Comparative study of lignins isolated by alkali and ultrasound-assisted alkali extractions from wheat straw.

Treatment of the dewaxed wheat straw with 0.5 M KOH at 35 degrees C for 2.5 h without ultrasonic irradiation and with ultrasound assistance for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 min resulted in a dissolution of 43.9%, 43.9%, 43.9%, 44.4%, 44.4%, 45.6%, 46.8%, and 49.1% of the original lignin, respectively. Much better results were achieved under the ultrasonic irradiation time for 35 min where nearly 50% of the original lignin was solubilized at 35 degrees C for 2.5 h. The purity of the lignin preparations isolated by alkali with ultrasound assistance was higher than that of the lignin fraction obtained by alkali without ultrasonic irradiation, and their purity increased with an increment of irradiation time between 5 and 35 min, in which the content of associated polysaccharides in the former lignin preparations (0.87-1.06%) was lower than that of the latter lignin fraction (1.16%). In addition, the lignins isolated by alkali with ultrasonic irradiation time between 5 and 30 min showed a slightly higher molecular weight and thermal stability than the lignin obtained by alkali without ultrasound assistance. No substantial differences in the main structure features between the lignin preparations isolated by alkali and ultrasound-assisted alkali extractions were found.     

Ultrasonic extraction of plant materials--investigation of hemicellulose release from buckwheat hulls

Various one- and two-step extraction procedures with and without a short application of ultrasound at the beginning of the extraction were used to examine the effect of sonication on the extractibility of the hemicellulose components of buckwheat hulls. The polysaccharides recovered from the extracts were characterised by yield as well as composition determined by chemical methods and spectroscopic techniques. They comprised a complex of glucuronoxylan and co-extracted amylose-rich starch in various proportions contaminated with other cell wall components (protein, pectic polysaccharides). The hemicellulose fractions obtained by classical and ultrasound-assisted extraction exhibited significant immunomodulatory activities. The increased yield of ultrasonically extracted hemicelluloses, which have preserved their structural and molecular properties as well as immunological activity, confirmed the importance and great potential of ultrasound-assisted extraction of industrially important polysaccharides from different tissues of plant materials.     

An efficient and practical synthesis of mandelic acid by combination of complex phase transfer catalyst and ultrasonic irradiation

Mandelic acid was synthesized from benzaldehyde with chloroform in a 81% yield at 60 degrees C for 2 h by using triethylbenzylammonium chloride (TEBA) and poly(ethylene glycol)-800 (PEG-800) as a complex phase transfer catalyst under ultrasonic irradiation. The main advantages of this present method are that the reaction time is much shorter and the yield is higher than those of the classical method. p-Methoxymandelic acid was also obtained in a 84% yield under the same reaction conditions.     

Ultrasound-enhanced extraction of lignin from bamboo (Neosinocalamus affinis): characterization of the ethanol-soluble fractions

Bamboo was submitted to ultrasound-assisted extraction in aqueous ethanol to evaluate the effect of ultrasonic irradiation on the dissolution of lignin. In this case, the dewaxed bamboo culms were subjected to ball milling for 48 h, and then were suspended in 95% ethanol followed by ultrasonic irradiations for varied times at 20 °C to obtain ethanol-soluble fractions. The structural and thermal properties of the ethanol-soluble fractions were comparatively investigated by chemical analysis including alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation, bound carbohydrate determination, FT-IR spectra, HSQC spectra, TG, and DTA. The results showed that the yields of the ethanol-soluble fractions were between 4.29% and 4.76% for the fractions prepared with ultrasonic irradiation time ranging from 5 to 55 min, as compared to 4.02% for the fraction prepared without ultrasonic irradiation. It was found that the lignin content of the fraction increased with the increase of the ultrasonic irradiation time. There was a slight increase of the molecular weight of the lignin with the increase of the ultrasonic irradiation time. Alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation coupled with HSQC analysis indicated that the lignin in the fractions was mainly composed of G S H type units as well as minor amounts of ferulic acids. In addition, the fraction prepared with ultrasonic irradiation exhibited a slightly higher thermal stability as compared to the fraction prepared without ultrasonic irradiation.     

