Combination of ultrasound-peracetic acid washing and ultrasound-assisted aerosolized ascorbic acid: A novel rinsing-free disinfection method that improves the antibacterial and antioxidant activities in cherry tomato

Traditional ultrasound (US)-assisted disinfection is only effective during washing. Coating is an effective method to control microbial growth after washing; however, cross-contamination can occur during immersion in the coating aqueous solution. Tap water (TW) rinsing is generally used to remove sanitizer residues after US-assisted washing; however, the Food and Drug Administration stated that rinsing is unnecessary when the peracetic acid (PAA) concentration does not exceed 80 ppm. In this study, we proposed a novel US-assisted hurdle technology of 80 ppm PAA combined with low-frequency US (25 kHz) during washing, followed by US-assisted aerosolization processing (nonimmersion coating). Ascorbic acid (AA), a safe and low-cost agent, was selected as the aerosolization solution. Cherry tomatoes were selected as the model, and the proposed method was compared with traditional US-assisted disinfection methods (US-10 ppm free chlorine washing + TW rinsing and US-5 ppm chlorine dioxide washing + TW rinsing) to analyze the disinfection efficacy and quality changes. During storage, US-PAA + 1%AA facilitated additional 0.7–0.9, 0.6–0.8, 0.7–1.0, and 0.5–1.0 log CFU/g reductions in the counts of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, aerobic mesophilic counts, and molds and yeasts, respectively, as compared with traditional US-assisted methods. Sensory properties, color index, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and weight loss were not negatively affected by any of the treatments. Firmness was slightly reduced after all treatments; however, the firmness of the samples was maintained during storage, in contrast with the decreased firmness observed in the control. Phenolic content and antioxidant activity significantly increased after all treatments. Further analysis of two key enzymes (phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and 4-coumarate-CoA ligase) involved in phenolic synthesis showed that their levels significantly increased following all treatments, leading to an increase in phenolic content and antioxidant activity. This result also indicated that US-assisted washing could act as an abiotic elicitor to increase nutritional content. Overall, US-PAA + 1%AA treatment served as an effective method for disinfecting produce during washing and for controlling microbial growth after washing without prolonging the processing time, which is an advantage over traditional US-assisted washing.     

Combination of ozone and ultrasonic-assisted aerosolization sanitizer as a sanitizing process to disinfect fresh-cut lettuce

Reduction of sanitizer dosage and development of non-immersion disinfection methods have become major focuses of research. Here, we examined the disinfection efficacy of combining gaseous ozone (4 and 8 ppm) with aerosolized oxidizing sanitizer [sodium hypochlorite (SH, 100 and 200 ppm)] and aerosolized organic acid [acetic acid (AA, 1% and 2%) and lactic acid (LA, 1% and 2%)]. Notably, 1% AA and 4 ppm gaseous ozone were ineffective for disinfecting Salmonella Typhimurium, and treatment with 1% AA + 8 ppm ozone caused browning of lettuce leaves and stimulated increases in aerobic mesophilic count (AMC), aerobic psychrotrophic count (APC), S. Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli O157:H7. Treatment with 2% LA + 8 ppm ozone resulted in the lowest S. Typhimurium, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, AMC, APC, and molds and yeasts during storage (0–7 days at 4 °C). Quality analysis indicates that LA + 8 ppm ozone and SH + 8 ppm ozone did not negatively affect L*, a*, b*, polyphenolic content, weight loss, and sensory properties; however, the levels of two individual phenolic compounds (3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and vanillin), responsible for phenylpropanoid synthesis, were significantly increased after treatment with 2% LA + 8 ppm ozone. These findings provided insights into the use of LA combined with gaseous ozone for application in disinfecting fresh produce.     

