Ultrasound-assisted microencapsulation of jackfruit extract in eco-friendly powder particles: characterization and antiproliferative activity

The aim of the article was to develop stable and safe eco-friendly microcapsules and evaluate their physicochemical properties and their efficiency to protect a jackfruit extract. Eco-friendly microcapsules were produced by ultrasound and spray drying using only three safe ingredients: sucrose ester (SE), miglyol and maltodextrin (DE = 10). Some physicochemical properties, particle morphology, FT-IR, differential scanning calorimetry and antiproliferative activity were determined for microcapsules loaded or not with the jackfuit extract. The results revealed that the encapsulation process by spray drying produced stable microcapsules, with adequate physicochemical and fluid properties for a powder product. The cell viability on the proliferation of M12.C3.F6 cell line was not affected by powder microcapsules without jackfruit extract, indicating that capsules are not toxic for these cells. However, microcapsules with jackfruit extract (100 μg/ml) were able to inhibit significantly the proliferation of M12.C3.F6 cells. These microcapsules can be used for the protection of different compounds sensitive to light, oxygen and/or heat and displaying a very low aqueous solubility.     

Improved Self-Feedback Gain in the Context Layer of a Modified Elman Neural Network

The use of a range of values for the self-feedback gains in the context layer of a modified Elman neural network is shown to reduce RMS error when modelling a non-linear dynamic system.     

Continuous flame oxidation in supercritical water

Abstract

Continuous flames have been observed in Supercritical water oxidation (scWO) of isopropyl alcohol (IPA), using a vertical continuous reactor with sapphire windows and a mixing nozzle. Two types of continuous flame were confirmed: the one was long pale blue colored and the other was red short cone shaped, changing blue to red at around air ratio 2.0. The flame was strongly influenced by IPA concentration, air ratio and design of the mixing nozzle. Results for decomposition of PA are presented for IPA concentrations ranging from 600 up to 28260 ppm as TOC and initial reactor temperatures, were mostly around 490°C, at 25 MPa. Decomposition rate at steady state was over 99.9%. Experimentally measured CO₂ and O₂ concentrations at the flue gas were in good agreement with theoretically calculated values. Even for low air ratio as 1.1, high decomposition rate without CO, NO, NO₂ was achieved.     

A conservative unstructured scheme for rapidly varied flows

This article introduces a new semi‐implicit, staggered finite volume scheme on unstructured meshes for the modelling of rapidly varied shallow water flows. Rapidly varied flows occur in the inundation of dry land during flooding situations. They typically involve bores and hydraulic jumps after obstacles such as road banks. Near such sudden flow transitions, the grid resolution is often low compared with the gradients of the bathymetry. Locally the hydrostatic pressure assumption may become invalid. In these situations, it is crucial to apply the correct conservation properties to obtain accurate results. An important feature of this scheme is therefore its ability to conserve momentum locally or, by choice, preserve constant energy head along a streamline. This is achieved using a special interpolation method and control volumes for momentum. The efficiency of inundation calculations with locally very high velocities, and in the case of unstructured meshes locally very small grid distances, is severely hampered by the Courant condition. This article provides a solution in the form of a locally implicit time integration for the advective terms that allows for an explicit calculation in most of the domain, while maintaining unconditional stability by implicit calculations only where necessary. The complex geometry of flooded urban areas asks for the flexibility of unstructured meshes. The efficient calculation of the pressure gradient in this, and other semi‐implicit staggered schemes, requires, however, an orthogonality condition to be put on the grid. In this article a simple method is introduced to generate unstructured hybrid meshes that fulfil this requirement. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of elevated temperature on conventional stationary phases used in SFC

Summary The effect of elevated temperatures on conventional packed bonded-phase columns used in supercritical-fluid chromatography (SFC) has been investigated. The impact of column conditioning temperature on the capacity factor, peak width, and peak asymmetry on octadecyl and propylamino columns from five commerical suppliers is reported.     

