Biodiesel synthesis from swine manure

This study demonstrates that the biodiesel (BD) from swine manure (SM) could be a promising way for large scale generation of biofuel. Also, the economic and environmental benefits of SM derived BD were evaluated. Transesterification of lipid contents extracted from the collected SM had low BD yield (14.2 wt%) using H₂SO₄ catalyst due to high acid value and impurities. However, thermo-chemical non-catalytic transesterification with a porous material showed 94.7 wt% yield of BD from the lipid in SM. Considering the current population of swine, the annual production of BD from SM was estimated. The SM derived BD could cover 19.7 and 46.8 wt% of BD currently produced in both Korea and the USA with the economic benefits of up to $96 million and $2.1 billion, respectively. The proposed approach also can save vast arable lands needed to cultivate oil-bearing feedstocks for BD production.

Analysis of fatty acids in mouse tissue via in situ transmethylation with biochar

Lipid derivatization technology-mediated fatty acid profiling studies have been suggested to dissect the contents of lipids in white fat and brown fat tissue. The focus of this study is to profile fatty acid lipidomics in brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue of mice by derivatizing their lipids into fatty acid methyl esters via in situ transmethylation using a rice husk-derived biochar as porous media. The in situ transmethylation using biochar is advantageous in biological analysis because there was no loss of samples inevitably occurring in the loss of lipid in solvent extraction and purification steps.

The effect of lead exposure on fatty acid composition in mouse brain analyzed using pseudo-catalytic derivatization

We performed toxicological study of mice exposed to lead by quantifying fatty acids in brain of the mice. This study suggests that the introduced analytical method had an extremely high tolerance against impurities such as water and extractives; thus, it led to the enhanced resolution in visualizing the spectrum of fatty acid profiles in animal brain. Furthermore, one of the biggest technical advantages achieved in this study was the quantitation of fatty acid methyl ester profiles of mouse brain using a trace amount of sample (e.g., 100 μL mixture). Methanol was screened as the most effective extraction solvent for mouse brain. The behavioral test of the mice before and after lead exposure was conducted to see the effect of lead exposure on fatty acid composition of the mice' brain. The lead exposure led to changes in disease-related behavior of the mice. Also, the lead exposure induced significant alterations of fatty acid profile (C16:0, C 18:0, and C 18:1) in brain of the mice, implicated in pathology of psychiatric diseases. The alteration of fatty acid profile of brain of the mice suggests that the derivatizing technique can be applicable to most research fields associated with the environmental neurotoxins with better resolution in a short time, as compared to the current protocols for lipid analysis.

Estimating total lipid content of Camelina sativa via pyrolysis assisted in-situ transesterification with dimethyl carbonate

Direct derivatization of C. sativa seed into FAMEs without lipid extraction was conducted for the quantification of lipid analysis via in-situ thermal methylation with dimethyl carbonate as an acyl acceptor on silica (SiO₂). The introduced method had an extraordinarily high tolerance against impurities such as pyrolytic products and moisture. To ensure the technical completeness of in-situ methylation, thermal cracking of FAMEs transformed from C. sativa seed was also explored. Thermal cracking of unsaturated FAMEs such as C_18:1, C_18:2, C_18:3 and C_20:1 occurred at temperatures higher than 365°C due to their thermal instability. Thus, experimental findings in this study suggests not only that qualitative analysis of fatty acid profile in C. sativa seed via in-situ methylation using SiO₂ could be achieve, but also that the total lipid content (42.65wt.%) in C. sativa seed could be accurately estimated.

Sulfatides Primarily Exist in the Substantia Nigra Region of Mouse Brain Tissue

Lipid distribution in the brain is important for many biological functions and has been associated with some brain diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate lipid distribution in different regions of brain tissue in mice. To this end, substantia nigra (SN), caudate putamen (CPu), hippocampus (Hip), hypothalamus (Hyp), and cortex (Cx) tissues of mice were analyzed using direct infusion nanoelectrospray-ion trap mass spectrometry and multivariate analyses. The SN, CPu, Hip, Hyp, and Cx groups showed clear differences in lipid distribution using principal component analysis and a partial least-squares discriminant analysis score plot, and lipid levels were significantly different in different brain regions. In particular, sulfatides were mainly distributed in the SN region. Our results could be used to help understand the functions and mechanisms of lipids in various brain diseases.

Enhanced thermal destruction of toxic microalgal biomass by using CO2

This work confirmed that dominant microalgal strain in the eutrophic site (the Han River in Korea) was Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) secreting toxins. Collected and dried microalgal biomass had an offensive odor due to microalgal lipid, of which the content reached up to 2±0.2wt.% of microalgal biomass (dry basis). This study has validated that the offensive odor is attributed to the C3-6 range of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which was experimentally identified by the non-catalytic transformation of triglycerides (TGs) and free fatty acids (FFAs) in microalgal biomass into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). In particular, this study mechanistically investigated the influence of CO2 in the thermal destruction (i.e., pyrolysis) of hazardous microalgal biomass in order to achieve dual purposes (i.e., thermal disposal of hazardous microalgal biomass and energy recovery). The influence of CO2 in pyrolysis of microalgal biomass was identified as 1) the enhanced thermal cracking behaviors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the thermal degradation of microalgal biomass and 2) the direct gas phase reaction between CO2 and VOCs. These identified influences of CO2 in pyrolysis of microalgal biomass significantly enhanced the generation of CO: the enhanced generation of CO in the presence of CO2 was 590% at 660°C, 1260% at 690°C, and 3200% at 720°C. In addition, two identified influences of CO2 (i.e., enhanced thermal cracking and direct gas phase reaction) occurred simultaneously and independently. The identified gas phase reaction in the presence of CO2 was only initiated at temperatures higher than 500°C, which was different from the Boudouard reaction. Lastly, the experimental work justified that exploiting CO2 as a reaction medium and/or chemical feedstock will provide new technical approaches for controlling syngas ratio and in-situ air pollutant control without using catalysts.

Pyrogenic transformation of Nannochloropsis oceanica into fatty acid methyl esters without oil extraction for estimating total lipid content

This study fundamentally investigated the pseudo-catalytic transesterification of dried Nannochloropsis oceanica into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) without oil extraction, which was achieved in less than 5min via a thermo-chemical pathway. This study presented that the pseudo-catalytic transesterification reaction was achieved in the presence of silica and that its main driving force was identified as temperature: pores in silica provided the numerous reaction space like a micro-reactor, where the heterogeneous reaction was developed. The introduced FAME derivatization showed an extraordinarily high tolerance of impurities (i.e., pyrolytic products and various extractives). This study also explored the thermal cracking of FAMEs derived from N. oceanica: the thermal cracking of saturated FAMEs was invulnerable at temperatures lower than 400°C. Lastly, this study reported that N. oceanica contained 14.4wt.% of dried N. oceanica and that the introduced methylation technique could be applicable to many research fields sharing the transesterification platform.