Nano fibrillated cellulose-based foam by Pickering emulsion: Preparation,characterizations, and application as dye adsorbent

An ecofriendly and biodegradable porous structure was prepared from drying aqueous foams based on nano fibrillated cellulose (NFC), extracted from softwood pulp by subcritical water/CO₂ treatment (SC-NFC). The primary aim of this work was to use the modified SC-NFC as stabilizer for a water-based Pickering emulsion which upon drying, yielded porous cellulosic materials, a good dye adsorbent. In order to exploit the carboxymethylated SC-NFC (CMSC-NFC, with a degree of substitution of 0.35 and a charge density of 649 μeqv/g) as a stabilizer for water-based Pickering emulsion in subsequent step, an optimized quantity of octyl amine (30 mg/g of SC-NFC) was added to make them partially hydrophobic. A series of dry foam structures were prepared by varying the concentrations of treated CMSC-NFCs and 4 wt% was found to be the optimum concentration to yield foam with high porosity (99%) and low density (0.038 g/cc) along with high compression strength (0.24 MPa), superior to the conventionally extracted NFC. The foams were applied to capture as high as 98% of methylene blue dyes, making them a potential green candidate for treating industrial effluent. In addition, the dye adsorption kinetics and isotherms were found to be well suited with second order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models.     

Deacetylated Cellulose Acetate/Polyurethane Composite Nanofiber Membranes with Highly Efficient Oil/Water Separation and Excellent Mechanical Properties

Nowadays, oil pollution has become more serious, which causes great threats both to the ecological environment and human life. In this study, a novel type of multifunctional deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyurethane (d-M_CA:M_TPU) composite nanofiber membranes for oil/water separation are successfully fabricated by electrospinning, which show super-amphiphilicity in air, super-hydrophilicity in oil, and oleophobicity in water. All the d-M_CA:M_TPU composite nanofiber membranes with different mass ratios can be used as water-removing, oil-removing, and emulsion separation substance only by gravity driving force. The highest separation flux for water and oil reaches up to 37 000 and 74 000 L m⁻² h⁻¹, respectively, and all the separation efficiencies are more than 99%. They have outstanding comprehensive mechanics performance, which can be controlled by simply adjusting the mass ratios. They show excellent antifouling and self-cleaning ability, endowing powerful cyclic stability and reusability. Those results show that d-M_CA:M_TPU composite nanofiber membranes have great application prospects in oil/water separation.     

Facile self-assembly approach to construct a novel MXene-decorated nano-sized phase change material emulsion for thermal energy storage

In recent years, phase change material emulsions (PCMEs) with enhanced energy storage capacities and good flow characteristics have drawn significant attention. However, due to the thermodynamically unstable nature and tiny particle confinement, the nanomaterial modification strategies at PCM/water interface to improve stabilities and reduce supercooling of nano-sized PCMEs (NPCMEs) are very limited and challenging. Herein, we report a facile strategy for constructing MXene-decorated NPCME with good stability, little supercooling, and high thermal conductivity by self-assembly of MXene nanosheets at PCM/water interface. The concentrations of MXene have great influences on the average droplet diameters, stabilities, and thermophysical properties of the NPCMEs. The results show that the PCMs have been well dispersed into the water in the form of quasi-spherical droplets, with average droplet diameters of 242–805 nm. The thermal conductivity of 10 wt% n-tetradecane/water NPCME containing 9 mg ml^-1 MXene is 0.693 W m^-1·K^-1, achieving an enhancement by 15.5%, as compared to that of water. Besides, the MXene-decorated paraffin/water NPCMEs exhibit little supercooling and enhanced heat storage capacities. More importantly, this facile self-assembly strategy opens a new platform for preparing high-performance NPCMEs, which can be used as novel heat transfer fluids for thermal energy storage systems.     

Enhancement of super-hydrophilic/underwater super-oleophobic performance of ceramic membrane with TiO2 nanowire array prepared via low temperature oxidation

A gradient porous ceramic membrane with surface super-hydrophilic and underwater super-oleophobic performance was prepared by combining hydrogel directional freezing method and low temperature oxidation process. The effects of solid contents and sintering temperature on the ceramic membrane matrix were examined. The reaction time and synthesis temperature on the TiO₂ nanowire array were also evaluated. In addition, the related effects on pore size distribution, permeation flux, contact angle, and oil-in-water emulsion separation were systematically investigated. The ceramic membrane matrix pore size changed from 0.5 μm to 25 μm gradually, indicating the gradient structure controlled by the growth of ice. The super-hydrophilic and underwater super-oleophobic performance of ceramic membrane surface was obtained with surface modification by TiO₂ nanowire array, and the surface water contact angle and underwater oil contact angle were less than 5° and over 158°, respectively. The bonding strength between TiO₂ nanowire and ceramic membrane matrix was high enough to withstand ultrasonic waves. The ceramic membrane modified with TiO₂ nanowire array was used for 1000 ppm diesel oil-in-water emulsion separation, and the stable separation efficiency and flux were about 97% and 100–200 L/(m² h bar) even after 10 filtration cycles.     