Chemistry and key structural features of oxyhydroxy-fluorides: relationships with the acidic character, thermal stability and surface area

The stability of Al, Cr and Fe hydroxy-fluorides MF_3−x(OH)_x which adopt the hexagonal-tungsten-bronze (HTB)-type structure has been discussed by considering the lability of water coordinated to metals from a kinetic point of view. Thus, in the case of Al or Fe compounds, the easy departure of water contributes to the stabilization of fluoride ions as well as isolated hydroxyl groups around the metal, leading to the formation of the HTB structure. The stabilization of the HTB structure with respect to another structural type, the pyrochlore, with a lower density, is governed by this kinetic feature as well as the ability of fluorinated salts used as precursors to attract hydroxyls. Al(III) and Fe(III) represent the strongest acidic cations and the associated HTB-type structure containing isolated OH groups can easily be stabilized. In the case of Cr, a mixture of pyrochlore and HTB-type structure is generally obtained. We have succeeded in preparing, using supercritical medium, new (Fe, Cr) oxyhydroxy-fluorides which exhibit edge-shared octahedra and large 1D tunnels. These compounds can be considered as potential candidates for acid catalysts.     

Moisture Removal from a Two-Layer Porous Media: A Conceptual Model and Experimental Results

Moisture removal from a two-layer porous media in which air is circulated through one layer and moisture is removed from the second has not been well studied due to the emphasis given to single-layer systems. This two-layer configuration is common in natural and engineered systems and can be used as a means to create a barrier to downward migrating fluids and to remove liquids and gases that may be present in the finer layer. However, there is little data on moisture removal from a two-layer porous media in which air is circulated through one layer parallel to the interface and moisture is removed from the finer second layer by evaporation. A conceptual model of the moisture removal from a two-layer porous media system was developed and compared to experimental moisture removal rates from laboratory scale dry barriers. The limited experimental data agrees well with the results predicted by the conceptual model, providing an initial validation.     

Measurement of the solubility of metal complexes in supercritical carbon dioxide using a UV–vis spectrometer

A new apparatus based on the circulation method was developed to measure the solubility of metal complexes in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) at a wide range of temperatures and pressures. A UV–vis spectrometer, which was connected to a small saturation cell through optical fibers, was used to determine solubility. The solubilities of cobalt(III) acetylacetonate (Co(acac)₃) and chromium(III) acetylacetonate (Cr(acac)₃) in scCO₂ were measured to check the validity of both the apparatus and the method and to accumulate new solubility data. The solubility data for Cr(acac)₃ obtained in this study were in good agreement with the data reported in the literature.The measured solubilities of Co(acac)₃ and Cr(acac)₃ were also correlated with the empirical equation including the three adjustable parameters, based on the equation proposed by Chrastil. The parameters were determined by fitting the equation to the experimental data for each metal complex and the calculated results closely replicated the experimental data.     

Cosolvent Effect on the Tautomerism of Ethyl Acetoacetate in Supercritical CO_2

There are some unique advantages for chemical reactions in SCFs. For example, reaction rates, yields, and selectivity can be tuned by pressure or small amount of cosolvent. SCFs can be used to replace environmentally undesirable solvents. It is not surprised that in recent years the use of SCFs as solvents for chemical reaction media has received much attention. However, mechanism for the effect of pressure and cosolvents on chemical reactions is not very clear. Tautomeric reactions are id…     

Ion-exchange resin decomposition in supercritical water

Abstract

Using supercritical water oxidation, the cation exchange resin was decomposed fast and completely to water, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. While the resin decomposition yield increased with the reaction time and the amount of hydrogen peroxide added as oxidizing agent, it was constant in the resin concentration from 0.14 to 1.9 dry resin weight percent to water. More than 99% of the cation exchange resin was decomposed with hydrogen peroxide added in the amount of 7 times the stoichiometric value at 673 K and 30MPa for 30 minutes of the reaction time. The cation exchange resin is decomposed through two main reaction pathways. One has a rate controlling intermediate such as acetic acid whose decomposition rate was very slow, and the other does not have stable intermediates. The decomposition of the acetic acid is a significant factor for the complete decomposition of the resin, although it does not dominate the whole resin decomposition. A simple kinetic model that estimates the resin decomposition yield was developed.