Combined use of ultrasound-assisted washing with in-package atmospheric cold plasma processing as a novel non-thermal hurdle technology for ready-to-eat blueberry disinfection

Ultrasound (US) has limited disinfection efficacy, and it has been recommended to combine it with chemical disinfectants during fresh produce washing. After washing and before packaging, the disinfection effect of US-assisted washing can be weakened; thus, in-package disinfection is important. As a nutritious fruit, there are no packaged blueberries can be directly eaten. Therefore, in this study, blueberry was selected as the model, and the two most commonly used disinfectants (free chlorine [FC] at 10 ppm and peracetic acid [PAA] at 80 ppm) were combined with low-frequency US (25 kHz) during washing, followed by in-package disinfection using dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (CP). The disinfection efficacy of US-FC and US-PAA against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium was significantly higher than that of US, PAA, or FC alone. The highest disinfection efficacy of CP was observed at the pulse frequency range of 400–800 Hz. For US-FC (1 min) + CP (1 min), an additional 0.86, 0.71, 0.42, and 0.29 log CFU/g of reduction for E. coli O157:H7, S. Typhimurium, aerobic mesophilic counts, and mold and yeast was achieved, respectively, compared with US-FC (2 min) alone. For US-PAA (1 min) + CP (1 min) an additional 0.71, 0.59, 0.32, and 0.21 log CFU/g of reduction was achieved for the above organisms, respectively, compared with US-PAA (2 min) alone. Quality loss (in total color difference, firmness, and anthocyanin content) was not observed after treatment with US-FC + CP, US-PAA + CP, US-FC, or US-PAA. After treatment with US-FC + CP or US-PAA + CP, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) content was significantly lower than that in the other groups, and antioxidant enzyme activity was significantly higher than that in the other groups, suggesting that in-package CP can activate the blueberry antioxidant system to scavenge ROS, thereby lowering the risk of quality loss. US-CP combination not only improves the disinfection efficacy but also lowers quality loss caused by ROS, without prolonging the processing time.     

The disinfection effect of a novel continuous-flow water sterilizing system coupling dual-frequency ultrasound with sodium hypochlorite in pilot scale

In this paper, a self-designed novel continuous-flow water disinfection system coupling dual-frequency ultrasound (US) with chemical disinfectant sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) was tested in a pilot scale using a simulated effluent containing Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), one of the indicators of water treatment efficiency. A suspension having a B. subtilis concentration of approximately 10⁴ CFU/mL was introduced into the system to (1) investigate disinfection efficiency of US pretreatment with NaClO (US + NaClO) and simultaneous US and NaClO (US/NaClO) disinfection under different single frequencies; (2) further examine the disinfection efficiency of these two processes with dual-frequency US; and (3) identify dosage reduction of chlorine in this disinfection system. The results demonstrated that lower dual-frequency (17 kHz + 33 kHz) US pretreatment with NaClO disinfection and simultaneous higher dual-frequency (70 kHz + 100 kHz) US and NaClO were beneficial to bacterial inactivation in terms of sterilizing efficiency. It has also been observed that US pretreatment with lower combination of 17 + 33 kHz frequencies showed better enhancement in which log reduction reached to 3.82 after 10 min chlorine reaction (chlorine alone was 0.22 log reduction), nearly 1 log reduction higher than single frequencies at the same constant power. Consequently, at equivalent power dissipation levels, US of lower frequencies combination pretreatment with NaClO disinfection performed such a promising process that one-thirds (from 12 mg/L NaClO reduced to 8 mg/L NaClO) of the required NaClO dosage was reduced for the ideal disinfection efficiency of 4 log reduction, namely 100% disinfection. And the utilization efficiency of NaClO was increased from 37.67% to 85.25% in 30 min of treatment time using an optimized combination of pretreatment and chlorination.     

Effects of ultrasound-assisted low-concentration chlorine washing on ready-to-eat winter jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao): Cross-contamination prevention,decontamination efficacy,and fruit quality

