Yichi Zhang^a, Hongbin Wang^b

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing, Vol.24, No.1, pp. 55-64, 2018, DOI:10.1080/10798587.2016.1267241

Abstract In order to research biological cells, a well-established physical method can be used, that is electrorotation. To achieve electrorotation system, a signal oscillator or a signal generator is always needed. The signal generator is used for generating signals with phase shift and transfers it to the electro chamber. The frequency range of the output signal is generally between 20 Hz to 100 MHz for the signal generator, but for high frequency range, like 100 MHz to 1 GHz, the signal generator is hard to control and the linear properties for the output signal is not good enough to do… More >

D. Vassilev^1,*, N. Petkova², M. Koleva¹, P. Denev²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 707-714, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00015

Abstract The paper presents the findings of an experimental study on the microwave synthesis (MW) of inulin acetate and its possible application as bio-additive in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The obtained inulin acetate has been identified and characterized by spectroscopic methods. Advantages of the MW compared with the conventional synthesis were defined. In order to evaluate possible application of the product as bio-based additive for polymers, effect of the inulin ester on PVC behavior and characteristics has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and deformation upon extension. Experimental results show that in concentration range up to More >

Edgars Vanags*, Mikelis Kirpluks, Ugis Cabulis and Zuzana Walterova

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 764-771, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634111

Abstract In this work, free tall oil fatty acids were epoxidized with in-situ generated peroxyacetic acid. Reaction kinetics of epoxidation was investigated by oxirane content and iodine value titrimetric determination, as well as FTIR spectra analysis. A highly functional biobased polyol was synthesized by functionalizing epoxidized tall oil fatty acids with triethanolamine using Montmorillonite K10 as a catalyst. The obtained polyol was analyzed by FTIR and MALDI-TOF MS. The most common chemical and physical characteristics of obtained polyol were determined. More >

Yasemin Kaptan, M.Sc.^1,*, Yüksel Avcıbaşı-Güvenilir¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.6, pp. 619-629, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00142

Abstract Surface-modified rice husk ash was used as an inorganic support material for immobilization of Candida antarctica lipase B. (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane was used for surface modification. Immobilization of CALB was performed via both physical adsorption and cross-linking. PCL synthesis was carried out by using these immobilized enzymes, free enzyme and Novozyme 435®. Molecular weight distribution of polymer samples was obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and chain structures of the polymer samples were observed by hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). The highest monomer conversion is generally obtained by using cross-linked enzyme, around 90%. PDI values for More >

Cansu Ulker*, Yuksel Guvenilir

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.6, pp. 591-598, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634189

Abstract As an alternative biodegradable aliphatic polyester, poly(w-pentadecalactone-co-ε-caprolactone) copolymer was synthesized via enzymatic ring-opening polymerization. A new biocatalyst, Candida antarctica lipase B, immobilized onto rice husk ash was used for catalysis. Reactions were carried out at various temperatures and periods for varied copolymer compositions in order to obtain the highest molecular weight copolymer. The best reaction parameters were found to be 80 °C and 6 hours and molecular weights increased proportionally with the amount of w-pentadecalactone (w-PDL). The molecular structure of copolymer with 75% weight ratio of w-PDL (Mn = 19720 g/mol) was characterized by proton More >

Ying Hu^1,2, Qinfei Ke¹, Zhe Li², Wanli Han³, Zhiyong Yan^2,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.56, No.3, pp. 517-527, 2018, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2018.03608

Abstract Cellulose nanofibers were synthesized by acetobacter xylinum (xylinum 1.1812). The cellulose nanofibers with 30-90 nm width constructed three-dimension network gel, which could be used as a wound dressing since it can provide moist environment to a wound. However, cellulose nanofibers have no antimicrobial activity to prevent wound infection. To achieve antimicrobial activity, the cellulose nanofibers can load cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) particles on the surface. The cuprous oxide is a kind of safe antibacterial material. The copper ions can be reduced into cuprous oxides by reducing agents such as glucose, N₂H₄ and sodium hypophosphite. The cellulose nanofibers network… More >

Chuanlong Li^1,2,*, Yumeng Jiang³, Marta Cheslyar¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.56, No.2, pp. 313-324, 2018, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2018.03950

Abstract Deep neural network has proven to be very effective in computer vision fields. Deep convolutional network can learn the most suitable features of certain images without specific measure functions and outperform lots of traditional image processing methods. Generative adversarial network (GAN) is becoming one of the highlights among these deep neural networks. GAN is capable of generating realistic images which are imperceptible to the human vision system so that the generated images can be directly used as intermediate medium for many tasks. One promising application of using GAN generated images would be image concealing which… More >

Qili Zhou¹, Yongbin Qiu¹, Li Li^1,*, Jianfeng Lu¹, Wenqiang Yuan¹, Xiaoqing Feng², Xiaoyang Mao³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.55, No.1, pp. 151-163, 2018, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2018.055.151

Abstract Steganography technology has been widely used in data transmission with secret information. However, the existing steganography has the disadvantages of low hidden information capacity, poor visual effect of cover images, and is hard to guarantee security. To solve these problems, steganography using reversible texture synthesis based on seeded region growing and LSB is proposed. Secret information is embedded in the process of synthesizing texture image from the existing natural texture. Firstly, we refine the visual effect. Abnormality of synthetic texture cannot be fully prevented if no approach of controlling visual effect is applied in the More >

N. Elbers¹, C. K. Ranaweera¹, M. Ionescu², X. Wan², P. K. Kahol³, Ram K. Gupta^1,2*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 74-83, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634137

Abstract The objective of this research is to prepare rigid polyurethane (PU) foams from α-phellandrene, a biobased compound. Two types of polyols were synthesized by reacting α-phellandrene with 2-mercaptoethanol and α-thioglycerol via thiol-ene chemistry route. The completion of the reaction was identified by using FTIR. PU foams from α-phellandrene polyols and commercial polyol were compared with regard to foam characteristics and properties. All the PU foams showed apparent density of 28–39 kg/m³ with closed-cell content above 90%. The highest glass transition temperature of 229 °C and compressive strength of 220 kPa were observed for the polyol synthesized More >

Wenjie Dong, Chenlu Wang, Minyan Gu, Long Yang, Zheng Shen^*, Yalei Zhang^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, Suppl.1, pp. 22-30, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634126

Abstract Lactic acid can not only be used to produce multiple chemicals, but can also be the building block for biodegradable and biocompatible polylactic acid identified as a renewable resource. As a by-product in biodiesel production, the glycerol yield increases with a rapid expansion of biodiesel. However, in the chemical and environmental fields it is still a great challenge to produce lactic acid or methyl lactate from glycerol. Herein, Sn-Beta zeolite was prepared through solid-state ion exchange (Sn-Beta SSIE) and was tested for base-free one-pot catalytic selective oxidation of glycerol into methyl lactate in methanol. The More >