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.     

Hydrogen supply scenarios for a climate neutral energy system in Germany

A climate neutral energy system in Germany will most likely require green hydrogen. Two important factors, that determine whether the hydrogen will be imported or produced locally from renewable energy are still uncertain though - the import price for green hydrogen and the upper limit for photovoltaic installations. To investigate the impact of these two factors, the authors calculate cost optimized climate neutral energy systems while varying the import price from 1.25 €/kg to 5 €/kg with unlimited import volume and the photovoltaic limit from 300 GW to unlimited. In all scenarios, hydrogen plays a significant role. At a medium import price of 3.75 €/kg and photovoltaic limits of 300–900 GW the hydrogen supply is around 1200 to 1300 TWh with import shares varying from 60 to 85%. In most scenarios the electrolysis profile is highly correlated with the photovoltaic power, which leads to full load hours of 1870 h–2770 h.     

Exploring the feasibility of green hydrogen production using excess energy from a country-scale 100% solar-wind renewable energy system

When planning large-scale 100% renewable energy systems (RES) for the year 2050, the system capacity is usually oversized for better supply-demand matching of electrical energy since solar and wind resources are highly intermittent. This causes excessive excess energy that is typically dissipated, curtailed, or sold directly. The public literature shows a lack of studies on the feasibility of using this excess for country-scale co-generation. This study presents the first investigation of utilizing this excess to generate green hydrogen gas. The concept is demonstrated for Jordan using three solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and hybrid PV-wind RESs, all equipped with Lithium-Ion battery energy storage systems (ESSs), for hydrogen production using a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) system. The results show that the PV-based system has the highest demand-supply fraction (>99%). However, the wind-based system is more favorable economically, with installed RES, ESS, and PEM capacities of only 23.88 GW, 2542 GWh, and 20.66 GW. It also shows the highest hydrogen annual production rate (172.1 × 10³ tons) and the lowest hydrogen cost (1.082 USD/kg). The three systems were a better option than selling excess energy directly, where they ensure annual incomes up to 2.68 billion USD while having payback periods of as low as 1.78 years. Furthermore, the hydrogen cost does not exceed 2.03 USD/kg, which is significantly lower than the expected cost of hydrogen (3 USD/kg) produced using energy from fossil fuel-based systems in 2050.     

Finite element optimization of sample geometry for measuring the torsional shear strength of glass/metal joints

Assessment of mechanical properties of glass/metal joints is a challenging process, especially when the application relevant conditions of the joints have to be considered in the test design. In this study, a finite element method (FEM) is implemented to analyze a torsional shear strength test designed for glass-ceramic/steel joints aiming towards solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells application. Deviations from axial symmetry of the square flanges (ends) of respective hourglass-shaped specimens and also supporting and loading sockets of the test set-up are included in the model to simulate conditions close to reality. Undesirable tensile stress and also shear stress concentration appear at the outer edge of glass-ceramic layers, which are less for the hollow-full specimen. The simulation results show that for a specimen with either 9 mm thick square- or 6 mm thick triangular-flanges, locally enhanced tensile stresses almost disappear, resulting in a symmetric shear stress distribution. The difference between the analytically derived nominal shear strength and the real critical shear stress derived via simulation reduces with decreasing the fracture torque.     

Longitudinal permeability determination of dual-scale fibrous materials

In this work, the longitudinal permeability of squarely packed dual-scale fiber preforms is studied theoretically. These fiber preforms are composed of aligned porous tows and the tows are tightly packed. The effective permeability is calculated as a parallel-like network of intra-tow permeability and inter-tow permeability, which are quantified by Darcy’s law and the inscribed radius between tows, respectively. The jump velocity at the interface between inter-tow fluids and porous tows is considered, as derived by substituting Beavers and Joseph’s correlation into Brinkman’s equation. We further examine the effects of intra-tow permeability on the effective permeability of the fibrous system with three interface conditions: (1) interface velocity = 0, (2) interface velocity = mean intra-tow velocity, and (3) interface velocity = jump velocity. The jump-velocity-based model is found to be closest to numerical data. The influence of the fiber volume fraction of tows on the effective permeability is also analyzed.     

Low-temperature exfoliated graphene oxide incorporated with different types of natural rubber latex: Electrical and morphological properties and its capacitance performance

A simple with cost-effective method in the production and fabrication of graphene-based rubber nanocomposites as electrode materials is still remain a global challenge. In this work, we proposed one- and two-step approaches to fabricate an exfoliated graphene oxide (GO) as nanofiller in three different types of rubber latex polymer, namely, low ammonia natural rubber latex (NRL), radiation vulcanized NRL (RVNRL), and epoxy NRL 25 (ENRL 25). The electrical conductivity and capacitive behavior of nanocomposite samples were investigated under a four-point probe and cyclic voltammetry measurements, respectively. Meanwhile, the morphological properties were observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, optical polarization microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The thermal stabilities of the nanocomposites were also investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Among all, the GO/RVNRL polymer nanocomposite samples performed a better homogeneity with an improved electrical conductivity (~8.6 × 10⁻⁴ Scm⁻¹) as compared with the GO/ENRL 25 (~3.1 × 10⁻⁴ Scm⁻¹) and GO/NRL (~2.6 × 10⁻⁴ Scm⁻¹) polymer nanocomposite samples. In addition, the GO/RVNRL polymer nanocomposite electrodes showed acceptable specific capacitance (5 Fg^-1). The successfully fabricated conductive GO-based rubber nanocomposites are suitable for new supercapacitor electrodes.     

Comparison of co-current and counter-current flow in a bifunctional reactor containing ammonia synthesis and 2-butanol dehydrogenation to MEK

In this study, a multi-tubular thermally coupled packed bed reactor in which simultaneous production of ammonia and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) takes place is simulated. The simulation results are presented in two co-current and counter-current flow modes. Based on this new configuration, the released heat from the ammonia synthesis reaction as an extremely exothermic reaction in the inner tube is employed to supply the required heat for the endothermic 2-butanol dehydrogenation reaction in the outer tube. On the other hand, MEK and hydrogen are produced by the dehydrogenation reaction of 2-butanol in the endothermic side, and the produced hydrogen is used to supply a part of the ammonia synthesis feed in the exothermic side. Thus, 30.72% and 31.88% of the required hydrogen for the ammonia synthesis are provided by the dehydrogenation reaction in the co-current and counter-current configurations, respectively. Also, according to the thermal coupling, the required cooler and furnace for the ammonia synthesis and 2-butanol dehydrogenation conventional plants are eliminated, respectively. As a result, operational costs, energy consumption and furnace emissions are considerably decreased. Finally, a sensitivity analysis and optimization are applied to study the effect of the main process parameters variation on the system performance and obtain the minimum hydrogen make-up flow rate, respectively.