Towards the detection of human papillomavirus infection by a reagentless electrochemical peptide biosensor

In the present work, we report first results about a technology using a conjugated copolymer poly(5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone-co-5-hydroxy-2-carboxyethyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) acting both as immobilizing and transducing element for reagentless immunosensor, and its application for the detection of HPV infection. It was shown that the reagentless immunosensor was able to detect the interaction between antigenic peptide L1 from HPV-16 major capsid protein, a dominant epitope involved in viral infection as well as in prophylactic vaccine, and the relevant antibody.     

Influence of some vegetable oils on the photocrosslinking of coatings based on an o-cresol novolac epoxy resin and a bis-cycloaliphatic diepoxide

The influence of cashew nut shell oil (CNO), epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), castor oil (CO), and dioctyl phtalate (DOP) on the photocrosslinking kinetics of UV curable mixtures containing an o-cresol novolac epoxy resin (CNE), a bis-cycloaliphatic diepoxide monomer (BCDE), and a triarylsulfonium salt (TAS) as a cationic photoinitiator has been studied. The formulation with a weight ratio CNE/BCDE/TAS of 60/40/5 was found to have the highest cure rate and the greatest final conversion of epoxy groups upon UV exposure. The presence of an unsaturated oil or of DOP in the UV curable formulation, at a content ranging from 0.07 to 0.79 mol/kg, was shown to increase the initial polymerization rate of the epoxy groups from 12 up to 31 mol/kg s, and the epoxy conversion after 18 s UV exposure from 80 up to 95%. It was found that the UV cured coatings containing CNO or DOP at concentrations between 0.3 and 0.6 mol/kg and ESO at concentrations between 0.12 and 0.19 mol/kg exhibit the best performance. These results were explained by a number of competitive factors, mainly the effects of the chemical structure and content of the oils and of DOP on the polarity, viscosity, compatibility, and internal filter effect of the UV curable resins, as well as by the characteristics of the tridimensional polymer networks formed upon UV exposure. The materials produced under the optimal conditions determined in this study can be used as high performance decorative and protective coatings and also as adhesives in different sectors of applications.     

Effects of Added Phosphates on Lipid Stability During Salt Curing and Rehydration of Cod (Gadus morhua)

Effects of added phosphates on retardation of lipid oxidation of salted cod during processing, storage and after rehydration were investigated. Lipid hydrolysis progress and development of color, primary and secondary lipid oxidation products and fluorescence intensities were determined. Added phosphates significantly retarded lipid hydrolysis and lipid oxidation progress, resulting in lower free fatty acid , lipid hydroperoxides (PV), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) as well as fluorescence intensities (δF _or and δF _aq). Significant correlation between the lipid oxidation products (PV, TBARS, δF _or and δF _aq) and yellow/brownish discoloration (b* value) of salted cod was observed. Principal component analysis showed that TBARS, b* value and δF _or were the strongest indicators of lipid oxidation during salting and storage.     

Synthesis of single-crystal SnO2 nanowires for NOx gas sensors application

Single-crystal SnO₂ nanowires (NWs) were successfully synthesized and characterized as sensing materials for long-term NO_x stability detection in environmental monitoring. Reproducible and selective growths of the SnO₂ NWs on a patterned, 5 nm-thick gold catalyst coated on a SiO₂/Si wafer as substrate were conducted by evaporating SnO powder source at 960 °C in a mixture of argon/oxygen ambient gas (Ar: 50 sccm/O₂: 0.5 sccm). The as-obtained products were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, and photoluminescence (PL). The SEM and HRTEM images revealed that the products are single-crystal SnO₂ NWs with diameter and length ranges of 70 nm–150 nm and 10 μm–100 μm, respectively. The three observed Raman peaks at 476, 633, and 774 cm⁻¹ indicated the typical rutile phase, which is in agreement with the XRD results. The NWs showed stable PL with an emission peak centered at around 620 nm at room-temperature, indicating the existence of oxygen vacancies in the NW samples. The electrical properties of synthesized SnO₂ NWs sensor were also investigated and it exhibited a negative temperature coefficient of resistance in the measured range (300–525 K). The calculated activation energy E_c of SnO₂ NWs was 0.186 eV. Moreover, the SnO₂ NW sensors exhibited good response to NO_x gas. The response of the sensors to 5 ppm NO_x reached 105% at an operating temperature of 200 °C.     

Antioxidant Activity of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) Peel Extract in Soybean Oil during Storage and Deep Frying

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) peel (RBP) is discarded as the main by‐product during processing of the fruit. Increasing attention is now paid to the valorization of RBP for the recovery of valuable compounds. Geraniin, ellagic acid, quercetin, and rutin are the main phenolic compounds found in methanolic RBP extract. Extracted rambutan peel powder (ERPP) is used to evaluate the oxidative stability of soybean oil stored at 4 and 30 °C in the dark and light and deep fried with potatoes at 160 °C. Tert‐butylhydroquinone (100 µg g^?1 oil, TBHQ) serves as positive control. Oil supplemented with ERPP of 1000 µg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) g^?1 of oil shows positive effects on the retardation of the oxidation process during storage in comparison with oil without addition. During deep frying, either ERPP (1000 µg GAE g^?1) or TBHQ retards the lipid oxidation of oil. Levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances of potatoes fried in oil fortified with the extract and TBHQ (0.4–0.59 µg g^?1) are much lower than those without the extract (1.31 ± 0.10 µg g^?1) (p < 0.05). Therefore, RBP extract exhibits favorable antioxidant effects and can be used for effectively inhibiting lipid oxidation in oil during storage and deep frying. Practical Applications: An extract from rambutan fruit peel containing phenolic compounds, that is, geraniin, ellagic acid, rutin, and quercetin showed promising results to be used as potential antioxidants in soybean oil during deep frying. Both oxidation of the frying oil as well as the oxidation of the food product, that is, potatoes were inhibited. These results demonstrated that rambutan fruit peel extract can be used as a natural antioxidant in frying oil to replace synthetic antioxidants, that is, TBHQ.     

