Search

Glucosinolates-rich extracts of some Brassicaceae sources, such as broccoli, cabbage, black radish, rapeseed, and cauliflower, were obtained using an eco-friendly extraction method, in a microwave field, with 70% ethanol, and evaluated in order to establish their in vitro antioxidant activities and anticorrosion effects on steel material. The DPPH method and Folin-Ciocâlteu assay proved good antioxidant activity (remaining DPPH, 9.54–22.03%) and the content of total phenolics between 1008–1713 mg GAE/L for all tested extracts. The electrochemical measurements in 0.5 M H2SO4 showed that the extracts act as mixed-type inhibitors proving their ability to inhibit corrosion in a concentration-dependent manner, with a remarkable inhibition efficiency (92.05–98.33%) achieved for concentrated extracts of broccoli, cauliflower, and black radish. The weight loss experiments revealed that the inhibition efficiency decreased with an increase in temperature and time of exposure. The apparent activation energies, enthalpies, and entropies of the dissolution process were determined and discussed, and an inhibition mechanism was proposed. An SEM/EDX surface examination shows that the compounds from extracts may attach to the steel surface and produce a barrier layer. Meanwhile, the FT-IR spectra confirm bond formation between functional groups and the steel substrate.

In this work is presented the synthesis of the inclusion complexes of amygdalin with β-cyclodextrin by three methods: kneading, co-precipitation and freeze drying and their characterization. The inclusion compounds were synthesized using a molar ratio of amygdalin: β-cyclodextrin of 1:1. Synthesized compounds were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy, X-rays, thermal analysis and the results confirm the formation of inclusion compounds by amygdalin with β-cyclodextrin. The studies carried out have shown the protective effect of amygdalin-β-cyclodextrin compounds obtained by freeze drying, kneading and coprecipitation against free radicals (SOD-like activity in vivo) and the results of in vitro cell cytotoxicity of the compounds on HeLa cell line compared to pure amygdalin. Compound obtained by freeze drying has the best SOD-like activity and cytotoxicity on HeLa tumor cells, so it may be considered as potential therapeutic agent.

We have synthesized herein new glycopolymers derived from sugar ( d -mannose) oligomers with itaconic moiety and 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate in different weight ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4), in bulk, using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. These glycopolymers were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, TG analysis, SEM, while their copolymerization process was studied from kinetics point of view using DSC. Biodegradation studies were performed in the microbiology laboratory using in situ grown cultures, provided by water taken out of Bega River that crosses Timisoara (Romania). The glycopolymer with the greatest sugar content displayed the best biodegradation pattern, losing more than 45% of its weight in just 14 days of incubation in water, at 37 °C. The thermal stability analysis was run again on the biodegraded samples and proved dramatical changes in thermal behavior profile, indicating sugar skeleton altering after a 14 days exposure to microbial environment. FTIR spectroscopy performed before and after biodegradation process revealed important changes in glycopolymer structure suggesting the sugar moiety has been the subject of microbial attack.

In order to overcome the limitations of current endodontic sealers, especially against resistant bacteria, recent developments in the field of nanotechnology have proved the necessity to reconsider the composition and physico-chemical properties of classical sealers. Nanoparticles with their unique features in terms of small size and high specific surface area, are the best choice for incorporation of antiseptic agents and effective delivery. The aim of our study is to prepare a novel platform for antibacterial drug delivery in dental adhesive systems used in endodontics. For this purpose, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) encapsulating chlorhexidine (CHX) and colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared and incorporated into commercial sealer and investigated in terms of bonding performance to dentin and effectiveness against E. faecalis, S. aureus and Candida albicans, which are responsible for the majority of the failures in endodontic treatments. In this context, the challenges related to the long-term biological effects of CHX/AgNPs loaded MWCNTs are discussed.

The dye industry is one of the largest water consuming industries, and at the same time generates large quantities of wastewaters. The resulting wastewaters require proper treatment before discharge, because the dye contents have a negative effect on the water body and organisms present in it. The most efficient treatment method for water containing dyes is represented by adsorption processes. The challenge with these adsorption processes is to develop new, efficient, viable, and economic adsorbent materials. Therefore, in the present paper, the performance of Zn2Al-layered double hydroxide, prepared from an industrial waste (zinc ash) as a zinc source, was investigated in the Orange II dye adsorption process. The Zn2Al-layered double hydroxide prepared from secondary sources presents similar morphological and structural characteristics as those prepared from analytical grade reagents. The influence of initial dye concentration, adsorption time, solid:liquid ratio, pH, and temperature was evaluated in order to confirm the benefit of this waste valorization. A comparison with the reference Zn2Al-layered double hydroxide prepared from analytical grade reagents was performed and the results show that due to the small presence of impurities, the material prepared from zinc ash shows better adsorption capacities (qmax,exp = 42.5 mg/g at 293 K) than the material prepared from reagents (qmax,exp = 36.9 mg/g at 293 K), justifying the utilization of secondary sources for layered double hydroxides preparation. The proposed treatment process presents advantages from both economic and environmental protection point of view.

