UROP Proceedings 2010-11

Pump Formulation for Nano-particlesAdvisorCo-AdvisorStudent: YEUNG King Lun / CBME: LUI Yat Chuen / CBME: FU Xiayi / CHEM(UROP1000, Summer 2011)Nano-particles is extensively studied in many fields, such as pharmacy and cosmetics. Withproperties such as prolonged and controlled release of actives, protection of unstable chemical,targeted drug delivery and odor shielding, the production of nano-particles is of increasingimportance in modern industry. By using different coating polymers, nano-capsules withdifferent sizes and properties can be prepared. In this project, nano-particles encapsulatingchlorine dioxide (CIO 2 ) are prepared from preformed polymers; a water-in-oil-in-water(w/o/w) double emulsion with “release-killing” property is then formed. Copper sulfate isthen added into the double emulsion mixture to obtain a “contact-killing” property. Activetriblock copolymers of polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene (i.e. Pluronic P123 and F127) areused as coating materials in the forming of nano-particles, which prevents activated CIO 2from degradation, allows prolonged and controlled release of CIO 2 and blocks the irritantodor at the same time.Heavy Metal Adsorption from SeawaterAdvisorCo-AdvisorStudent: YEUNG King Lun / CBME: CHEN Xinqing / CBME: HE Naien / CBPE(UROP1100, Spring 2011)Both copper and chromium have been identified by the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) as pollutants because of their toxic impact to the environment. In an effort tofind a cheap and effective adsorbent, Zeolites, which has cage-like microporous structure withexchangeable counter cations, is found to be very effective. However, the amount ofmolecules that can be absorbed is limited by the pore diameter and the length of the diffusionpath. As an alternative, Mesoporous silicates have larger pore volume and diameter, highersurface area and regular channel type structures. Another adjustment that can be done is tointroduce amino group in mesoporous silicates. In this project, a series of experiments areconducted to verify the effectiveness of amino modified and metal grafted MCM-41 inseawater, along with the pH effect and adsorption isotherm, in order to find out theperformance of adsorbent in real seawater environment.28