Influence of accelerated curing on the compressive strength of polymer-modified concrete

In recent building practice, rapid construction is one of the principal requisites. Furthermore, in designing concrete structures, compressive strength is the most significant of all parameters. While 3-d and 7-d compressive strength reflects the strengths at early phases, the ultimate strength is paramount. An effort has been made in this study to develop mathematical models for predicting compressive strength of concrete incorporating ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) at the later phases. Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) goodness-of-fit test was used to examine distribution of the data. The compressive strength of EVA-modified concrete was studied by incorporating various concentrations of EVA as an admixture and by testing at ages of 28, 56, 90, 120, 210, and 365 d. An accelerated compressive strength at 3.5 hours was considered as a reference strength on the basis of which all the specified strengths were predicted by means of linear regression fit. Based on the results of KS goodness-of-fit test, it was concluded that KS test statistics value (D) in each case was lower than the critical value 0.521 for a significance level of 0.05, which demonstrated that the data was normally distributed. Based on the results of compressive strength test, it was concluded that the strength of EVA-modified specimens increased at all ages and the optimum dosage of EVA was achieved at 16% concentration. Furthermore, it was concluded that predicted compressive strength values lies within a 6% difference from the actual strength values for all the mixes, which indicates the practicability of the regression equations. This research work may help in understanding the role of EVA as a viable material in polymer-based cement composites.     

两种混合单元混合机理的数值模拟

为了研究SV型和SX型混合单元在全静态乳化器的混合机理,使用群体平衡模型对乳化器内部流场进行模拟分析。结果表明,SV型与SX型混合单元的混合机理是油相与水相材料通过混合单元时其空间流动方向改变,在流场内形成大量的漩涡,从而达到乳化的目的;通过比较流体在经过SV型和SX型混合单元后的水相索特平均直径(d_(32)),得出SV型混合单元的乳化效果更强,但同时消耗更多的能量,压降更大。     

Double emulsion (W/O/W) gel stabilised by polyglycerol polyricinoleate and calcium caseinate as mangiferin carrier: insights on formulation and stability properties

Mangiferin (MGF) is a phenolic compound isolated from mango, but its poor solubility significantly limits its use. In this study, MGF was embedded into the inner aqueous phase of W₁/O/W₂ emulsions. Firstly, the dissolution method of MGF was determined. MGF remained stable in solution with pH 13 at 30 min, and its solubility reached 10 mg mL⁻¹. When the pH of MGF solutions was adjusted from pH 13 to pH 6, MGF did not immediately crystallise, providing sufficient time to construct the MGF-loaded W₁/O/W₂ emulsions. Subsequently, the MGF-loaded W₁/O/W₂ emulsions were constructed using polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and calcium caseinate (CAS). The formation and stability of the W₁/O/W₂ emulsions were investigated. The MGF-loaded W₁/O/W₂ emulsions stabilised with 1% PGPR and 1% – 3% CAS exhibited a low viscosity, limited loading capacity, and poor stability. Conversely, the MGF-loaded W₁/O/W₂ emulsions stabilised by 3%PGPR–3%CAS exhibited optimal loading capacity (encapsulation efficiency = 95.31% and loading efficiency = 0.91%) and stability, which was attributed to the fact that high viscosity and gel state retarded the migration of inner aqueous phase. These results indicated that the W₁/O/W₂ emulsions stabilised by PGPR and CAS may be a potential alternative for encapsulating mangiferin.     

Development of cellulose nanofibrils reinforced polyvinyl alcohol films incorporated with alizarin for intelligent food packaging

Visual pH-sensing films were fabricated using cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and alizarin. The relationships between the ratio of PVA: CNF hydrogel (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) and the physical properties and colour response efficiency of indicator films were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of films evidenced alizarin and CNF was properly incorporated by physical interaction. A new weak X-ray diffraction peak appeared at 2θ = 22.4°, which was affected by the incorporation of CNF. The increase in the CNF content induced enhancements of thermal stability, tensile strength, water contact angle and colour sensitivity of the indicator films. The colourimetric films had a higher sensitivity to discolouration when exposed to acidic vapours than alkaline vapours. The films presented a remarkable colour change varied from purple in alkaline condition to yellow in acidic condition. Therefore, this colourimetric film can be used as a volatile acid sensor for intelligent packaging.     

抑菌纸对吐司保鲜作用

研究了抑菌纸对吐司保鲜作用的影响。将抑菌纸与PP薄薄膜结合得到纸塑复合材料来包装吐司，与单一的PP薄膜包装以及未采取包装的吐司对比质构、色差、水分活度、菌落总数、热焓值的差异。结果表明：采用纸塑复合材料包装的吐司相较于仅用PP薄膜包装以及未采取包装的吐司，其质构特性和色差的劣变变缓，水分活度有一定程度降低，菌落总数的增长得到有效抑制，热焓值的上升也得到延缓。该抑菌纸与PP薄膜结合得到的复合材料可避免直接向食品中添加防腐剂，并且能有效延长吐司的货架期。