Bioprocessing of commodity chemicals research directions for government,industry, and academia

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - The US chemical industry is facing maturing markets, variability in raw materials supply, and stiff competition from emerging chemical industries in other...     

Green preparation of porous corncob microcrystalline cellulose,and its properties and applications

Cellulose - Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a cellulosic functional material, is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. However, conventional methods for MCC preparation...     

Technological and economical analysis of flare recovery methods,and comparison of different steam and power generation systems

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - One of the most important environmental issues in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries is the appropriate disposal of waste hydrocarbon gases in...     

Microfluidics for food, agriculture and biosystems industries

Microfluidics, a rapidly emerging enabling technology has the potential to revolutionize food, agriculture and biosystems industries. Examples of potential applications of microfluidics in food industry include nano-particle encapsulation of fish oil, monitoring pathogens and toxins in food and water supplies, micro-nano-filtration for improving food quality, detection of antibiotics in dairy food products, and generation of novel food structures. In addition, microfluidics enables applications in agriculture and animal sciences such as nutrients monitoring and plant cells sorting for improving crop quality and production, effective delivery of biopesticides, simplified in vitro fertilization for animal breeding, animal health monitoring, vaccination and therapeutics. Lastly, microfluidics provides new approaches for bioenergy research. This paper synthesizes information of selected microfluidics-based applications for food, agriculture and biosystems industries.     

Azorubine: physical,thermal and bioactive properties of the widely employed food,pharmaceutical and cosmetic red azo dye material

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Azorubine (E122), an azoic dye with the chemical formula C20H12N2Na2O7S2, has a wide range of applications in the food and cosmetic industries....     

The conformational search,the stability,fragment interaction and resistance to acidic attack of epoxyl-polyurethanes in different solvent media

Structural Chemistry - Natural-based polyols are seen by polyurethane industries as an alternative to the petroleum-based polyols because of increasing challenges due to the oil crisis and global...     

Conflict minerals (3TG): Mining production,applications and recycling

The growing public awareness of conflict minerals used in consumer electronics and various other devices (e.g. GPS in vehicles, medical equipment, airplane equipment and instruments, etc.) is accompanied by increasing regulatory obligations for companies affected by different laws and certification standards e.g. Dodd Frank Act section 1502, the ICGLR Regional Certification, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance or the planned EU Certification regulation.The so called conflicts minerals are natural mineral resources such as tin, tantalum, tungsten and Gold (3TG) that are critical resources for the electronic and automotive industries but also for other industries (aviation, medical equipment, etc.).Extraction of the 3TGs is widespread and includes primary industrial mining and artisanal mining as well as recycling.     

The influence of certain modifying additives on structure,sorption, and catalytic properties of activated carbons

A brief review of the latest studies is given and the effect exerted by N, O, S, and P heteroatoms, properties of starting material, type and amount of a modifier, and treatment conditions on the structure, sorption, and catalytic properties of activated carbons synthesized from cheap wastes of chemical and food industries was determined. The performed modification of carbon sorbents made it possible to control their properties and obtain new technically important materials with given characteristics.     

Anthropogenic emissions of210Po,210Pb and226Ra in an estuarine environment

An extensive study on the distribution of natural radionuclides in an estuarine ecosystem located in Southwestern Spain is presented. This environment is highly affected by the wastes released by a phosphoric acid industry which uses phosphate rocks as raw material for fertilizer production. This rock has generally high concentrations of U and its daughters. The estuary is formed by two rivers, Odiel and Tinto, which have a common mouth into the Atlanic Ocean and a salt marsh (Odiel marsh) affected by the income of Odiel riverwaters. This river receives directly the liquid and part of the solid (gypsum) wastes released from the industries. Besides that, most of the phosphogypsum wastes are stored in uncovered piles at the right margin of the Tinto river. The study has concluded that the wastes from such industries are the cause of the enhanced concentrations found at the bed of both river channels as well as the enhancement found in surface soils in certain zones of the Odiel wet marshland. Indeed, the Northern marsh and the Mojarrera channel at the Odiel marsh seem to be the main sinks of the contaminant released by the phosphoric acid industry.     

