Optimization of the fermentation conditions and partial characterization for acido-thermophilic <Emphasis Type="Italic">α</Emphasis>-amylase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus niger</Emphasis> NCIM 548

A high performance thermostable α-amylase at low pH values has been synthesized. Sugarcane bagasse was hydrolyzed in a dilute acid solution and utilized as carbon source for the growth of Aspergillus niger strain NCIM 548. Glucose, xylose and arabinose with the ratio of 1.0: 0.9: 0.3 (w/w/w) were detected in the hydrolyzate by HPLC analysis. Optimization of the fermentation conditions for α-amylase production was performed by varying four influential parameters such as Sugarcane bagasse hydrolyzate (SBH), NH₄Cl, pH and incubation time using a central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum values of SBH, NH₄Cl, pH and incubation time were 20.49, 2.34 g/l, 5.65 and 76.67 h, respectively. The acido-thermophilic enzyme showed maximum stability at 70°C and pH value of 4. The rate constant, K _m and maximum reaction rate, V _max were 18.79 g/l and 15.85 g/l·min, respectively.     

The preparation of an amino acid-based surfactant and its potential application as an EOR agent

Most of the synthetic surfactants investigated with the aim of enhanced chemically oil recovery in the literature have environmental drawbacks. In this work, application of an environmentally-friendly synthetic surfactant as an enhanced oil recovery agent is introduced by measuring interfacial tension of water–kerosene systems and wettability alteration of carbonate pellets. For this purpose, an amino acid-based surfactant was initially synthesized using a new synthetic approach which was subsequently confirmed by spectra of Fourier transform infrared and Proton nuclear magnetic resonance. Results showed a value of critical micelle concentration in the range of 9000–9100 ppm for this surfactant. Results also demonstrated a decrease of 38.53% in water–kerosene system interfacial tension and a 17.76% reduction in oil-wetness of the carbonate pellets.     

Modeling of CO2-brine interfacial tension: Application to enhanced oil recovery

Development of reliable and accurate models to estimate carbon dioxide–brine interfacial tension (IFT) is necessary, since its experimental measurement is time-consuming and requires expensive experimental apparatus as well as complicated interpretation procedure. In the current study, feed forward artificial neural network is used for estimation of CO₂–brine IFT based on data from published literature which consists of a number of carbon dioxide–brine interfacial tension data covering broad ranges of temperature, total salinity, mole fractions of impure components and pressure. Trial-and-error method is utilized to optimize the artificial neural network topology in order to enhance its capability of generalization. The results showed that there is good agreement between experimental values and modeling results. Comparison of the empirical correlations with the proposed model suggests that the current model can predict the CO₂–brine IFT more accurately and robustly.     

Application of titanium oxide nanotube films containing gold nanoparticles for the electroanalytical determination of ascorbic acid

Au/TiO₂/Ti electrodes have been prepared by galvanic deposition of gold particles on TiO₂ nanotube substrates. Titanium oxide nanotubes are fabricated by anodizing titanium foil in a Dimethyl Sulfoxide electrolyte containing fluoride. The scanning electron microscopy results indicated that gold particles are homogeneously deposited on the surface of TiO₂ nanotubes. The TiO₂ layers consist of individual tubes of about 40-80 nm diameters. The electro-catalytic behavior of Au/TiO₂/Ti and flat gold electrodes for the ascorbic acid electro-oxidation was studied by cyclic voltammetry. The results showed that the flat gold electrode is not suitable for the oxidation of ascorbic acid. However, the Au/TiO₂/Ti electrodes are shown to possess catalytic activity toward the oxidation reaction. Catalytic oxidation peak current showed a linear dependence on the ascorbic acid concentration and a linear calibration curve is obtained in the concentration range of 1-5 mM of ascorbic acid. Also, determination of ascorbic acid in real samples was evaluated. The obtained results were found to be satisfactory. Finally the effects of interference on the detection of ascorbic acid were investigated.     

The fate and transport of RDX, HMX, TNT and DNT in the volcanic soils of Hawaii: a laboratory and modeling study

The adsorption and degradation behavior of RDX, HMX, TNT and DNT and the impact of pH, ionic strength and dissolved organic matter on sorption were examined for two volcanic soils of a former military training area on Hawaii Island, Hawaii, USA. The transport of these chemicals in the soil was also studied in small packed columns and simulated using a water-flow and solute-transport model, HYDRUS_1D. The results show that HMX and RDX are both significantly more mobile than TNT and DNT. The adsorbability of the four chemicals was ranked as: RDXRDX>DNT>TNT. No significant trend was observed for the effect of ionic strength, pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on the adsorption of explosive compounds within the concentrations and pH ranges evaluated. The simulation results show that TNT and DNT would not leach beyond a depth of 30cm soil profile whereas a significant amount of HMX and RDX would pass the 30cm depth. It seems that the risk for contamination of groundwater is much higher for both HMX and RDX than for DNT and TNT as the substratum in this area consists of highly permeable lavas.     

Novel numerical solutions of nonlinear heat transfer problems using the linear barycentric rational interpolation

In this investigation, a numerical technique to obtain the approximate solutions of four well‐known nonlinear differential equations in the area of heat transfer is presented. This method is based on the operational matrix of derivative of linear barycentric rational interpolation. The main advantages of this approach are that it uses the Floater‐Hormann weights, which are very efficient in practice, and reduces the governing differential equation to a system of algebraic equations. The results are compared with the obtained numerical results of the fourth‐order Runge‐Kutta method along with the shooting method and some of the previously existing methods. The acquired results reveal that the derivative operational matrix method with barycentric rational basis functions is very efficient and can be implemented easily and fast.     

Epoxy coating with self-healing capability based on a 2-mercaptobenzothiazole-loaded CeO2 nanocontainer

In this study, we demonstrated a facile approach for the synthesis of nanocontainers using the encapsulation of a 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) inhibitor; these nanocontainers were capable of responsively releasing a corrosion inhibitor and of self-healing performances. The anticorrosive performance of the CeO₂ nanocontainers was investigated with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement in a saline electrolyte via the incorporation of different weight percentages (0.5, 1, and 2 wt %) of synthesized nanocontainer in epoxy (EP) resin. The EIS results show that the loading of 1 wt % CeO₂ nanocontainer containing MBT inhibitor in the epoxy (EP) coating [EP/NC MBT–CeO₂ (1%)] provided the highest R_coat, the lowest constant phase element of coating, and the optimum release of MBT at different operating pHs. The highest coating resistance R_coat values of this coating (7.81 × 10⁷ Ω cm²) were about 12 and 8573 times greater than those considered for EP–CeO₂ and EP coatings, respectively. Different releases of the MBT inhibitor were detected at various pHs. We found that the coating operating in acidic media exhibited a better self-healing performance. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47297.     

A new nickel metal organic framework (Ni-MOF) porous nanostructure as a potential novel electrochemical sensor for detecting glucose

Journal of Porous Materials - A Ni-MOF-based novel electrochemical sensor was synthesized with high surface area of 1381 m2/g, significant porosity of 1.14–9.6&nbsp;nm and average...     

Exopolysaccharide from Pantoea sp. BCCS 001 GH isolated from nectarine fruit: production in submerged culture and preliminary physicochemical characterizations

Food Science and Biotechnology - Exopolysaccharide (EPS), as potential microbial base polysaccharide source, has plenty of applications due to its unique physicochemical structure. A Pantoea sp....