Limbah Sabut Kelapa Muda (Cocos nucifera L.) sebagai Sumber Pewarna Kain

Young coconut coir (Cocos nucifera Linn.) waste has the potential to be processed into a useful product, namely as a source of natural dyes, especially in cotton fabrics. Processing is carried out through a maceration process for 72 hours using 96% ethanol as solvent. The obtained extract was applied on cotton cloth with various concentrations of the extract solution, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%, and various soaking times of the fabric in the extract for 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes. The extract was analyzed using Uv-Vis Spekctrofotometer it showed that the ethanol extract or dye that is absorbed into the cotton fabric with various concentrations is 3.43, 4.82, 6.61, 7.79, and 9.03%, respectively. The various soaking times show that on the other hand that the extract absorbed into the fabric was successfully obtained around 7.75, 9.64, 10.81, 11.65, and 12.04%. The results show that the concentration of the extract solution and the increasing length of soaking time can increase the percentage of extract or dye absorbed in cotton fabrics

Formulation of Plant Nutrient with Synbiotic Enhancement

Oleochemical wastewater discharge from the industry into water sources is one of the main causes of water pollution. A proper treatment is required before the effluent is discharged to the environment. Since the oleochemical wastewater contains nutrients and probiotics that are good for plants, it could be used as a nutrient provider for the plants instead. Therefore, the formulation of synbiotic plant nutrients from this effluent is an effective way of using the oleochemical effluent. This study aimed to formulate the plant nutrients by using industrial wastewater, which contains the synbiotic enhancement and validating the significance of the formulated plant nutrients into three types of plants; Abelmoschus esculentus (Okra), Solanum Melongena (Brinjal), and Capsicum annuum (Chilli peppers). Synbiotic is a combination of both prebiotics and probiotics that benefit the host by stimulating the growth of a limited number of health-promoting bacteria. To formulate the plant nutrient, the wastewater was filtered using a cotton cloth before the pre-biotics solution was added. Sample A (filtered wastewater was mixed with Sample B (prebiotics solution) by different percentages, namely F1 (100%:0%), F2 (75%:25%), F3 (50%:50%), F3 (25%:75%), 0%:100% (Sample A to Sample B respectively) and lastly, 50%:50% (Sample C (unfiltered wastewater) to Sample B respectively). The height of the plant and the number of leaves are measured weekly for four months. From the data, it can be seen that F3 gave significant results for the okra plant, in which it gains the highest height of plant compared to the other two plants. On the other hand, F6 give the best results for both the brinjal and the chilli plant where their leaves grow the highest from the second until the fourth month of plant growth. Hence, this research gives an added value to the wastewater, whereas the wastewater is used as the synbiotic plant nutrient enhancer and work best for the plants.

Production, Optimization, Purification, Kinetic analysis and applications of alkaline proteases produced from Bacillus subtilis through solid state fermentation of agricultural byproducts

Proteases have gained more commercial value to date due to multiple applications in different industrial sectors. Current research was aimed to use the cheaper agricultural waste for optimal protease production. Maximum level of protease production was achieved at 37 °C, incubation period of 24 h, pH 9.0, inoculum size 3%, 1.5 g sucrose as a carbon source and 30% moisture content by using solid-state fermentation. Among the various inorganic and organic nitrogen sources, ammonium nitrate and yeast extract tremendously increased the production of protease. Among metal ions and surfactants tested, Ca2+ and Tween 40 showed the optimal protease production. The purification of protease was carried out by ammonium salt precipitation followed by sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatography. The purification resulted in 1.3 fold of purified protease with a specific activity of 51.5 and a total yield of 37.5 %. Molecular weight of purified protease was predicted upon SDS-PAGE with a single band of ~36 kDa. The protease was quite stable over a temperature range of 35-45 °C and pH 7-9 with maximal activity at 40 °C and pH 9. The kinetic parameters Vmax (maximum rate) and Km (Michaelis-Menten constant) were calculated as 0.307 U/g and 11.2 mg/mL, respectively. The alkaline protease significantly de-hair the goat skin and successfully removed the animal blood stain from cotton cloth.

An Uncharacterized Protein from the Metagenome with no Obvious Homology to known Lipases Shows Excellent Alkaline Lipase Properties and Potential Applications in the Detergent Industry

A novel lipase, Lip486, which has no obvious homology with known lipases, was discovered using functional metagenomics technology. Phylogenetic tree analysis suggested that the enzyme belongs to a new subfamily called lipolytic enzyme family II. To explore the enzymatic properties, lip486 was expressed heterologously and efficiently in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme displayed the highest activity on the substrate p-nitrophenyl caprate with a carbon chain length of 10, and its optimum temperature and pH were 53 °C and 8.0, respectively. The recombinant Lip486 showed good activity and stability in strong alkaline and medium-low -temperature environments. The results of compatibility and soaking tests showed that the enzyme had good compatibility with 4 kinds of commercial detergents, and an appropriate soaking time could further improve the enzyme activity. Oil stain removal test results for a cotton cloth indicated that the washing performance of commercial laundry detergent supplemented with Lip486 was further improved. In addition, as one of the smallest lipases found to date, Lip486 also has the advantages of high yield, good stability and easy molecular modification. These characteristics reflect the good application prospects for Lip486 in the detergent and other industries in the future.

