Cross-flow Microfiltration with Gas Backwash of Apple Juice

Cross-flow microfiltration (MF) was applied for clarification of commercially pressed depectinized apple juices and pectin containing artificial apple juice suspensions under continuous low pressure inlet conditions (35 kPa - 209 kPa). Periodic gas backwash (air or N₂) removed solids from exteriors of 0.2 μm cut-off hollow fiber polypropylene membranes. Flux and nephelos turbidity units (NTU) of filtrates for both commercial juices and artificial juices were evaluated. Commercial juices after vacuum filtration and MF had 100–110 L/m²/hr flux during 2 hr operation. Low pectin (1%) artificial juices had ～70 L/m²/hr flux during 1.5 hr. NTUs of filtrates from all treatments were <0.69. All filtrates were commercially sterile.     

温度对石墨/明胶共混复合膜性能的影响

以明胶为基体,甘油为增塑剂,石墨为增强相,制备易溶解的生物大分子功能性复合膜,通过共混的方法制备一系列的石墨/明胶复合膜,并测试复合膜在不同温度下各浓度复合膜的抗拉强度、断裂伸长率、吸水性、水蒸气透过率、SEM等的性能来判断膜的性能。抗拉强度整体趋势随着石墨含量的增加呈现为先增加后减小的趋势,在35℃(抗拉强度范围在49MPa～85MPa)和-10℃(23MPa～40MPa)时较大但断裂伸长率较低,35℃(断裂伸长率范围在13%～34%)和-10℃(5%～55%);断裂伸长率趋势随着石墨含量的增加先增加后减少的趋势,在10℃(70%～112%)和0℃(48%～110%)时较好,但抗拉强度在10℃(6MPa～10MPa)和0℃(0.5MPa～6MPa)时较差;吸水性中随着温度的升高,空白样的吸水率受温度影响增加最快,同温度下随着石墨含量的增加吸水率降低,吸水率起到了抑制的作用;温度越高WVP越大,少量石墨加入(0.5%、3%、5%)对WVP有利;水溶性:35℃25℃5℃15℃,高温有利于溶解,低温有利有疏水保护层的形成。     

Preservation of biological materials under desiccation

A number of life forms, including seeds, certain nematodes, bacterial and fungal spores, and cysts of certain crustaceans, show an ability to survive desiccation. The present article reviews the literature available on this subject and critically evaluates the evidence for various mechanisms that may be responsible for these phenomena. Specific mechanisms considered include vitrification (glass formation) by sugars and other polyhydroxy compounds that are accumulated by the desiccated structures, specific effects of polyhydroxy compounds on membranes, effect of “compatible solutes” on conformation of key proteins, as well as other biochemical mechanisms.

The article presents potential applications relevant to food technology and to biotechnology and reviews the research required to materialize more effective use of desiccation in food and biopreservation.     

Electroseparation of an antibacterial peptide fraction from snow crab by-products hydrolysate by electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membranes

Recently, a snow crab by-products hydrolysate has demonstrated antibacterial properties due to a peptide with a molecular weight of about 800 Da, but only at high concentration. Consequently, peptide hydrolysate has been fractionated to obtain peptides in a more purified form. The aim of this work was to separate a snow crab by-products hydrolysate by electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membranes (EDUF). EDUF, which allows separation of molecules according to their charges and molecular weights, was used to recover and concentrate the active antibacterial fraction. Two different ultrafiltration membranes (20 and 50 kDa) and two electrical field strengths (2 and 14 V/cm) were used as separation parameters. After EDUF separation, the 300-600 Da peptide molecular weight range was the most recovered with an abundance of 94%. Moreover, fractionation at 14 V/cm with ultrafiltration membranes of 50 kDa allowed the recovery of an anionic fraction which showed antibacterial properties on Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Listeria innocua HPB 13.     

飞鱼籽生物酶法脱囊衣技术研究

以飞鱼籽为原料,鱼籽脱囊衣率为指标,从胰蛋白酶、胶原蛋白酶、碱性蛋白酶和木瓜蛋白酶4种酶中,筛选出胰蛋白酶为最佳使用酶,并采用L9(34)正交实验设计对胰蛋白酶脱除飞鱼籽囊衣工艺参数进行优化。结果表明,酶解液浓度0.8mg/mL、pH9、在20℃下酶解12min,飞鱼籽脱囊衣率可达83%以上。     

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated block copolyimides derived from 4,4'‐sulfide‐bis(naphthalic anhydride) for proton exchange membranes

