Preparation and characterization of aluminum pillared K10 and KSF for adsorption of trimethoprim

Montmorillonite KSF and K10 were used as precursor materials for synthesis of aluminum pillared K10 and KSF (Al-K10 and Al-KSF) which characterized by TGA, XRD, SEM and FT-IR spectroscopic analysis. The sorption of trimethoprim (TMP) which is commonly employed as an antibiotic onto Al-K10 and Al-KSF was also investigated as a function of adsorbent dosage, solution pH, contact time and temperature. The adsorption kinetics was interpreted using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic models and intraparticle diffusion model. The pseudo-second-order model provided the best correlation. Adsorption isotherm parameters were obtained from Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) isotherm models. Adsorption of TMP onto Al-K10 and Al-KSF was physical in nature and ion-exchange mechanism for DR equation, respectively. Al-K10 exhibits higher removal capacity at lower adsorbent dosages in comparison with Al-KSF. The removal capacity was increased by increasing pH. ΔH⁰, ΔS⁰ and ΔG⁰ showed that adsorption of trimethoprim was endothermic, increasing randomness and not spontaneous in nature.     

Condenser Optimization in Steam Power Plant

In this paper the effects of the condenser design parameters (such as turbine inlet condition, turbine power and condenser pressure) on heat transfer area, cooling water flow-rate, condenser cost and specific energy generation cost are studied for surface type condenser. The results are given in the text and also shown as diagrams.     

Drying Characteristics and Quality Parameters of Microwave-Dried Grated Carrots

The effectiveness of various microwave-convective drying treatments was compared with convective drying to determine the most favourable treatments in terms of drying kinetics, specific energy consumption and dried product quality of grated carrots. The quality of the dried products differed among drying treatments depending on the microwave power level, pulse ratio and drying temperature. The intermittent microwave-convective drying at ambient temperature with a pulse ratio of 3.0 at 2.23 W?g^?1 provided considerable savings in drying time and specific energy consumption when compared to convective drying and produced high-quality product with better physical (colour and texture) and sensory attributes for carrots. The intermittent microwave-convective drying conducted at lower drying temperature with relatively long power-off time resulted in a more stable and gentle drying process and could be preferred to produce high-quality products.     

Antibacterial activities and total phenolic contents of grape pomace extracts

The aim of this study was to determine the total phenolic contents and antibacterial effects of grape pomace extracts (cultivars Emir and Kalecik karasi) against 14 bacteria, and the effects of the extracts on the growth and survival of two of the bacteria during storage. The total phenolic contents of grape pomace of Emir and Kalecik karasi cultivars extracted with acetone/water/acetic acid (90:9.5:0.5) were 68.77 and 96.25 mg GAE g^?1, respectively. The agar well diffusion method was used to test the antibacterial activity of the extracts at 1, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20% (w/v) concentrations in methanol on spoilage and pathogenic bacteria including Aeromonas hydrophila, Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7. Mycobacterium smegmatis, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica. All the bacteria tested were inhibited by extract concentrations of 2.5, 5, 10 and 20%, except for Y enterocolitica which was not inhibited by the 2.5% concentration. However, pomace extracts at 1% concentration had no antibacterial activity against some of the bacteria. According to the agar well diffusion method, E coli O157:H7 was the most sensitive of the bacteria. Generally, using the serial dilution method, while the extracts at 0.5% concentration had bacteriostatic activities on E coli O157:H7 and S aureus, the extracts appeared to have bactericidal effects at 1 and 2.5% concentrations. In accordance with this method, S aureus was more sensitive than E coli O157:H7 to the extracts. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and Investigation of Surface Active Properties of Counterion Coupled Gemini Surfactants

Three counterion coupled gemini (cocogem) surfactants in the series 1,6‐bis(N,N‐alkyldimethylammonium) adipate, referred as n‐6‐n (n = 12, 14, 16), were synthesized, purified and characterized by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. Their physicochemical properties were investigated by electrical conductivity and surface tension measurements. The degree of ionization, critical micelle concentration (CMC), surface excess at the air/solution interface (Γ_max), minimum area per surfactant molecule at the air/solution interface (A_min), surface tension at the CMC (γ_CMC), and pC₂₀ (negative log of the surfactant molar concentration, required to reduce the surface tension of water by 20 mN m^?1) were calculated. Increase in tail length of the surfactants increases the efficiency of surfactants to decrease the surface tension of water. Thermodynamic parameters, viz. molar free energy at the maximum adsorption attained at CMC (G_min), standard Gibb's energy of micellization (), and standard Gibbs energy of adsorption (), were also calculated. The and values show that the monomers were preferred to be adsorbed at the air/water interface and then in the micellar formation in the bulk. Additionally, fluorescence measurements were used to find the aggregation number. Other relevant surface properties (Krafft point, emulsion stability, foaming ability, micellar stability and dye solubilization ability) were also evaluated. These results suggest that with respect to emulsion formation, micellar stability and dye solubilization, the cocogem with a 16‐carbon chain gives better results, producing 89 % more stable foams and shows better aggregational behavior.     

Influence of heat treatment on the particle size of nanobrookite TiO2 thin films produced by sol-gel method

Pure nanobrookite titania (TiO₂) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the spin-coating method using titanium butoxide and acetic acid. The particle sizes of TiO₂ films were controlled by heat treatment temperatures. The activation energy for particle growth was calculated as 23.1 kJ/mol. The structural and optical properties of the nanobrookite TiO₂ thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).     

Production and Application of Active Packaging Film with Ethylene Adsorber to Increase the Shelf Life of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica)

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica) florets were packaged in low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) bags with or without ethylene adsorber under passive modified atmosphere and then stored at 4°C for 20 days. LDPE films with (8% Tazetut® masterbatch, M2) or without ethylene adsorber (M1) were tested. The effects of modified atmosphere packaging treatments on gas concentrations (O₂, CO₂ and ethylene) in the headspace, the mass loss, colour, texture, pH, total soluble solids, chlorophyll content, total phenolic content and sensory quality of packaged broccoli were determined by comparing with unpackaged (control) florets. Results revealed that deterioration occurred quickly in control broccoli, manifested mainly by mass loss, chlorophyll degradation and stem hardening. Also, it was found unacceptable by sensory panel after 5 days. Conversely, in those florets packaged under modified atmosphere packaging, especially for LDPE with ethylene adsorber (M2), all changes related with loss of quality were significantly reduced and delayed with time. Additionally, total soluble solids and total phenolic content remained almost unchanged during the whole period. Ethylene concentration was determined as 61.8 ppm in M1 and 0.33 ppm in M2, respectively, at the end of the storage. Thus, broccoli packaged with M2 films had prolonged storability up to 20 days with high quality attributes, this period being only 5 days in unpackaged control broccoli. Oxygen concentration decreased below 1% after 5 days of storage in M1, and the shelf life of broccoli in these bags was limited to 5 days because of risk for anaerobic fermentation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of insect damaged wheat kernels using transmittance images

Transmittance images of wheat kernels are used to classify insect damaged and undamaged wheat kernels. The colour histograms of pixel intensities of the wheat images were used as the feature vectors. Combination of the linear model and a radial basis function network, in a committee, resulted in a false positive rate of 0.1 at the true positive rate of 0.8 and an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.92.