184 research outputs found
Biocatalytic Synthesis Using Self-Assembled Polymeric Nano- and Microreactors
Biocatalysis is increasingly being explored for the sustainable development of green industry. Though enzymes show great industrial potential with their high efficiency, specificity, and selectivity, they suffer from poor usability and stability under abiological conditions. To solve these problems, researchers have fabricated nano- and micro-sized biocatalytic reactors based on the self-assembly of various polymers, leading to highly stable, functional, and reusable biocatalytic systems. This Review highlights recent progress in self-assembled polymeric nano- and microreactors for biocatalytic synthesis, including polymersomes, reverse micelles, polymer emulsions, Pickering emulsions, and static emulsions. We categorize these reactors into monophasic and biphasic systems and discuss their structural characteristics and latest successes with representative examples. We also consider the challenges and potential solutions associated with the future development of this field
Responsive Emulsions for Sequential Multienzyme Cascades
Multienzyme cascade biocatalysis is an efficient synthetic process, avoiding the isolation/purification of intermediates and shifting the reaction equilibrium to the product side. However, multienzyme systems are often limited by their incompatibility and cross‐reactivity. Herein, we report a multi‐responsive emulsion to proceed multienzyme reactions sequentially for high reactivity. The emulsion is achieved using a CO2, pH, and thermo‐responsive block copolymer as a stabilizer, allowing the on‐demand control of emulsion morphology and phase composition. Applying this system to a three‐step cascade reaction enables the individual optimal condition for each enzyme, and a high overall conversion (ca. 97 % of the calculated limit) is thereby obtained. Moreover, the multi‐responsiveness of the emulsion allows the facile and separate yielding/recycling of products, polymers and active enzymes. Besides, the system could be scaled up with a good yield
Enzyme or whole cell immobilization for efficient biocatalysis: focusing on novel supporting platforms and immobilization techniques
Biocatalysts represented by enzymes and enzyme-containing whole cells are generally fragile
and easily inactivated in practical application conditions. The immobilization concept and
techniques have been recognized as classic and powerful strategy for tackling such challenges
(Hanefeld et al., 2009). Based on this background, a special Research Topic entitled Enzyme or
Whole Cell Immobilization for Efficient Biocatalysis: Focusing on Novel Supporting Platforms and
Immobilization Techniques had been organized and presented in the platform of Frontiers in
Bioengineering and Biotechnology, which aimed to collect different insights and latest findings
regarding but not limited to new theories, techniques and methodologies in this area. Over the past
year since Sept. 2019, this Research Topic has attracted 242 authors from more than 10 countries
to participate and contribute their manuscripts. Consequently, this special issue has selected and
presented 40 peer-reviewed articles to meet the readers, including 31 Original Researches, four Brief
Research Reports, four Reviews, and one General Commentary, which involved various aspects and
every corner of this area
Transcriptome Analysis Revealed the Dynamic Oil Accumulation in \u3ci\u3eSymplocos paniculata\u3c/i\u3e Fruit
Background Symplocos paniculata, asiatic sweetleaf or sapphire berry, is a widespread shrub or small tree from Symplocaceae with high oil content and excellent fatty acid composition in fruit. It has been used as feedstocks for biodiesel and cooking oil production in China. Little transcriptome information is available on the regulatory molecular mechanism of oil accumulation at different fruit development stages. Results The transcriptome at four different stages of fruit development (10, 80,140, and 170 days after flowering) of S. paniculata were analyzed. Approximately 28 million high quality clean reads were generated. These reads were trimmed and assembled into 182,904 non-redundant putative transcripts with a mean length of 592.91 bp and N50 length of 785 bp, respectively. Based on the functional annotation through Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) with public protein database, the key enzymes involved in lipid metabolism were identified, and a schematic diagram of the pathway and temporal expression patterns of lipid metabolism was established. About 13,939 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were screened out using differentially expressed sequencing (DESeq) method. The transcriptional regulatory patterns of the identified enzymes were highly related to the dynamic oil accumulation along with the fruit development of S. paniculata. In addition, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) of six vital genes was significantly correlated with DESeq data. Conclusions The transcriptome sequences obtained and deposited in NCBI would enrich the public database and provide an unprecedented resource for the discovery of the genes associated with lipid metabolism pathway in S. paniculata. Results in this study will lay the foundation for exploring transcriptional regulatory profiles, elucidating molecular regulatory mechanisms, and accelerating genetic engineering process to improve the yield and quality of seed oil of S. paniculata. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3275-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Production of Biodiesel Using a Vegetable Oil from Swida wilsoniana Fruits
Energy demand is increasing dramatically due to the fast industrial development, rising population, expanding urbanization, and economic growth in the world and large amount of fossil fuels are widely used. The depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the environmental pollution caused by burning of fossil fuels stimulate development of alternative fuels. Biodiesel today is the most popular and promising biofuel and vegetable oils are one of the potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. In order to explore the wild oil plant sources in China, the fruit oil of Swida wilsoniana, a wild woody oil plant widely distributed in the mountainous regions of calcareous sandstone, was used to produce the biodiesel by transesterification method. The reaction parameters were optimized by an orthogonal experimental design. The results showed that Swida wilsoniana fruit oil (SWO) could be conversed to biodiesel at a wide range of reaction conditions. The optimum conditions for the reaction process were determined as: methanol/oil mole ratio 5:1, catalyst dosage 1.1%, reaction temperature 60 °C, and reaction time 120 min. The characteristics of Swida wilsoniana biodiesel (SDBD) were analyzed, which was similar to that of 0# diesel. Moreover, SDBD has the advantages of higher flash point (>105) and lower ash content (<0.003). Therefore, SDBD is a safe and clean biodiesel and a promising alternative biofuel
Niobia supported on silica as a catalyst for Biodiesel production from waste oil
AbstractThe activity and stability of niobia supported
on silica catalyst have been tested in continuous
micro-pilot reactors, for biodiesel production starting
from acid vegetable oils. A catalyst was prepared
by the impregnation of silica pellets with a loading
of 12% of Nb and was extensively characterized.
