Growth, structural, thermal, and optical characteristics of L-asparagine monohydrate doped magnesium sulphate heptahydrate semiorganic crystals

A novel semi-organic crystal has been grown using slow evaporation technique by doping organic compound L-asparagine monohydrate (C4H8N2O3·H2O) with inorganic material Magnesium sulphate heptahydrate (MgSO4·7H2O). The crystallographic parameters like strain, dislocation density and crystallite size were calculated by powder X-ray diffraction method. Functional groups were identified and bond length, force constants were calculated from FT-IR spectroscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis was used to identify the constituent elements of the crystal. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, such as, activation energy Ea, change in Gibb's free energy (ΔG) and change in enthalpy (ΔH) have been determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analysis. Ea, ΔH and ΔG show positive values and change in entropy (ΔS) shows negative ones. The thermal degradation behavior of the crystals has been analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Various optical constants such as optical band gap, lattice dielectric constant, absorbance, extinction coefficient, the ratio of free charge carrier concentration to the effective mass, Urbach energy, optical and electrical conductivities were estimated from UV-vis transmittance data. High optical conductivity (1010 s-1) justifies the good photo response nature of the semi-organic crystal.

Valorisation of waste cooking oil using mixed culture into short- and medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates: Effect of concentration, temperature and ammonium

The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from waste cooking oil (WCO) by a mixed culture was investigated in the present study at increasing WCO concentrations, temperature and ammonium availability. The PHA production was done in two steps: in the first step, a mixed culture was enriched in PHA-accumulating bacteria from activated sludge in a sequencing batch reactor operated in a feast-famine mode and in the second step the PHA accumulation by the enriched mixed culture was assessed in a batch reactor. In the enrichment step, two substrates, WCO and nonanoic acid were used for enrichment and in the PHA accumulation step only WCO was used. It was not possible to enrich a mixed culture in PHA-accumulating bacteria using WCO as substrate due to the development of filamentous bacteria causing foam formation and bulking in the reactor. However, our results showed that the mixed culture continuously fed with nonanoic acid was enriched in PHA-accumulating bacteria. This enriched culture accumulated both scl- and mcl-PHA using WCO as substrate. The maximum PHA accumulation capacity of this mixed culture from WCO was 38.2% cdw. Increasing the temperature (30-40 ℃) or WCO concentrations (5-20 g/l) increased the PHA accumulation capacity of the mixed culture and the ratios of scl-PHA to mcl-PHA. The presence of ammonium increased PHA accumulation (21.9% cdw) compared to the complete absence of ammonium (5.8% cdw). The thermal characterization of the PHA exhibited the advantageous properties of both scl- and mcl-PHA, i.e., higher melting temperature (152-172 ℃) similar to scl-PHA and a lower degree of crystallinity (12%) similar to mcl-PHA. This is the first study to report the potential of open mixed culture to produce scl- and mcl-PHA from WCO and thus contributing to the understanding of sustainable polymer production.

Data on the influence of inorganic clays to improve mechanical and healing properties of antibacterial Gellan gum-Manuka honey hydrogels

This work contains original data supporting our research paper “Advances in cartilage repair: the influence of inorganic clays to improve mechanical and healing properties of antibacterial Gellan gum-Manuka honey hydrogels”, by Maria A. Bonifacio, Andrea Cochis, Stefania Cometa, Annachiara Scalzone, Piergiorgio Gentile, Giuseppe Procino, Serena Milano, Alessandro C. Scalia, Lia Rimondini, Elvira De Giglio [1]. The main paper describes how four different clays (i.e., mesoporous silica, bentonite and halloysite nanotubes, coded as MS, BE and HNT) as cheap, abundant and versatile feed materials can be used for the preparation of highly performant hydrogels as cartilage substitutes, based on Gellan Gum (GG) and Manuka Honey (MH).

Here the composites were further examined by means of Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), histological analysis (Alcian blue and Safranin-O) and static compression tests.

This set of data strengthens the evidence that these hydrogels possess biological and physicochemical characteristics suitable for their application as reinforcing inorganic fillers in composite materials designed for cartilage regeneration.

Surface and thermal enhancement of the cellulosic component of thermo mechanical pulp using a rapid method: Iodomethane modification

The feasibility of employing chemical methods for enhancement of cellulose-based materials is dependent on the availability, price, and green index of the modifying agent. This study details the use of iodomethane, an inexpensive organo halide, to increase the hydrophobicity of thermo mechanical (TMP) samples, which renders them better structural elements for composite materials. For this system, we studied the influence of various concentration of iodomethane, concentration of caustic, and reaction time. Infrared spectroscopy suggested reaction of the organo halide with the hydroxyl groups of cellulose and lignin components of TMP. Pulp samples treated for 4 h or at low caustic concentration showed the least improvements plausibly due to pulp degradation or poor pulp swelling, respectively. On the other hand, pulp treated at 3 h using high concentrations of caustic were characterized with surfaces that were more hydrophobic. Thus, this study outlines a fast and organic solvent-free (clean up) method that can be used to enhance pulp samples for composite applications.

Synthesis, structure, crystal growth and characterization of a novel semiorganic nonlinear optical l-proline lithium bromide monohydrate single crystal

l-Proline lithium bromide monohydrate (LPLBM), a promising semiorganic nonlinear optical material, was synthesized and single crystals of LPLBM were grown from solution by slow evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray structure solution reveals that the grown crystal belongs to monoclinic system with space group P21. Presence of various functional groups was identified by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectral analyses. UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopic study shows that the LPLBM crystal possesses 90% of transmittance in the range of 250-1100nm. Vickers microhardness values, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the LPLBM crystal were reported. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray analysis shows the presence of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and bromine. The surface morphology of the crystal was investigated using scanning electron microscopic study. The thermal stability of the LPLBM crystal was studied from TGA and DSC analysis. Second harmonic generation efficiency of the LPLBM crystal measured by Kurtz and Perry powder technique using Nd:YAG laser is about 0.3 times that of urea.

Bulk growth of ninhydrin single crystals by solvent evaporation method and its characterization for SHG and THG applications

Ninhydrin is a well-known compound generally used in amino acid synthesis and also for detecting the latent fingerprints on porous surfaces. Single crystals can be grown by dissolving the compound in double distilled water at ambient temperature, and can be used as a potential material for second and third harmonic generation applications. The grown specimen was subjected to different characterization techniques in order to find out its suitability for device fabrication. Its lattice dimensions have been confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction and its crystalline quality has been assessed by high resolution X-ray diffraction and X-ray topography methods. The presence of functional groups was identified from HETCOR analysis and confirmed the absence of impurities during crystallization. Its optical properties have been examined by photoluminescence and birefringence analyses. Its thermal parameters such as thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and specific capacity have been carried out by following photopyroelectric method. Third order nonlinear optical measurements have been carried out using Z-scan technique and its nonlinear optical absorption coefficient has been determined.