Wash water is circulated for use in the minimal processing industry, and inefficient disinfection methods can lead to pathogen cross-contamination. Moreover, few disinfection strategies are available for ready-to-eat fruits that do not need to be cut. In this study, the use of chlorine and ultrasound, two low-cost disinfection methods, were evaluated to disinfect winter jujube, a delicious, nutritious, and widely sold fruit in China. Ultrasound treatment (28 kHz) alone could not decrease the cross-contamination incidence of Escherichia coli O157:H7, non-O157 E. coli, and Salmonella Typhimurium, and free chlorine treatment at 10 ppm decreased the incidence from 55.00% to 5.00% for E. coli O157:H7, 65.00% to 6.67% for non-157 E. coli, and 70.00% to 6.67% for S. Typhimurium. The cross-contamination incidence was completely reduced (pathogens were not detected in sample) when the treatments were combined. The counts of aerobic mesophiles, aerobic psychrophiles, molds, yeasts, and three pathogens in the group subjected to combination treatment (28 kHz ultrasound + 10 ppm free chlorine) were significantly lower than those in the control, chlorine-treated, and ultrasound-treated groups during storage (0–7 d at 4 °C). Analysis of weight loss, sensory quality (crispness, color, and flavor), instrument color (a*/b*), soluble matter contents (total soluble solids, reducing sugar, total soluble sugar, and titratable acid), and nutritional properties (ascorbic acid and polyphenolic contents) indicated that treatment with ultrasound, chlorine, and their combination did not lead to additional quality loss compared with properties of the control. Additionally, the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and polyphenol oxidase were not significantly increased in the treatment group, consistent with the quality analysis results. These findings provide insights into disinfection of uncut ready-to-eat fruits using a minimum dose of disinfectant for cross-contamination prevention under ultrasonication. The use of ultrasound alone to decontaminate fresh produce is accompanied by a high risk of pathogen contamination, and the use of sanitizers to decrease cross-contamination incidence is recommended.     

Contribution of ultrasound and slightly acid electrolytic water combination on inactivating Rhizopus stolonifer in sweet potato

Effects of ultrasound (US, 300, 400, and 500 W) and slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW, 10, 30, and 50 mg/L) combination on inactivating Rhizopus stolonifer in sweet potato tuberous roots (TRs) were investigated. US at 300, 400, and 500 W simultaneous SAEW with available chlorine concentration of 50 mg/L at 40 and 55 °C for 10 min significantly inhibited colony diameters (from 90.00 to 6.00–71.62 mm) and spores germination (p < 0.05). US + SAEW treatment could destroy cell membrane integrity and lead to the leakage of nucleic acids and proteins (p < 0.05). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy results showed that US + SAEW treatment could damage ultrastructure of R. stolonifer, resulted in severe cell-wall pitting, completely disrupted into debris, apparent separation of plasma wall, massive vacuoles space, and indistinct intracellular organelles. US500 + SAEW50 treatment at 40 and 55 °C increased cell membrane permeability, and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential of R. stolonifer. In addition, US500 + SAEW50 at 40 °C and US300 + SAEW50 at 55 °C controlled R. stolonifer growth in sweet potato TRs during 20 days of storage, suggesting effective inhibition on the infection of R. stolonifer. Therefore, US + SAEW treatment could be a new efficient alternative method for storing and preserving sweet potato TRs.     

Ultrasound-mediated radical cascade reactions: Fast synthesis of functionalized indolines from 2-(((N-aryl)amino)methyl)acrylates

Novel functionalized indolines were synthesized from 2-(((N-aryl)amino)methyl)acrylates and formamides under ultrasonic irradiation for the first time. Aiming to develop a straightforward and easy-to-implement methodology for the synthesis of indolines, an instrumentation setup was designed, including ultrasound (US) equipment (Ultrasonic Horn; tip diameter of 12.7 mm, 20 kHz, maximum power of 400 W), an open reaction flask, and an inexpensive and green catalyst (1 mol%; FeSO₄·7H₂O; CAS: 7782–63–0) without the need for anhydrous conditions. The use of the sono-Fenton process in the presence of formamides and 2-(((N-aryl)amino)methyl)acrylates afforded a broad range of functionalized indolines within 60 s in high yields. Several experimental parameters of the ultrasound-assisted reaction were evaluated, such as amplitude (40–80%), sonication time (15–60 s), and pulsed ultrasonic irradiation. A 60 s silent reaction did not produce the desired indoline. The optimized conditions for US-mediated reactions allowed the production of functionalized indolines in high isolated yields (up to 99%, 60 s reaction, pulse ration 1 s:1 s, US amplitude 60 %).     

