Free radical scavenging ability of sodium lignosulfonate and its application in food grade polypropylene

Sodium lignosulfonate (SL) was prepared from waste of cotton lignin (CL) through hydrothermal reaction method. Orthogonal experiment was designed with value of OIT as objective function. Polypropylene (PP) is a polymer produced by the addition polymerization of propylene. It is a white waxy material with a transparent and light appearance, which is widely used in food and pharmaceutical packaging. The results of GPC and TG analysis revealed that SL has stable thermal properties, which means that SL has the potential to be an antioxidant for PP materials. In addition, the scavenging effects of CL and SL were studied. The obtained results exhibited that the SL can obviously increase the scavenging effect on free radicals and it is a kind of new synthetic antioxidant with antioxidant property, which could effectively delay the oxidation of PP. Subsequent rheological experiments proved that the SL/PP sample can improve the heat-resistant oxygen performance of PP under the thermal oxygen shearing environment. Combined with the effect of SL on the mechanical properties of PP before aging, SL has a stabilizing effect on PP thermal oxygen aging.

KAPOK AS AN ADSORBENT FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

The study focuses on investigating kapok fiber as an adsorbent for oily industrial wastewater. Kapok fiber, KF (Ceiba Pentandra) is a natural plant fiber that poses excellent hydrophobic-oleophilic characteristics, due to the presence of penetrable hollow lumen structure and waxy material on its surface. The objectives of this study are to investigate the morphology of raw and treated kapok fiber (KF) before and after adsorption of wastewater as well as to study the sorption capacity of KF (including raw KF, ethanol-treated KF and chloroform-treated KF) in wastewater. Hence, the morphology of raw KF and KF treated with oil are analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Besides, the sorption condition of different types of wastewater including emulsified wastewater, immiscible oil-and-liquid wastewater and non-oily wastewater on raw KF are studied in this experiment. From the study, the raw KF shows the best sorption capacity of oil (29.00g/g) compared to the ethanol-treated KF (18.22g/g) and Chloroform-treated KF (16.58g/g) as the treated KF has larger amount of cellulosic content (hydroxyl group) present on the wall of kapok, making it less oleophilic. On the other hand, raw KF has the lowest sorption capacity of water (0.59g/g) followed by ethanol-treated KF (3.05g/g) and chloroform-treated KF (3.20g/g) on non-oily wastewater. Kapok fiber shows great potential as oil sorbent on any type of oil owing to its excellent hydrophobicity-oleophilicity characteristic. In conclusion, the raw KF shows the best sorption capacity of oil compared to the ethanol-treated KF and chloroform-treated KF because the effectiveness is resulted from the hydrophobic waxy coating on the kapok surface. Besides that, the lower sorption capacity of water than oil is due to the incomplete removal of wax from the wall of kapok, making it a little hydrophilic (likes water) as compared to oleophilic (likes oil).

First record of the nesting whitefly, Paraleyrodes minei, in Greece

On late June 2015, the nesting whitefly Paraleyrodes minei Ιaccarino (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was recorded for first time in Greece. Its occurrence was observed on leaves of sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] trees at Platanias, Chania, on the underside of which tiny white “nests” were observed, due to the woolly waxy material secreted by females, around themselves, as well as by the filamentous translucent wax rods extending from the dorsum of late nymphal instars. In our surveys P. minei was observed at low or moderate population densities. Information on its morphology, biology and present geographical distribution is provided.

Typhlodromus erymanthii, a new species of the family Phytoseiidae (Αcari: Mesostigmata) from Greece

The adult female of Typhlodromus erymanthii, which belongs to the simplex species – group, is described and illustrated. It was collected from Quercus coccifera L. leaf erinea, and its association with other mites there is discussed. The dorsal setae, shield and leg setae were covered by a (waxy?) material.

Epidermal Cyst of the Breast Treated by Vacuum-Assisted Biopsy

A 38-year-old woman presented for evaluation of a firm mass (measuring 20 × 20 mm) in the upper outer quadrant of her left breast. On the basis of the clinical and radiologic findings, we diagnosed a benign breast tumor and scheduled removal by a hand-held vacuum-assisted biopsy device (VABD) under ultrasonographic guidance. Because the first specimen removed from the tumor was white, flaky, and waxy material, we strongly suspected that the lesion was an epidermal cyst. We continued VABD treatment until the tumor was invisible on real-time ultrasonography. Histologic examination demonstrated that the tumor was composed of mature stratified squamous epithelium and laminated layers of keratin, findings consistent with a diagnosis of epidermal cyst. These cysts rarely occur in the breast and are sometimes difficult to distinguish from breast cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an epidermal cyst treated by VABD.

Effect of Alkali Treatment of Coir Fiber on Its Morphology and Performance of the Fiber/LLDPE Bio-Composites

The morphology of the coir fiber by alkali treatment and untreated was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The main component of wax layer on coir fiber surface and the mechanical performance of coir fiber/line low density polyethylene (LLDPE) bio-composites were studied. The flexural and impact strength of the composites after alkali treatment for the fibers were lower obviously than that of the composites without treatment. The result of Infrared Spectrumetry-Fouorier Transform (FTIR) shows that fatty acid and waxy material on the surface of the coir fiber were disposed of by alkali solution. The fatty acid and waxy material are compatible with non-polar LLDPE matrix. The compatibility between the coir and matrix was reduced obviously with loss of them. Therefore, the alkali treatment weakens significantly the compatibility between the coir and LLDPE, and this is a main reason that the mechanical performance of the composites was markedly declined.

Wax Particle Morphology And Ultrastructure Of Two Species Of Adult Insects: Prey And Predator

Some insects cover themselves with waxy particles including all parts of their body except the eyes. Two examples of insects that produce waxy particles from specialized glands on their abdominal surfaces are the adult stages of the silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii) and one of its predators, the dusty wing (Semidalis flinti). In both species, the production of the waxy particles begins at adult eclosion. The silverleaf whitefly, a major plant pest, produces ribbons of waxy material that extrude from the numerous microtrichia that cover the surface of abdominal wax plates. Silverleaf whitefly males have 4 pair of wax plates and females have 2 pair. The adults use their tibia to break off the extruding ribbons, forming semicircular waxy particles about 1 micrometer in diameter. The semicircular waxy particles are composed of a mixture of long-chain aldehydes and alcohols, 34 carbons in length.For the dustywing predator, the particles are formed by wax producing pores that cover most abdominal surfaces of the adults.

Self-Assembly in Plant Barrier Biopolymers

A new procedure is given to isolate the components that constitute the translucent lines present in some layered plant cuticles. These electron-translucent lines are mainly composed of fatty acids and n-alkanes. This waxy material is capable to form molecular bilayers with a constant thickness of approximately 5 nm. This special arrangement have a strong contribution in water transport across the cuticle