Yan Wu^1,*, Xinyu Wu¹, Feng Yang^2,*, Li Xu¹, Meng Sun¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.11, pp. 1181-1195, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07493

Abstract The cellulose nanocrystals/graphene composite aerogel (CGA) and polyvinyl alcohol/cellulose nanocrystals/graphene composite aerogel (PCGA) were prepared by suspension titration, tert-butanol solution replacement and freeze-drying successively. The removal rates of methyl blue (MB) from water by CGA and PCGA were evaluated and the effects of additions, adsorption time, reaction temperature and pH value of CGA and PCGA on MB removal rate were discussed. It was found that the optimal concentrations of both CGA and PCGA were 2 g∙L-1 in the adsorption reaction process and the adsorption equilibrium was reached within 120 min. The higher the initial pH value of MB solution is,… More >

Mahmoud MOUSTAFA^1,2*, Tarek TAHA³, Mohamed ELNOUBY⁴, M.A. ABU-SAIED⁵, Ali SHATI¹, Mohamed AL-KAHTANI¹, Sulaiman ALRUMMAN¹

BIOCELL, Vol.42, No.1, pp. 7-12, 2018, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2018.07002

Abstract Many recent studies are concerned with low cost, easy to handle and alternative renewable energy as a feasible solution for the upcoming crisis of energy shortage. Microalgae are unicellular entities the can only depend on CO2, water and solar power to cover their nutritional needs. The current study is concerned with using algal cells in a polymeric hydrogel, as a cheap source of energy for electricity generation. Chlorella vulgaris has been proved to be a promising algal species for electricity generation, as compared with Micractinium reisseri. PVA hydrogel has been used for the immobilization of both algal species in order… More >

Ana Laura CIMADOR^1,#, Emeli Luciana GALANTE^1,#, Lucila Ibel MUÑOZ^1,#, Patricia Silvia ROMANO^2,3, Antonella Denisse LOSINNO^1,2, María Cristina VANRELL^1,2,3

BIOCELL, Vol.43, No.1, pp. 13-20, 2019, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2019.07018

Abstract Trypanosoma rangeli and T. cruzi are both parasitic unicellular species that infect humans. Unlike T. cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, T. rangeli is an infective and non-pathogenic parasite for humans, but pathogenic for vectors from the Rhodnius genus. Because both species can coexist in different hosts and overlap their infective cycles but very little is known about the infection of T. rangeli in mammalian cells, we decided to characterize both the development of this parasite in cell culture and the effect of therapeutic agents with potential trypanocidal action on it. We found that T. rangeli exhibits a cycle… More >

Wei-Chun Wang¹, Tzu-Han Ma¹, Chang-Wei Huang², Nien-Ti Tsou^1,*

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.21, No.3, pp. 56-56, 2019, DOI:10.32604/icces.2019.05409

Abstract In recent years, the improvement of biomedical materials and their applications have gained much interest and been broadly discussed. Hydrogel, gelatin methacrylate (GelMa), is one of the applications with the greatest potential, such as cell culture, and studied by many researchers. In this study, a system consisting of GelMa and the special particles which can be aligned by applying electric field is developed. The alignment of the particles can alter the curvature of the GelMa substrate. The proposed system which provides the mechanical stimulus to the cell attached on the system due to different deformation curvatures can be used as… More >

Xiaoyu Chen*, Jie Zhu

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.10, pp. 983-996, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07325

Abstract With the rapid development of textile industry, a large amount of dye-contaminated effluents was produced and caused serious environmental problem. To remove the dye from effluents, adsorption materials have been applied because of their relatively cheap, high efficiency, and easy handling. In this study, a novel composite hydrogel bead with unique multilayer flake structure was fabricated by alginate, acrylamide and attapulgite for dye adsorption. Acrylamide was grafted polymerization onto alginate to obtain alginate-g-poly(acrylamide). Then alginate-g-poly(acrylamide) was cross-linked by Ca²⁺ ions in present of attapulgite to form composite hydrogel bead. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that the freeze dried composite… More >

