Self-assembled silver nanoprisms monolayers at the liquid/liquid interface

A crown ether derivative (4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5 hydrotetrafluoroborate) can mediate the self-assembly of silver nanoprisms at the liquid/liquid interface in the form of a stable hybrid nanocomposite film. The metallic luster of the interfacial film results from the electronic coupling of Ag nanoprisms, suggesting the formation of closely packed nanoprism thin films. The interfacial film of nanoprisms could be transferred to solid substrates as a Langmuir–Blodgett film. The properties of films were studied by UV–vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.     

Determination of Aldehydes in Environmental Water by Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography - Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

Microwave-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction with on-fiber derivatization with gas chromatography ion trap mass spectrometry analysis is reported for the determination of aldehydes in environmental water. Hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, E-2-decanal, and E, E-2,4-decadienal were employed to develop and validate this method. The effects of relevant parameters on the quantitative extraction of these analytes in this one-step procedure were systematically investigated. The aldehydes were extracted from environmental water by a poly(dimethylsiloxane)/divinylbenzene fiber using o-(2, 3, 4, 5, 6-pentafluoro)-benzylhydroxylamine as the derivatization reagent. Under microwave-assisted heating, the aldehydes were transferred from water by headspace solid phase microextraction. Thus, efficient extraction and derivatization were simultaneously achieved. The recovery values ranged from 72.2–96.9%, and the relative standard deviation was between 4.1–14% for the aldehydes. The detection limits were from 0.001–0.005 µg L^?1. The method was validated illustrating its potential for the analysis of environmental water while offering simplicity and rapid analysis.     

Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>@PAM@NTA-Ni<Superscript>2+</Superscript> Magnetic Composite Nanoparticles for Highly Specific Separation of His-tagged Proteins

A facile approach has been developed to synthesize Fe₃O₄@PAM (polyacrylamide) nanoparticles (NPs) with carboxyl groups on the surfaces by copolymerization with acrylamide and acrylic acid in Fe₃O₄ NPs aqueous suspension. Nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) was conjugated to the magnetic NPs via well-known carboniimide chemistry using EDC and NHS. The Ni²⁺ ions loaded on the surface of NPs provide abundant docking sites for immobilization of His-tagged green fluorescent proteins (His-tagged GFP). The high magnetic property of Fe₃O₄@PAM@NTA-Ni²⁺ allows an easy separation of the NPs from solution under an external magnetic field, with high His-tagged protein binding capacity (42 μg protein/mg of NPs). The NPs can be recycled for at least four times without significant loss of binding capacity to proteins. These materials show great potential to separate His-tagged protein with low-cost purification at industrial scale.     

Investigation on a spectral splitting photovoltaic/thermal hybrid system based on polypyrrole nanofluid: Preliminary test

The present work developed a spectral splitting hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system based on polypyrrole nanofluid. This hybrid PV/T system can overcome the limitation of temperature in traditional PV/T, and achieve a high-temperature thermal output. In this system, the polypyrrole nanofluid employed in the spectral splitting filter can absorb the solar radiation that can't be efficiently utilized by PV cell unit, and convert it into medium-temperature thermal energy. The principle and methodology of the experimental system design was discussed, and the effect of particle concentration on the performance of system was investigated as well. The present work not only verifies the application potential of polypyrrole nanofluid in spectral splitting PV/T system, but also obtains some important rules on the performance. The results indicate that the temperature of nanofluid and the PV efficiency of cell unit itself increases with the particle concentration, but the thermal efficiency decreases simultaneously. The maximum overall efficiency of this hybrid PV/T system with polypyrrole nanofluid filter was 25.2%, which was 13.3% higher than that without filter. More importantly, the medium-temperature thermal energy can be harvested in such a hybrid system. Furthermore, an optimal particle concentration can probably realize a higher overall efficiency.     

Efficiency of acetic acid and formic acid as a catalyst in catalytical and mechanocatalytical pretreatment of barley straw

In this study, the potential of organic acids (formic acid, acetic acid) in a catalytical and mechanocatalytic conversion of lignocellulosic barley straw to valuable sugars is explored using sulfuric acid as a reference. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis has been carried out with acid-impregnated samples as well as unmodified barley straw. In the mechanocatalytical approach, pretreatment consists of impregnation with the acid catalyst and mechanical treatment by ball milling following chemical hydrolysis. Straw samples and residues were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) whereas hydrolysate analysis was based on total reducing sugar (TRS) determination following the DNS method and capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis. The results indicated that acetic acid and formic acid are rather mild acids yielding low TRS levels compared to the reference acid. Mechanocatalytical pretreatment slightly increased TRS yields, but not significantly. Strikingly, sulfuric acid showed an efficient conversion efficiency yielding almost 45% of TRS. Furthermore, this study provided evidence for the acetylation of straw components when acetic acid was used as catalyst. Alkali hydrolysis induced the de-esterification, but revealed no significant increase of TRS yields.     