Behavior of coal-chlorine in chemical looping combustion

This work focuses on two aspects: (i) the behavior of coal-derived chlorine in chemical looping combustion (CLC); (ii) the potential adverse impacts of primary gaseous chlorine (i.e., HCl) on Cu-based oxygen carrier (OC). The inactivation mechanism of the sol-gel-derived CuO/Al₂O₃ OC is investigated. Systematic experiments are conducted in a batch fluidized reactor. First, in CLC of coal, chlorine distribution including HCl, Cl₂, Cl adsorbed in the outlet tube and Cl in solid phase is studied under various bed inventories, temperatures and gas atmospheres. The main gaseous Cl from coal is HCl, which shows a high reactivity towards CuO and is partially physically adsorbed by Al₂O₃. Unconverted HCl is 15.63 ± 0.20%, which could result in corrosion of the CO₂ transportation line and compression equipment. What's more, the coal ash exhibits a dechlorination function by forming KCl and CaCl₂. The CO₂ atmosphere and high temperature in fuel reactor show a promotion on the conversion of coal-Cl to HCl. Then, the corrosion of various OC components is evaluated by a mixture gas with 400 ppm HCl, i.e., Cu-Al (whole OC), CuO (active phase) and Al₂O₃ (inert support phase). It is found that a part of HCl is converted to Cl₂ via the Deacon reaction (4HCl + O₂ = 2H₂O + 2Cl₂) and oxidized by CuO (2CuO + 4HCl = 2CuCl + Cl₂ + 2H₂O). At the high concentration of HCl (400 ppm) atmosphere, CuO is partially lost from the OC, producing the gaseous copper chlorides, i.e., CuCl and (CuCl)₃, which are found to be condensed in the outlet tube. Besides, the solid-phase copper chlorides also degrade the oxygen donation capacity of the OC. Finally, the migration path of coal-chlorine during CLC is summarized. This work will contribute to the development of Cl-resistance OCs and control approaches for Cl emission.     

Enhancement effects of ultrasound on secondary wastewater effluent disinfection by sodium hypochlorite and disinfection by-products analysis

Since fecal coliforms was introduced as a standard indicator of pollutants in effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants in China in 2003, chlorine had been widely used in many wastewater treatment plants. However, concerns about the disinfection by-products (DBPs) of chlorine have been increasing. One of the effective way to reduce the production of DBPs is to reduce the effective chlorine dosage by improving the utilization rate of disinfectant. Ultrasound (US) is proved to be effective in wastewater treatment for its multiple chemical and physical effects produced by cavitation, which could favor the disinfection process accordingly. For the purpose of improving disinfection efficiency with the help of US, following points are addressed in the current study: (1) investigate the enhancement effects of US on the disinfection efficiency of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for real secondary effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants; (2) evaluate the possibility of using US specific energy consumption (kJ/L) as an parameter for disinfection efficiency evaluation; and (3) quantify the reduction in chlorine-DBPs through US application. Results demonstrated that sonication could reduce two-thirds (US pretreatment) or one-third (simultaneous US and NaClO disinfection) of the required concentrations of NaClO (available chlorine) for 4 log reduction of fecal coliforms, which could meet the Class 1A (fecal coliforms less than 1000 CFU/L) discharge standard of China. In addition, US pretreatment with NaClO disinfection performed better enhancement in disinfection efficiency compared with simultaneous US and NaClO disinfection. Furthermore, analysis on DBPs showed that US application as pretreatment could obviously reduce the contents of trichloromethane (TCM) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) by more than 85% and 50%, respectively, compared with NaClO disinfection alone for the same disinfection efficiency. Meanwhile, the experimental results also showed that the disinfection efficiency and DBPs concentration were only slightly affected under a constant US specific energy consumption, although input power density and irradiation time changed, indicating that specific energy consumption (kJ/L) could be considered as a better control parameter for disinfection efficiency evaluation.     

Disinfection effect of a continuous-flow ultrasound/ultraviolet baffled reactor at a pilot scale

An ultrasound/ultraviolet (US/UV) baffled reactor was developed to fill the gap in ultraviolet (UV) disinfection associated with disinfection efficiency. According to the previously selected operational condition, a continuous-flow US/UV baffled reactor was continuously operated in a wastewater treatment plant at a pilot scale for nearly three months, and the disinfection influent and effluent were analyzed, including fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and fecal streptococci. The US/UV baffled reactor could guarantee a high effluent disinfection performance in terms of fecal coliforms removal even with the fluctuation of the secondary effluent. All the disinfected effluents satisfied the requirement of the “Pollutants Discharge Standard of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant in China” (fecal coliforms below 1000 CFU/L for class 1A), and 87% of the tested fecal coliforms concentration in the disinfected effluent was below 100 CFU/L, nearly eliminating all fecal coliforms. Further analysis of the E. coli and fecal streptococci showed the broad disinfection ability and high disinfection efficiency of the US/UV baffled reactor. The flexibility of the specific energy consumption for the disinfection system depends on the water quality.     

