Dielectrophoretic separation of cells using 3-D microelectrode

The dielectrophoretic (DEP) separation of cell, using microelectrodes structure, has been limited to small scale due to size of the substrate. This work was carried out to extend the capability of microelectrodes system by orientating the microelectrodes in three dimensions (3-D) for larger scale dielectrophoretic separation of microorganism. The designed 3-D separation chamber consists of microelectrodes on two opposing walls. Based on the FEMLAB simulation, the electric field was seen to be generated across the chamber, rather than between adjacent electrodes in the same plane like in the small scale system. This configuration led to a stronger electric field in the bulk medium. The experimental results showed that the 3-D microelectrodes chamber behaved similar to the system with microelectrodes on one wall. The effects of the main parameters such as voltage, frequency and flow rates were similar to that of the systems with all the electrodes on one wall, but on the overall, capture more cells. A gap size between 250 – 500 µm resulted in an electric field which is strong enough to hold cells while giving a reasonable cross sectional area at the same time. Although there is some improvement achieved by 3-D system, it is still not very much, as compared to the small scale system

Optimization of chlorophyll extraction from Gynura Procumbens

Herb is a famously used as medicinal plant as an alternative to chemicals based medicine since it is safer. Gynura Procumbens (sambung nyawa) is bicolor (green and red) herbal plant which is widely grown in Asia. Recent studies proved that this plant has anti-herpes simplex virus, anti-flammatory and antihyperglycaemic properties. This work investigated the extraction of chlorophyll a and b from gynura procumbens of green-leaf species. Optimization was done both by experiment and also Response Surface Method. Solid liquid extraction was used to extract the chlorophyll a and b. The solid to solvent ratio, temperature, solvent used and extraction time were varied to determine the optimum conditions for extraction. It was found that at 80C in 90 minutes with 2:5 solid to solvent ratio were the most favorable conditions to extract chlorophyll a and b. Five valuable compounds was found from GC-MS analysis which are 2-Hexanal, Phenol, Oleic Acid, Copaene and Phytol. This implies that Gynura Procumbens promises a good source of many useful bioactive compounds

Large scale dielectrophoretic construction of biofilms using textile technology

Arrays of microelectrodes for AC electrokinetic experiments were fabricated by weaving together stainless steel wires (weft) and flexible polyester yarn (warp) in a plain weave pattern. The cloth produced can be used to collect cells in low conductivity media by dielectrophoresis (DEP). The construction of model biofilms consisting of a yeast layer on top of a layer of M. luteus is demonstrated, using polyethylenimine (PEI) as the flocculating agent. This technique offers an alternative to the formation of biofilms at microelectrodes made by photolithography, and would allow the construction of biofilms with defined internal architectures by DEP at much larger scales than was possible previously. Furthermore, the flexibility of the cloth would also allow it to be distorted or folded into various shapes

Solid liquid extraction of Jatropha seeds by microwave pretreatment and ultrasound assisted methods

Jatropha curcas has a variety of uses which are of great economic significance. Jatropha oil can be used as fuel alternative and for making biodiesel that is supposed to overcome the source limitation problem. In this study, conventional, ultrasound assisted and microwave pretreatment solid liquid extraction of Jatropha seed were studied in terms of amount and quality of the extracted oil. The free fatty acid content which is an important oil quality index was also investigated for the obtained oil. Both ultrasonication and microwave pretreatment of the seeds had a positive effect on amount of yield. However, by application of ultrasound, more oil could be extracted compared with that obtained by conventional and microwave pretreatment extraction methods. The maximum amount of oil which could be extracted by conventional, ultrasound assisted and microwave pretreatment methods were 47.33, 51.4 and 49.36%, respectively. Regarding the quality, oil extracted by conventional, ultrasound assisted and micmicrowave pretreatment extraction methods did not show any significant difference in terms of Free Fatty Acids (FFA) content

Dielectric characterization of ethanol and sugar aqueous solutions for potential halal authentication

A potential method for detection and discrimination of alcoholic containing drinks for halal authentication using dielectric properties has been investigated. Behaviors of several concentrations of ethanol solutions in water were studied for verification purpose. The addition of three types of sugar namely sucrose, glucose and fructose show the effect and changes to dielectric properties of solutions. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor for each samples were measured over the microwave frequency from 0.5 to 50 GHz. The results showed that dielectric properties manage to discriminate alcohol content until the lowest concentration studied of 0.5% in water mixture. Beyond this limit, solution is considered as alcoholic drinks

Preliminary study of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) seed as potential biocoagulant for turbidity removal

