Survey of seed oils for use as diesel fuels

Fifty-one out of 364 plant seeds being surveyed had fatty acid contents greater than 15% (dry weight), and their methyl esters had cetane indices higher than 50. Rambutan seed was an exception, with a lipid content of only 14.7%, but a high cetane index (67.1); thus, it was included in this report. Twenty seed oil methyl esters had cetane indices greater than 60. Three seed oils from the Sapindaceae family not only had high cetane indices but also contained long-chain fatty acids of 20 carbon atoms. Gross heats of combustion of the fatty acid methyl esters were slightly higher than those of neat oil, ranging from 38.2 to 40.8 j/g, whereas the heating values of the oils ranged from 37.4 to 40.5 j/g. Thus, these plant seed oils have great potential for development as diesel fuel or diesel fuel extender.     

Identification of a Chitooligosaccharide Mechanism against Bacterial Leaf Blight on Rice by In Vitro and In Silico Studies

This study focuses on a commercial plant elicitor based on chitooligosaccharides (BIG^®), which aids in rice plant growth and disease resistance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB). When the pathogen (Xoo) vigorously attacks rice that has suffered yield losses, it can cause damage in up to 20% of the plant. Furthermore, Xoo is a seed-borne pathogen that can survive in rice seeds for an extended period. In this study, when rice seeds were soaked and sprayed with BIG^®, there was a significant increase in shoot and root length, as well as plant biomass. Furthermore, BIG^®-treated rice plants showed a significant reduction in BLB severity of more than 33%. Synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) analysis was used to characterize BIG^®’s mechanism in the chemical structure of rice leaves. The SR-FTIR results at 1650, 1735, and 1114 cm⁻¹ indicated changes in biochemical components such as pectins, lignins, proteins, and celluloses. These findings demonstrated that commercial BIG^® not only increased rice growth but also induced resistance to BLB. The drug’s target enzyme, Xoo 1075 from Xanthomonas oryzae (PDB ID: 5CY8), was analyzed for its interactions with polymer ingredients, specifically chitooligosaccharides, to gain molecular insights down to the atomic level. The results are intriguing, with a strong binding of the chitooligosaccharide polymer with the drug target, revealing 10 hydrogen bonds between the protein and polymer. Overall, the computational analysis supported the experimentally demonstrated strong binding of chitooligosaccharides to the drug target.     

The electrospun polyhydroxybutyrate fibers reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals: Morphology and properties

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) has been used in the biomedical field. However, the poor mechanical properties of PHB have limited its application. Here, electrospun fibrous nanocomposite mats reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were fabricated by using PHB as polymeric matrix. The morphological, thermal, mechanical properties, as well as cytotoxicity were characterized. Increasing the concentration of CNCs caused a decrease in diameter of the electrospun fibers. Moreover, thermal analysis indicated that melting temperature of PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers were improved with the increased CNCs content. The addition of CNCs gradually enhanced the tensile strength till 8 wt % content followed by a gradual decrease at higher CNCs content (12–22 wt %) in tensile strength. The PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers were nontoxic to L‐929 and capable of supporting cell proliferation in all conditions. This study demonstrates that fibrous PHB/CNCs electrospun fibers are cytocompatible and potentially useful mechanical properties for biomedical application. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43273.     

Swelling and mechanical properties of (acrylonitrile‐butadiene rubber)/(hydrogenated acrylonitrile‐butadiene rubber) blends with precipitated silica filled in gasohol fuels

This work studied the effects of hydrogenated acrylonitrile‐butadiene rubber (HNBR) and precipitated silica (PSi) loadings in acrylonitrile‐butadiene rubber (NBR) filled with 60 parts per hundred of rubber (phr) of carbon black (CB) for oil‐resistant seal applications in contact with gasohol fuel. The cure characteristics, mechanical properties, and swelling behavior of HNBR/NBR blends reinforced with PSi before and after immersion in ethanol‐based oils (E10, E20, and E85) were then monitored. This work studied the effects of PSi loading in rubber compounds on the mechanical properties of the rubber blends. The results suggested that the scorch time of CB‐filled NBR/HNBR was not affected by HNBR loading, but the cure time, Mooney viscosity, and torque difference increased with HNBR content. The swelling of the blends in E85 oil were relatively low compared with those in E10 and E20 oils. The recommended NBR/HNBR blend ratio for oil‐resistant applications was 50/50. Tensile strength and elongation at break before and after immersion in gasohol oils increased with HNBR loading, and the opposite effect was found for tensile modulus and hardness. PSi filler had no effect on scorch time, but decreased the cure time of the blends. The swelling level of the blends slightly decreased with increasing PSi content. The recommended silica content for optimum reinforcement for black‐filled NBR/HNBR blend at 50/50 was 30 phr. The results in this work suggested that NBR/HNBR blends reinforced with 60 phr of CB and 30 phr of silica could be potentially used for rubber seals in contact with gasohol fuels. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 22:239–246, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cupriavidus necator</Emphasis> H16 and its application for particleboard production

