Membrane foaming is a new method of foaming. To enlarge the knowledge about the influencing factors and to know how to vary the structure of the resulting foam, different factors were evaluated. A whey protein solution with 10% protein was foamed as a model solution by means of a tubular cross-flow filtration membrane. The pore size of the membrane was varied. The smaller the pore size, the smaller the bubbles produced. As a result, the foam firmness increases and less drainage was observed when smaller pore sizes were applied.
An important factor is that the added amount of gas must be stabilised as completely as possible in the foam. In order to achieve this, both the process and the product parameters were varied. Raising the foaming temperature increased the quantity of stabilised gas. The whey proteins then diffuse faster to the bubble surfaces and stabilise these by unfolding and networking reactions to prevent the coalescence of the bubbles.
The product parameter viscosity was found to influence the foaming result in such a way that up to a viscosity of 40 mPa s the incorporated gas bubbles are stabilised by the higher viscosity. At viscosities higher than 40 mPa s it is difficult to incorporate in the bubbles, and the foam structure becomes coarser due to increased coalescence at the pores of the membrane. The foam stability is enhanced with higher viscosities. 相似文献
Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology is advancing rapidly around the world both in research and commercial applications. Despite the increasing number of studies and full-scale applications of MBR systems, directions and trends in academic research as well as commercial developments require further analysis. This paper aims to critically characterize and review worldwide academic research efforts in the area of MBRs as well as focus attention to commercial MBR applications in North America. A total of 339 research papers published in peer-reviewed international journals from 1991 to 2004 and a total of 258 full-scale MBR installations in North America were used as the database for the analysis provided in this paper. After a surge of MBR publications in 2002, research appears to have reached a plateau in the last 3 years using both submerged and external MBR units. Although much of the pioneering research occurred in Japan, France and the UK, countries such as South Korea, China and Germany have significantly contributed to the research pool in the last 5 years. The primary research focus has been on water filtration MBRs with limited growth in extractive and gas diffusion MBRs which still hold un-tapped potential. Fundamental aspects studied in academic research predominantly involve issues related to fouling, microbial characterization and optimizing operational performance. Research in North America presents a unique picture as a higher ratio of industrial wastewater treatment and side-stream MBR applications have been studied compared to other parts of the world. For MBR commercial application, the North America installations constitute about 11% of worldwide installations. Zenon occupies the majority of the MBR market in North America, whereas Kubota and Mitsubishi-Rayon have a larger number of installations in other parts of the world. Due to more stringent regulations and water reuse strategies, it is expected that a significant increase in MBR plant capacity and widening of application areas will occur in the future. Potential application areas include nitrate removal in drinking water treatment, removal of endocrine disrupting compounds from water and wastewater streams, enhancing bio-fuels production via membrane assisted fermentation and gas extraction and purification MBRs. 相似文献
Uniformly sized microparticles of poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA) acid, with controllable median diameters within the size range 40–140 μm, were successfully prepared by membrane emulsification of an oil phase injected into an aqueous phase, followed by solvent removal. Initially, simple particles were produced as an oil in water emulsion, where dichloromethane (DCM) and PLGA were the oil phase and water with stabiliser was the continuous phase. The oil was injected into the aqueous phase through an array type microporous membrane, which has very regular pores equally spaced apart, and two different pore sizes were used: 20 and 40 μm in diameter. Shear was provided at the membrane surface, causing the drops to detach, by a simple paddle stirrer rotating above the membrane. Further tests involved the production of a primary water in oil emulsion, using a mechanical homogeniser, which was then subsequently injected into a water phase through the microporous membrane to form a water in oil in water emulsion. These tests used a water-soluble model drug (blue dextran) and encapsulation efficiencies of up to 100% were obtained for concentrations of 15% PLGA dissolved in the DCM and injected through a 40 μm membrane.
Solidification of the PLGA particles was followed by removal of the DCM through the surrounding aqueous continuous phase. Different PLGA concentrations, particle size and osmotic pressures were considered in order to find their effect on encapsulation efficiency. Osmotic pressure was varied by changing the salt concentration in the external aqueous phase whilst maintaining a constant internal aqueous phase salt concentration. Osmotic pressure was found to be a significant factor on the resulting particle structure, for the tests conducted at lower PLGA concentrations (10% and 5% PLGA). The PLGA concentration and particle size distribution influence the time to complete the solidification stage and a slow solidification, formed by stirring gently overnight, provided the most monosized particles and highest encapsulation efficiency. 相似文献
A strategy for clustering of native lipid membranes is presented. It relies on the formation of complexes between hydrophobic chelators embedded within the lipid bilayer and metal cations in the aqueous phase, capable of binding two (or more) chelators simultaneously Fig. 1. We used this approach with purple membranes containing the light driven proton pump protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and showed that patches of purple membranes cluster into mm sized aggregates and that these are stable for months when incubated at 19 °C in the dark. The strategy may be general since four different hydrophobic chelators (1,10-phenanthroline, bathophenanthroline, Phen-C10, and 8-hydroxyquinoline) and various divalent cations (Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Mn2+, and Cu2+) induced formation of membrane clusters. Moreover, the absolute requirement for a hydrophobic chelator and the appropriate metal cations was demonstrated with light and atomic force microscopy (AFM); the presence of the metal does not appear to affect the functional state of the protein. The potential utility of the approach as an alternative to assembled lipid bilayers is suggested. 相似文献
Proteins play a central role in all domains of life, and precise regulation of their activity is essential for understanding the related biological processes and therapeutic functions. Nucleic acid aptamers, the molecular recognition components derived from systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment(SELEX), can specifically identify proteins with antibody-like recognition characteristics and help to regulate their activity. This minireview covers the SELEX-based selection of protein-binding aptamers, membrane protein analytical techniques based on aptamer-mediated target recognition, aptamer-mediated functional regulation of proteins, including membrane receptors and non-membrane proteins(thrombin as a model), as well as the potential challenges and prospects regarding aptamer-mediated protein manipulation, aiming to supply some useful information for researchers in this field. 相似文献