Ultrasound accelerated esterification of palmitic acid with vitamin C

The esterification of palmitic acid with vitamin C in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid as the solvent and catalyst by means of 25 kHz ultrasonic irradiation to obtain l-ascorbyl 6-palmitate is studied. By using ultrasound the dissolution rate of the reactants can be accelerated greatly, the reaction time of esterification can be reduced from 36 to 2h, and better yield (90-93%) of ester can be given by using 95% concentrated sulfuric acid as the solvent and catalyst, contrast to the yield of 75-85% by using 99% concentrated sulfuric acid without ultrasound. The influence of reaction conditions and ultrasonic parameters to the yield of ascorbyl palmitate are reported.     

Ultrasound-assisted dextranase entrapment onto Ca-alginate gel beads

In this research work, dextranase has immobilized onto calcium alginate beads using a novel ultrasound method. The process of immobilization of the enzyme was carried out in a one-step ultrasound process. Effects of ultrasound conditions on loading efficiency and immobilization yield of the enzyme onto calcium alginate beads were investigated. Furthermore, the activity of the free and immobilized enzymes prepared with and without ultrasound treatment, as a function of pH, temperature, recyclability and enzyme kinetic parameters, was compared. The maximum loading efficiency and the immobilization yield were observed when the immobilized dextranase was prepared with an ultrasonic irradiation at 25 kHz, 40 W for 15 min, under which the loading efficiency and the immobilization yield increased by 27.21% and 18.77%, respectively, compared with the immobilized enzymes prepared without ultrasonic irradiation. On the other hand, immobilized enzyme prepared with ultrasonic irradiation showed V_max and K_M value higher than that for the immobilized enzyme prepared without ultrasonic irradiation, likewise, both the catalytic and specificity constants of immobilized enzyme prepared with ultrasonic irradiation were higher than that for immobilized enzyme prepared without ultrasound, indicating that, this new ultrasonic method improved the catalytic kinetics activity of immobilized dextranase at all the reaction conditions studied. Compared with immobilized enzyme prepared without ultrasound treatment, the immobilized enzymes prepared with ultrasound irradiation exhibited: a higher pH optimum, optimal reaction temperature, activation energy, and thermal stability, as well as, a higher recyclability, which, illustrating the effectiveness of the sonochemical method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the effect of ultrasound treatments on the immobilization of dextranase.     

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of hesperidin from Penggan (Citrus reticulata) peel

Hesperidin, an abundant and inexpensive bioflavonoid in Penggan (Citrus reticulata) peel, has been reported to possess a wide range of pharmacological properties. Ultrasonic extraction is an effective technique for the isolation of bioactive compounds from vegetable materials. In this study, the application of ultrasonic method was shown to be more efficient in extracting hesperidin from Penggan (C. reticulata) peel than the classical method. The effects of main ultrasonic-assisted extraction conditions on extraction yields of hesperidin from Penggan (C. reticulata) peel were evaluated, including extraction solvents, solvent volume, temperature, extraction time, ultrasonic power, ultrasonic frequency. Results showed that solvent, frequency and processing temperature were the most important factors for improving the extracting yields of hesperidin. When performed at the same temperature under the same time using three frequencies, methanol as the solvent improved the extraction yield evidently compared with ethanol or isopropanol; by comparison of the frequency influence, the yield of hesperidin was higher at 60 kHz than at 20 kHz and 100 kHz. The optimum ultrasonic conditions were determined as: methanol, frequency of 60 kHz, extraction time of 60 min, and temperature of 40 degrees C. In addition, the ultrasonic power had a weak effect on the yields of hesperidin within the experimental range. Extending ultrasonic treatment times did not result in degradation of hesperidin; the rotary beaker for materials can increase the yields of hesperidin.     

Efficient and selective hydrocarbon oxidation with sodium periodate under ultrasonic irradiation catalyzed by polystyrene-bound Mn (TPyP)

Rapid, efficient and selective alkene epoxidation and alkane hydroxylation with sodium periodate catalyzed by Mn (TPyP) supported on chloromethylated polystyrene, [Mn(TPyP)-CMP], under ultrasonic irradiation were reported. This catalytic system showed high selectivity in epoxidation of stilbenes and R-(+)-limonene and exhibits a particular ability to epoxidize linear alkenes such as 1-heptene. This supported catalyst can catalyze the oxidation of very inert saturated hydrocarbons as well as alkylbenzene derivatives with NaIO4 under ultrasonic irradiation. Under mild reaction conditions, this catalyst was consecutive reused five times without detectable catalyst leaching and gave over 95% epoxide yield in the epoxidation of styrene.     