A New Cu(II) Complex of PAMAM Dendrimer Modified with 1,8-Naphthalimide: Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity

A new fluorescent PAMAM copper complex ([Cu2(D)(NO3)4]) has been synthesized and identified. The formation of the complex has been investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy which revealed two copper ions to be bound to the dendrimer ligand. That has also been confirmed upon subjecting the solid copper complex to electron paramagnetic spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of the copper complex against Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in light and the dark has been studied. The results demonstrate an increase in its activity when irradiated with daylight. This activity of the copper complex is retained even after being loaded onto a cotton cloth. The antitumor activity of the copper complex and dendrimer ligand against triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells has been investigated as well.

Influence of surface material and reprocessing on the durability of antimicrobial surfaces

The risk of infection from contaminated surfaces has already been shown in several publications. Due to the increased demand for optimized infection control measures during the Corona pandemic, antimicrobial surface technologies have gained more an interest. Apart from many proofs of efficacy, there are only a few studies dealing with the durability of these surface coatings with regard to the material and the reprocessing measures. This work did therefore examine the impact of different materials and surface textures, as well as different detergents and disinfectants, on the durability of antimicrobial surface technologies. Differently structured materials (glass, wood, plastics, metal) and wallpaper bonded to plasterboard were coated with an TiO2Ag based antimicrobial coating (HECOSOL GmbH, Bamberg). These test samples are then used to perform abrasion tests with various cleaning and disinfecting agents and cloth systems (microfiber cloth, cotton cloth, foam cloth). The majority of the test samples in our experimental setup showed at least significant activity. According to our results, both the selection of cleaning and disinfection methods including wiping systems and the surface material have a major impact on the durability of antimicrobial coatings. In order to be able to come to conclusions about the long-term activity of these surface technologies, the effectiveness should be tested not only during the development phase, but also in the finished product and again after several reprocessing cycles in use.

Evaluation of water structures in cotton cloth by fractal analysis with broadband dielectric spectroscopy

Broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements were performed on naturally dried cotton cloth, and a recently developed analytical technique for fractal analysis of water structures was applied to obtain existential states and locations of water molecules in the material. Three relaxation processes observed in GHz, MHz, and kHz frequency regions were attributed to dynamic behaviors of hydrogen bonding networks (HBNs) of water and interacting molecules, polymer chains with interacting ion and water molecules, and ions restricted on the interfaces of larger structures, respectively. Water molecules were heterogeneously distributed in the cotton cloth, and the HBNs remained as a broad GHz frequency process. Fractal analysis suggested that water molecules distributed in the material were characterized by a small value (0.55) of the Cole–Cole relaxation time distribution parameter, indicating spatial distribution of HBN fragments with various sizes in cotton cloth. This result was also supported by the T2 relaxation time obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance for naturally dried cotton yarn. Comparing previous results of dielectric relaxation measurements and fractal analysis with the τ–β diagram for various aqueous systems, the results determined that water molecules cannot exist inside cellulose microfibrils. The fractal analysis employed in this work can be applied to dynamic water structures in any material. The presented analytical technique with a universal τ–β diagram is expected to be an effective tool to clarify water structure detail even for heterogeneous hydrations of the low water content substances. Graphical abstract

A DIGITAL TWIN FOR AUTOMATED LAYUP OF PREPREG COMPOSITE SHEETS

The composite sheet layup process involves stacking several layers of a viscoelastic prepreg sheet and curing the laminate to manufacture the component. Demands for automating functional tasks in the composite manufacturing processes have dramatically increased in the past decade. A simulation system representing a digital twin of the composite sheet can aid in the development of such an autonomous system for prepreg sheet layup. While Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a popular approach for simulating flexible materials, material properties need to be encoded to produce high-fidelity mechanical simulations. We present a methodology to predict material parameters of a thin-shell FEA model based on real-world observations of the deformations of the object. We utilize the model to develop a digital twin of a composite sheet. The method is tested on viscoelastic composite prepreg sheets and fabric materials such as cotton cloth, felt and canvas. We discuss the implementation and development of a high-speed FEA simulator based on the VegaFEM library. By using our method to identify sheet material parameters, the sheet simulation system is able to predict sheet behavior within 5 cm of average error and have proven its capability for 10 fps real-time sheet simulation.