Inactivation of foodborne pathogens based on synergistic effects of ultrasound and natural compounds during fresh produce washing

Ultrasound has potential to be used for disinfection, and its antimicrobial effectiveness can be enhanced in presence of natural compounds. In this study, we compared the antimicrobial effects of ultrasound at 20 kHz (US 20 kHz) or 1 MHz (US 1 MHz) in combination with carvacrol, citral, cinnamic acid, geraniol, gallic acid, lactic acid, or limonene against E. coli K12 and Listeria innocua at a constant power density in water. Compared to the cumulative effect of the individual treatments, the combined treatment of US 1 MHz and 10 mM citral generated >1.5 log CFU/mL additional inactivation of E. coli K12. Similarly, combined treatments of US 1 MHz and 2 mM carvacrol (30 min), US 20 kHz and 2 mM carvacrol, 10 mM citral, or 5 mM geraniol (15 min) generated >0.5–2.0 log CFU/mL additional inactivation in L. innocua. The synergistic effect of citral, as a presentative compound, and US 20 kHz treatment was determined to be a result of enhanced dispersion of insoluble citral droplets in combination with physical impact on bacterial membrane structures, whereas the inactivation by US 1 MHz was likely due to generation of oxidative stress within the bacteria. Combined ultrasound and citral treatments improved the bacterial inactivation in simulated wash water in presence of organic matter or during washing of inoculated blueberries but only additive antimicrobial effects were observed. Findings in this study will be useful to enhance fresh produce safety and shelf-life and design other alternative ultrasound based sanitation processes.     

Analysis of ultrasound-assisted convective heating/cooling process: Development and application of a Nusselt equation

In this study, the convective heating/cooling process assisted by US irradiation is analyzed with the aims of developing a new convective heat transfer correlation. Heat transfer experiments were conducted with different copper machined geometries (cube, sphere and cylinder), fluid velocities (0.93–5.00 × 10⁻³ m/s), temperatures (5–60 °C), and US intensities (0–6913 W/m²) using water as heat transfer fluid. The Nusselt (Nu) equation was obtained by assuming an apparent Nu number in the US-assisted process, expressed as the sum of contributions of the forced convection and cavitation-acoustic streaming effects. The Nu equation was validated with two sets of experiments conducted with a mixture of ethylene glycol and water (1:1 V/V) or a CaCl₂ aqueous solution (30 g/L) as immersion media, achieving a satisfactory reproduction of experimental data, with mean relative deviations of 17.6 and 17.8%, respectively. In addition, a conduction model with source term and the proposed correlation were applied to the analysis of US-accelerated heating kinetics of dry-cured ham reported in literature. Results demonstrated that US improves heating of ham slices because of the increased heat transfer coefficients and the direct absorption of US power by the foodstuff.     

Electronic core levels of hydroxyls at the surface of chromia related to their XPS O 1s signature: A DFT + U study

The Cr 2p and O 1s binding energy (BE) levels have been calculated by first principles methods for different models of hydroxylated (0001)-Cr₂O₃ surfaces. Several surface terminations have been considered. The calculations allow us to reproduce the O 1s shifts between O in oxide and OH groups. It is found that two main effects account for the OH binding energy shifts. On the one hand, the increased covalency of the O–H bond with respect to the Cr–O bond, lowers the electronic O (1s and 2p) energy, and in consequence the BE of the core levels (O 1s) are higher. On the other hand, the lower the OH coordination number, the higher the valence and core levels energy, and the lower the BE. Consequently, mono-coordinated hydroxyls have a binding energy near that of O^2? in the oxide (ΔBE_OH–O = ? 0.2–0.0 eV). Two-fold coordinated hydroxyls have a slightly higher BE (ΔBE_OH–O = + 0.3 eV). Three-fold coordinated OH groups have a higher binding energy (ΔBE_OH–O = + 0.6?0.7 eV), corresponding to that experimentally measured for OH groups. Finally, water adsorbed above OH groups exhibits a still higher BE (ΔBE_HOH–O = + 0.9–1.0 eV). The ΔBE are slightly under-estimated under the initial state approximation, and overestimated under the final state (Z + 1) approximation.     