The activity of this catalyst in both esterification and
transesterification was tested in a continuous micro-pilot
laboratory plant in which acid oil was fed (FFA 10% w/w)
at a temperature of 220°C and at a pressure of 60 bar.
The niobia based catalyst resulted in a very active
catalyst in both esterification (FFA conversion =
95-90%) and transesterification reactions (FAME
yield = 80-90%), and the activity remained
quite constant for more than 100 h on stream.
Notwithstanding this stability, a non-negligible leaching
phenomena has been detected, in the case of long-time
continuous runs, as the Nb concentration on the spent
catalyst resulted lower than that on the fresh one. The
obtained result confirms that the leaching of the active
specie is one of the most strong problem in heterogeneous
catalysis for biodiesel production
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Assisted High-Speed Train Communications: Coverage Performance Analysis and Placement Optimization
Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) emerges as an efficient and
promising technology for the next wireless generation networks and has
attracted a lot of attention owing to the capability of extending wireless
coverage by reflecting signals toward targeted receivers. In this paper, we
consider a RIS-assisted high-speed train (HST) communication system to enhance
wireless coverage and improve coverage probability. First, coverage performance
of the downlink single-input-single-output system is investigated, and the
closed-form expression of coverage probability is derived. Moreover, travel
distance maximization problem is formulated to facilitate RIS discrete phase
design and RIS placement optimization, which is subject to coverage probability
constraint. Simulation results validate that better coverage performance and
higher travel distance can be achieved with deployment of RIS. The impacts of
some key system parameters including transmission power, signal-to-noise ratio
threshold, number of RIS elements, number of RIS quantization bits, horizontal
distance between base station and RIS, and speed of HST on system performance
are investigated. In addition, it is found that RIS can well improve coverage
probability with limited power consumption for HST communications.Comment: 14 figures, accepted by IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technolog
Temperature Controlled Activity of Lipase B from Candida Antarctica after Immobilization within p-NIPAM Microgel Particles
The immobilization of lipase B from Candida antarctica(CalB) within micronsized poly-N-Isopropylacrylamide (p-NIPAM) microgel particles with a crosslinker content of 5% is reported. The immobilization of the enzyme was reached by an exchange from polar to organic solvents. After determining the embedded amount of CalB within the polymer network, an enhanced specificactivity inn-hexane was obtained. Due to the thermoresponsibility of the polymer particles, the activity reaction was done at 25°C and 50°C. The results presented show that the reversiblecollapse of the microgel leads to a decreased activity with increasing temperature. Hence, p-NIPAMmicrogels display a good opportunity to tailor the activity of CalB. An interesting side effect is that CalB presents a suitable probe to estimate the mesh size of the polymer network, since itpenetrates in the unlabeled form but not after labeling with FITC
The Design and Optimization of a Compressive-Type Vector Sensor Utilizing a PMN-28PT Piezoelectric Single-Crystal
Underwater sensors that detect the distance and direction of acoustic sources are critical for surveillance monitoring and target detection in the water. Here, we propose an axial vector sensor that utilizes a small (~1 cm3) compressive-type piezoelectric accelerometer using piezoelectric single crystals. Initially, finite element analysis (FEA) was used to optimize the structure that comprised piezoelectric Pb(Mb1/3Nb2/3)O3-28%PbTiO3 single crystals on a tungsten seismic mass. The receiving voltage sensitivity (RVS) was enhanced through geometric optimization of the thickness and sensing area of the piezoelectric material and the seismic mass. The estimated maximum RVS of the optimized vector sensor was −212 dB. FEA simulations and practical measurements were used to verify the directivity of the vector sensor design, which exhibited a dipole pattern. The dipole beam pattern was used to obtain cardioid patterns using the simulated and measured results for comparison. The results clearly showed the feasibility of using the proposed piezoelectric single-crystal accelerometer for a compressive-type vector sensor. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.1
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