Different concentrations of palm oil and urea were used in a preliminary experiment conducted in a shake-flask to determine the optimum conditions for the biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The best concentration was found to be 10 g/L palm oil and 0.54 g/L urea which produced the highest concentration of PHA (8.11 g/L). A 13 L bioreactor was employed using a fed-batch fermentation with the derived optimum conditions and yielded a PHA concentration of 97 g/L. The melting temperature and thermal degradation temperature of PHA were determined to be 173 °C and 254 °C, respectively. The PHA was applied as a binder to make particleboard from para-rubber-wood flakes which were pretreated with microwaves and steam before being mixed with PHA, and control panels were also manufactured from un-pretreated flakes and without the addition of PHA. The mechanical and physical properties of the panels were determined including the modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond strength (IB), water absorption, and thickness swelling according to the Japanese Industrial Standard for particleboard (JIS A 5908, 2003). The result showed that none of the panels produced met all the minimum requirements for Type 8 Particleboard of Japanese Industrial Standard JIS A 5908. The MOR of the control panel passed the JIS A 5908 standard for MOR (> 8.00 MPa) but did not meet the IB requirement (>0.15 MPa). The addition of PHA as a binder in proportions of 15, 20 and 30 wt% in the control panel enhanced the IB to 0.18, 0.19. 0.22 MPa, respectively. However none of the other parameters of these boards met the relevant JIS A 5908 standard. The pretreatment process was also unable to enhance the properties of the particleboard but that using PHA as a binder instead of urea formaldehyde was able to meet the relevant internal bonding standard for particleboard manufactured from para-rubber-wood flakes which are a waste product in the furniture industry.     

Resonator Rectenna Design Based on Metamaterials for Low-RF Energy Harvesting

In this paper, the design of a resonator rectenna, based on metamaterials and capable of harvesting radio-frequency energy at 2.45 GHz to power any low-power devices, is presented. The proposed design uses a simple and inexpensive circuit consisting of a microstrip patch antenna with a mushroom-like electromagnetic band gap (EBG), partially reflective surface (PRS) structure, rectifier circuit, voltage multiplier circuit, and 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi module. The mushroom-like EBG sheet was fabricated on an FR4 substrate surrounding the conventional patch antenna to suppress surface waves so as to enhance the antenna performance. Furthermore, the antenna performance was improved more by utilizing the slotted I-shaped structure as a superstrate called a PRS surface. The enhancement occurred via the reflection of the transmitted power. The proposed rectenna achieved a maximum directive gain of 11.62 dBi covering the industrial, scientific, and medical radio band of 2.40–2.48 GHz. A Wi-Fi 4231 access point transmitted signals in the 2.45 GHz band. The rectenna, located 45 anticlockwise relative to the access point, could achieve a maximum power of 0.53 μW. In this study, the rectenna was fully characterized and charged to low-power devices.     

Simultaneous enhancement of ethanol supplement in gasoline and its quality improvement

Ethanol and ethanol derivatives are attractive renewable energy resources nowadays. Even though ethanol can be blended directly into gasoline (called “gasohol”), many recent researches have reported disadvantages of gasohol. Apart from immiscibility and corrosion problems, overall air pollutant emissions from the use of gasohol are usually higher than those from the use of conventional gasoline because of its higher blending Reid vapor pressure (bRvp). Ethers derived from ethanol may overcome these drawbacks. Direct etherification of FCC gasoline with ethanol was investigated in this work. The reactions were carried out in a pressurized liquid phase reactor at 0.8 MPa and catalyzed by two commercial catalysts, i.e., β-zeolite and Amberlyst 16. The bRvp of etherified FCC gasoline was found to be lower than that of gasohol (20 vol.% ethanol), indicating that the gasoline from this process is more suitable than gasohol especially for the tropical zone or in summer. The decrease of bRvp was due to the consumptions of both ethanol and olefins. In case of β-zeolite catalyst, ethanol conversion was 36.3% while olefins content was decreased from 25.7 to 13.9 vol.%. However, as expected, etherified FCC gasoline gave slightly lower RON than gasohol. It was found that β-zeolite was a more suitable catalyst than Amberlyst 16 for the etherification of FCC gasoline with ethanol because it offered products with higher RON and higher ethanol conversion.