Developing ultrasound-assisted hot-air and infrared drying technology for sweet potatoes

The influence of ultrasound (US) pretreatments combined with infrared (IRD) and hot-air (HAD) drying on drying kinetics, mathematical modeling, bioactive compounds (antioxidant activities, Vitamin C, phenolics, and flavonoid contents), qualitative properties (β-carotene, total carotenoids, color indexes, textural profile), enzyme inactivation, and exergetic analysis of sweet potatoes. The US pretreatment at 40 kHz combined with IRD and HAD (70 °C) significantly lessened the drying time and water contents. Besides, it did not affect the sweet potato's bioactive components and other quality-related attributes. The samples’ activation energy (E_a) ranged from 17.60 to 29.86 kJ/mol for both dryers, with R² (0.999–0.9809). Control samples had the highest specific energy consumption (SEC) due to the extended drying period, whereas ultrasound (40 kHz) treated samples had the lowest SEC during HAD and IRD at 80 °C. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that increasing the drying temperature lowers the enthalpy and Gibbs free energy, while entropy resulted in negative values. HAD had better textural qualities (hardness and resilience). The US pretreatments followed by HAD or IRD may lead to an energy-efficient method with acceptable quality maintenance.     

Conductive diamond sono-electrochemical disinfection (CDSED) for municipal wastewater reclamation

In the present work, the disinfection of actual effluents from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) by a conductive diamond sono-electrochemical process was assessed. First, efficiency of single electrodisinfection process with diamond anodes (without the contribution of ultrasounds) was studied, finding that the total disinfection can be attained at current charges applied below 0.02 kA h m⁻³. It was also found that the main disinfection mechanism is the attack of Escherichia coli (E. coli) by the disinfectants produced in the electrochemical cell and that the production of chlorates is avoided when working at current densities not higher than 1.27 A m⁻². Next, a marked synergistic effect was found when coupling ultrasound (US) irradiation to the electrochemical system (sono-electrochemical disinfection). This increase in the disinfection rate was found to be related to the suppression of the agglomeration of E. coli cells and the enhancement in the production of disinfectant species.     

Shock tube study of the interaction between ammonia and nitric oxide at high temperatures using laser absorption spectroscopy

The interaction between ammonia (NH₃) and nitric oxide (NO) at high temperatures is studied in this work using a shock tube combined with laser absorption diagnostics. The system simultaneously measured the NH₃ and NO time-histories during the reaction processes of the shock-heated NH₃/NO/CO/Ar mixtures (NH₃:NO ≈ 0.9:1.0 and 1.4:1.0). The absorption cross-sections of NH₃ near 1122.10 cm^–1 and NO at 1900.52 cm^–1 (characterized in this study) were used for measuring NH₃ and NO time-histories with the temperature measured by two CO absorption lines. The measured NH₃ and NO time-histories at 1614–1968 K and 2.4–2.8 atm were compared with predictions of seven recent kinetics models. The predictions that based on different mechanisms are very different and the measured profiles are within the range of the predictions. The Glarborg, NUI Galway Syngas-NOx, and Mathieu mechanisms give the closest predictions to the measurements. Kinetics analyses indicate that the NH₃ and NO consumption rates are extremely sensitive to the rate constants and branching ratio of NH₂ + NO = N₂ + H₂O and NH₂ + NO = NNH + OH, which are more reliably represented in the Glarborg and NUI Galway Syngas-NOx mechanisms. The performances of Glarborg mechanisms at lower initial temperatures can be apparently improved by revising the rate constants and branching ratio of NH₂ + NO = N₂ + H₂O and NH₂ + NO = NNH + OH. These two reactions are also the primary pathways for NO reduction and NH₃ is mainly consumed via NH₃ + OH = NH₂ + H₂O and NH₃ + H = NH₂ + H₂. Trace amounts of NO₂ and N₂O impurities decompose to form O radical followed by the generation of OH radical via H-abstraction reactions, which significantly affects the predictions of NH₃ and NO according to kinetics analyses.     