Biomimetic synthesis of carthamin,a red pigment in safflower petals,via oxidative decarboxylation

Carthamin, a natural red pigment derived from safflower, was discovered centuries ago and has been utilized in several industries such as dye, food coloring, and natural medicine industries. Although it has been used since Egyptian times, its structural features were only determined in the mid-1900s when pioneering studies were conducted to elucidate the carthamin structure and assign its stereochemistry. Reproducing the complex biosynthesis of carthamin has been a common research goal since then. However, this has been rendered complex because of the unstable precursors and low yields from the multiple steps involved in the synthesis. Herein, we report the total synthesis of carthamin via a four-step procedure using (S)-C-β-D-glucosylquinochalcone as the starting compound. The synthesis involves mild conditions, short reaction time, and readily available compounds. After de-O-methylation, condensation, oxidative decarboxylation, and saponification, carthamin was obtained in an overall yield of 9.5% through the proposed method.     

Synthesis,Surface, and Antimicrobial Activity of Hydrophobically Thiadiazole,Pyridazine, and Pyrimidine Systems Based on Surface Active Agents

A series of hydrophobically thiadiazole, pyridazine, and pyrimidine were synthesized with surface and biological activities from cheap, available, and safe raw materials such as fatty acids. Thus, diazotizations of thiadiazole derivative 2 and malononitrile resulted a hydrazone derivative 3 , which was used to construct various biologically active compounds with low toxicity, good solubility and biodegradation, surface properties with biological activity. The results revealed that these substances have the ability to reduce the surface tension, reduce the wetting time, varying degrees of foam and emulsifying stability, which makes use in the different industries. As well as their biodegradability, which confirms that these compounds are environmentally friendly to humans and the environment. Furthermore, the effect of these compounds against certain microorganisms has been studied and shown to be highly effective against the activity of these organisms.     

Towards online,continuous monitoring for rheometry of complex fluids

This paper presents an overview of the developments that have been made towards the design of an inline rheometer that has the capabilities for monitoring in real time the viscous constitutive parameters of non-Newtonian fluids in a pipe flow. This has potential applications for a wide range of fluids, including hydrocolloid solutions and polymer solutions. This is of relevance to many industries, for example the pharmaceutical, lubrication, food and printing industries. The use of mathematical algorithms for inferring rheological parameters from properties of flow field statistics is explored. Particular focus is given to the development of a flow cell rheometer containing a T-junction geometry with the capacity to induce a range of shear rates in the vicinity of the bend, and a distribution of elongational viscosities along the back-wall. Such features create an information-rich flow field that is beneficial for the development of a rheometer with a fast response time that is suitable for commercial purposes.     

Thermal, rheological, and structural behaviors of natural and modified cassava starch granules, with sodium hypochlorite solutions

The use of chemically modified starches is widely accepted in various industries, with several applications. In this research, natural cassava starch granules were treated with standard sodium hypochlorite solution at 0.8, 2.0, and 5.0 g Cl/100 g starch. The native and modified starch samples were investigated by means of the following techniques: simultaneous thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis, which allowed us to verify the thermal decomposition associated with endothermic or exothermic phenomena; and differential scanning calorimetry that was used to determine gelatinization enthalpy as well as the rapid viscoamylographic analysis that provided the pasting temperature and viscosity. By means of non-contact-atomic force microscopy method and X-ray powder patterns diffractometry, it was possible to observe the surface morphology, topography of starch granules, and alterations in the granules’ crystallinity.     

Thermal Analysis Applied to Solid Catalysts Acidity,Activity and Regeneration

The use of catalysts in numerous important processes is widespread throughout the chemical and petroleum-processing industries. Thermal analytical techniques can be used to evaluate important properties and processes associated with solid catalysts. This paper presents examples carried out in our laboratory of the general application of TG and DSC to the acidity, activity and regeneration of solid catalysts. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A salt-free,zero-discharge and dyebath-recyclable circular coloration technology based on cationic polyelectrolyte complex for cotton fabric dyeing

Cellulose - Textile industry is one of the most polluting industries due to the large quantities of dyeing wastewater it generates and discharges. Herein, we report an eco-friendly and sustainable...     