Antioxidant effects of gallic acid alkyl esters of various chain lengths in oyster during frying process

The antioxidant effects of gallic acid (GA) and its alkyl esters including methyl gallate, ethyl gallate, propyl gallate, butyl gallate (GA-C4), octyl gallate, lauryl gallate, hexadecyl gallate and octadecyl gallate in frying oil (soybean oil) and oyster during frying were investigated. Rancimat induction period (RIP) assay indicated GA and its alkyl esters effectively improved the oxidative stability of soybean oil according to the ‘polar paradox’; that is, the antioxidant effects of the polyphenols decreased in lipid system with the increasing of hydrophobicity. Results also indicated that GA and its alkyl esters all effectively retarded lipid oxidation in oyster tissue according to parameters including RIP, peroxide value and electron spin resonance assays. Moreover, the antioxidant efficiency in oyster increased with the alkyl chain length until GA-C4, and thereafter, the antioxidant effects decreased, similar to the ‘cut-off effect’. This study provides basic data for improving the oxidative stability of seafood during frying.     

Reaction mechanism and free energy profile for acylation of Candida Antarctica lipase B with methylcaprylate and acetylcholine: Density functional theory calculations

Candida Antarctica lipase B (CALB), a specific enzyme to catalyze the hydrolysis of esters, can be a good candidate for acetylcholine (ACh) hydrolysis instead of acetylcholinesterase. The catalytic mechanism of the CALB acylation, as the first stage in the hydrolysis reaction, with ACh and methylcaprylate (MEC) has been examined by using density functional theory technique. The significant emphasis of this article is on the free energy barriers for the acylation step of hydrolysis reactions. Computed free energy barriers of the first step are 9.2 and 15.9 kcal mol⁻¹, but for the second step are 7.9 and 11.6 kcal mol⁻¹ for MEC and ACh respectively. Activation free energies are in the comparable and acceptable range and imply both of two reactions are theoretically possible. The stability role of the adjacent amino acids was examined by using two applied tools. It is exposed that the oxyanion hole residues decrease energy barriers by stabilizing the transition state structures.     

Inverse dynamic analysis type of MPPT control strategy in a thermoelectric-solar hybrid energy harvesting system

This study presents the development of a novel inverse dynamic analysis-maximum power point tracking (IDA-MPPT) scheme in a hybrid energy harvesting system between thermoelectric module (TEM) and solar array (SA). The proposed method initially changes the harvested voltage response from both sources to be the third-order exponential function. This input function selection is based on the capability of this function to stabilize the initial response system and maintain its final position despite a prolonged response time. The mV voltage value from TEM is easily boosted up to nearly 5 V using this method. With this hybridization, the total obtained voltage is doubled to become 9.7 V, which results in a total power of 0.722 W. Furthermore, the method also allows for a fast tracking system, which enables faster voltage boosting and supercapacitor charging. The supercapacitor only requires less than 5 min to complete charging and boost the voltage to almost 5 V. Thus, a satisfactory value is obtained as compared with that of the TEM system with a chosen MPPC board.     

Effect of processing parameters on the pulsed-spouted microwave vacuum drying of puffed salted duck egg white/starch products

A puffed food using salted duck egg white and starch as ingredients was produced by using a novel pulsed-spouted microwave vacuum drying (PSMVD) technique. In this study, three types of samples (ratios of salted duck egg white to starch 1:10, 3:10, and 5:10) were prepared and the moisture content of these samples was dehydrated to about 12% in a PSMVD dryer, then the samples were under different microwave powers (1.34 kW, 2.01 kW, and 2.68 kW) for puffing. The product volume expansion ratio, textural crispness (breaking forces), color parameters (L*, a* and b*), and sensory scores were determined. It was observed that microwave power and different ratios of salted duck egg white to starch had a significant effect on the expansion effect of the samples. The results indicated that the best product quality was obtained under the ratio of salted duck egg white to starch at 3:10 and microwave power at 2.01 kW.     

Highly efficient catalysts for the synthesis of adipic acid from cis,cis-muconic acid

Performing catalysts have been synthetized through incipient wet impregnation and tested for cis,cis-muconic acid hydrogenation to adipic acid. The activity of Pt-based catalysts has been compared with an Ni-based catalyst at a gentle condition. A supported 14.2 wt% Ni on γ-alumina converted 100% of muconic acid, yielding 99.4 mol% of adipic acid.