Efficient sunlight and UV photocatalytic degradation of Methyl Orange,Methylene Blue and Rhodamine B,using Citrus×paradisi synthesized SnO2 semiconductor nanoparticles

In this work, tin dioxide (SnO2) Nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through green synthesis, using Citrus × paradisi extract as a stabilizing (capping). The extract concentrations used were 1, 2 and 4% in relation to the aqueous solution. The resulting SnO2 NPs were used for the degradation of Methyl Orange (MO), Methylene Blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB), under both solar and UV radiation. The NPs were characterized via Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-IR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM-SAED), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) theory, Ultraviolet to Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL); while the photocatalytic degradation was evaluated using UV-VIS. The results showed that the Citrus × paradisi extract is a good medium for the formation of SnO2 NPs. These NPs presented quasi-spherical morphology, particle sizes of 4–8 nm, with a rutile phase crystalline structure, and with banned gap of 2.69 at 3.28 eV. The NPs had excellent photocatalytic properties under solar radiation, degrading 100% of the OM in 180 min. Furthermore, under UV radiation, 100% degradation of the three dyes was achieved in a short time; 20 min for MO, and 60 min for MB and RhB. Therefore, green synthesis is a feasible medium for the formation of SnO2 NPs with good photocatalytic properties.     

Producing Fatty Acid Methyl Esters from Free Fatty Acids with Ionic Liquids as Catalyst

Three Brønsted acidic imidazole dicationic ionic liquids (ILs) with different length of alkyl chains, [C_n(Mim)₂][HSO₄]₂ (n = 3, 6, 12), were prepared and used as catalyst for the esterification reaction of free fatty acids and methanol. Taking oleic acid as model acid, the catalytic performances of the synthesized ILs for the esterification were evaluated. The main physicochemical properties of the ILs, thermal stability, acidity, solubility in common solvents, and causticity on Austenitic stainless steel 316, were examined. [C₃(Mim)₂][HSO₄]₂ demonstrated the highest catalytic activity and enabled to assess the preliminary optimum esterification condition of oleic acid and methanol. Under optimized reaction conditions, the yield of oleic acid methyl ester was up to 95 %. The ILs have great potential as catalysts for producing fatty acid methyl esters from long‐chain free fatty acids.     

Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Based Method for the Quantification of Epoxidized Methyl Oleate

Epoxidized methyl esters (EMO) with their high oxirane ring reactivity, acts as a raw material in the synthesis of various industrial chemicals including polymers, stabilizers, plasticizers, glycols, polyols, carbonyl compounds, biolubricants etc. EMO has been generally quantified by the gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques. Taking into the account of the limitations of these techniques, two qHNMR-based equations have been proposed for the quantification of EMO in the mixture of EMO and methylesters (MO). The validity of the proposed method was determined using standard mixtures of MO and EMO having different molar concentrations. The developed equations have been applied on the samples of EMO prepared from oleic acid in two-step process viz., esterification followed by epoxidation. The qHNMR-based EMO quantification showed acceptable agreement with the results obtained from HPLC analysis.     

Adsorption of anionic dye on eco-friendly synthesised reduced graphene oxide anchored with lanthanum aluminate: Isotherms,kinetics and statistical error analysis

In the present study we made an effort to deploy eco-friendly synthesized reduced graphene oxide/Lanthanum Alluminate nanocomposites (RGO-LaAlO₃) and Lanthanum Alluminate (LaAlO₃) as adsorbents to remove dye from the synthetic media. XRD, SEM, BET surface area and EDX have been used to characterize the above-mentioned adsorbents. The impacts of different factors like adsorbent dosage, the concentration of adsorbate and PH on adsorption were studied. The best fit linear and nonlinear equations for the adsorption isotherms and kinetic models had been examined. The sum of the normalized errors and the coefficient of determination were used to determine the best fit model. The experimental data were more aptly fitted for nonlinear forms of isotherms and kinetic equations. Pseudo-second-order and Freundlich isotherm model fits the equilibrium data satisfactorily. Methyl orange (MO) has been used as model dye pollutant and maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 469.7 and 702.2 mg g^?1 for LaAlO₃ and RGO-LaAlO₃, respectively.     

Synthesis and Application of Methyl N,O-Hydroxylamine Muramyl Peptides

The innate immune system's interaction with bacterial cells plays a pivotal role in a variety of human diseases. Carbohydrate units derived from a component of bacterial cell wall, peptidoglycan (PG), are known to stimulate an immune response. Nonetheless, access to modified late-stage peptidoglycan intermediates is limited due to their synthetic complexity. A method to rapidly functionalize PG fragments is needed to better understand the natural host–PG interactions. Here methyl N,O-hydroxylamine linkers are incorporated onto a synthetic PG derivative, muramyl dipeptide (MDP). The modification of MDP maintained the ability to stimulate a nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) immune response dependent on the expression of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (Nod2). Intrigued by this modification's maintenance of biological activity, several applications were explored. Methyl N,O-hydroxylamine MDP was amendable to N-hydroxylsuccinimide (NHS) chemistry for bioconjugation to fluorophores as well as a self-assembled monolayer for Nod2 surface plasmon resonance analysis. Finally, linker incorporation was applicable to larger PG fragments, both enzymatically generated from Escherichia coli or chemically synthesized. This methodology provides rapid access to PG probes in one step and allows for the installation of a variety of chemical handles to advance the molecular understanding of PG and the innate immune system.     