A series of sulfonated copolyimides (SPIs) with hydrophilic segment length of 20–60 based on 4,4′‐sulfide‐bis(naphthalic anhydride) (SBNA) have been successfully synthesized to improve hydrolytic stability and proton conductivity. The SPI membranes were cast from their m‐cresol solutions, and they were characterized by determining the water uptake, water swelling ratio, mechanical properties, hydrolytic stability, oxidative stability, and proton conductivity. It was found that the water uptake of SPI membranes was low and decreased as the hydrophilic segment length increased, which led to good dimensional stability. In addition, the SPI membranes with low ion‐exchange capacity (IEC) value displayed excellent hydrolytic stability and retained good mechanical properties even after harsh hydrolysis testing, in which the block SPI with hydrophilic segment length of 40 had the best hydrolytic stability, while those with high IEC value showed an apparent decrease. All of the block SPI membranes show better conductivity than the random ones at the temperature range from 30 to 70°C. Interestingly, the proton conductivities of random SPI membranes were higher than that of corresponding block ones at 90°C. The block SPI with hydrophilic segment length of 40 gave the highest proton conductivity as the temperature increased among the block SPIs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41501.     

A review on Zeolite-Reinforced Polymeric Membranes: Salient Features and Applications

Various types of synthetic polymeric membranes have been fabricated for separation purposes in industry/laboratory. Zeolite is ceramic-based material and well known for its antiwear resistance and high mechanical strength. Mixed matrix membranes are the latest membrane technology constituting inorganic nanoparticle phase and organic polymer phase. The review represents various types and applications of zeolite-reinforced polymeric membranes. Consequently, fabrication procedure and working principle of zeolite-reinforced mixed matrix (polyimide, polysulfone, polycarbonate) membranes have been discussed. The significant relevance of polymer/zeolite membranes is in water purification, medical, catalytic, and gas separation industries. Improvement in polymeric membrane properties has been observed through incorporation of zeolite filler.     

Synthesis and optimization of high-performance amine-based polymer for CO2 separation

Membrane technology features inspiring excellence from numerous separation technologies for CO₂ capture from post-combustion gas. Polyvinylamine (PVAm)-based facilitated transport membranes show significantly high separation performance, which has been proven promising for industrial scale-up. However, commercialized PVAm with low molecular weight and excessive crystallinity is not available to prepare high-performance membranes. Herein, the synthesis process of PVAm was optimized by regulating polymerization and acidic hydrolytic conditions. The membranes based on PVAm with a molecular weight of 154 kDa and crystallinity of 11.37% display high CO₂ permeance of 726 GPU and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 55 at a feed gas pressure of 0.50 MPa. Furthermore, we established a PVAm synthesis reactor with an annual PVAm solution (1%(mass)) capacity of over 7000 kg and realized the scaled-up manufacture of both PVAm and composite membranes.     

Perfluorosulfonated ionomers membranes: Melt‐processing and characterization for ion exchange applications

Perflurosulfonated ionomers membranes with different ionic‐exchange capacity were successfully fabricated via melt‐extruding and casting of their –SO₂F precursors. A systematical investigation of the thermal stability, crystallinity, and rheological properties of the precursors was performed to secure their optimized processing conditions. The tensile properties of acid‐form membranes are found to increase with base‐hydrolysis time, where a tensile strength of 38.2 MPa is readily obtained after 24 h's base‐hydrolysis. The content of –SO₂F or –SO₃H containing side‐chains plays an important role in the thermal stability, rheological, and mechanical properties of the precursor or the acid‐form membranes. The strong ionic interactions, attributed to the –SO₃H groups, lead to decreased crystallinity and tensile strength for different IEC membranes. The acid‐form membranes exhibit good proton conductivity and low methanol crossover in comparison with reference Nafion membrane. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39944.     

Preparation and characterization of polyvinylidene fluoride hollow fiber membranes for ultrafiltration

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes were prepared using the solvent spinning method. N,N-dimethylacetamide was the solvent and ethylene glycol was employed as non-solvent additive. The effect of the concentration of ethylene glycol in the PVDF spinning solution as well as the effect of ethanol either in the internal or the external coagulant on the morphology of the hollow fibers was investigated. The prepared membranes were characterized in terms of the liquid entry pressure of water measurements, the gas permeation tests, the scanning electron microscopy, the atomic force microscopy, and the solute transport experiments. Ultrafiltration experiments were conducted using polyethylene glycol and polyethylene oxides of different molecular weights cut-off as solutes. A comparative analysis was made between the membrane characteristic parameters obtained from the different characterization techniques.