Influence of Cr3+ on yellowish-green UC emission and energy transfer of Er3+/Cr3+/Yb3+ tri-doped zinc silicate glasses

In this paper, we study the influence of Cr³⁺ on yellowish-green upconversion (UC) emission and the energy transfer (ET) of Er³⁺/Cr³⁺/Yb³⁺ tri-doped in SiO₂–ZnO–Na₂O–La₂O₃ (SZNL) zinc silicate glasses under excitation of the 980 nm laser diode (LD). The influence of Cr³⁺ on enhancing the red UC emission of Er³⁺/Cr³⁺/Yb³⁺ tri-doped in SiO₂–ZnO–Na₂O–La₂O₃ zinc silicate glasses under the excitation of 980nm LD was also investigated. The ET processes between Yb³⁺, Cr^3+, and Er³⁺, together with the combination of Yb³⁺-Cr³⁺-Er³⁺, which led to the green UC emission intensity of Er³⁺/Cr³⁺/Yb³⁺ tri-doped in SiO₂–ZnO–Na₂O–La₂O₃ zinc silicate glasses bands centered at ~546 nm have been significantly enhanced. By increasing the concentration of Cr³⁺ from 0 up to 5 mol.%, we can locate the Commission Internationale de l'éclairage (CIE) 1931 (x; y) chromaticity coordinates for UC emissions of Er³⁺/Cr³⁺/Yb³⁺ tri-doped in the central position of the yellowish-green color region of CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram. Besides, the ET processes between the Yb³⁺, Cr³⁺, and Er³⁺ are also proposed and discussed.     

Subtle variations in the structure of crosslinked epoxy networks and the impact upon mechanical and thermal properties

Presented here is an investigation of the structure–property relationships of crosslinked networks using three bi-functional glycidyl ether aromatic epoxy resins, two bi-aryl and one tri-aryl, cured with bi- and tri-aryl amines. Subtle changes to the monomer chemistry including changing aromatic substitution patterns from meta to para, methylene to isopropyl and isopropyl to ether were explored. Changing an epoxy resin backbone from methylene to isopropyl enhances backbone rigidity thus increasing glass transition temperature (T_g), yield strength, and strain despite reducing modulus. Changing meta-substitution to para increases T_g and yield strain while leaving strength unaffected and reducing modulus. Changing isopropyl linkages to ether reduces modulus, strength, T_g, and yield strain reflecting increased molecular flexibility. Using three instead of two aromatic rings increases the molecular weight between crosslinks thereby decreasing T_g and yield strain while increasing modulus and strength. Despite the complexities of multiple systems for varying epoxy resins and amine hardeners, the effect upon network properties is explained in terms of short- and long-range molecular and segmental mobility, crosslink density, and equilibrium packing density. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48874.     

Photocatalytic degradation and heat reflectance recovery of waterborne acrylic polymer/ZnO nanocomposite coating

This work aims to clarify the photocatalytic degradation mechanism and heat reflectance recovery performance of waterborne acrylic polymer/ZnO nanocomposite coating. To fabricate the nanocomposite coating, ZnO nanoparticles (nano-ZnO) were dispersed into acrylic polymer matrix at the various concentrations from 1 to 6% (by total weight of resin solids). The photocatalytic degradation of nanocomposite coating under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation has been investigated by monitoring its weight loss and chemical/microstructural/morphological changes. As the topcoat layer, its heat reflectance recovery has been evaluated under UV/condensation exposure by using an artificial dirty mixture of 85 wt% nanoclay, 10 wt% silica particles (1–5 μm), 1 wt% carbon black, and 2 wt% engine oil. After 108-cycle UV/condensation exposure, infrared spectra and weight loss analysis indicated that the maximal degradation for nanocomposite coating is observed at 1 wt% nano-ZnO. On the other hand, after 96 hr of UV light exposure, the nanocomposite coating with1 wt% nano-ZnO could restore effectively the reflective index of solar-heat reflectance coating (from 58.45 to 80.78%). Finally, the photodegradation mechanism of this waterborne acrylic polymer coating has been proposed as the UV-induced formation of CC CO conjugated double bonds. As a result, its self-cleaning phenomenon can be achieved as the recovery of heat reflectance.     

Effect of Supports and Promoters on the Performance of Ni-Based Catalysts in Ethanol Steam Reforming

Ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is one of the potential processes to convert ethanol into valuable products. Hydrogen produced from ESR is considered as green energy for the future and can be an excellent alternative to fossil fuels with the aim of mitigating the greenhouse gas effect. The ESR process has been well studied, using transition metals as catalysts coupled with both acidic and basic oxides as supports. Among various reported transition metals, Ni is an inexpensive material with activity comparable to that of noble metals, showing promising ethanol conversion and hydrogen yields. Additionally, different promoters and supports were utilized to enhance the hydrogen yield and the catalyst stability. This review summarizes and discusses the influences of the supports and promoters of Ni-based catalysts on the ESR process.