Polymeric encapsulation of liquids via plasma surface polymerization

This study introduces a new approach of liquid encapsulation using an atmospheric pressure plasma (APP). The technique is similar to interfacial polymerization, though here one phase is liquid (that contains unsaturated C═C bonds) and the other phase is plasma (that contains free radicals). When combined, the atmospheric plasma can induce surface polymerization of an acrylate-based liquid, resulting in a thin polymeric skin on top of the liquid. Measurements with an atomic force microscope and a spectroscopic ellipsometer estimate the thickness of the skin formed on top of di(ethylene glycol) diacrylate to be 40–50 nm. To demonstrate an application of this method, we encapsulated hemispherical capsules of reactive adhesives on a glass substrate. These adhesives are based on thiol-acrylate and thiol-acrylate-epoxy systems that react in the presence of a strong base catalyst. Plasma-induced polymerization can encapsulate, immobilize, and isolate separate droplets of resin and the catalyst in a latent (nonreactive) state. These capsules remain latent until they rupture in response to physical contact. A tensile testing machine reports an adhesive strength of ~ 2 MPa for the formulated resins after curing. The capsules reported here may be useful for storing functional liquids for just-in-time release, such as contact-sensitive adhesives, on-demand lubricants, or self-healing agents. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48880.     

Foam Separation of Oil from Enzymatically Treated Wet-Milled Corn Germ Dispersions

More than 9 billion gallons of ethanol were produced in 2008, mostly from dry grind corn fermentation plants. These plants are a potential source of substantial amounts of corn oil, if an economical method of separating it can be developed. In this work, oil was separated from corn germ by aqueous enzymatic extraction (AEE). Batches of wet-milled corn germ in water were preheated in a pressure cooker, ground in a colloid mill, and churned in a vertical column/mixing vessel system, after the addition of enzyme. Nitrogen gas was then bubbled through the column removing an overflowing foam fraction which was subsequently centrifuged to separate free oil. Using a newly commercialized enzyme complex it was found that 80% of the oil could be recovered using a w/w ratio of enzyme solution to germ of 1:80. The low dose and low price of the enzyme complex leads to a cost estimate of AEE of corn oil from germ, similar to the wet-milled germ extracted, cost competitive with expelled oil (with the separation and drying of the foam protein), and feasible for commercialization in a dry grind plant retrofitted to separate germ.     

Screening CO2/N2 selectivity in metal‐organic frameworks using Monte Carlo simulations and ideal adsorbed solution theory

Selective adsorption of CO₂ over N₂ is important in the design and selection of adsorbents such as metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) for CO₂ capture and sequestration. In this work, single‐component and mixture adsorption isotherms were calculated in MOFs using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations at conditions relevant for CO₂ capture from flue gas. Mixture results predicted from single‐component isotherms plus ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) agree well with those calculated from full GCMC mixture simulations. This suggests that IAST can be used for preliminary screening of MOFs for CO₂ capture as an alternative to more time‐consuming mixture simulations or experiments. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

Structure of an Fab fragment against a C-terminal peptide of hCG at 2.0 A resolution

3A2 is an antibody raised against human chorionic gonadotropin and recognizes a linear epitope on the C-terminal peptide of the human chorionic gonadotropin beta-subunit. Its three-dimensional structure has been determined to 2-A resolution using molecular replacement and refined to a conventional R-factor of 18.2%. The protein exhibits the typical immunoglobulin fold, and the model contains 944 ordered water molecules and one sulfate ion. A comparison of the complementarity-determining regions of the Fab3A2 with those from the Protein Data Bank following the canonical structure method reveals a canonical main chain conformation. This antibody belongs to the canonical structure class (combination of canonical conformations of the complementarity determining loops) that shows a preference for haptens and not for peptides. However, the shape of the surface of the antigen binding loops resembles that of an anti-peptide antibody.     

Interlamellar Residual Stresses in Single Grains of NiO–ZrO2(cubic) Directionally Solidified Eutectics

Phase-to-phase residual stresses due to thermal expansion mismatch were measured in lamellar NiO-ZrO₂(cubic) directionally solidified eutectics (DSEs). The triaxial strain tensors for both phases were measured using single-crystal X-ray diffractometry techniques on isolated grains of the DSE. From the strain tensors, the stress tensors were calculated, taking into account the full elastic anisotropy of the phases. The resulting stress tensors indicated that very large compressive stresses accumulated in ZrO₂ whereas large tensile stresses were amassed in NiO parallel to the lamellae during the solidification process. The large magnitudes of the stresses indicated that the interfaces between the lamellae were very well bonded and did not facilitate slip or other stress-relieving processes.