Coating of a lignocellulosic aggregate with pectin/polyethylenimin mixtures: Effects on flax shive and cement-shive composite properties

Lignocellulosic lightweight concretes are a potential contributor to sustainable development. However, lignocellulosic aggregates are not always fully compatible with cement matrices leading to setting delays, significant dimensional variations and low mechanical strengths. An aggregate treatment, reducing water absorption and water-soluble molecule release, can avoid or reduce these drawbacks. In this study a coating treatment, using a pectin/polyethylenimin (PP) mixture, was applied to flax shives, which is a lignocellulosic by-product. Before shive coating, a dilution with distilled water or a micro-wave heating were conducted to decrease PP mixture viscosity.The PP treatment involved a decrease in shive water absorption. Compared to standard shive concrete, treated shive concrete exhibited a decrease in setting delay with an increase in cement hydration enthalpy, an increase in mechanical strengths and a significant reduction in dimensional variations. Although a slight increase in thermal conductivity and bulk density was measured, the cement-shive composite obtained still belongs to the insulating concrete category.     

Near-infrared distributed feedback laser emission based on cascade Förster resonance energy transfer to Nile Blue aggregates

We present the real time tunable distributed feedback lasing in the region of near-infrared light obtained in a dye doped polymeric layer via cascade energy transfer based on Förster resonance (FRET). The Rhodamine 6G and Rhodamine B laser dyes were used as a donor for FRET effect, while the Nile Blue dye served as an acceptor. The shift of the emission from visible to near-infrared region was possible due to the formation of the dyes aggregates of lower than for molecules energy levels. Therefore, through the sequence of energy transfers between molecules and aggregates, the shift between excitation and stimulated emission spectra of about 200 nm can be achieved. The use of the periodically modulated pumping beam from pulsed Nd:YAG laser allows to select and amplify particular wavelength from the gain profile according to Bragg conditions, what can be easily tuned by changing the period of the interference pattern. The reported tunability of distributed feedback emission from 725 nm to 745 nm confirmed that only Nile Blue aggregates were involved in the laser action, while donor molecules and aggregates, as well as acceptor in non-aggregated form, acted as a canal for energy transfer.     

Astringency sub-qualities of red wines and the influence of wine–saliva aggregates

Astringency is a sensory attribute, related to the quality and mouthfeel of red wines. However, the origin of astringency sub-qualities, such as the typical drying astringency found in immature grapes, is still unknown. Astringency of red wines with similar tannin content but different astringency sub-qualities, from different harvest dates, is studied. Astringency was characterised in terms of friction coefficient, polyphenol content, sensory analysis and tannin/salivary–proteins aggregates characterisation. A different evolution during ripening was found for both Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère, and tannin–protein aggregates showed differences in size, shape and surface. The velvety sub-quality appears to be related to aggregates with low precipitation, and with specific surface characteristics as roundness and Feret diameter. Results from this work propose an effect of aggregates on sensory perception and opens the possibility to explore their effect on oral lubrication.     

Roles of soluble and insoluble aggregates induced by soy protein processing in the gelation of myofibrillar protein

The role of soluble and insoluble aggregates induced by soy protein isolate (SPI) processing in the gelling properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) was studied. Incorporating soluble SPI aggregate could greatly improve (P < 0.05) the elastic modulus (G’) and water‐holding capacity (WHC) of MP gel, but had no notable effect on MP gel strength. In contrast, incorporating the insoluble SPI aggregate significantly enhanced the G’, strength and WHC of MP gel, although the improvement in WHC was smaller than that produced by the soluble aggregate. The results of environmental scanning electron microscopy showed that the soluble SPI aggregate induced a less randomly composite gel structure, which may explain its notable enhancement of WHC. However, the insoluble SPI aggregate appeared to be granules embedded in the continuous MP gel matrix, which may be related to the reinforcement of gel strength. Hence, the results of this study suggest further means of processing commercial SPI for use in meat products.     

Intensity enhancement of photoluminescent polyesters by photocrosslinking

A series of polyesters with alkylated triazole heterocyclic rings at the branches were designed and synthesized via the polycondensation reaction. The synthesized polyesters were examined with various spectroscopic methods such as Fourier transform IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. The alkyl chain length at the branch was found to affect the thermal stability of the polyesters, which decreased with longer alkyl chain. These polyesters possessed an aggregation‐induced emission enhancement characteristic evidenced by the transformation of the clear solutions in tetrahydrofuran with weak greenish blue emission to cloudy solutions with enhanced blue emission when water was added to promote aggregation. Furthermore, enhancement in the photoluminescence intensity was observed when the polyesters underwent photocrosslinking upon UV irradiation and appeared as self‐assembled aggregates. The formation of aggregates in the water ? tetrahydrofuran solutions and after photocrosslinking was confirmed via TEM analysis. The SEM images showed that the photocrosslinked polyesters were highly porous which may enhance the π ? π stacking interaction that improved the photoluminescence intensity. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