Ablation depth control with 40 nm resolution on ITO thin films using a square,flat top beam shaped femtosecond NIR laser

We reported on the ablation depth control with a resolution of 40 nm on indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film using a square beam shaped femtosecond (190 fs) laser (λ_p=1030 nm). A slit is used to make the square, flat top beam shaped from the Gaussian spatial profile of the femtosecond laser. An ablation depth of 40 nm was obtained using the single pulse irradiation at a peak intensity of 2.8 TW/cm². The morphologies of the ablated area were characterized using an optical microscope, atomic force microscope (AFM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Ablations with square and rectangular types with various sizes were demonstrated on ITO thin film using slits with varying x–y axes. The stereo structure of the ablation with the depth resolution of approximately 40 nm was also fabricated successfully using the irradiation of single pulses with different shaped sizes of femtosecond laser.     

Promotion effect of Pt on a SnO2–WO3 material for NOx sensing

Metal-oxide nanocomposites were prepared over screen-printed gold electrodes to be used as room-temperature NO_x (nitric-oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)) sensors. Various weight ratios of SnO₂–WO₃ and Pt loadings were used for NO sensing. The sensing materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and BET surface analysis. The NO-sensing results indicated that SnO₂–WO₃ (1:2) was more effective than other materials were. The sensor response (S=resistance of N₂/resistance of NO=R_N2/R_NO) for detecting 1000 ppm of NO at room temperature was 2.6. The response time (T₉₀) and recovery time (TR₉₀) was 40 s and 86 s, respectively. By further loading with 0.5% Pt, the sensor response increased to 3.3. The response and recovery times of 0.5% Pt/SnO₂–WO₃ (1:2) were 40 s and 206 s, respectively. The linearity of the sensor response for a NO concentration range of 10–1000 ppm was 0.9729. A mechanism involving Pt promotion of the SnO₂–WO₃ heterojunction was proposed for NO adsorption, surface reaction, and adsorbed NO₂ desorption.     

Study the impact of ultra-sonication and pulsed electric field on the quality of wheat plantlet juice through FTIR and SERS

Pulsed electric field (PEF) and Ultrasound (US) are commonly used in food processing. We investigated the combined impact of pulsed electric field (PEF) and ultrasound (US) on the wheat plantlet juice. When compared with the individual treatments, the highest values of total phenolics, total flavonoids, chlorophyll, ORAC assay, and DPPH activities were obtained using the combined (US + PEF) methods. The US + PEF significantly decreased the peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activities from 0.87 to 0.27 Abs min⁻¹ and 0.031–0.016 Abs min⁻¹. Also, the synergistic application significantly lowered the yeast and mold (3.92 to 2.11 log CFU/mL), E. coli/Coliform (1.95 to 0.96 log CFU/mL), and aerobics (4.41 to 2.01 log CFU/mL). Furthermore, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to analyzing juice quality. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were used as the SERS substrates, which provided stronger Raman peaks for the samples treated with US + PEF methods. The FT-IR analysis showed significant enhancement of the nutritional molecules. The enhanced quality of wheat plantlet juice combined with lower yeast and mold suggests the suitability of integrated methods for further research and applications.     

Highly sensitive ethanol sensors based on nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films

This paper reports on a simple and inexpensive ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method to synthesize agglomerate-free nanosized SnO₂ particles with a size smaller than 10 nm. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction studies were used to characterize the morphology, crystallinity, and structure of the SnO₂ particles. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the prepared SnO₂ sensor shows the high response (S = 491) towards 100 ppm ethanol gas at 300 °C, linearity in the range of 100–500 ppm, quick response time (2 s), recovery time (60 s) and selectivity against other gases. The response of the sensor was monitored in a 250–450 °C temperature range. The seven fold enhancement in gas response and selective detection of C₂H₅OH in the presence of other gases such as CH₃OH and CH₃CHOHCH₃ are the significant points in this investigation. These results demonstrate that pure nanocrystalline SnO₂ thin film can be used as the sensing material for fabricating high performance ethanol sensors.