This experiment was performed to determine the ability of the coagulation performance of rambutan seed in comparison to alum for potential use in turbidity removal in water and wastewater treatment industry. Experiments were conducted to find the optimum operating conditions for coagulation process such as coagulant dosage and pH and also suitable extracting solvent for the active agent (distilled water, NaCl and NaOH). 1 M NaCl was found to be an effective solvent for extracting the active coagulant agent in rambutan seed and gave about 99 % turbidity removal. The optimum rambutan seed dosages and pH was 100 mg/l and pH 3, resulting in > 90% turbidity removal. In order to reduce dependency on alum, 50% alum and 50% rambutan seed as coagulant combination was used in the order of alum first followed by rambutan seed. The highest turbidity removal of 99% was achieved compared to when using alum (91%) and seed (88%) alone. Rambutan seed coagulant exhibited faster sedimentation time due to bigger flocs formation and also smaller sludge volume than alum. The results suggest potential of using rambutan biomass as biocoagulant

Optimisation of solid liquid extraction of jatropha oil using petroleum ether.

Jatropha curcas I. is an oil-bearing seed plant with a wide range of applications. The oil from the seeds of this plant has been used as an industrial raw material for many years. One of the important characteristics of jatropha oil is its potential for fuel and biodiesel production to meet the global energy demand. In this paper, solid–liquid extraction of jatropha oil from seeds using petroleum ether was optimised on the basis of the amount of the extracted oil. Four main factors, namely temperature, the solvent-to-solid ratio, the reaction time and the size of the raw material, were investigated to optimise extraction conditions for achieving the highest oil yield under experimental conditions. The kinetics of the extraction using petroleum ether as the solvent were also studied and fitted to a second-order model. The free fatty acid (FFA) content of the oil was used as an index of the oil quality. The optimum conditions were found to be 7 h of reaction time, a temperature of 68 °C, a coarse particle size of 0.5–0.75 mm and a solvent-to-solid ratio of 6 : 1. Storing the ground seeds for one week before extraction had a remarkably negative effect on the quality of the oil produced (FFA ≈ 6.99%), whereas the quality of the oil was satisfactory when extracted from the seeds immediately after grinding (FFA ≈ 0.62%). The experimental data fitted well to the second-order model with the saturation extraction capacity and the initial extraction rate increasing with increasing temperature

Coagulative behaviour of Jatropha curcas and its performance in wastewater treatment

Alternative natural coagulants from Jatropha curcas seed and press cake were investigated for coagulative behaviors and abilities to treat real wastewater. The characterization of the seed and press cake was done by proximate analysis while characterization on extracts which contain the active coagulant agent was conducted using FTIR, amino acid analysis, and zeta potential. The coagulation performance was evaluated using Jar Floc test on palm oil mill effluent. Proximate analysis indicated that Jatropha seed contained more protein (54%) than press cake (28%). Through HPLC analysis, 18 types of amino acid were detected in Jatropha curcas (JC) seed and press cake extracts. FTIR results confirmed the functional groups that existed in all the amino acids. The zeta potential of the extracts was positive at pH  4, respectively. Hence, the mechanism of coagulation at pH  4, adsorption and interparticle bridging dominates. Dosages of 140 mg L−1 of Jatropha seed and 120 mg L−1 of press cake were required to treat 3500 NTU of POME to give 99 and 93% turbidity removal, respectively. Jatropha seed gave maximum turbidity removal at pH 3, while press cake at pH 2. The final pH of the treated POME was not altered greatly and the sludge produced was lesser in comparison to alum. In conclusion, the protein was the compound responsible for Jatropha coagulating behavior and its ability to treat real wastewater is promising

Optimization of a method to extract the active coagulant agent from jatropha curcas seeds for use in turbidity removal.

An improved and alternative method for the extraction of the active coagulant agent from Jatropha curcas seeds was developed and compared with the conventional water extraction method (JCSC-DW). In the new method, the seeds were extracted using different solvents in different concentrations, using NaCl (JCSC-NaCl) and NaOH (JCSC-NaOH) to extract the active coagulant agent from the Jatropha. In addition, ultrasound was investigated as a potential method to assist the extraction process. Batch coagulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the extracted coagulant achieved through various schemes. The effects of the dosage, pH and concentration of solvents were investigated for optimum turbidity removal at different values of initial synthetic wastewater turbidity from 50 to 500 NTU. JCSC-NaCl at 0.5 M was found to provide a high turbidity removal of >99% compared to JCSC-DW and JCSC-NaOH at pH 3 using 120 mg/l of the coagulant agent. Among these three solvents, NaOH demonstrated the lowest performance in turbidity removal. The conventional extraction method of the active coagulant agent by blending the seeds in solvents for 2 min alone sufficiently extracts most of the coagulant component from the Jatropha seed and provides up to 99.4% turbidity removal. Blending assisted by ultrasound demonstrated comparable turbidity removal in a shorter period of time and thus showed a potential to be used on a larger scale. Analysis was undertaken to determine the protein content as this is believed to be the coagulating agent. It was found that extraction of the coagulant agent using NaCl yielded more protein compared to when using water and NaOH