Artificial neural network modelling and experimental investigations of malachite green adsorption on novel carboxymethyl cellulose/β-cyclodextrin/nickel cobaltite composite

This study presents a novel polymer nanocomposite based on carboxymethyl cellulose and β-cyclodextrin crosslinked with succinic acid (CMC-SA-β-CD) containing nickel cobaltite (NCO) nano-reinforcement. Various analytical techniques have been employed to investigate the structural, thermal, and morphological features of the resulting nanocomposite. The CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO nanocomposite has been utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of bisphenol-A (BPA, R% <40 %), malachite green (MG, R% > 75 %)), and Congo red (CR, no adsorption) from the synthetic wastewater. The study systematically explored the impact of various parameters on the adsorption process, and the interactions between MG and CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO were discussed. The adsorption data were fitted to different models to elucidate the kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption process. An artificial neural network (ANN) analysis was employed to train the experimental dataset for predicting adsorption outcomes. Despite a low BET surface area (0.798 m2 g-1), CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO was found to exhibit high MG adsorption capacity. CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO exhibited better MG adsorption performance at pH 5.5, 40 mg L-1 MG dye concentration, 170 min equilibrium time, 20 mg CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO dose with more than 90 % removal efficiency. Moreover, the thermodynamic studies suggest that the adsorption of MG was exothermic with ΔH° value -9.93 ± 0.76 kJ mol-1. The isotherm studies revealed that the Langmuir model was the best model to describe the adsorption of MG on CMC-SA-β-CD/NCO indicating monolayer surface coverage with Langmuir adsorption capacity of 182 ± 4 mg g-1. The energy of adsorption (11.4 ± 0.8 kJ mol-1) indicated chemisorption of MG on the composite surface. The kinetics studies revealed that the pseudo-first-order model best described the adsorption kinetics with q e  = 86.7 ± 2.9 mg g-1. A good removal efficiency (>70 %) was retained after five regeneration reuse cycles. The ANN-trained data showed good linearity between predicted and actual data for the adsorption capacity (R-value>0.99), indicating the reliability of the prediction model. The developed nanocomposite, composed predominantly of biodegradable material, is facile to synthesize and exhibited excellent monolayer adsorption of MG providing a new sustainable adsorbent for selective MG removal.

Introducing graphene quantum dots in decomposable wheat starch-gelatin based nano-biofilms

This research aims to discover a viable substitute for the common harmful plastic packaging utilized in food products. Citric acid was employed as an accessible and risk-free precursor in synthesizing graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Using the efficient carbonization technique, GQDs were obtained and subsequently transferred to nano-biofilms in varying percentages relative to natural polymers. FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, and AFM analyses were conducted to examine the formation of the nano-biofilms. GQDs demonstrated optimal performance in the disk diffusion method and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical approach. Adding GQDs to starch and gelatin composite improved the physical properties of nano-biofilms such as moisture contact, swelling index, and solubility. The transparency of the films was reduced by GQDs, which reduces the transmission of visible light and plays an important role in food protection. The packaging films' weight loss due to decomposition was examined after being buried in soil for 50 days, which relieved the eco-concerns of these packaging films. To evaluate the performance of the films in inhibiting food spoilage, cherries, and cucumbers were packed with a control film and the fabricated film containing 14 wt% of GQD. After 14 days, the modified nano-biofilm was able to maintain the freshness of the samples.

Hydrogels based on gelatin, xanthan gum, and cellulose obtained by reactive extrusion and thermopressing processes

Polysaccharides and proteins are compatible macromolecules that can be used to obtain biopolymeric hydrogels through physical interactions. In this study, an environmentally friendly strategy is being proposed to produce gelatin-xanthan gum- cellulose hydrogels, without the addition of chemical synthetic crosslinkers. Xanthan gum was employed as an alternative crosslinking agent, and cellulose was used as a potential reinforcing agent in the polymeric matrix. Firstly, the biopolymers were mixed by the extrusion process, and glycerol was used as a plasticizer. Then, the polymeric mixture was molded by thermopressing to obtain hydrogels as laminated films. All hydrogels formulations resulted in films with smooth surfaces, without pores or cracks, resulting in amorphous polymeric matrices. The obtained hydrogels had a pH-dependent degree of swelling, the highest swelling values were obtained at pH 4 (5.3-7.9 g/g) after 24 h of immersion. Cellulose acted as a reinforcing agent for hydrogels, increasing thermal stability, tensile strength, and Young's modulus of films when employed at the higher level (7%). The strategy employed in this study to obtain nontoxic hydrogels without synthetic crosslinkers was effective, resulting in materials with promising properties to be used as pharmaceutical forms to deliver active compounds in cosmetic or pharmaceutical products.

Food extrusion: An advanced process for innovation and novel product development

Extrusion is a versatile process capable of producing a variety of new and novel foods and ingredients, thus increasing manufacturing opportunities. Further, it could provide nutritious, safe, sustainable, and affordable foods, especially directed at individualized consumer needs. In addition to past research efforts, more investigations should be conducted in order to refine, redesign, or develop new extrusion processing technologies. The present review highlights the current advances made in new and novel food product development by considering the extrusion process, the influencing parameters, and product characteristics and properties; the most promising extrusion processes that can be used in novel food product and ingredient development, such as extrusion cooking, hot-melt extrusion, reactive extrusion, and extrusion-based 3D printing; the possibilities of using various raw materials in relation to process and product development; and the needs for product development modeling along with extrusion process design and modeling. In correlation with extruded product development, topics that merit further investigation may include structure formation, plant and animal biopolymers functionalization, biopolymer reactions, process simulation, modeling and control, engineering and mechanical aspects of extruders, analysis of pre-processing treatments, as well as prototyping, risk analysis, safety, sensory and consumer acceptance.