Sonochemical synthesis of polyaniline nanofibers

Conventionally, micro-sized irregular polyaniline (PANI) particles were synthesized by dropwise addition of the ammonium persulfate (APS) solution into the aniline (ANI) solution with mechanical stirring. By replacing the mechanical stirring with an ultrasonic irradiation, PANI nanofibers in diameters of approximately 50 nm and lengths of 200 nm to several micrometers were prepared. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that at the early stage of polymerization, the polymers formed in both the mechanical stirred and ultrasonicated systems are in the form of nanofiber. However, with continuing of the reaction, these primary nanofibers grow and agglomerate into irregular shaped PANI particles in the mechanical stirred system, while in the case of the ultrasonic irradiation, the growth and agglomeration are effectively prevented, preserving thus the PANI nanofibers in the final product. By increasing the APS/ANI molar ratio from 0.5 to 2.5, the aspect ratios of the PANI nanofibers decreased. The PANI nanofibers exhibit higher solubility than the irregular shaped PANI particles. Although the yield, as well as the conductivity of the ultrasonic synthesized PANI nanofibers, was slightly lower than the irregular shaped PANI particles, the ultrasonic synthesis approach is one of the facile and scalable approaches in synthesizing PANI nanofibers in comparison with other ones without use of templates (e.g., the interfacial polymerization and rapid mixing polymerization). UV-Vis and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated ultrasound had no significant effect on the chemical structure of the PANI.     

Determination of the effect of high energy ultrasound application in tempering on flour quality of wheat

This research has been carried out under laboratory conditions. To determine the effect of soaking with ultrasound application to dampen hard wheat samples at one stage in tempering process was the prior goal. In the experiments, Bezostaya-1 wheat samples in different hardness levels (45, 65 and 75%) are used as material. The milling quality and qualitative properties of the flour were investigated. Results compared with the classic tempering process which has two stages tempering for hard and semi-hard wheat at the industrial applications. Ultrasonication of the samples has been applied by a probe-type ultrasound device. Because of experimental deviations, inevitable positive effect of ultrasonic tempering had not seen in the quality parameters of milling experiments like flour yield and energy consumption. But tempering with ultrasound application increased the speed of water intake and diffusion into the grain center. In the study, the wet gluten rates of the flour obtained by classical tempering process were 24.52% and the gluten index rate was 87.17%, while the results obtained by ultrasonic tempering were 22.70% and 93.33%, respectively. Thus it raised flour quality a little, possibly, due to low amount but better quality gluten coming from central endosperm in the flour obtained. Other analysis results in flour showed significant differences in some values of classical and ultrasonic tempering processes. As a result of ultrasonic tempering, the fineness rate (granulation) increased from 73.27% to 79.77%, ash content decreased from 0.61% to 0.55%, Zeleny sedimentation value decreased from 25.0 mL to 23.67 mL, flour stability increased from 9.76 min to 12.06 min, water absorption 59.1% decreased from 61.28%, softening resistance increased from 400.33 BU to 504.50 BU, maximum resistance increased from 420.50 BU to 536.16 BU. In bread trials, bread volume increased from 328.3 mL to 347.3 mL, and specific volume increased from 2.39 mL / g to 2.57 mL / g. These issues have been confirmed by some analysis such as fine granulation, low ash content, high gluten index, some farinogram, and extensigram properties, and finally better performance in bread making was observed.     

玉米秸秆常压催化液化及产物分析

以玉米秸秆粉末为原料,浓磷酸为反应催化剂,选取多种有机溶剂为液化剂,170 ℃的条件下,在高压反应釜中制备秸秆生物质油。考察了三乙酸甘油酯复配碳酸乙烯酯、甘油复配碳酸乙烯酯以及聚乙二醇复配碳酸乙烯酯(均为6∶1ω/ω)三种不同的混合液化剂对液化得率和生物质油产品性能的影响。采用气质联用仪(GC-MS)分析秸秆生物质油的化学组成;傅里叶红外光谱仪(FTIR)分析原料和液化残渣的主要官能团。实验结果表明聚乙二醇与碳酸乙烯酯混合溶剂液化时,秸秆生物质油得率为97.84%,三乙酸甘油酯与碳酸乙烯酯混合液化时得率为80.20%,甘油与碳酸乙烯酯混合液化时得率为36.97%。FTIR分析结果表明,以聚乙二醇与碳酸乙烯酯混合溶剂为液化剂,秸秆中纤维素、半纤维素和木素的特征官能团几乎全部消失,液化效果最好。GC-MS分析结果表明,生物质油的成分复杂,主要包括有机酸和酮类、醇和醚类、芳香类、糖类和酯类等化合物。     

