6. Effect of Cu dopping on microstructural, thermoelectric and mechanical properties of NaCoCuO4 ceramics

Ceramic samples of NaCo2-xCuxO4 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) were obtained after calcination of powder precursors synthesized by a mechanochemically assisted solid-state reaction method (MASSR) and a citric acid complex method (CAC). Effects of small concentrations of Cu doping and the above-mentioned syntheses procedures on the microstructural, thermoelectric and mechanical properties were observed. The electrical resistivity (ρ), the thermal conductivity (κ) and the Seebeck coefficient (S) were measured simultaneously in the temperature gradient (ΔT) between hot and cold side of the sample, and the figure of merit (ZT) was subsequently calculated. ZT of the CAC samples was higher compared with the MASSR samples. The highest ZT value of 0.061 at ΔT = 473 K was obtained for the sample with 5 mol% of Cu prepared by the CAC method, and it was 1.7 times higher than the highest value obtained for the MASSR sample with 3 mol% of Cu (ZT = 0.036 at ΔT = 473 K). The CAC samples showed better mechanical properties compared to the MASSR samples due to the higher hardness of the CAC samples which is a consequence of homogeneous microstructure and higher density obtained after sintering of these samples. The results confirmed that, besides the concentration of Cu, the synthesis procedure considerably affected the microstructural, thermoelectric and mechanical properties of NaCo2O4 ceramics

Novel Cost-Effective Microfluidic Chip Based on Hybrid Fabrication and Its Comprehensive Characterization

Microfluidics, one of the most attractive and fastest developed areas of modern science and technology, has found a number of applications in medicine, biology and chemistry. To address advanced designing challenges of the microfluidic devices, the research is mainly focused on development of efficient, low-cost and rapid fabrication technology with the wide range of applications. For the first time, this paper presents fabrication of microfluidic chips using hybrid fabrication technology—a grouping of the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) foils and the LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics) Ceram Tape using a combination of a cost-effective xurography technique and a laser micromachining process. Optical and dielectric properties were determined for the fabricated microfluidic chips. A mechanical characterization of the Ceram Tape, as a middle layer in its non-baked condition, has been performed and Young’s modulus and hardness were determined. The obtained results confirm a good potential of the proposed technology for rapid fabrication of low-cost microfluidic chips with high reliability and reproducibility. The conducted microfluidic tests demonstrated that presented microfluidic chips can resist 3000 times higher flow rates than the chips manufactured using standard xurography technique

Development and mechanical properties of the pelletized fly ash

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Characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Bosnian artisanal dry fermented sausage (sudzuk) during fermentation

Bosnian sudzuk is a dry fermented sausage produced in a rural household near the town of Visoko in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. This kind of sausage was manufactured only from beef and spices in a traditional way without the addition of a starter cultures. To identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB), a total number of 160 LAB strains were isolated from five samples of Bosnian sudzuk collected over 28 days of fermentation. Preliminary identification by phenotypic tests and 16S rDNA sequencing were performed for all 160 of the LAB isolates. Identification of LAB strains from traditionally produced Bosnian sausage at the species level revealed the presence of six genera: Lactococcus sp., Enterococcus sp., Leuconostoc sp., Lactobacillus sp., Pediococcus sp. and Weissella sp.. Among the 15 distinct species identified, the species Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactococcus lactis, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus durans were present throughout the entire process of fermentation. Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus lactis prevailed, with 21.8%, 19.3% and 13.1%, respectively, of total LAB strains during the entire fermentation process. Significant negative correlations (r = 0.892 and r = 0.829, respectively) between the presence of Weissella sp. and Lactobacillus sp., and between the presence of Weissella sp. and Lactococcus sp. were recorded. Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus durans and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were the best producers of aromogenic compounds while 32.3% of Lactobacillus plantarum and 28.6% of Leuconostoc mesenteroides were produced exopolysaccharides

Identification and characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisanal white brined Golija cows’ milk cheeses

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of artisanal Golija raw and cooked cows' milk cheeses traditionally manufactured without the addition of starter culture. A total of 188 Gram-positive and catalase-negative isolates of Golija cheeses were obtained from seven samples of different ripening time. Phenotype-based assays as well as rep-PCR and 16S rDNA sequence analysis were undertaken for all 188 LAB strains. The most diverse species were isolated from 20-day-old BGGO8 cheese (Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei/paracasei, Lactobacillus sucicola, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis by. diacetylactis, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus durans and Leuconostoc mesenteroides). In other Golija cheeses Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactococcus garvieae, Streptococcus thermophilus and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides were found. Pronounced antimicrobial properties showed enterococci (13/42) and lactococci (12/31), while the good proteolytic activity demonstrated lactococci (13/31) and lactobacilli (10/29)

Sorption of copper by fly ash

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