Electrochemical polishing versus mechanical polishing of AISI 304: surface and electrochemical study

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - AISI 304 is essential for vital industries, e.g., aerospace, nuclear plants, pharmaceutical, chemical, and medical industries. Enhancement of AISI 304...     

Bioactive Compounds,Antioxidants, and Health Benefits of Sweet Potato Leaves

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most important food crops worldwide and its leaves provide a dietary source of nutrients and various bioactive compounds. These constituents of sweet potato leaves (SPL) vary among varieties and play important roles in treating and preventing various diseases. Recently, more attentions in health-promoting benefits have led to several in vitro and in vivo investigations, as well as the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in SPL. Among them, many new compounds have been reported as the first identified compounds from SPL with their dominant bioactivities. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the bioactive compositions of SPL and their health benefits. Since SPL serve as a potential source of micronutrients and functional compounds, they can be further developed as a sustainable crop for food and medicinal industries.     

环境中锑的分布、存在形态及毒性和生物有效性

由于自然过程及人类活动的影响,锑及其化合物在环境中普遍存在,环境中锑的污染也日益严重.近年来,国外对锑污染的研究日益重视.锑不是植物必需的,但能够被植物根系吸收.已有证据表明锑对生物及人体产生毒性.本文主要对环境中锑的分布和存在形态,及对动物和人体的毒性和对生物有效性研究进展进行评述。     

Self-Healing Polymer Composites: Prospects,Challenges, and Applications

Self-healing polymer composites possess the inherent ability to heal the damage event autonomically or non-autonomically with external intervention. These advanced materials can be commercialized if the challenges and limitations of different self-healing mechanisms are well known and considered. These include capsule-based healing systems, vascular healing systems, and intrinsic healing systems. To date, most of the reviews have studied and reported on different self-healing mechanisms including their response to impact, fatigue, and corrosion tests. This review focuses mostly on extrinsic and intrinsic self-healing polymer composites which have been reported during the past five years by comparing their healing efficiency, advantages, and challenges in the prospect of their future development as well as their possible applications across various industries such as aerospace, automobile, coating, electronics, energy, etc.     

The upsurge of photocatalysts in antibiotic micropollutants treatment: Materials design,recovery, toxicity and bioanalysis

The excessive use of antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics and disinfectants for domestic purposes and industries polluted the water bodies severely in the recent past. Thus released antimicrobial agents negatively impact the environment and human health as it induce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to microbes in the environment. Conventional biodegradation routes showed feasible antibiotics pollutants degradation. Nonetheless, they often demand a long time of operation (usually in days) and a major portion of the antimicrobial agents is left untreated unlike the complete oxidation with advanced oxidation processes. The residues of antibiotics left in the water bodies accelerate growth of microorganisms (bacterial, fungal, and viral) with AMR. In virtue of avoiding the catastrophe of widespread AMR, photocatalysis assisted antibiotic pollutant treatment is recently gaining a great popularity as an advanced oxidation process and has shown to be useful for the removal of antimicrobial compounds, mainly antibiotics. Recent review reports on photocatalytic antibiotic degradation focus on summarizing materials progress and antibiotics pollutants in chronological viewpoints. However, the relationship between photocatalytic materials and antibiotics oxidation reaction pathways and the toxicity of by-products are needed to be shown with better clarity to transfer the photocatalysis technique from lab to market in a safe way. This review critically analyzes the insights of energetic semiconductor structure lacking to achieve hydroxyl and superoxide radicals mediated antibiotics degradation, recommends new materials design (Z scheme) and standardization in the experimental designs, and also informs the influencing parameters on antibiotic degradation. It further assesses the possibility of recovering value-added chemicals from the photocatalytic treatment process and highlights the importance of environmental toxicity analysis. Overall, this review will be a resourceful guide for interdisciplinary researchers working on advanced photocatalysis and pharmaceutical pollutant treatment for achieving a sustainable ecology and initiating a circular economy in chemical industries.