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of rutin and quercetin from Euonymus alatus (Thunb.) Sieb

An ultrasonic method for the extractions of rutin and quercetin from Euonymus alatus (Thunb.) Sieb was investigated. The influence of four extraction variables on extraction yield of rutin and quercetin was discussed. The optimum extraction conditions found were: 70% aqueous ethanol; solvent: sample ratio 40:1 (v/w); extraction time 3 x 30 min. The recovery of rutin and quercetin and the reproducibility of the extraction method were determined. The optimized ultrasonic extraction conditions were applied to extract rutin and quercetin from dried stalks of E. alatus (Thunb.) Sieb. The application of sonication method was shown to be highly efficient in the extraction of rutin and quercetin from E. alatus (Thunb.) Sieb, compared with classical methods. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs provided evidence of more rapid opening of plant cells treated by UAE in contrast to maceration.     

Effect of ultrasound on the extractibility of corn bran hemicelluloses

Various two-step extraction procedures with and without a short application of ultrasound in the first step were used to examine the effect of sonication on the extractibility and properties of the non-cellulose components of industrial corn bran (CB). The polysaccharides recovered from the extracts of the first (FI) and second (FII) extraction step were characterised by yield and composition. Using water as extractant in the first step, similar yields of total extracted polysaccharides (FI + FII) were obtained by the short sonication treatment when compared to the classical procedures using H2O2-containing alkaline media in the first step. The yields of FI + FII showed a substantial increase (10-40%) after application of ultrasound in 1% and 5% NaOH in comparison to those of the classical procedures. The content of the neutral sugar components constituting the CB xylan varied from 65 to 88 mol% in dependence on the conditions used in the first extraction step.     

Semi-sparse deconvolution robust to uncertainties in the impulse responses

The received signal in ultrasonic pulse-echo inspection can be modeled as a convolution between an impulse response, or prototype, and the reflection sequence that is the impulse characteristic of the inspected object. Deconvolution aims at approximately inverting this process to improve the time resolution so that the overlap between echoes from closely spaced reflectors becomes small. For the relatively high contrast reflection sequences often found in non-destructive testing applications, semi-sparse deconvolution algorithms will typically yield better results than the classical Wiener filter solution. However, this requires a prototype that is a good representative for all echo responses found in the signals. Since, in practice, the prototype is often chosen by the operator directly from the inspection data, the prototype may incidentally be a bad representative for modeling the echoes for the remaining part of the object. Because of the sensitivity to deviations in the prototype this can yield deconvolution results with poor reproducibility. This paper presents a new semi-sparse deconvolution algorithm that is robust to deviations in the prototype. The new robust algorithm is based on a modification of an earlier presented non-robust semi-sparse algorithm. The robustness is obtained by including a stochastic model of the variations in the prototypes to the signal model when deriving the algorithm. Experiments performed using simulated data verify that the robust algorithm is less sensitive to deviations in the prototypes compared to the non-robust version of the algorithm and show that the proposed algorithm yields better estimates than its non-robust version and the Wiener filter in scenarios for which the algorithm was derived. Results using real ultrasonic data further show that the algorithm can be useful in practical scenarios where similar deconvolution results are required from slightly different echoes.     

Ultrasonic pre-irradiation effect upon aqueous enzymatic oil extraction from almond and apricot seeds

The present work evaluates the benefit of using ultrasonic pre-irradiation before extracting oil from almond and apricot seeds by aqueous enzymatic oil extraction (AEOE) process. The use of a commercial preparation which is a mixture of three proteases in AEOE gave 75% w/w oil yield from almonds at pH 4.0 in 18 h at 40 °C. The ultrasonic pre-irradiation at 70 W for 2 min increased the yield to 95%, w/w and reduced the extraction time to 6 h. The effect of ultrasonic pre-irradiation on meal morphology could be visually seen by scanning electron micrographs. It indicates development of of microfractures and disruption of cell walls in almond powder. With apricot, also, ultrasonic pre-irradiation also marginally increased the oil yield obtained by AEOE to 77% w/w and reduced the extraction time to 6 h. Thus, ultrasonic pre-irradiation step may reduce time required to extract oil from edible oils from plant sources and hence can improve through put in commercial oil production process.     