Glycopolymers are polymers with sugar moieties which display biodegradable and/or biocompatible character. They have emerged as an environmentally-friendly solution to classical synthetic polymers and have attracted significant research interest in the past years. Herein, we present the synthesis of a D-mannose based glycopolymer with biodegradable features. The glycopolymer was synthesized by radical copolymerization between a D-mannose oligomer bearing polymerizable double bonds and 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate, in a weight ratio of 1:2. The copolymerization kinetics was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the activation energy of the process was comparatively assessed by Kissinger&ndash, Akahira&ndash, Sunose and Flynn&ndash, Wall&ndash, Ozawa methods. The obtained glycopolymer displayed good thermal behavior, fact proven by thermogravimetrical (TG) analysis and it was submitted to biodegradation inside a bioreactor fed with water from the Bega River as the source of microbial inoculum. The glycopolymer sample degraded by approximately 60% in just 23 days. The biodegradation pattern of the glycopolymer was successfully fitted against a modified sigmoidal exponential function. The kinetic model coefficients and its accuracy were calculated using Matlab and the correlation coefficient is more than promising. The changes inside glycopolymer structure after biodegradation were studied using TG and FTIR analyses, which revealed that the sugar moiety is firstly attacked by the microbial consortia as nutrient source for proliferation.

：The aim of this study is to investigate the silver recovery from aqueous solutions. There are a variety of recovery methods, such as hydrometallurgical, bio-metallurgical, cementation, reduction, electrocoagulation, electrodialysis, ion exchange, etc. Adsorption represents a convenient, environment friendly procedure, that can be used to recover silver from aqueous solutions. In this paper we highlight the silver adsorption mechanism on chitosan chemically modified with active groups, through kinetic, thermodynamic, and equilibrium studies. A maximum adsorption capacity of 103.6 mg Ag(I)/g of adsorbent for an initial concentration of 700 mg/L was noticed by using modified chitosan. Lower adsorption capacity has been noticed in unmodified chitosan&mdash, a maximum of 75.43 mg Ag(I)/g. Optimum contact time was 120 min and the process had a maximum efficiency when conducted at pH higher than 6. At the same time, a way is presented to obtain metallic silver from the adsorbent materials used for the recovery of the silver from aqueous solutions.

Water represents an essential resource for life and for all natural processes. Our existence and our economic activities are totally dependent on this precious resource. It is well known that into the developing countries the main resource of drinkable water is represented by underground waters, so their contamination with arsenic represents a real problem that needs to be solved. To solve the problem of arsenic water pollution, it was necessary to develop a series of chemical, physicochemical and biological methods to reduce arsenic concentrations from water. From all these methods, adsorption offers many advantages including simple and stable operation, easy handling of waste, absence of added reagents, compact facilities and generally lower operation cost. The goal of this paper is to study the sorption properties of a new adsorbent material prepared by impregnating Amberlite XAD7 resin with crown ether (dibenzo-18-crown-6 ether) and loaded with Fe(III) ions. Solvent impregnated resin (SIR) method was used for functionalization. Amberlite XAD7 resin functionalization was evidenced by energy dispersive X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis and determination of specific surface by the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) analysis. Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were performed in order to determine the removal efficiency of the studied adsorbent for arsenic removal from water. In order to study the As(V) adsorption mechanism the experimental data were modelled using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second order kinetic models. Kinetic of adsorption process was better described by pseudo-second-order model. Experimental data were fitted with three non-linear adsorption isotherm models: Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips. Obtained experimental data were better fitted by Sips adsorption isotherm. The values of thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH°, ΔS°) showed that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous. The results proved that Amberlite XAD7 resin with crown ether and loaded with Fe(III) is an efficient adsorbent for the As(V) removal from water. The possibility of reuse the adsorbent material through adsorption and desorption cycles was also studied and it was found that the material can be used in five sorption-desorption cycles. Maximum adsorption capacity obtained experimentally being 18.8 μg As(V)/g material.

