Simultaneous fractionation of multiple classes of polyphenols from honeybush tea using solid-phase extraction

The structural diversity of polyphenols and the inherent limitations of current extraction techniques pose a challenge to extract polyphenols using a simple and green method. Hence, in this study, a method was developed to simultaneously fractionate multiple classes of polyphenols by only varying ethanol-water solutions. Honeybush tea, which is rich in polyphenols, was selected as a model for this study. Solvent extraction followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed to obtain a polyphenol-rich fraction from six honeybush samples. Based on a gradient elution programme (10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% (v/v) ethanol-water solution) of SPE, the Strata X cartridge showed a better recovery of most targeted polyphenols under 0.9 mL of the drying volume and 1 mL min⁻¹ of the dispensing speed. The elution programme for fractionating most polyphenols was as follows: single elution with 50% ethanol, followed by twice elution with 70% ethanol. The antioxidant capacity was used to analyse the differences among the polyphenol-rich fractions from six honeybush samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that unfermented C. genistoides (GG) has the greatest antioxidant capacity among the honeybush species studied. Additionally, mangiferin, isomangiferin and vicenin-2 were the main contributors to the antioxidant capacity in six honeybush fractions according to the correlation study.     

An Efficient Approach for Nodal Water Demand Estimation in Large-scale Water Distribution Systems

Water Resources Management - Real-time modeling of a water distribution system (WDS) is a critical step for the control and operation of such systems. The nodal water demand, as the most important...     

Far-red-emitting YAl3(BO3)4:Cr3+ phosphors with excellent thermal stability and high luminescent yield for plant growth LEDs

Phosphors-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs) are excellent artificial light sources for indoor plant cultivation, in which the far-red-emitting component (700−780 nm) plays an important role in regulating the photomorphogenesis of plants. Accordingly, highly efficient and thermally stable far-red-emitting phosphors are indispensable for developing high-performance plant cultivation pc-LEDs. Herein, far-red-emitting YAl₃(BO₃)₄:Cr³⁺ (YAB:Cr³⁺) phosphors were synthesized by solid-state reaction, and their photoluminescence characteristics, thermal quenching, quantum yield (QY), and application in pc-LEDs were systematically investigated. The YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor has an intense broadband absorption to the blue light, simultaneously exhibiting the sharp-line ²E emission and the broadband ⁴ T₂ emission of Cr³⁺ with a QY of ~86.7%. The far-red broadband emissions of YAB:Cr³⁺ centered at ~735 nm show a high resemblance to the active-state (P_FR) absorption of plant phytochrome. Moreover, the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor shows the thermally enhanced luminescence at temperatures of 303−393 K and the near-zero thermal quenching up to 423 K. The anomalous thermal enhancement is attributed to the temperature-dependent repopulation between ²E and ⁴ T₂ states. Finally, a pc-LED device was fabricated with the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor and blue chip, exhibiting the light out power of ~50.6 mW and energy conversion efficiency of ~17.4% at 100 mA drive current, respectively. The exceptional PL features including suitable excitation/emission wavelengths, suppressed thermal quenching and high QY make YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphors very promising for applications in plant growth pc-LEDs.     

Fine-diameter Si–B–C–N ceramic fibers enabled by polyborosilazanes with N–methyl pendant group

Given the superior thermal stability and electromagnetic features, continuous Si–B–(C)–N ceramic fibers have displayed great potential to fulfill the increasing demand for the high-temperature structural and functional materials. Manufacture of such ceramic fibers depends heavily upon the design of processable polymer precursors. Herein, a class of polyborosilazanes (PBSZs) with high spinnability were created through a facile one-pot synthesis. The trade-off between spinnability and ceramic yield of PBSZs was overcome by using heptamethyldisilazane and hexamethyldisilazane as the co-condensing agents to polymerize silicon and boron chloride monomers. The optimal PBSZs can fabricate continuous Si–B–C–N fibers with homogeneous diameter of 7.9 ± 0.5 μm and high ceramic yield of 80 wt%. Experimental characterization and quantum chemical computation revealed the mechanistic pictures of the impact of pendant groups on the polycondensation, melt spinning, and pyrolyzing process. These insights improve our understanding of spinnable pre-ceramic polymers for exploiting high-performance nitride ceramic fibers.     

Compliance-based testing method for fatigue crack propagation rates of mixed-mode I–II cracks

Science China Technological Sciences - Mixed-mode I-II crack-based fatigue crack propagation (FCPI-II) usually occurs in engineering structures; however, no theoretical formula or effective...     

Effect of the modified high methoxyl pectin on the stability of the fermented milk beverage

Stability of milk drinks could be improved by adding high methoxyl pectin. In this work, effect of the modified high methoxyl pectin (MHMP) on the fermented milk beverage (FMB) was investigated by the characteristics of adsorption, viscosity, rheological properties, particle size, zeta-potential (ζ-potential), microstructure, and phase behavior. The low concentration of MHMP (<0.2%, w/v) and final pH (<4.0) might easily cause the instability among the particles inducing from the bridging flocculation. The FMB system obviously had a good stability as the adding of 0.4% MHMP. Meanwhile, the particle size had a slight downward trend with decreasing the value of pH. The increase of MHMP concentration could increase the properties of viscosity and ζ-potential. However, the ζ-potential of the system had a decreasing trend by reducing the pH of the FMB with the same concentration of MHMP. The microstructure of the FMB was thick and dense compared with the sample without MHMP. As the concentration of MHMP was above 0.4%, the FMB system presented the uniform dispersion and only slight stratification water occurred for the phase behavior. Besides, it was also indicated that most part of MHMP was not adsorbed onto the casein micelles but was involved in a network with MHMP/casein complexes in the FMB.     

(Metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures for high-performance plasmonic photocatalysis under visible light

We describe a route to the preparation of (metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures through the heterogeneous growth of ceria on porous metal nanoparticles followed by the calcination-induced shrinkage of the nanoparticles. The approach allows for the control of the ceria shell thickness, the metal yolk composition and size, which is difficult to realize through common templating approaches. The yolk/shell nanostructures with monometallic Pt and bimetallic PtAg yolks featuring plasmon-induced broadband light absorption in the visible region are rationally designed and constructed. The superior photocatalytic activities of the obtained nanostructures are demonstrated by the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol under visible light. The excellent activities are ascribed to the synergistic effects of the metal yolk and the ceria shell on the light absorption, electron-hole separation and efficient mass transfer. Our synthesis of the (metal yolk)/(porous ceria shell) nanostructures points out a way to the creation of sophisticated heteronanostructures for high-performance photocatalysis.

     

Ex post demand information sharing between differentiated suppliers and a common retailer

We consider ex post demand information sharing in a two-echelon supply chain in which two suppliers sell differentiated products through a common retailer. We model three scenarios of information sharing to characterise the conditions under which information sharing may benefit or hurt different players: (1) no supplier is informed; (2) only one supplier is informed; and (3) both suppliers are informed. We find that the retailer may voluntarily share the low demand information when the product differentiation and demand magnitude satisfy certain conditions. In contrast, the retailer has no incentive to share the high demand information, even though this information benefits the suppliers. To achieve information sharing, we propose a side payment mechanism, which allows benefitted players to subsidise hurtful players. Finally, we extend our model by considering a situation where the suppliers have limited capacity and may invest to ramp up production capacity to satisfy a high demand.