Effect of ultrasound on keratin valorization from chicken feather waste: Process optimization and keratin characterization

Chicken feather (CF) has been deemed as one of the main poultry byproducts with a large amount produced globally. However, the robust chemical nature of chicken feathers has been limiting in its wide-scale utilization and valorization. The study proposed a strategy of keratin regeneration from chicken feather combining ultrasound and Cysteine (Cys)-reduction for keratin regeneration. First, the ultrasonic effect on feather degradation and keratin properties was systematically explored based on Cys-reduction. Results showed that the feather dissolution was significantly improved by increasing both ultrasonic time and power, and the former had a greater impact on keratin yield. However, the treatment time over 4 h led to a decrease of keratin yield, producing more soluble peptides, > 9.7 % of which were < 0.5 kDa. Meanwhile, prolonging time decreased the thermal stability with weight loss at a lower temperature and amino acids content (e.g., Ser, Pro and Gly) of keratin. Conversely, no remarkable damage in chemical structure and thermal stability of regenerated keratin was observed by only increasing ultrasonic power, while the keratin solubility was notably promoted and reached 745.72 mg·g⁻¹ in NaOH (0.1 M) solution (400 W, 4 h). The regenerated keratin under optimal conditions (130 W, 2.7 h, and 15 % of Cys) possessed better solubility while without obvious damage in chemical structure, thermal stability, and amino acids composition. The study illustrated that ultrasound physically improved CF degradation and keratin solubility without nature damage and provided an alternative for keratin regeneration involving no toxic reagent, probably holding promise in the utilization and valorization of feather waste.     

Effect of ultrasonic separation on the structure and properties of diallyl phthalate prepolymer

The bulk polymerization of diallyl phthalate (DAP) was carried out at high temperature (190 degrees C) without using any initiator, and the reaction was stopped before the gelation point in order to get the prepolymer of DAP. The mixture for the prepolymer and the monomer was successfully separated by a novel ultrasonic method for the first time, and the separation efficiency for the new method was obviously higher than that for the traditional reprecipitation. The product obtained by ultrasonic separation was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and iodine number measurement. It was shown that the average molecular weight of the prepolymer got by the ultrasonic method was lower than that of the prepolymer got by the multi-precipitation, moreover, the molecular weight distribution of the prepolymer got by the ultrasonic separation was broader. Besides, the residual unsaturation degree of the prepolymer separated by ultrasonic was slightly higher than that of prepolymer separated by reprecipitation.     

用超声光栅测量氦氖激光的波长

介绍了一种新的测量激光波长的方法,并与传统的迈克耳孙干涉仪测量的结果进行了比较.我们对汞光和氦氖激光在乙醇(97%)形成的超声光栅中的衍射光谱进行了测量研究,首先利用汞光数据计算得到了超声波在乙醇中的传播速度,并分析了温度对结果的影响,然后利用超声波波速计算了氦氖激光的波长,得到的结果与标准值相比的相对误差为0.55%.此方法操作简便,且有与迈克耳孙干涉仪可比的精度.     

Ultrasound-enhanced reactivity of calcium in the reduction of aromatic hydrocarbons

Reductions of aromatic hydrocarbons by calcium in ethylenediamine-n-alkylamine mixture were investigated under ultrasonic conditions. Using an ultrasonic probe, with naphthalene as test molecule, it has been demonstrated that under ultrasonic action the reactions proceed faster (x10) and require a lower metal quantity (0.5) than the reactions conducted with an efficient mechanical stirrer. In addition, at ambient temperature and depending on the specific alcohol addition, selective naphthalene reduction can be performed using ultrasound. 1,2-Dihydronaphthalene (88% yield) results from the reaction in the presence of 2-propanol, and 1,4,5,8-tetrahydronaphthalene (88% yield) is obtained with tert-butanol. Investigation of the metal surface points out the characteristics of the calcium ultrasonic activation. The procedure was efficiently tested with several aromatic hydrocarbons.