Green Determination of Total Iron in Water by Digital Image Colorimetry

A green iOS digital image colorimeter was fabricated for the determination of total iron in natural water. A mobile application operating on an iOS device was designed using Euclidean distance theory to perform iron determination. The application records the components of the color by storing red, green, and blue values as well as calculating the hue, saturation, brightness, and gray values using standard color theory. The component values obtained from the images of orange solutions of iron(II) complex with 1,10-phenanthroline were collected in a database and used for evaluation of the total iron concentration in water samples. Under the optimal conditions for solid-phase extraction used for sample preconcentration, the enrichment factor was 8.18. The iron concentration was determined by this device for concentrations from 0.01 to 1.0?ppm. The iOS digital image colorimeter achieved a limit of quantitation of 0.1?ppm. The accuracy and precision of the iOS digital image colorimeter were validated using a certified reference material, riverine water. The instrumentation was used for the analysis of natural water samples.     

The Influence of Peroxide on Bubble Stability and Rheological Properties of Biobased Poly(lactic acid)/Natural Rubber Blown Films

This study investigated the effects of natural rubber(NR)and an organic peroxide on the rheological properties,mechanical properties,morphology,and bubble stability during film blowing of poly(lactic acid)(PLA).The NR and peroxide contents were varied from 0 wt%to 25 wt%and 0 wt%to 0.5 wt%,respectively.The results confirmed that the presence of well-dispersed NR could significantly improve the toughness,elongation at break,and processability of PLA films,where the optimal amount of NR was 15 wt%.For the reactive blending with peroxide,a suitable peroxide content for good film toughness and clarity was 0.03 wt%,while the higher content of 0.1 wt%could provide slightly higher processability.These contents are considered much lower than that in the PLA system(without NR),which required up to 0.5 wt%peroxide.The rheological studies indicated that the melt strength,the storage modulus(G’)and complex viscosity(η*)at low frequency could be correlated with good film blowing processability of the PLA/NR films at low gel contents.These parameters failed to correlate in the films having high gel contents as the deformation rate experienced by each test was different leading to the different levels of response to the type and amount of gels.     

Biohydrogenation from biomass sugar mediated by in vitro synthetic enzymatic pathways

Different from NAD(P)H regeneration approaches mediated by a single enzyme or a whole-cell microorganism, we demonstrate high-yield generation of NAD(P)H from a renewable biomass sugar--cellobiose through in vitro synthetic enzymatic pathways consisting of 12 purified enzymes and coenzymes. When the NAD(P)H generation system was coupled with its consumption reaction mediated by xylose reductase, the NADPH yield was as high as 11.4 mol NADPH per cellobiose (i.e., 95% of theoretical yield--12 NADPH per glucose unit) in a batch reaction. Consolidation of endothermic reactions and exothermic reactions in one pot results in a very high energy-retaining efficiency of 99.6% from xylose and cellobiose to xylitol. The combination of this high-yield and projected low-cost biohydrogenation and aqueous phase reforming may be important for the production of sulfur-free liquid jet fuel in the future.     

Cellulose solvent-based pretreatment for corn stover and avicel: concentrated phosphoric acid versus ionic liquid [BMIM]Cl

Since cellulose accessibility has become more recognized as the major substrate characteristic limiting hydrolysis rates and glucan digestibilities, cellulose solvent-based lignocellulose pretreatments have gained attention. In this study, we employed cellulose solvent- and organic solvent-based lignocellulose fractionation using two cellulose solvents: concentrated phosphoric acid [~85?% (w/w) H₃PO₄] and an ionic liquid Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl). Enzymatic glucan digestibilities of concentrated phosphoric acid- and [BMIM]Cl-pretreated corn stover were 96 and 55?% after 72?h at five filter paper units of cellulase per gram of glucan, respectively. Regenerated amorphous cellulose by concentrated phosphoric acid and [BMIM]Cl had digestibilities of 100 and 92?%, respectively. Our results suggested that differences in enzymatic glucan digestibilities of concentrated phosphoric acid- and [BMIM]Cl-pretreated corn stover were attributed to combinatory factors. These results provide insights into mechanisms of cellulose solvent-based pretreatment and effects of residual cellulose solvents and lignin on enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis.