scholarly journals Novel Acumens into Biodegradation: Impact of Nanomaterials and Their Contribution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danushika C. Manatunga ◽  
Rohan S. Dassanayake ◽  
Renuka N. Liyanage
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Biodegradable Materials ◽  
Tunable Properties

Biodegradation is the most viable alternative for numerous health and environmental issues associated with non-biodegradable materials. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in biodegradable nanomaterials due to their relative abundance, environmental benignity, low cost, easy use, and tunable properties. This chapter covers an overview of biodegradation, factors and challenges associated with biodegradation processes, involvement of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in biodegradation, and biodegradable nanomaterials. Furthermore, current chapter extensively is discusses the most recent applications of biodegradable nanomaterials that have recently been explored in the areas of food packaging, energy, environmental remediation, and nanomedicine. Overall, this chapter provides a synopsis of how the involvement of nanotechnology would benefit the process of biodegradation.

Development and production experience of the multilayer curtain-coated linerboard of Ji’an PM No. 3,

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
JUNMING SHU ◽  
ARTHAS YANG ◽  
PEKKA SALMINEN ◽  
HENRI VAITTINEN
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
Flexographic Printing ◽  
Curtain Coating ◽  
Coating Formulations

The Ji’an PM No. 3 is the first linerboard machine in China to use multilayer curtain coating technology. Since successful startup at the end of 2011, further development has been carried out to optimize running conditions, coating formulations, and the base paper to provide a product with satisfactory quality and lower cost to manufacture. The key challenges include designing the base board structure for the desired mechanical strength, designing the surface properties for subsequent coating operations, optimizing the high-speed running of the curtain coater to enhance production efficiency, minimizing the amount of titanium dioxide in the coating color, and balancing the coated board properties to make them suitable for both offset and flexographic printing. The pilot and mill scale results show that curtain coating has a major positive impact on brightness, while smoothness is improved mainly by the blade coating and calendering conditions. Optimization of base board properties and the blade + curtain + blade concept has resulted in the successful use of 100% recycled fiber to produce base board. The optical, mechanical, and printability properties of the final coated board meet market requirements for both offset and flexographic printing. Machine runnability is excellent at the current speed of 1000 m/min, and titanium dioxide has been eliminated in the coating formulations without affecting the coating coverage. A significant improvement in the total cost of coated white liner production has been achieved, compared to the conventional concept of using virgin fiber in the top ply. Future development will focus on combining low cost with further quality improvements to make linerboard suitable for a wider range of end-use applications, including frozen-food packaging and folding boxboard.

scholarly journals Monomers, Materials and Energy from Coffee By-Products: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6921
Author(s):  
Laura Sisti ◽  
Annamaria Celli ◽  
Grazia Totaro ◽  
Patrizia Cinelli ◽  
Francesca Signori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Material Technology ◽  
Coffee Production ◽  
Coffee Pulp ◽  
Coffee Waste ◽  
By Products

In recent years, the circular economy and sustainability have gained attention in the food industry aimed at recycling food industrial waste and residues. For example, several plant-based materials are nowadays used in packaging and biofuel production. Among them, by-products and waste from coffee processing constitute a largely available, low cost, good quality resource. Coffee production includes many steps, in which by-products are generated including coffee pulp, coffee husks, silver skin and spent coffee. This review aims to analyze the reasons why coffee waste can be considered as a valuable source in recycling strategies for the sustainable production of bio-based chemicals, materials and fuels. It addresses the most recent advances in monomer, polymer and plastic filler productions and applications based on the development of viable biorefinery technologies. The exploration of strategies to unlock the potential of this biomass for fuel productions is also revised. Coffee by-products valorization is a clear example of waste biorefinery. Future applications in areas such as biomedicine, food packaging and material technology should be taken into consideration. However, further efforts in techno-economic analysis and the assessment of the feasibility of valorization processes on an industrial scale are needed.

scholarly journals Evolution of biobased and nanotechnology packaging – a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-515
Author(s):  
Tom Lindström ◽  
Folke Österberg
Keyword(s):  
Biodegradable Polymers ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Barrier Properties ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Layer By Layer ◽  
Polyelectrolyte Complexes ◽  
Life Issues ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
End Of Life Issues

AbstractThis review deals with the evolution of bio-based packaging and the emergence of various nanotechnologies for primary food packaging. The end-of life issues of packaging is discussed and particularly the environmental problems associated with microplastics in the marine environment, which serve as a vector for the assimilation of persistent organic pollutants in the oceans and are transported into the food chain via marine and wild life. The use of biodegradable polymers has been a primary route to alleviate these environmental problems, but for various reasons the market has not developed at a sufficient pace that would cope with the mentioned environmental issues. Currently, the biodegradable plastics only constitute a small fraction of the fossil-based plastic market. Fossil-based plastics are, however, indispensable for food safety and minimization of food waste, and are not only cheap, but has generally more suitable mechanical and barrier properties compared to biodegradable polymers. More recently, various nanotechnologies such as the use of nanoclays, nanocellulose, layer-by-layer technologies and polyelectrolyte complexes have emerged as viable technologies to make oxygen and water vapor barriers suitable for food packaging. These technological developments are highlighted as well as issues like biodegradation, recycling, legislation issues and safety and toxicity of these nanotechnologies.

scholarly journals A Microcosm Treatability Study for Evaluating Wood Mulch-Based Amendments as Electron Donors for Trichloroethene (TCE) Reductive Dechlorination

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1949
Author(s):  
Edoardo Masut ◽  
Alessandro Battaglia ◽  
Luca Ferioli ◽  
Anna Legnani ◽  
Carolina Cruz Viggi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Donor ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Reductive Dechlorination ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Chlorinated Solvents ◽  
Electron Donors ◽  
Chlorinated Ethenes ◽  
Dehalococcoides Mccartyi ◽  
Wood Mulch

In this study, wood mulch-based amendments were tested in a bench-scale microcosm experiment in order to assess the treatability of saturated soils and groundwater from an industrial site contaminated by chlorinated ethenes. Wood mulch was tested alone as the only electron donor in order to assess its potential for stimulating the biological reductive dechlorination. It was also tested in combination with millimetric iron filings in order to assess the ability of the additive to accelerate/improve the bioremediation process. The efficacy of the selected amendments was compared with that of unamended control microcosms. The results demonstrated that wood mulch is an effective natural and low-cost electron donor to stimulate the complete reductive dechlorination of chlorinated solvents to ethene. Being a side-product of the wood industry, mulch can be used in environmental remediation, an approach which perfectly fits the principles of circular economy and addresses the compelling needs of a sustainable and low environmental impact remediation. The efficacy of mulch was further improved by the co-presence of iron filings, which accelerated the conversion of vinyl chloride into the ethene by increasing the H2 availability rather than by catalyzing the direct abiotic dechlorination of contaminants. Chemical analyses were corroborated by biomolecular assays, which confirmed the stimulatory effect of the selected amendments on the abundance of Dehalococcoides mccartyi and related reductive dehalogenase genes. Overall, this paper further highlights the application potential and environmental sustainability of wood mulch-based amendments as low-cost electron donors for the biological treatment of chlorinated ethenes.

scholarly journals Cost-Effective Fabrication, Antibacterial Application and Cell Viability Studies of Modified Nonwoven Cotton Fabric

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahat Nawaz ◽  
Sayed Tayyab Raza Naqvi ◽  
Batool Fatima ◽  
Nazia Zulfiqar ◽  
Muhammad Umer Farooq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cotton Fabric ◽  
Biomedical Applications ◽  
Active Sites ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Enterobacter Aerogenes ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Bacterial Strains ◽  
Toxicity Assay

Abstract Nonwoven cotton fabric has been fabricated and designed for antibacterial applications using low cost and ecofriendly precursors. The treatment of fabric with alkali leads to formation of active sites. The surfaces were dip coated with silver nanaoparticles and chitosan. The surface was chlorinated in next step to transform amide (N-H) groups in chitosan into N-halamine (N-Cl). The modified and unmodified surfaces of the nonwoven cotton fabric have been characterized by FTIR, SEM, and XRD. The active chlorine loading is measured with iodine/ sodium thiosulphate. The antimicrobial activity and cell toxicity assay were carried out with and without modifications of nonwoven cotton fabric. The antimicrobial efficacies of loaded fabric were evaluated against four bacterial species (Micrococcus lutes, Staphylococcus aurea, Enterobacter aerogenes, and E.coli). It was found that modified fabric exhibited superior efficiency against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains as compared to their bulk counterparts upon exposure without destroying and affecting fabric nature. The overall process is economical for commercial purposes. The modified fabric can be used for antimicrobial, health, and food packaging industries, and in other biomedical applications.

scholarly journals Antiviral Effects of Gelatin Stabilized Ferrous Sulfide Nanoparticles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Tong ◽  
Shuangfei Deng ◽  
Xiaotong Zhang ◽  
Liurong Fang ◽  
Jiangong Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Antiviral Effect ◽  
High Reactivity ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Antiviral Effects ◽  
Ferrous Sulfide ◽  
Effective Inhibition ◽  
Co Precipitation ◽  
First Time

Abstract Ferrous sulfide nanoparticles (FeS NPs) are widely applied to environmental remediation, catalysis, energy storage and medicine because of their high reactivity, large specific surface area and low cost, arousing great interest of researchers. However, there is no literature reported on its application in the antiviral field. In the study, gelatin stabilized FeS nanoparticles (Gel-FeS NPs) were synthesized by co-precipitation of Fe2+ and S2‒ in the aqueous phase with continuous stirring under anaerobic conditions. The as-prepared Gel-FeS NPs were good stabilization and dispersibility with the size distribution of 77.7 ± 16.4 nm, as determined by UV-Vis spectrometer, TEM, FTIR, XRD and XPS. We reported for the first time the virucidic and antiviral activity of Gel-FeS NPs. The Gel-FeS NPs with good dispersibility and biocompatibility were synthesized, and they exhibited effective inhibition on the proliferation of PRRSV by blocking the PRRSV outside the host cells. Moreover, the Fe2+ from degraded ferrous sulfide still displayed an antiviral effect, demonstrating the advantage as an antiviral nanomaterial of Gel-FeS NPs compared to other nanomaterials. This work highlighted the antiviral effect of Gel-FeS NPs, broaden the applications of iron-based nanoparticles for combating the virus.

Food Packaging?Roles, Materials, and Environmental Issues

2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. R39-R55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Marsh ◽  
Betty Bugusu
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Environmental Issues

Composites Based on Thermoset Resin and Orbignya phalerata (Babassu Coconut): Evaluation of Mechanical Properties, Morphology and Water Sorption

2016 ◽  
Vol 869 ◽  
pp. 237-242
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Lopes Fonteles ◽  
Gustavo Figueiredo Brito ◽  
Laura Hecker Carvalho ◽  
Tatianny Soares Alves ◽  
Renata Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Water Absorption ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Fiber Composites ◽  
Plant Fiber ◽  
Thermoset Resin ◽  
Superior Mechanical Properties ◽  
Polyester Matrix ◽  
Kinetics Of

Researches in plant fiber composites have been developed with greater frequency during the last years, especially on environmental issues. The opening of the market, especially in the automotive sector, points to the replacement of synthetic additives by natural reinforcements. Characteristics such as low density and abrasiveness, superior mechanical properties and low cost are the most sought in these composites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of composites based polyester matrix and fiber of the babassu coconut epicarp, at levels of 5, 7.5 and 10% under testing of tensile strength and impact, as well as the morphology by microscopy scanning electron and water absorption. All composites were prepared raw fibers and fiber with treated with alkaline solution of 5% NaOH. As regards the mechanical properties, an increasing of the rigidity of the system was observed, and the kinetics of water absorption increased levels indicated for compounds with high content of fibrous reinforcement. By SEM there was greater interaction between fiber and matrix.

