Reduction of the acidity and peroxide numbers of tengkawang butter (Shorea stenoptera) using thermal and acid activated bentonites

Synthesis and Biological Activity Evaluations of Green ZnO-Decorated Acid-Activated Bentonite-Mediated Curcumin Extract (ZnO@CU/BE) as Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Agents

Green ZnO-decorated acid-activated bentonite-mediated curcumin extract (ZnO@CU/BE) was prepared as a multifunctional antioxidant and antidiabetic agent based on the extract of curcumin, which was used as a reducing and capping reagent. ZnO@CU/BE showed notably enhanced antioxidant properties against nitric oxide (88.6 ± 1.58%), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (90.2 ± 1.76%), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (87.3 ± 1.61%), and superoxide (39.5 ± 1.12%) radicals. These percentages are higher than the reported values of ascorbic acid as a standard and the integrated components of the structure (CU, BE/CU, and ZnO). This signifies the impact of the bentonite substrate on enhancing the solubility, stability, dispersion, and release rate of the intercalated curcumin-based phytochemicals, in addition to enhancing the exposure interface of ZnO nanoparticles. Therefore, effective antidiabetic properties were observed, with significant inhibition effects on porcine pancreatic α-amylase (76.8 ± 1.87%), murine pancreatic α-amylase (56.5 ± 1.67%), pancreatic α-glucosidase (96.5 ± 1.07%), murine intestinal α-glucosidase (92.5 ± 1.10%), and amyloglucosidase (93.7 ± 1.55%) enzymes. These values are higher than those determined using commercial miglitol and are close to the values measured using acarbose. Hence, the structure can be applied as an antioxidant and antidiabetic agent.

Synthesis and Characterization of Green Zinc-Metal-Pillared Bentonite Mediated Curcumin Extract (Zn@CN/BE) as an Enhanced Antioxidant and Anti-Diabetes Agent

Green zinc-metal-pillared bentonite mediated curcumin extract (Zn@CN/BE) was synthesized and characterized as a low-cost and multifunctional (curcumin-based phytochemicals, zinc-capped curcumin, zinc/curcumin complexes, and zinc-pillared bentonite) antioxidant and antidiabetic agent with enhanced activity. The activities of the Zn@CN/BE structure were assessed in comparison with curcumin and ZnO as individual components and in the presence of miglitol and acarbose commercial drugs as controls. The structure validated remarkable antioxidant activities against the common oxidizing radicals (nitric oxide (94.7 ± 1.83%), DPPH (96.4 ± 1.63%), ABTS (92.8 ± 1.33%), and superoxide (62.3 ± 1.63 %)) and inhibition activities against the main oxidizing enzymes (porcine α-amylase (89.3 ± 1.13%), murine α-amylase (70.8 ± 1.54%), pancreatic α-Glucosidase (99.3 ± 1.23%), intestinal α-Glucosidase (97.7 ± 1.24%), and amyloglucosidase (98.4 ± 1.64%)). The reported activities are higher than the activities of individual components and the studied ascorbic acid as well as the commercial drugs. This enhancement effect was assigned to the impact of the zinc pillaring process within the curcumin/bentonite host, which induced the stability, dispersions, and interactive interface of the essential active compounds in addition to the solubility and release rate of the intercalated curcumin extract. This paper recommends the application of the Zn@CN/BE structure as an enhanced, low-cost, biocompatible, safe, and simply produced antioxidant and antidiabetic agent.

Simultaneous Recovery of Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Sewage by Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate Method with Magnesium-Loaded Bentonite

Excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) result in serious eutrophication of water. In this study, magnesium modified acid bentonite was prepared by the impregnation method, and nitrogen and phosphorus were simultaneously removed by the magnesium ammonium phosphate method (MAP), which solved the problem of the poor adsorption capacity of bentonite. The morphology and structure of MgO-SBt were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, EDS, XPS, BET, etc. The results show that the acidified bentonite can increase the distance between bentonite layers, the layer spacing is expanded to 1.560 nm, and the specific surface area is expanded to 95.433 m²/g. After Mg modification, the characteristic peaks of MgO appear at 2θ of 42.95°, 62.31°, and 78.72°, indicating that MgO has been successfully loaded and that MgO bonded to the surface and interior pores of the acidified bentonite, boosting adsorption performance. When the dosage of MgO-SBt is 0.25 g/L, pH = 9, and N/P ratio is 5:1, the maximum adsorption capacity of MgO-SBt for N and P can reach 193.448 mg/g and 322.581 mg/g. In addition, the mechanism of the simultaneous adsorption of nitrogen and phosphorus by MgO-SBt was deeply characterized by the kinetic model, isothermal adsorption model, and thermodynamic model. The results showed that the simultaneous adsorption of nitrogen and phosphorus by MgO-SBt was chemisorption and a spontaneous exothermic process.