Lactic acid production from dining‐hall food waste by Lactobacillus plantarum using response surface methodology

BACKGROUND: Food waste generally has a high starch content and is rich in nutritional compounds, including lipids and proteins. It therefore represents a potential renewable resource. In this study, dining‐hall food waste was used as a substrate for lactic acid production, and response surface methodology was employed to optimise the fermentation conditions. RESULTS: Lactic acid biosynthesis was significantly affected by the interaction of protease and temperature. Protease, temperature and CaCO₃ had significant linear effects on lactic acid production, while α‐amylase and yeast extract had insignificant effects. The optimal conditions were found to be an α‐amylase activity of 13.86 U g^?1 dried food waste, a protease activity of 2.12 U g^?1 dried food waste, a temperature of 29.31 °C and a CaCO₃ concentration of 62.67 g L^?1, which resulted in a maximum lactic acid concentration of 98.51 g L^?1 (88.75% yield). An increase in inoculum size would be appropriate for accelerating the depletion of initial soluble carbohydrate to enhance the efficiency of α‐amylase in dining‐hall food waste fermentation. CONCLUSION: A suitable regression model for lactic acid production was developed based on the experimental results. Dining‐hall food waste was found to be a good substrate for lactic acid fermentation with high product yield and without nutrient supplementation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Syngas production via combined oxy-CO2 reforming of methane over Gd2O3-modified Ni/SiO2 catalysts in a fluidized-bed reactor

In this research, Ni/SiO₂ catalyst was modified with different amount of Gd₂O₃ and characterized with temperature-programmed desorption of CO₂ (CO₂-TPD) and NH₃ (NH₃-TPD), temperature-programmed reduction with H₂ (H₂-TPR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that Gd₂O₃-modified Ni/SiO₂ catalysts possessed higher CO₂ adsorption and activation ability due to the formation of surface carbonate species. H₂-TPR and XRD characterizations found that the strong interaction among nickel, Gd₂O₃ and SiO₂ took place, which improved the dispersion of Ni. Gd₂O₃-modified Ni/SiO₂ catalysts exhibited higher activity and stability for the combined oxy-CO₂ reforming of methane in fluidized-bed reactor. The H₂/CO ratio in produced syngas could be controlled via controlling reaction temperature and CO₂/O₂ ratio in feed.     

Organic‐acid‐catalyzed sol–gel route for preparing poly(methyl methacrylate)–silica hybrid materials

In this study, a series of organic–inorganic hybrid sol–gel materials consisting of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix and dispersed silica (SiO₂) particles were successfully prepared through an organic‐acid‐catalyzed sol–gel route with N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone as the mixing solvent. The as‐synthesized PMMA–SiO₂ nanocomposites were subsequently characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The solid phase of organic camphor sulfonic acid was employed to catalyze the hydrolysis and condensation (i.e., sol–gel reactions) of tetraethyl orthosilicate in the PMMA matrix. The formation of the hybrid membranes was beneficial for the physical properties at low SiO₂ loadings, especially for enhanced mechanical strength and gas barrier properties, in comparison with the neat PMMA. The effects of material composition on the thermal stability, thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, molecular permeability, optical clarity, and surface morphology of the as‐prepared hybrid PMMA–SiO₂ nanocomposites in the form of membranes were investigated with thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, gas permeability analysis, ultraviolet–visible transmission spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy, respectively. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of novel fully conjugated polymeric complexes containing 1,10‐phenanthroline

A novel fully conjugated polymer containing 1,10‐phenanthroline (DAPcDOD) was first synthesized by the polycondensation of 2,7‐dimethyl‐2,4,6‐octatriene‐1,8‐dial with 5,6‐diamine‐1,10‐phenanthroline. Three polymeric complexes were first prepared by the reaction of DAPcDOD with NiSO₄, CoCl₂, and FeSO₄, respectively. The structures of the polymer and the complexes were characterized by IR, ¹H‐NMR, and elemental analysis. The magnetic behaviors of these complexes were measured as a function of magnetic field strength (0–50 kOe) at 5 K and as a function of temperature (5–300 K) at a magnetic field strength of 30 kOe. The results show that DAPcDOD–Ni²⁺ and DAPcDOD–Co²⁺ were soft ferromagnets, whereas DAPcDOD–Fe²⁺ exhibited the features of an antiferromagnet. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Synthesis and characterization of novel copolymer containing pyridylazo-2-naphthoxyl group via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization

A novel monomer containing pyridylazo-2-naphthoxyl group, 1-(1-(4-vinylbenzyloxy)naphthalen-2-yl)-2-(pyridin-2-yl)diazene (VBNPA), was successfully synthesized and copolymerized with styrene (St) in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using 2-cyanoprop-2-yl-1-dithionaphthalate (CPDN) as RAFT agent. The polymerization behavior exhibited “living”/controlled characters. The obtained copolymer, poly(St-co-VBNPA), with pre-determinable molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution can be used as a carrier in metal ion detection and analysis via pre-concentration technique. The copolymer–metal ion (copper (Cu) and europium (Eu)) complexes were prepared and characterized.     

Electronic properties of dehydrogenated nanodiamonds: A first-principles study

First-principles calculations using quantum-mechanical density functional theory (DFT) are carried out to study the geometric structure and electronic properties of dehydrogenated nanodiamonds with diameters varying from 0.8 nm to 1.6 nm. The results show that the electronic properties of dehydrogenated nanodiamond are quite different from those of bulk diamond or hydrogenated nanodiamond. Surface atoms play an important role in the electronic structure, especially the states near the Fermi level, for dehydrogenated nanodiamond. In addition, it has been revealed that the size-dependent feature in the electronic properties for dehydrogenated diamonds is also contributed by the surface effect, in addition to the quantum confinement effect.     

Enhanced Topology Error Processing via Optimal Measurement Design

Topology errors constitute one of the significant source of problems for today's state estimators. They may cause significant biases in state estimation solutions and may occasionally lead to divergence of the numerical solution algorithms. Existing methods of detecting and identifying topology errors rely on the measurement residuals which are in turn dependent on the measurement configuration and network topology. Hence, the capability to effectively process topology errors is closely linked to proper measurement design. In particular, detection of a topology error associated with a given branch may or may not be possible depending upon the existing measurement configuration. Hence, it is possible to efficiently improve the topology error processing capability for a given system by strategically placing few extra measurements. In this paper, a systematic procedure will be developed in order to accomplish this by using not only the traditional power flow and injection measurements but also the newly emerging phasor measurement units (PMUs). Numerical examples will be provided in order to illustrate the proposed measurement placement strategy.      

一种矿山用钢筋网自动化焊接生产线的设计

设计一条钢筋网自动化焊接生产线，包括经料送料平台、纬料自动分料及上料机构、多点电阻点焊机、接料平台、卸料机械手。从上料到出料依靠电机、汽缸之间的协调工作来实现。并由单片机和PLC实现控制功能，上位机用MCGS组态软件在整个过程监视现场，采集工作状态及参数，起到监控作用。     

固体超强酸S_2O_8~(2-)/SnO_2-SiO_2催化合成环己酮1,2-丙二醇缩酮

采用沉淀-浸渍法制备了固体超强酸S2O28-/SnO2-SiO2,以它为催化剂催化环己酮和1,2-丙二醇合成了环己酮1,2-丙二醇缩酮;考察了带水剂种类及用量、酮醇摩尔比、催化剂用量、反应时间对产品收率的影响,并用正交实验对反应条件进行了优化。实验结果表明,适宜的反应条件为:n(环己酮)∶n(1,2-丙二醇)=1∶1.6、催化剂用量为反应物料总质量的2.0%、带水剂环己烷用量5.0mL、反应时间50min。在此条件下,环己酮1,2-丙二醇缩酮收率达到91.47%;催化剂的稳定性良好,在重复使用5次后环己酮1,2-丙二醇缩酮收率为82.20%,活性下降的主要原因为催化剂表面积碳和吸附了有机物;经傅里叶变换红外光谱和气相色谱质谱分析表明,产物为环己酮1,2-丙二醇缩酮,纯度为100%。