Effects of methyl cellulose-based coating on physiochemical properties and chemical hazards of Chinese fried dough cake during storage

Coating has been used as a practical method to ensure the physiochemical properties and reduce the chemical hazard of fried foods. Methyl cellulose (MC) was used as a coating material to pretreat Chinese fried dough cake (CFDC) before frying. The results showed that the water content, hardness and L* value of the 1% MC coated sample were 31.67%, 848.54 g and 51.62, respectively, at the seventh day at 25 °C. Coating contents 1% MC could reduce the oil content, hardness, and extent of browning and improve the physiochemical properties of CFDC on 7 days of storage. Coating contents 1% MC also reduced the acid value, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, malondialdehyde content, 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-hexenal content, 4-hydroxy-2-(E)-nonenal content, acrylamide content and glycidyl ester content in CFDC on 7 days of storage. Our work contributes to the control of the oil content and chemical hazards for fried food during storage by applying an edible coating.     

Fabrication of magnetic β-CD/chitosan nanocomposite as an efficient and recyclable dye adsorbent

ABSTRACT

In this work, novel magnetic nanocomposite adsorbents were prepared by crosslinking β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) onto chitosan backbones by using epichlorohydrin as a crosslinker and in the presence of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The composition of β-CD-chitosan nanocomposites was characterized via FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM, and VSM. Then, the as-prepared nanocomposites were treated for elimination of methyl orange (MO). The results indicated that the adsorption of MO exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity of 314 mg g^?1 at 25°C. Moreover, the rates and isotherm data of adsorption matched excellent at different MO concentrations (10, 60, and 120 mg/L) using second-order and Langmuir models with the regression coefficient (R²) of 0.9993 and 9990, respectively. Besides, the thermodynamic data confirmed MO adsorption as an endothermic process. The adsorbent was also confirmed as good materials for re-use and maintained 88% of its initial adsorption capacity for MO after the fifth regeneration cycles. In conclusion, the synthesized magnetic nanocomposites can be applied as cost-effective dye adsorbents with high regeneration efficiency.     

Facile synthesis of a castor oil-based hyperbranched acrylate oligomer and its application in UV-curable coatings

Fabrication and performance of the castor oil (CO)-based hyperbranched acrylate (C20AA) UV-curable coatings are highlighted in this work. Herein, C20AA was obtained through a facile reaction of a castor oil-based hyperbranched polyol (C20) with acrylic acid. FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectra confirmed the synthesis of the target C20AA. Subsequently, the as-prepared C20AA was employed for crosslinking a commercialized linear polyurethane acrylate (PUA) UV-curable oligomer. Specifically, by varying the content of C20AA over the range of 0, 20, 40, and 60 wt%, a series of UV-curable coatings were prepared and coded as C20AA-0, C20AA-20, C20AA-40, and C20AA-60, respectively, which were further cured under UV irradiation. The effect of C20AA loadings on the UV-curing efficiency and final polymer performance were investigated. Consequently, the tensile strength, Shore D hardness, pencil hardness, gel content, water resistance, and glass-transition temperature of the UV-cured coatings were greatly improved upon the addition of C20AA. Impressively, with the incorporation of 40 wt% C20AA, the resultant UV-cured coating exhibited highest double bond conversion, superior chemical resistance, and good flexibility. Additionally, all of the coatings showed outstanding transparency and good surface microstructures.     

One‐pot synthesis of self‐stabilized and carboxyl‐functionalized fluorescent poly(methyl methacrylate) microspheres covalently dyed with tris(8‐hydroquinolinato)aluminium by dispersion polymerization

The dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with fluorescent monomer tris[2‐((8‐hydroxyquinolin‐5‐yl)methoxy)ethyl methacrylate]aluminium (Al‐HQHEMA) was investigated to obtain fluorescent microspheres under varying conditions (such as composition of dispersion medium, and content of stabilizer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Al‐HQHEMA) in methanol–water at 70 °C with 2,2′‐azoisobutyronitrile as the initiator. Fluorescent microspheres with particle size of 2.039 µm and uniformity of 0.171 were obtained under the following conditions: methanol–water, 7:3 (v/v); PVP, 15 wt% of MMA; Al‐HQHEMA solution, 1.5 mL. Maleic monoester of monomethoxyl poly(ethylene glycol) (Mal‐MPEG) was used as a comonomer to simultaneously incorporate carboxyl groups and PEG chains. With Mal‐MPEG, no aggregation was observed in the measurements of particle size and size distribution for the obtained microspheres after cleaning off PVP, indicating that self‐stabilized fluorescent microspheres were obtained. While without Mal‐MPEG, obvious aggregation was observed. The determination of surface carboxyl content using aqueous acid–base titration showed that most of the carboxyl groups of Mal‐MPEG were located on the surface of the microspheres. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

The critical organic modifier aliphatic tail length for the formation of poly(methyl methacrylate)-montmorillonite nanocomposites

