Volume 43, Issue 1

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, environmental pollution has become more severe. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could be originated from the following sources: domestic, mobile and industrial sources. As important air pollutants, VOCs could cause serious harm to the environment and human health. Therefore, removing VOCs has become a priority research direction of ecological issues. Among the many elimination methods, catalytic oxidation approaches are among the most effective and economical methods which can transform VOCs into CO 2 and H 2 O. MnO x catalysts are among the most active catalysts, which can be further modified by different cations such as Cu 2+ , Co 2+ , Cr 3+ , Ni 2+ and Ce 4+ to form mixed oxides to improve the catalytic oxidation of VOCs activity. Moreover, MnO x can be loaded on the carrier, improving the redox and oxygen storage capacity and improving its stability and activity. This review explores the structure, preparation and oxidation state of Mn-based catalysts.

Graphene-based layered materials have got significant interest in membrane technology for water desalination, gas separation, organic nanofiltration, pervaporation, proton exchange applications, etc. and show remarkable results. Up to date, various methods have been developed for fabrication of high performance membrane. Most of them are only suitable for research purposes, but not appropriate for mass transport barrier and membrane applications that require large-area synthesis. In this comprehensive review, we summarized the current synthesis and fabrication methods of graphene-based membranes. Emphasis will be given on fabrication of both graphene-based nanoporous and lamellar membranes. Finally, we discuss the current engineering hurdles and future research directions yet to be explored for fabrication of such membranes.

Ruthenium complexes are considered as the most favorable alternatives to traditional platinum-based cancer drugs owing to their acceptable toxicity level, selectivity, variant oxidation states and ability to treat platinum-resistant cancer cells. They have similar ligand exchange kinetics as platinum drugs but can be tailored according to our desire by ligands influence. In the current study, we illustrate the in-vitro anticancer profile of some ruthenium complexes (2016–2021) against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2). The anticancer activity of ruthenium complexes is determined by comparing their IC 50 values with one another and positive controls. Fortunately, some ruthenium complexes including 3, 4, 6, 14, 15, 20, 42 , and 48 exhibit surpassed in-vitro anticancer profile than that of positive controls promising as potential candidates against liver cancer. We also explored the structure-activity relationship (SAR) which is a key factor in the rational designing and synthesis of new ruthenium drugs. It covers the factors affecting anticancer activity including lipophilicity, planarity, area and bulkiness, the steric influence of different ligands, and electronic effects induced by ligands, stability, aqueous solubility and bioavailability to the target sites. The data reported here will provide strong support in the plausible design and synthesis of ruthenium anticancer drugs in the upcoming days.

Homoleptic cyanide compounds exist of almost all main group elements. While the alkali metals and alkaline earth metals form cyanide salts, the cyanides of the lighter main group elements occur mainly as covalent compounds. This review gives an overview of the status quo of main group element cyanides and cyanido complexes. Information about syntheses are included as well as applications, special substance properties, bond lengths, spectroscopic characteristics and computations. Cyanide chemistry is presented mainly from the field of inorganic chemistry, but aspects of chemical biology and astrophysics are also discussed in relation to cyano compounds.

Modern cements are complex materials with well-defined compositions that reach to high and consistent results. Automated techniques such as Rietveld analysis lead to provide an understanding of the composition and polymorphism of cement phases that could lead to control of the clinkering conditions to optimize characteristics and consequently quality product. For the characterization of cements used in the construction sector, Rietveld method has significant benefits over other analytical techniques. The precise information about phase assemblage and polymorphism lets monitoring the hydration behavior of binder materials. The objective of this paper is to report the quantitative Rietveld phase analyzes for three industrial clinkers, to review the most recent quantitative X-ray powder diffraction studies on anhydrous cement and to discuss the influence of the different parameters elaborated in the Rietveld method.