Oxidized indium with transformable dimensions for CO2 electroreduction toward formate aided by oxygen vacancies

Climate change has become one of the most important challenges in the 21st century, and the electroreduction of CO2 to value-added products has gained increasing importance in recent years. In this context, formic acid or formate are interesting products because they could be used as raw materials in several industries as well as promising fuels in fuel cells. Despite the great number of studies published in the field of the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formic acid/formate working with electrocatalysts of different nature and electrode configurations, few of them are focused on the comparison of different electrocatalyst materials and electrode configurations. Therefore, this work aims at presenting a rigorous and comprehensive comparative assessment of different experimental data previously published after many years of research in different working electrode configurations and electrocatalysts in a continuous mode with a single pass of the inputs through the reactor. Thus, the behavior of the CO2 electroreduction to formate is compared operating with Sn and Bi-based materials under Gas Diffusion Electrodes (GDEs) and Catalyst Coated Membrane Electrodes (CCMEs) configurations. Considering the same electrocatalyst, the use of CCMEs improves the performance in terms of formate concentration and energy consumption. Nevertheless, higher formate rates can be achieved with GDEs because they allow operation at higher current densities of up to 300 mA·cm−2. Bi-based-GDEs outperformed Sn-GDEs in all the figures of merit considered. The comparison also highlights that in CCME configuration, the employ of Bi-based-electrodes enhanced the behavior of the process, increasing the formate concentration by 35% and the Faradaic efficiency by 11%.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OF BIO-ECONOMY IN THE FOOD AND TOURISM INDUSTRY

Knowledge International Journal ◽

10.35120/kij28051681g ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 1681-1684

Author(s):

Georgi Toskov ◽

Ana Yaneva ◽

Stanko Stankov ◽

Hafize Fidan

Keyword(s):

National Level ◽

Value Added ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Small Companies ◽

Food Sector ◽

Strategic Development ◽

Innovation Potential ◽

Wide Range ◽

Foreign Brands ◽

Value Added Products

The European Commission defines the bioeconomy as "the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. Its sectors and industries have strong innovation potential due to their use of a wide range of sciences, enabling and industrial technologies, along with local and implied knowledge." The Bulgarian food industry faces a lot of challenges on the local and national level, which have direct influence on the structure of the production companies. Most of the enterprises from the food sector produce under foreign brands in order to be flexible partners to the large Bulgarian retail chains. The small companies from the food sector are not able to develop as an independent competitive producer on the territory of their local markets. This kind of companies rarely has a working strategy for positioning on new markets. In order to consolidate their already built positions for long period of time, the producers are trying to optimize their operations in a short term. However, the unclear vision of the companies for the business segment does not allow them to fully develop. Tourism in Bulgaria is a significant contributor to the country's economy.

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β-Galactosidases from a Sequence-Based Metagenome: Cloning, Expression, Purification and Characterization

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9010055 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 55

Author(s):

María Florencia Eberhardt ◽

José Matías Irazoqui ◽

Ariel Fernando Amadio

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Species ◽

Value Added ◽

Raw Material ◽

Activity Levels ◽

Treatment Technology ◽

Catalytic Domains ◽

Stabilization Ponds ◽

Cazy Database ◽

Genes Encoding ◽

Value Added Products

Stabilization ponds are a common treatment technology for wastewater generated by dairy industries. Large proportions of cheese whey are thrown into these ponds, creating an environmental problem because of the large volume produced and the high biological and chemical oxygen demands. Due to its composition, mainly lactose and proteins, it can be considered as a raw material for value-added products, through physicochemical or enzymatic treatments. β-Galactosidases (EC 3.2.1.23) are lactose modifying enzymes that can transform lactose in free monomers, glucose and galactose, or galactooligosacharides. Here, the identification of novel genes encoding β-galactosidases, identified via whole-genome shotgun sequencing of the metagenome of dairy industries stabilization ponds is reported. The genes were selected based on the conservation of catalytic domains, comparing against the CAZy database, and focusing on families with β-galactosidases activity (GH1, GH2 and GH42). A total of 394 candidate genes were found, all belonging to bacterial species. From these candidates, 12 were selected to be cloned and expressed. A total of six enzymes were expressed, and five cleaved efficiently ortho-nitrophenyl-β-galactoside and lactose. The activity levels of one of these novel β-galactosidase was higher than other enzymes reported from functional metagenomics screening and higher than the only enzyme reported from sequence-based metagenomics. A group of novel mesophilic β-galactosidases from diary stabilization ponds’ metagenomes was successfully identified, cloned and expressed. These novel enzymes provide alternatives for the production of value-added products from dairy industries’ by-products.

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Milk Fat Globule Membrane Proteome and Micronutrients in the Milk Lipid Fraction: Insights into Milk Bioactive Compounds

Dairy ◽

10.3390/dairy2020018 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 202-217

Author(s):

Michele Manoni ◽

Donata Cattaneo ◽

Sharon Mazzoleni ◽

Carlotta Giromini ◽

Antonella Baldi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Milk Fat ◽

Lipid Fraction ◽

Value Added ◽

Milk Lipid ◽

Milk Fat Globule Membrane ◽

Fat Globules ◽

Milk Fat Globules ◽

Milk Fat Globule ◽

Fat Globule ◽

Value Added Products

Milk lipids are composed of milk fat globules (MFGs) surrounded by the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). MFGM protects MFGs from coalescence and enzymatic degradation. The milk lipid fraction is a “natural solvent” for macronutrients such as phospholipids, proteins and cholesterol, and micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins. The research focused largely on the polar lipids of MFGM, given their wide bioactive properties. In this review we discussed (i) the composition of MFGM proteome and its variations among species and phases of lactation and (ii) the micronutrient content of human and cow’s milk lipid fraction. The major MFGM proteins are shared among species, but the molecular function and protein expression of MFGM proteins vary among species and phases of lactation. The main minerals in the milk lipid fraction are iron, zinc, copper and calcium, whereas the major vitamins are vitamin A, β-carotene, riboflavin and α-tocopherol. The update and the combination of this knowledge could lead to the exploitation of the MFGM proteome and the milk lipid fraction at nutritional, biological or technological levels. An example is the design of innovative and value-added products, such as MFGM-supplemented infant formulas.

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