Biodegradation of plastic materials is an issue of growing concern due to its tremendous environmental impact. This study presents the development of a bioreactor for aerobic biodegradation of a glycopolymer derived from D-mannose and hydroxyl-propyl methacrylate (HPMA). The bioreactor is provided with aeration system, thermoset unit and stirring system. The glycopolymer samples were degraded inside the bioreactor fed with water from Bega River, under aerobic conditions (air flow 2 l/min) at 37±0.5°C for 23 days. The samples derived from natural raw material displayed good biodegradation pattern losing more than 90% their weight, in just 23 days. FTIR and TG analyses run before and after degradation showed that the microorganisms tended to use the sugar moiety as carbon source in first instance, then they turn to synthetic carbon. The kinetic study based on the mathematical Logistic growth model proved adequate for the modeling of the weight loss vs. time. The bioreactor proved as an efficient tool for plastic material biodegradation under aerobic conditions.

The main purpose of this paper was to obtain a material with efficient adsorbing properties and selectivity, to recover the gold (III) from residual diluted solutions resulted from the electroplating process. In this regard, a material was obtained by physico-chemical functionalization of a chemically inert support with functional groups of nitrogen and carboxyl. As a source of functional groups glutamic acid was used, and Amberlite XAD7 type acrylic resin was used as solid support. In order to establish the mechanism of the adsorption process, kinetic, thermodynamic and equilibrium studies were performed. The maximum adsorption capacity of the material has been established, and a gold (III) recovery process has been proposed using thermal decomposition of the exhausted adsorbed material. Main objective of this study was to evaluate an environmental friendly adsorbent material to recover gold from secondary industrial sources.

β-Cyclodextrin- and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin/Danube common nase (Chondrostoma nasus L.) oil complexes (β-CD- and HP-β-CD/CNO) have been obtained for the first time. The fatty acid (FA) profile of the CNO indicates an important content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the most important being eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 6.3%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 1.6%), both ω-3 FAs. The complexes have been obtained by kneading method. The moisture content and successful of molecular encapsulation have been evaluated by thermal and spectroscopic techniques. Thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry analyses reveals that the moisture content of CD/CNO complexes significantly decreased, compared to starting CDs. On the other hand, the crystallinity index was for the first time determined for such type of complexes, the β-CD/CNO complex having values of 43.9(±18.3)%, according to X-ray diffractometry. FA profile and CD/CNO characteristics sustain the use of these ω-3 based complexes for food supplements or functional food products, but further studies are needed.

An industrially manufactured recycled polyol, obtained by acidolysis process, was for the first time proved to be a possible replacement of the reference fossil-based polyol in a low-density formulation suitable for industrial production of flexible polyurethane foams. The influence of increasing recycled polyol amounts on the properties of the polyurethane foam has been studied, also performing foam emission tests to evaluate the environmental impact. Using 10 pbw recycled polyol in the standard formulation, significant differences of the physical properties were not observed, but increase of the recycled polyol amount to 30 pbw led to a dramatic decrease of the foam air flow and a very tight foam. To overcome this drawback, N,N′-bis[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]urea was selected as tertiary amine catalyst, enabling the preservation of foam properties even at high recycled polyol level (30 pbw). Foam emission data demonstrated that this optimized foam formulation also led to an important reduction of volatile organic compounds. The results open the way for further optimization studies in low-density flexible polyurethane foam formulations, to increase the reutilization of the polyurethane waste and reduce the amount of petroleum-based raw materials.

European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus L.) is one of the most important oily fish that provide valuable omega-3 containing fish oil. The aim of the study was to protect the labile fatty acids from anchovy oil by β-cyclodextrin complexation. The competitiveness to molecular encapsulation of anchovy oil components were also studied. Anchovy oil/β-cyclodextrin complexes at molar ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 were obtained by crystallization and kneading methods with very good recovering yields (74–78% and 85–99%, respectively). The most concentrated fatty acids in the raw anchovy oil were PUFAs at a relative concentration of 65.5 g/100 g. Higher content of EPA and DHA of 28.2 and 22.3 g/100 g had determined. Molecular encapsulation competitiveness conduct to a decrease of the PUFAs (even by five to seven times for EPA and DHA) and a significant increase of saturated fatty acids in complexes. Thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry parameters well correlate with Karl Fischer titration parameters. They also supports the formation of inclusion compound by means of lowering the water content that is replaced by anchovy oil components. As a conclusion, valuable anchovy oil/β-cyclodextrin complexes as well as omega-3 concentrated anchovy oil (non-encapsulated “residue”) can be obtained in one step for food applications.