废弃混凝土资源化研究进展

废弃混凝土中砂石和水泥石颗粒回收用作再生骨料和再生水泥原料,是废弃混凝土有效资源化的基础.为了达到天然砂石骨料的性能,再生骨料需要经过颗粒整形、裂缝填充和去除黏附的水泥浆等物理化学强化处理.为了达到水泥原料的活性要求,废弃混凝土粉需要经加热和激发剂等活性激发.采用经强化和激发后的再生骨料和再生水泥可以拌制绿化混凝土、墙体砌块等混凝土再生品.综述了废弃混凝土在国内外建筑行业内的有效资源化途径,分析了资源化回用途径中关于再生骨料强化和再生水泥技术等存在的关键问题以及资源化研究的发展趋势.     

Examination of the Causes of Instability of Soy Protein Isolate During Storage Through Probing of the Heat‐Induced Aggregation

This study investigated the mechanism of instability of soy protein isolate (SPI) as influenced by thermal aggregation during SPI preparation. Samples with different degrees of aggregation but similar protein solubility were prepared by heating native SPI (5 % w/v) at 80 or 90 °C for different times before spray‐drying. The samples were then stored at 37 °C for up to 12 weeks and analyzed periodically by atomic force microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, and SDS–PAGE. All SPI samples underwent remarkable protein solubility decreases during the first 8 weeks of storage. The rates of solubility loss were positively correlated with the amounts and/or sizes of soluble aggregates contained in the initial samples (time zero), suggesting their nucleation and activation effects. Solubility tests in SDS–urea solutions and disulfide analysis indicated that non‐covalent interactions were the main driving forces for protein storage instability. Conversely, disulfide bonds and protein carbonyls were abundant in soluble aggregates, and their content increased markedly during storage. This effect suggested that covalent linkages acted as blockers for hydrophobic aggregation.     

Thermal markers arising from changes in the protein component of milk

Classification of heat load applied to milk requires the detection of parameters appropriately related to the intensity of the heat treatment. Current analytical methods based on heat-induced changes in the protein component of milk have been directed either to determine the amount of protein-derived products arised from heat treatments or to evaluate the extent of thermal denaturation of milk proteins. Lately, a new analytical strategy has been developed according to the occurrence of three major whey proteins, namely bovine serum albumin (BSA), beta-lactoglobulin (βlg) and alfa-lactalbumin (αla), normally soluble at pH 4.6 in raw milk, in the pH 4.6 insoluble protein fraction recovered from heat-treated milk. The results have shown that pH 4.6 insoluble BSA, βlg and αla, as detected by ELISA in milk, can be regarded as thermal markers suited for either dairy process control or regulation purposes.     

Fast one-step carbothermal reduction and nitridation method using nano-sized Al2O3 and carbon black to prepare aluminium oxynitride powder for highly transparent ceramics

By fast heating the nano-sized Al₂O₃ and carbon black mixtures at 50°C/min to 1750°C for 30–120 min, single-phase AlON powders were successfully obtained by a fast one-step carbothermal reduction and nitridation (CRN) method. The AlON ceramics pressureless sintered at 1880°C for 150 min by these powders show high transmittances up to 83%–84%, which indicates that the proposed fast one-step CRN method is an effective and efficient way with strong robustness to synthesize single-phase AlON powder for highly transparent AlON ceramics. It was found that α-Al₂O₃ particles do not have enough time to aggregate and coalesce during heating due to the tremendously shortened heating span, which significantly inhibited particle coarsening until the formation of AlON starts. The fast-formed AlON further inhibits the coarsening of α-Al₂O₃ during dwelling. Consequently, single-phase AlON powder of small primary particles can be obtained after 30 min dwelling at 1750°C.     

高品质再生骨料的生产及基本性能试验研究

为了提高再生骨料的品质,提出了一套高品质再生骨料生产工艺,与目前常规的再生骨料生产工艺相比,增加了机械磨损(干拌)和水冲洗两个流程.测试了利用新工艺生产的再生骨料的基本性能,并与天然骨料和常规再生骨料工艺生产的再生骨料进行了对比.结果发现,与常规工艺生产的再生骨料相比,新工艺生产的再生骨料品质显著提高,主要表现在密度增加、废旧水泥砂浆含量和吸水率降低、坚固性增加等.进一步研究了利用新工艺生产的高品质再生骨料混凝土的抗压强度,发现其与相同条件下普通混凝土差别不大.