In this article, we report the influence of organic modifier structure (alkyl chain length C8-C20, single vs ditallow) and thereby, the effect of hydrophobicity on the structure, thermal and mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-clay hybrids. Melt processed PMMA-clay hybrids were characterized using wide-angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The organoclays having an alkyl chain length of more than 12 CH₂ groups resulted in the formation of nanocomposites. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of PMMA increased in the presence of clay. The mean-field lattice model was used to predict the free energy for nanocomposite formation, which showed a reasonable match with the experimental results and provided a general guideline for the proper selection of polymer and organoclay (ie, organic modifier) to obtain nanocomposite. Tensile modulus showed maximum improvement of 58% for the nanocomposites compared to 9% improvement for the composites. Tensile modulus increased with increases in the alkyl chain length of the organic modifier and clay loading. The level of improvement for the tensile properties of nanocomposites prepared from primary and secondary ammonium-modified clay is the same as that obtained with the commercial organoclays.     

Miscibility of poly(acrylic acid)/poly(methyl vinyl ketone) blend and in vitro application as drug carrier system

A series of poly(acrylic acid)/poly(methyl vinyl ketone) (PAA/PMVK) blends with different compositions were prepared by the solvent casting method. The miscibility of this pair of polymers was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. An in-vitro cytotoxicity test of the drug-carrier system via MTT (3-(4,5-demethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay revealed no significant cytotoxic effects at concentrations up to 100 µg· ml^?1. The STX/PAA-50 drug carrier systems were also prepared by solvent casting of solutions containing the sulfamethoxazole (STX) used as drug model and PAA/PMVK blend in N.N-dimethylformamide then crosslinked with acidified ethylene glycol. The release dynamic of STX from the prepared hydrogels was investigated in which the diffusion through the polymer matrix, the enhancement of the water solubility of STX, the influence of the initial drug concentration, the pH of the medium, and the effect of the degree of swelling of the polymer matrix on the release dynamic was evaluated. According to the total gastrointestinal transit time estimated by Belzer, the estimate distribution of STX released in the different organs indicated that the performance is obtained with the drug – carrier-system containing equal ratios of polymer and 10 wt% of STX (STX-10/PAA-50).     

自交联水性聚氨酯-含氟丙烯酸酯乳液的制备及研究

以异佛尔酮二异氰酸酯(IPDI)、聚碳酸酯二醇(PCDL)、二羟甲基丁酸(DMBA)、1,4-丁二醇(BDO)、甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯(HEMA)为原料合成了双键封端的聚氨酯预聚体;以N-羟乙基丙烯酰胺(HEAA)作交联剂,配合甲基丙烯酸六氟丁酯(HFBMA)等单体进行乳液共聚,制备了自交联水性聚氨酯-含氟丙烯酸酯(FPUA)乳液。研究了HFBMA和HEAA用量对膜耐水性、热性能以及力学性能的影响。结果表明:PUA乳液的耐水性和疏水性随HFBMA用量的增加而增加;随着HEAA用量增加,胶膜的热稳定性增加,拉伸强度增加,伸长率下降;当胶膜中HFBMA质量分数为12%,且HEAA质量分数为2.6%时,乳液的粒径为128 nm,乳液的稳定性较好;胶膜的水接触角为107.6°,吸水率为4.5%,拉伸强度为25.6 MPa,断裂伸长率为268%,10%热失重温度299.6℃。     

Solvent-Aided Crystallization for Biodiesel Purification

The application of solvent-aided crystallization (SAC) is based on the addition of a solvent, here 1-butanol, to crude biodiesel to catalyze the purification process by separating biodiesel from contaminants via crystallization process. Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the process parameters of SAC, represented by biodiesel purity. The purified biodiesel was analyzed by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the composition of the present fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Under the predicted optimum process conditions within the experimental ranges for the highest biodiesel purity, the predicted biodiesel purity was 99.375 %.     

Relationship between the adhesion properties of UV-curable alumina suspensions and the functionalities and structures of UV-curable acrylate monomers for DLP-based ceramic stereolithography

Digital light processing (DLP)-based ceramic stereolithography has attracted significant attentions due to the high printing speed and high dimensional accuracy of DLP printers. However, undesired dropping of unfinished ceramic parts during printing, owing to inadequate adhesion between the first cured layer and the substrate of the building platform, still remains a challenge. In this study, the relationship between the adhesion properties of ultraviolet (UV)-curable alumina (α-Al₂O₃) suspensions and the functionalities and structures of UV-curable acrylate monomers was investigated. With an increase in the proportions of monofunctional monomers, the adhesion abilities of UV-curable alumina suspensions enhanced because of reduced volume shrinkage, however, inferior curing performances were observed due to a decrease in the double bond densities. Furthermore, the large-volume branched chain structures in monofunctional monomers and ethyoxyl groups in polyfunctional monomers effectively decreased the volume contraction, improving the adhesion performances of UV-curable alumina suspensions and facilitating the conversion of double bonds to provide excellent curing properties, further guaranteeing strong adhesion of these suspensions to the substrate.