Ester polyurethane (PU) foam waste was reacted at atmospheric pressure in an autoclave and using microwaves with diethylene glycol (DEG) at different PU/DEG ratios in the presence of diethanolamine as a catalyst to find the glycolysis conditions that allow for the improved recovery of the PU foam waste and enable the recycling of the whole glycolysis product in foam formulations suitable for industrial application. The recycled polyol was characterized by dynamic viscosity, hydroxyl number, water content, and density, while thermal stability was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis. In the PU foam formulation, 1% and 5% of the glycolyzed material was reused. The relationship between the reuse level of the recycled polyol and the physical properties of the foam was thoroughly investigated. It was observed that both hardness and air flow decreased with increasing recycled polyol content, particularly for the polyester type foam, while tensile strength and compression strength increased. Depending on the amount of recycled polyol and catalyst used, polyether-based foams could be obtained with a low air permeability, needed in special applications as sealed foams, or with higher air permeability desirable for comfort PU foams. The results open the way for further optimization studies of industrial polyurethane foam formulations using a glycolysis process without any separation stage.

Summary The present study is focused on the synthesis of polymers starting from renewable resources. The two monomers were prepared by reaction of the corresponding derivative of glycerol (2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl-methyl acrylate) and glucose (3-O-acryloyl-1,25,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-glucofuranose) with acryloyl chloride, M1 and M2. Different molar ratio were used for the copolymers synthesis (M1:M2=3:1 and 5:1). The homo and co-polymerization processes were investigated by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Based on DSC data the activation energies were estimated by the following methods described by: Kissinger, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) The thermal stabilities of the resulting polymers were evaluated from the thermo gravimetrical (TG) analysis.

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid and itaconic acid are both important biobased platform chemicals and their terpolymer with 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) can be the starting point for a new class of reactive polyesters, with important applications. The green synthetic route developed in this study involves a biocatalytic condensation polymerization reaction of dimethyl furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (DMFDC) and dimethyl itaconate (DMI) with HDO in toluene at 80°C, using commercial immobilized lipases from Candida antarctica B. In the best conditions, the formed polymer product was isolated with more than 80% yield, containing about 85% terpolymer with average molecular mass of about 1200 (Mn, calculated from MALDI-TOF MS data) and 15% DMFDC_HDO copolymer. Considering the higher reactivity of DMFDC, the composition of the synthesized polymer can be directed by adjusting the molar ratio of DMFDC and DMI, as well as by extending the reaction time. Structural analysis by NMR demonstrated the regioselective preference for the carbonyl group from DMI adjacent to the methylene group. The biocatalyst was successfully reused in multiple reaction cycles.

Following the latest developments, bio-based polyesters, obtained from renewable raw materials, mainly carbohydrates, can be competitive for the fossil-based equivalents in various industries. In particular, the furan containing monomers are valuable alternatives for the synthesis of various new biomaterials, applicable in food additive, pharmaceutical and medical field. The utilization of lipases as biocatalysts for the synthesis of such polymeric compounds can overcome the disadvantages of high temperatures and metal catalysts, used by the chemical route. In this work, the enzymatic synthesis of new copolymers of &epsilon, caprolactone and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid has been investigated, using commercially available immobilized lipases from Candida antarctica B. The reactions were carried out in solvent-less systems, at temperatures up to 80 &deg, C. The structural analysis by MALDI TOF-MS, NMR, and FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the formation of cyclic and linear oligoesters, with maximal polymerization degree of 24 and narrow molecular weight distribution (dispersity about 1.1). The operational stability of the biocatalyst was explored during several reuses, while thermal analysis (TG and DSC) indicated a lower thermal stability and higher melting point of the new products, compared to the poly(&epsilon, caprolactone) homopolymer. The presence of the heterocyclic structure in the polymeric chain has promoted both the lipase-catalyzed degradation and the microbial degradation. Although, poly(&epsilon, caprolactone) is a valuable biocompatible polymer with important therapeutic applications, some drawbacks such as low hydrophilicity, low melting point, and relatively slow biodegradability impeded its extensive utilization. In this regard the newly synthesized furan-based oligoesters could represent a &ldquo, green&rdquo, improvement route.

The thermal and oxidative stability of Atlantic salmon oil (Salmo salar L.) as well as its ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) complexation ability has been verified for the first time. The main omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, were significantly degraded, even at 50 °C. Their relative concentrations decrease from 6.1% for EPA and 4.1% for DHA to 1.7% and 1.5% after degradation at 150 °C, respectively. On the other hand, the relative concentrations of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids remained constant or slightly increased by a few percent after degradation (e.g., from 10.7% to 12.9% for palmitic acid). Co-crystallization of ASO with ß-CD at a host-guest ratio of 1:1 and 3:1 from an ethanol-water mixture and kneading methods has been used for the preparation of ß-CD/ASO complexes. The analysis of the complexes by thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Karl Fischer titration (KFT) as well as the decrease of the "strongly-retained" water content confirm the formation of the inclusion compound. Furthermore, the DSC parameters correlate well with the KFT kinetic data for ß-CD/ASO complexes. © 2016 Hadaruga et al; licensee Beilstein-Institut. License and terms: see end of document.