Extraction of Lithium (Li + ) from synthetically prepared sea bittern using di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as organic extractants has been studied. The equilibrium studies conducted shows synergistic effect between D2EHPA and TBP. The equilibrium constant values for Li + , Na + and K + ions were found to be 95.4×10 -5 m 3 /kmol, 4.6×10 -5 m 3 /kmol and 3.69×10 -5 m 3 /kmol respectively. Hollow fiber supported liquid membrane experiments with low concentration of Li + , Na + and K + ions in feed phase, showed Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 02:28 25 June 2016A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 1 high flux for Li + ions. However at significantly high concentrations of Na + and K + in feed phase, the flux of Li + ions reduced. The model predictions were found in good agreement with the experimental data.

Microalga is the only feedstock that has the theoretical potential to completely replace the energy requirements derived from fossil fuels. However, commercialization of this potential source for fuel applications is hampered due to many technical challenges with harvesting of biomass being the most energy intensive process among them. The fresh water microalgal species, Scenedesmus abundans, has been widely recognized as a potential feedstock for production of biodiesel (Mandotra et al., 2014). The present work deals with sedimentation of algal biomass using extracted chitosan and natural bentonite clay powder as flocculant. The effect of flocculant combination and different factors such as temperature, pH, and concentration of algal biomass on sedimentation rates has been analyzed. A high flocculation efficiency of 76.22 ± 7.81% was obtained at an algal biomass concentration of 1 ± 0.05 g/L for a settling time of 1 h at 50 ± 5 • C with a settling velocity of 103.2 ± 0.6 cm/h and a maximum surface conductivity of 2,260 ± 2 µS/cm using an optimal design in response surface methodology (RSM). Biopolymer flocculant such as chitosan exhibited better adsorption property along with bentonite clay powder that reduced the settling time significantly.

Stationary phase plays a crucial role in the operation of a protein chromatography column. Conventional resins composed of acrylic polymers and their derivatives contribute to heterogeneity of the packing of stationary phase inside these columns. Alternative polymer combinations through customized surface functionalization schemes which consist of multiple steps using static coating techniques are well known. In comparison, it is hypothesized that a single-step scheme is sufficient to obtain porous adsorbents as stationary phase for tuning surface morphology and protein immobilization. To overcome the challenge of heterogeneous packing and ease of fabrication at a laboratory scale, a change in the form factor of separation materials has been proposed in the form of functional copolymer surfaces. In the present work, an amphiphilic, block copolymer, poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) has been chosen and fully characterized for its potential usage in protein chromatography. Hydrophilicity of the acrylic copolymer and abundance of carboxyl groups inherently on the copolymer surface have been successfully demonstrated through contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. Morphological studies indicate presence of a microporous region (nearly 1 to 1.5 µm pore size) that could be beneficial as a cation exchange media as part of the stationary phase in protein chromatography.

The concepts of Process Intensification (PI) in chemical industry has started evolving quite strongly in the past 15 years with interestingly novel hardware and software applications being reported in bio-processing and fine chemicals. This article talks about the need for PI and its advantages. Principles and Barriers of Process Intensification are also discussed.

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