Lídia K. Lazzari^*, Vitória B. Zampieri, Ademir J. Zattera, Camila Baldasso

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 227-234, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00024

Abstract This work aimed at analyzing the petroleum adsorption capacity and the compressive strength of cellulose cryogels produced with the addition of 4 and 8% (w/w) sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Cryogels were produced from a 1.5% (m/m) suspension of cellulose microfibers, which originated from Pinus elliotti, in distilled water. The addition of NaOH increased the compression strength of cryogel by 30% when compared to cryogel without the reagent. Due to the 50% decrease in volume, the cryogel FLNB-8h (8% NaOH) has its petroleum adsorption capacity decreased in average by 58%, whereas the FLNB-4 (4% NaOH) cryogel had it only by 14%. The… More >

E. M. Ciannamea^1,*, L. A. Castillo^2,3, R. A. Ruseckaite¹, S. E. Barbosa^2,3

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 21-30, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00043

Abstract Blends of gelatin (Ge) plasticized with varying amounts of glycerol (Gly), buffer solution pH 10 and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) to enhance hydrophobicity were prepared by mixing and injection-molding. Blends were characterized by rheological tests and microscopy to select optimal conditions for scaling up their processing. The effect of each component on rheological response was analyzed using parallel plate geometry. Coating of gelatin specimens with PDMS during rheological tests led to reliable and reproducible results since water evaporation was prevented. A gradual increment in ESO concentration led to blends with increased degree of phase separation, as evidenced by optical and… More >

Sawsan Dacrory^1*, Hussein Abou-Yousef¹, Ragab E. Abou-Zeid¹, Samir Kamel¹, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz², Mohamed Elbadry³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.5, pp. 536-547, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634190

Abstract Carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels were developed through crosslinking process using eco-friendly crosslinkers such as maleic, succinic, and citric acids. Carboxymethyl cellulose was prepared from the cellulosic fraction of olive industry residues. A series of hydrogels with varying crosslinker acid concentrations, reaction times, and reaction temperatures was produced to study the swelling capacities and gel fraction of the obtained hydrogels. Additional study pertains to the preparation of antimicrobial nanocomposite hydrogels through in-situ incorporation of the silver nanoparticles during the crosslinking reaction. Silver nanoparticles were prepared by reduction of AgNO3with leaves of Ricinus communis. The particle size of prepared silver nanoparticles was detected… More >

A. M. Borrero-López¹, F. J. Santiago-Medina¹, C. Valencia^1,2*, M. E. Eugenio³, R. Martin-Sampedro³, J. M. Franco^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.4, pp. 347-361, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634160

Abstract It is known that large amounts of residual lignin are generated in the pulp and paper industry. A new alternative for Kraft lignin valorization, which consists of first a chemical modification using a diisocyanate and then the efficient dispersion in castor oil to achieve stable gel-like systems, is proposed in this work. Rheological properties and microstructure of these materials were determined by means of small amplitude oscillatory shear tests and viscous flow measurements and atomic force microscopy observations, respectively. Moreover, both standardized penetration tests and tribological assays, usually performed in the lubricant industry, were carried out to evaluate the performance… More >

Dounia Bendahou^1,2, Abdelkader Bendahou¹, Bastien Seantier¹, Bénédicte Lebeau³, Yves Grohens^1,*, Hamid Kaddami^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 299-313, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634185

Abstract Hybrid aerogels have been prepared by freeze-drying technique after mixing water dispersions of cellulose microfibers or cellulose nanofibers and silica (SiO2) of type SBA-15 (2D-hexagonal). The prepared composites were characterized by different analysis techniques such as SEM, hot-filament, DMA, etc. These composites are compared to those previously prepared using nanozeolites (NZs) as mineral charge. The morphology studied by SEM indicated that both systems have different structures, i.e., individual fibers for cellulose microfibers WP-based aerogels and films for nanofibrillated cellulose NFC-based ones.... These differences seem to be driven by the charge of the particles, their aspect ratio and concentrations. These hybrid… More >