scholarly journals Natural Wolframite Used as Cathode Photocatalyst for Improving the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2504
Author(s):  
Junxian Shi ◽  
Anhuai Lu ◽  
Haibin Chu ◽  
Hongyu Wu ◽  
Hongrui Ding
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reduction Process ◽  
Maximum Power ◽  
Maximum Power Density ◽  
Graphite Cathode ◽  
Vis Spectroscopy

Developing simple and cheap electrocatalysts or photocatalysts for cathodes to increase the oxygen reduction process is a key factor for better utilization of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Here, we report the investigation of natural wolframite employed as a low-cost cathode photocatalyst to improve the performance of MFCs. The semiconducting wolframite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. The band gap and photo respond activities were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), respectively. Compared with the normal graphite cathode, when MFCs were equipped with a wolframite-coated cathode, the maximum power density was increased from 41.47 mW·m−2 to 95.51 mW·m−2. Notably, the maximum power density further improved to 135.57 mW·m−2 under light irradiation, which was 2.4 times higher than with a graphite cathode. Our research demonstrated that natural wolframite, a low-cost and abundant natural semiconducting mineral, showed promise as an effective photocathode catalyst which has great potential applications related to utilizing natural minerals in MFCs and for environmental remediation by MFCs in the future.

Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels and fragmentation pattern can distinguish nonmuscle invasive (NMI) from muscle-invasive (MI) and metastatic (met) bladder cancer (BC).

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4523-4523
Author(s):  
Jaleh Fallah ◽  
Shinjini Ganguly ◽  
Hong Li ◽  
Wei (Auston) Wei ◽  
Aysegul Balyimez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Low Molecular Weight ◽  
Fragmentation Pattern ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Muscle Invasive

4523 Background: Occult MI and met BC may be under-staged. Circulating cfDNA may be a dynamic, low-cost and minimally invasive biomarker. We evaluated correlations between total circulating cfDNA and presence of MIBC and met BC. We hypothesized that the relative abundance of circulating low molecular weight cfDNA would correlate with BC stage. Methods: Peripheral blood from pts with BC was collected in Streck BCT tubes and processed to obtain cf nucleic acid extracts. Total cfDNA quantity (ng/ml) was assessed by fluorimetry. cfDNA fragment size was measured by Bioanalyzer DNA analysis. Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher’s Exact test were used to compare cfDNA quantity and fragmentation pattern among pts with NMIBC, MIBC, met BC. Results: Blood was obtained from 58 pts with BC (20% women, 34% never smokers, median age 71 (29-89). There was no significant difference in cfDNA between MIBC and met BC, however, it was significantly lower in pts with NMIBC vs MIBC and met BC (table). The concentration of low molecular weight fragments (LMW-frags) (100 - 400) base pairs and the ratio of LMW-Frag to cfDNA were significantly different between pts with NMIBC and pts with MIBC or met BC (table). Using median values as the cutoff, there was a significantly higher proportion of pts with cfDNA > 7 ng/ml and LMW-frags > 1.6 ng/mL, in MIBC & met BC vs NMIBC (p < 0.001). The % of pts with LMW-frags to cfDNA > 30%, was significantly different among NMIBC, MIBC and met BC groups: 16%, 53%, 78%, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that cfDNA levels may correlate with BC stage. Measuring the relative abundance of LMW-frags with the expected size of cf DNA can enhance the specificity of cfDNA analysis for distinction between MIBC and met BC. Further studies are needed to confirm findings and define the optimal cut-points for optimal BC staging. [Table: see text]

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