Effect of nickel concentration on biohydrogen production: Organic solid waste vs. glucose

In recent years, alternative renewable energy generation sources have been investigated, highlighting the dark fermentation process due to it’s potential to obtain hydrogen-rich gas, which can be used as an energy source. Different trace metals intervene in this biological process. Nickel is one of the most important because it is a component of the [Ni–Fe] hydrogenase enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of H₂ in numerous bacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nickel on biohydrogen production from organic solid waste (OSW). The experimental setup was carried out in batch tests using OSW as the substrate, glucose as a reference compound and the valuation of Ni²⁺ doses on the operation in a Sequencing Batch Reactor. The results of the batch tests showed that when using glucose as a substrate, 2 mg Ni²⁺/g VS_inoculum generated the highest hydrogen production (774 ± 7.3 mL H₂/L/d) and highest yield (55.8 ± 3.4 mL H₂/g of glucose), which was 34.4% higher than the control. Testing of different concentrations of nickel using OSW as a carbon source showed that the highest production was obtained without Ni²⁺ addition since the nickel concentration in the residue was 0.17 ± 0.06 mgNi/gVS; consequently, hydrogen production was not affected by the lack of Ni. The addition of 0.5 mg Ni²⁺/g VS_inoculum decreased acetate and butyrate production and increased caproate production.     

Extracellular polysaccharides production by Arthrobacter viscosus

In this study the production of extracellular polysaccharides by the non-pathogenic soil bacteria Arthrobacter viscosus has been investigated. Different variables affecting extracellular polysaccharide production such as the carbon source (glucose or xylose), the agitation speed and the pH have been analysed.

In a first stage, experiments in shaken conical flasks (250 ml), containing 50 ml of culture medium, were carried out. Using xylose (25 g/l) as the carbon source at an initial pH 8 improved the extracellular polysaccharides levels obtained.

In a second stage, the experiments were scaling in bioreactors. Cultivation was carried out in discontinuous mode and with/without pH control. Polysaccharide production reached a maximum of 10 g of crude product per litre of growth medium after 14 days and the relationship between product formation and cell growth of A. viscosus is 2.7 g polysaccharide per gram biomass. This production was obtained at the optimal conditions determined with pH control at pH 7, xylose as carbon source (25 g/l) and an agitation rate of 800 rpm.     

Electrochemical behavior of metallic materials used in seawater—interactions between glucose oxidase and passive layers

Six materials (stainless steel, nickel-base alloy, titanium, chromium, nickel and admiralty brass) are tested in chemical and biochemical synthetic seawaters. The biochemical seawater contains enzymes catalyzing oxidation of glucose (glucose oxidase), simulating the action of natural biofilms. The evolutions of free corrosion potential (Ecor) versus time, and of cathodic and anodic reactions are compared with those obtained in natural seawater. Then, electrochemical behavior is related to semi-conducting properties of passive films. When glucose oxidase is present, increase of Ecor versus time is only reported for materials presenting a n-type semi-conductor passive film, and whose cathodic reaction current is increased. On the contrary, when passive layers are p-type semi-conductors, cathodic and anodic reactions are increased, and lead to a global Ecor constant with time of immersion. It appears that interaction between bacteria, medium and materials includes evolution of semi-conducting properties of passive layers.     

Long-term stability of an Au/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by incipient wetness in continuous-flow glucose oxidation

A 0.3% Au/Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness (IW) method was investigated in the continuous-flow liquid-phase glucose oxidation. Therefore, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system equipped with an ultrasonic separator was used. The continuous-flow glucose oxidation was carried out at 40 °C, pH 9 and 1 bar oxygen partial pressure. Residence time and glucose concentration were varied. The IW gold catalyst showed very high activity and selectivity to gluconic acid within its 110 days of operation and, thus, an excellent long-term stability. Even after severe microbial contaminations of the catalyst, its activity could be completely restored by in situ regeneration with 2-propanol.     

