3 %, and relative recoveries for the three phenols in tap, river and spring water range from 85.0 to 105.0 %, 98.3 to 110.0 %, and 98.6 to 109.0 %, respectively.

A novel, efficient, and environmentally friendly method—supramolecular solvent liquid–liquid microextraction (SMS-LLME) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)—was first established for the determination of p-nitrophenol and o-nitrophenol in water samples. Several important parameters influencing extraction efficiency, such as the type and volume of extraction solvent, pH of sample, temperature, salt effect, extraction time, and stirring rate, were optimized in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factor was 166 for p-nitrophenol and 160 for o-nitrophenol, and the limits of detection by HPLC were 0.26 and 0.58 μg L−1, respectively. Excellent linearity with coefficients of correlation from 0.9996 to 0.9997 was observed in the concentration range of 2–1,000 μg L−1. The ranges of intra- and interday precision (n = 5) at 100 μg L−1 of nitrophenols were 5.85–7.76 and 10.2–11.9 %, respectively. The SMS-LLME method was successfully applied for preconcentration of nitrophenols in environmental water samples.

We report on the determination of bisphenol A and 2-naphthol in water samples using ionic liquid cold-induced aggregation dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with HPLC. Parameters governing the extraction efficiency (disperser solvent, volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH, temperature, extraction time) were optimized and resulted in enrichment factors of 112 for bisphenol A and of 186 for 2-naphthol. The calibration curve was linear with correlation coefficients of 0.9995 and 0.9998, respectively, in the concentration range from 1.5 to 200 ng mL−1. The relative standard deviations are 2.3% and 4.1% (for n = 5), the limits of detection are 0.58 and 0.86 ng mL−1, and relative recoveries in tap, lake and river water samples range between 100.1 and 108.1%, 99.4 and 106.2%, and 97.1 and 103.8%, respectively.

•Dithiocarbamate-groups modified GO were prepared and characterized.•The performance of DTC-GO on the adsorption of Pb(Π) was evaluated.•The possible adsorption mechanism of DTC-GO for Pb(Π) was proposed.A novel adsorbent, dithiocarbamate group functionalized graphene oxide (DTC-GO), was prepared to promote the adsorption efficiency for Pb(II) ions in aqueous solution. To get insight of the structure and property of DTC-GO, the technologies of Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectra were used. All characteristic results verified the successful introduction of dithiocarbamate group on graphene oxide. The effects of contact time, solution pH, initial metal ions concentration and temperature on the adsorption of Pb(II) with DTC-GO were studied systematically. The adsorption models of isotherms and kinetics were employed to investigate the adsorption mechanism. Based on experimental data, Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models showed a better correspondence to the adsorption process. Furthermore, the maximum uptake of DTC-GO obtained from Langmuir isotherm reached to 132.01 mg/g. The values of ∆Gθ and ∆Hθ calculated from the experimental data indicated that the nature of the interaction between Pb (II) and DTC-GO was not only feasible and spontaneous but also exothermic in all cases.Download high-res image (102KB)Download full-size image