干酪乳杆菌/乳糖醇双层合生元微胶囊制备及其在橙汁中的应用

目的:利用酶促法制备干酪乳杆菌/乳糖醇合生元微胶囊,研究乳糖醇浓度对微胶囊特性的影响,并对制备的微胶囊开展应用研究。方法:以黏玉米来源谷氨酰胺转氨酶(TGZ)为催化剂,以酪蛋白和海藻酸钠为壁材,通过内源乳化法对合生元进行双层包埋。利用粒径和干酪乳杆菌在模拟胃肠液中的存活率为指标,确定乳糖醇的添加量,并对其进行形态学观察。最后将制备的微胶囊添加到橙汁饮料中,评价干酪乳杆菌在低温贮藏时的存活情况。结果:TGZ可以交联酪蛋白对干酪乳杆菌/乳糖醇合生元进行包埋。当乳糖醇添加量为1.0 g/100 mL时,双层包埋的微胶囊粒径最小,包埋率最大为61.73%。在模拟胃肠液实验中,添加1.0 g/100 mL的乳糖醇可以提高干酪乳杆菌的存活率。扫描电镜结果表明,干酪乳杆菌完全包裹在壁材中,表明微胶囊的抗穿透物理屏障对益生菌的保护作用。贮存试验发现,添加乳糖醇后橙汁中的活菌数比未添加乳糖醇的高0.56个对数值。结论:双层微胶囊对乳酸菌的存活有很好的保护作用,且乳糖醇的存在也可以提高益生菌的存活率,因此益生菌/乳糖醇合生元微胶囊在食品,尤其是功能性食品方面具有广阔的应用前景。     

聚苯乙烯/交联丙烯酸甲酯共混物的制备及其发泡性能研究

将聚苯乙烯（PS）颗粒溶解到二乙烯基苯（DVB）、丙烯酸甲酯（MA）与偶氮二异丁腈（AIBN）的混合物中，通过加热引发MA聚合，获得PS/交联PMA共混物, 采用釜压法制备了PS/交联PMA共混物泡沫。采用全自动视频光学接触角测试仪、差示扫描量热仪、傅里叶变换红外光谱仪、动态力学分析仪对PS/交联PMA共混物的结构和性能进行了表征，并通过扫描电子显微镜对PS/交联PMA共混物泡沫的结构进行了表征。结果表明，交联PMA的引入能提高体系的成核效率，随着MA用量的增加，PS/交联PMA共混物的接触角从PS的100.5 °降至86.1 °；当MA的用量为9.6份（质量份，下同）时，PS/交联PMA共混物的泡孔尺寸主要分布在40~60 μm之间，泡孔尺寸分布明显变窄，泡孔密度达到了1.2×10⁸ 个/cm³。     

基于可见/近红外光谱和变量选择的脐橙可溶性固形物含量在线检测

为联合可见/近红外光谱技术和变量选择方法在线检测脐橙主要内部品质指标可溶性固形物(SSC),分别选定脐橙校正集和预测集样本141个和47个,脐橙运输速度为0.3m/s,利用USB4000微型光谱仪在线采集脐橙样本的可见/近红外光谱,先分别采用无信息变量消除(UVE)和遗传算法(GA)对650~950nm波段范围的波长变量进行预筛选,再分别利用竞争自适应重加权采样(CARS)及连续投影算法(SPA)对波长变量进一步筛选,并应用偏最小二乘(PLS)方法分别建立脐橙SSC的在线预测模型,并与原始光谱等建立的预测模型进行比较。结果表明,对于脐橙SSC,预筛选方法GA优于UVE方法,变量选择方法CARS优于SPA方法;GA-CARS及GA-SPA联合变量选择方法优于对应的单一变量选择方法CARS及SPA。在上述变量选择方法中,GA-CARS方法获得的结果最优,其所建立的脐橙SSC的PLS模型的校正集和预测集相关系数分别为0.933和0.824,校正集和预测集均方根误差分别为0.429%和0.670%,性能优于原始光谱建立的PLS模型,且建模波长变量数由1 385个下降为78个,仅占原波长变量数的5.63%。由此表明,GA-CARS联合变量选择方法可以有效筛选脐橙SSC的波长变量,提高预测模型的稳定性和预测精度。     

赣南脐橙代谢组学研究

采用气相色谱-质谱联用技术测定赣南和其它地区的脐橙挥发性物质,对不同产地脐橙进行代谢组学研究,为赣南脐橙品质保障提供科学依据。通过GC-MS分析脐橙的挥发性成分,经数据库匹配结合相关文献鉴定物质,采用正交偏最小二乘法-判别分析(OPLS-DA)的s-plot图并结合对各组分的贡献率(VIP>1,P<0.05)筛选潜在生物标志物。结果表明,从赣南脐橙中共鉴定出66种挥发性成分,分别为萜烯类、醛类、醇类、酯类、酮类等,其中含量最高的为D-柠檬烯。根据OPLS-DA分析筛选出5个潜在生物标志物,即(1S)-(+)-3-蒈烯、4-蒈烯、壬醛、(Z)-石竹烯、桉烷-3,7(11)-二烯,其可以作为区分赣南脐橙和其它地区脐橙的潜在生物标志物。