Influence of the preparation conditions on the properties of gold catalysts for the oxidation of glucose

In this work, two deposition–precipitation methods for the preparation of gold catalysts for glucose oxidation were investigated. Thus far, gold colloids immobilized on carbon have been used for catalytic glucose oxidation, but the long-term stability of these systems was not sufficient. To improve the long-term stability we used the deposition–precipitation methods using NaOH (DP NaOH) or urea (DP urea) as precipitation agents as they were described by Haruta and Dekkers, respectively, using alumina as a support material. With these methods, it was possible to prepare highly active and selective catalysts which showed an excellent long-term stability. DP urea was found to be the preferred method, because in contrast to DP NaOH, no losses of gold occurred during the preparation, and it was possible to adjust various gold contents up to 10 wt% Au.     

基于螺旋型铂铱合金电极的植入式葡萄糖生物传感器

采用螺旋型铂铱合金电极设计,旨在提高植入式葡萄糖生物传感器的葡萄糖氧化酶担载量并增大工作电极的电化学活性面积.以扫描电镜(SEM)观察聚氨酯(Polyurethane,PU)半透膜的形貌,采用循环伏安法(CV)和计时电流法(I-T)考察PU涂覆厚度、PU含量以及酶含量等参数对传感器电化学性能的影响,结果表明:所制备的螺旋型传感器灵敏度在20 nA/(mmol/L)~30 nA/(mmol/L),可在人体生理条件范围内线性检测(2 mmol/L~30 mmol/L)葡萄糖浓度,并且具有良好的重现性、稳定性和选择性,符合电极长期植入式需求,有望作为今后糖尿病患者血糖连续监测的关键器件.     

基于无线通信技术的便携式血糖实时监测系统设计

本文采用植入式血糖传感器,结合智能手机和3G网络技术,对糖尿病人的血糖水平进行实时监测,并自动将数据通过手机网络传送到医院的监护中心保存。当血糖水平低于或高于设定的阀值,手机会发出声音报警,并向设定的号码发送短信息显示病人当前情况和所在位置或向医院监护中心报告。     

Gold nanoparticles-coated eggshell membrane with immobilized glucose oxidase for fabrication of glucose biosensor

This work reports the fabrication and application of a glucose biosensor based on the catalytic effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on enzymatic reaction for blood glucose determination. AuNPs were initially in situ synthesized on the surface of an eggshell membrane (ESM) which was subsequently immobilized with glucose oxidase (GO_x) to produce a GO_x-AuNPs/ESM. The GO_x-AuNPs/ESM was positioned on the surface of an oxygen electrode to form a GO_x-AuNPs/ESM glucose biosensor. The effects of pH, concentration of phosphate buffer solution and amount of GO_x on the response of the GO_x-AuNPs/ESM glucose biosensor were studied in detail. AuNPs on GO_x/ESM can improve the calibration sensitivity (30% higher than GO_x/ESM without AuNPs), stability (87.3% of its initial response to glucose after 10-week storage) and shortens the response time (<30 s) of the glucose biosensor. The linear working range for the GO_x-AuNPs/ESM glucose biosensor is 8.33 μM to 0.966 mM glucose with a detection limit of 3.50 μM (S/N = 3). The biosensor has been successfully applied to determine the glucose in human blood serum samples and the results compared well to a standard spectrophotometric method commonly used in hospitals. Our work demonstrates that the developed GO_x-AuNPs/ESM glucose biosensor has potential in biomedical analysis.     

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes grafted chitosan nanobiocomposite: A prosperous functional nanomaterials for glucose biosensor application

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) grafted chitosan (CS) nanowire (NW) was prepared by phase separation method. Glucose oxidase (GOx) was sequentially immobilized into MWNT-CS-NW to obtain MWNT-CS-NW/GOx biosensor. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images of MWNT-CS-NW/GOx reveals the existence of MWNT and CS. Cyclic voltammetry and amperometry were used to evaluate the electrochemical determination of glucose. The MWNT-CS-NW/GOx biosensor shows an excellent performance for glucose at +0.34 V with a high sensitivity (5.03 μA/mM) and lower response time (3 s) in a wide concentration range of 1-10 mM (correlation coefficient of 0.9988). In addition, MWNT-CS-NW/GOx biosensor possesses better reproducibility, storage stability and there is negligible interference from other electroactive components.