Controlled release of fluorouracil (5-FU) from chitosan-co-poly(ethylene glycol)/ poly(glycerol sebacate)-co-poly(ethylene glycol)-coated iron oxide

A blend of polyglycerol sebacate-poly ethylene glygol/chitosan-poly ethylene glycol-coated iron oxide (PGS-PEG/CS-PEG@Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles for 5FU delivery was prepared by reverse ultrasonic emulsification method. To enhance polymers’ solubility, PEG was grafted. Chemical characterization was performed through Fourier transformed infrared and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. In vitro assay revealed that release profile of 5FU-loaded PGS-PEG/CS-PEG@Fe₃O₄ is sustained. Moreover, cytotoxicity was analyzed on HT29 cell line at the presence of external magnetic field using the lactate dehydrogenase and Alamar Blue. Results illustrate that (PGS-PEG/CS-PEG@Fe₃O₄) is promising to use as a carrier for 5FU anticancer agent with sustained tailored release.     

甘油直接制备丙烯醇的催化剂和反应工艺研究进展

丙烯醇是一种十分重要的中间体和化学原料。近年来，以甘油为原料直接制备丙烯醇的研究引起了许多科学家的关注。本文参考了最近十年来发表的文献，详细介绍了均相甲酸诱导的甘油脱氧脱水反应、催化剂作用下的甘油脱氧脱水反应、液固相甘油氢解反应和气固相甘油氢转移反应等过程制备丙烯醇的相关工艺、反应机理和催化剂的研究进展及发展趋势，并对比了上述工艺的优缺点。其中，均相甲酸诱导的甘油脱氧脱水工艺比较成熟，已经在实验室中得到验证和应用，但是甲酸的消耗量大，整个过程的原子经济性很差。 甘油脱氧脱水反应和液固相甘油氢解反应不仅需要采用价格昂贵的铼基催化剂，而且丙烯醇的选择性较低。 铁基催化剂作用下的气固相甘油氢转移反应制备丙烯醇，由于催化剂的价格低廉、制备工艺简单、产品分离容易等优势而备受关注，是最近五年的研究热点。在文献基础上，认为今后研究应该重点关注催化剂的酸碱性、氢转移能力及其与速率控制步骤的匹配，并有针对性地对催化剂进行优化和改进。     

The growth of oleaginous Rhodotorula glutinis in an internal-loop airlift bioreactor by using mixture substrates of rice straw hydrolysate and crude glycerol

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to microbial oils is attracting a growing amount of attention. However, the growth of the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis on LCB hydrolysate (mainly rice straw) only will lead to a low lipid mass fraction, in the range of 10–20%. This study shows that the addition of crude glycerol to the LCB hydrolysate medium can efficiently raise the lipid mass fraction to the range of 30–40%. Crude glycerol is a by-product in the biodiesel production process. The use of renewable LCB hydrolysate and crude glycerol would greatly reduce the substrate cost for microbial oil production using R. glutinis. In addition, the results of experiments show that a low-cost airlift bioreactor is a more suitable fermentation process for the growth of R. glutinis than the use of a conventional agitation tank. When using mixed carbon sources of LCB hydrolysate with 30 kg m⁻³ of reducing sugars and 30 kg m⁻³ of crude glycerol, a maximal cell mass of 21.4 kg m⁻³ and lipid mass fraction of 58.5 ± 6.2 were achieved in an internal loop airlift bioreactor, and this process may have the potential to be applied in scale-up production.     

Renewable hydrogen production from steam reforming of glycerol (SRG) over ceria-modified γ-alumina supported Ni catalyst

Excess crude glycerol derived as a by-product from biodiesel industry prompts the need to valorise glycerol to value-added chemicals. In this context, catalytic steam reforming of glycerol (SRG) was proposed as a promising and sustainable alternative for producing renewable hydrogen (H₂). Herein, the development of nickel (Ni) supported on ceria-modified mesoporous γ-alumina (γ-Al₂O₃) catalysts and their applications in catalytic SRG (at 550–750 °C, atmospheric pressure and weight hourly space velocity, WHSV, of 44,122 ml·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ (STP)) is presented. Properties of the developed catalysts were characterised using many techniques. The findings show that ceria modification improved Ni dispersion on γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst support with highly active small Ni particles, which led to a remarkable catalytic performance with the total glycerol conversion (ca. 99%), glycerol conversion into gaseous products (ca. 77%) and H₂ yield (ca. 62%). The formation rate for H₂ production (14.4 × 10⁻⁵ mol·s⁻¹·g⁻¹, TOF (H₂) = 3412 s⁻¹) was significantly improved with the Ni@12Ce-Al₂O₃ catalyst, representing nearly a 2-fold increase compared with that of the conventional Ni@Al₂O₃ catalyst. In addition, the developed catalyst also exhibited comparatively high stability (for 12 h) and coke resistance ability.     

甘油预处理蔗渣的木质素分离提取及结构表征

以甘油分别对甘蔗渣进行常压甘油自催化（AGO）预处理和常压甘油碱催化（al-AGO）预处理。利用酸沉法分别从预处理液中得到自催化甘油木质素（AGOL）和碱催化甘油木质素（al-AGOL）。利用单因素实验和正交实验得到最佳木质素提取工艺为转速8000r/min、离心时间15min、甘油混合液pH为3、甘油混合液浓度10%，在该条件下木质素AGOL和al-AGOL提取率分别达到72%和76%。采用扫描电镜（SEM）、元素分析、紫外光谱（UV）、凝胶色谱（GPC）、核磁共振¹H谱、热重分析以及抗氧化活性分析等技术手段对提取得到的木质素进行结构表征。结果表明：从甘蔗渣中提取的球磨甘蔗木质素（MBL）、AGOL和al-AGOL主要呈现出球形特征；AGOL和al-AGOL具有相似的活性特点，与MBL相比，AGOL和al-AGOL的分子量更小、分布更窄、均一性更好，热稳定性和抗氧化活性更高，有望成为重要的工业原料。