The effects of washing a collagen sample prior to TEM examination

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an important analysis technique to visualize (bio)macromolecules and their assemblies, including collagen fibers. Many protocols for TEM sample preparation of collagen involve one or more washing steps to remove excess salts from the dispersion that could hamper analysis when dried on a TEM grid. Such protocols are not standardized and washing times as well as washing solvents vary from procedure to procedure, with each research group typically having their own protocol. Here, we investigate the influence of washing with water, ethanol, but also methanol and 2-propanol, for both mineralized and unmineralized collagen samples via a protocol based on centrifugation. Washing with water maintains the hydrated collagen structure and the characteristic banding pattern can be clearly observed. Conversely, washing with ethanol results in dehydration of the fibrils, often leading to aggregation of the fibers and a less obvious banding pattern, already within 1 min of ethanol exposure. As we show, this process is fully reversible. Similar observations were made for methanol and propanol. Based on these results, a standardized washing protocol for collagenous samples is proposed.     

Nanogrooved carbon microtubes for wet three‐dimensional printing of conductive composite structures

Recent advances in three‐dimensional (3D) printing have enabled the fabrication of interesting structures which are not achievable using traditional fabrication approaches. The 3D printing of carbon microtube composite inks allows fabrication of conductive structures for practical applications in soft robotics and tissue engineering. However, it is challenging to achieve 3D printed structures from solution‐based composite inks, which requires an additional process to solidify the ink. Here, we introduce a wet 3D printing technique which uses a coagulation bath to fabricate carbon microtube composite structures. We show that through a facile nanogrooving approach which introduces cavitation and channels on carbon microtubes, enhanced interfacial interactions with a chitosan polymer matrix are achieved. Consequently, the mechanical properties of the 3D printed composites improve when nanogrooved carbon microtubes are used, compared to untreated microtubes. We show that by carefully controlling the coagulation bath, extrusion pressure, printing distance and printed line distance, we can 3D print composite lattices which are composed of well‐defined and separated printed lines. The conductive composite 3D structures with highly customised design presented in this work provide a suitable platform for applications ranging from soft robotics to smart tissue engineering scaffolds. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of non-thermal plasma treating wheat kernel on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles

The effects of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles ( FWN) were investigated. The results showed that NTP effectively decreased the total plate count (TPC), yeast and mould count (YMC) and Bacillus spp. in wheat flour. Wet gluten contents and the stability time reached the maximum when treated for 20 s. The viscosity of starch increased significantly after treatment due to the increased of damaged starch. The contents of secondary structure were altered to some extent, which was because that the ordered network structure of gluten protein broken. Furthermore, compared with the control, texture properties of FWN were enhanced significantly at 20 s, and the darkening rate of FWN was greatly inhibited due to the low polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. Consequently, the most suitable treatment was 500 W for 20 s, providing a basis for the application of NTP in flour products.     

高分子材料导热性能影响因素研究进展

介绍了高分子材料导热性能影响因素研究进展，重点阐释了聚合物基体的结构特性（链结构、分子间相互作用、取向、结晶度等）、导热填料（种类、含量、形态、尺寸等）以及制备方法等对高分子材料导热性能的影响。     

柠檬酸铋合成新工艺研究

针对现有柠檬酸铋制备工艺合成时间长、能耗高、产品纯度不高等不足,介绍了一种常温下制备柠檬酸铋的新工艺。新工艺制备时间短,制备的柠檬酸铋产品质量好,合成过程产生的废水可循环利用,废气经碱液循环吸收可生产硝酸钠副产品。     

Twin screw granulation – review of current progress

Twin screw granulation (TSG) is a new process of interest to the pharmaceutical community that can continuously wet granulate powders, doing so at lower liquid concentrations and with better product consistency than found by a high shear batch mixer. A considerable body of research has evolved over the short time since this process was introduced but generally with little comparison of results. A certain degree of confidence has been developed through these studies related to how process variables and many attributes of machinery configuration will affect granulation but some major challenges still lay ahead related to scalability, variations in the processing regimes related to degree of channel fill and the impact of wetting and granulation of complex powder formulations. This review examines the current literature for wet granulation processes studied in twin screw extrusion machinery, summarizing the influences of operational and system parameters affecting granule properties as well as strives to provide some practical observations to newly interested users of the technique.     

湿式摩擦副滑摩过程温度场分析及实验验证

湿式摩擦副滑摩过程温度场与应力场相互耦合作用,温度场分布受到多种因素影响,其中压力、旋转速度、润滑流量作为湿式摩擦副工作参数对其温度场的影响尤为显著。在理论分析基础上,采用有限元数值模拟分析与实验研究相结合的方法,对摩擦界面温度场时空分布特性进行研究,同时研究界面温度场在摩擦副工作压力、相对转速和润滑流量作用下的变化规律。研究表明:在对偶钢片和摩擦片近外径侧更易出现高温和应力集中区,且对偶钢片相对于摩擦片更易出现温度和应力分布不均匀情况;温度场中高温集中区与应力场中应力集中区相对应,最大温度随着压力增加、相对转速增大、润滑流量减少而显著上升,该结果得到试验结果的验证。     

β-环糊精修饰Ni/SFCC强化C9石油树脂催化加氢性能

以废弃的流化催化裂化催化剂（简称SFCC）为载体、β-环糊精为金属络合剂、硝酸镍为镍源，采用湿法浸渍法制备β-环糊精修饰的Ni/SFCC催化剂（简称Ni/SFCC-CD催化剂），考察其对C9石油树脂的催化加氢性能。通过BET比表面积测试、H2程序升温还原、X射线光电子能谱等手段对催化剂的物相结构进行表征，研究β-环糊精的作用机理及其对催化剂加氢性能的影响。研究结果表明：在反应温度为260 ℃、反应压力为7 MPa、反应时间为2.0 h的最优条件下，采用Ni/SFCC-CD催化C9石油树脂加氢，可制得溴值为1.45 gBr/（100 g）、色号（加纳德）小于1的水白色氢化C9石油树脂，催化剂循环使用4次后仍保持良好活性；β-环糊精的作用机理是：β-环糊精与硝酸镍产生络合作用，抑制硝酸镍的分解、控制NiO的结晶过程和增强活性组分Ni与载体之间的相互作用力，从而提高了Ni/SFCC-CD的催化活性和稳定性。     

Effect of focused ion beam sample preparation on the phase composition of zirconia

The investigation of phase transformations in metastable ceramic systems such as zirconia often requires local phase analysis within the areas of interest. Electron backscatter diffraction is a suitable method in combination with focused ion beam sample preparation. The interaction between ion beam and sample has to be carefully considered. In case of metastable Y-PSZ and Mg-PSZ, phase transformations were observed after FIB preparation with 30?kV, 30?nA and 5° incidence angle. Damage was the dominating effect for angles of 72°. The expected local temperature increase due to the ion bombardment with 30?kV and 30?nA is 700?K for ZrO₂. Thus, the observed phase transformations can be explained on the basis of the temperature increase in the corresponding Y-PSZ phase diagram. In case of Mg-PSZ, the transition temperature is 1083?°C. The local temperature increase was obviously lower. The excitation energy for the observed phase transformation was smaller than expected from the phase diagrams of the thermodynamic equilibrium. Using 5?kV, 4.8?nA and 5° incidence angle, no phase transformations and no damage were observed. Thus, these conditions are well suited for the FIB preparation of metastable zirconia.