Possible Time-Dependent Effect of Ions and Hydrophilic Surfaces on the Electrical Conductivity of Aqueous Solutions

The purpose of this work was to determine the influence of mechanical and electrical treatment on the electrical conductivity of aqueous solutions. Solutions were treated mechanically by iteration of two steps: 1:100 dilution and vigorous shaking. These two processes were repeated until extremely dilute solutions were obtained. For electrical treatment the solutions were exposed to strong electrical impulses. Effects of mechanical (as well as electrical) treatment could not be demonstrated using electrical conductivity measurements. However, significantly higher conductivity than those of the freshly prepared chemically analogous solutions was found in all aged solutions except for those samples stored frozen. The results surprisingly resemble a previously observed weak gel-like behavior in water stored in closed flasks. We suggest that ions and contact with hydrophilic glass surfaces could be the determinative conditions for the occurrence of this phenomenon

Electromagnetic Biostimulation of Living Cultures for Biotechnology, Biofuel and Bioenergy Applications

The surge of interest in bioenergy has been marked with increasing efforts in research and development to identify new sources of biomass and to incorporate cutting-edge biotechnology to improve efficiency and increase yields. It is evident that various microorganisms will play an integral role in the development of this newly emerging industry, such as yeast for ethanol and Escherichia coli for fine chemical fermentation. However, it appears that microalgae have become the most promising prospect for biomass production due to their ability to grow fast, produce large quantities of lipids, carbohydrates and proteins, thrive in poor quality waters, sequester and recycle carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases and remove pollutants from industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewaters. In an attempt to better understand and manipulate microorganisms for optimum production capacity, many researchers have investigated alternative methods for stimulating their growth and metabolic behavior. One such novel approach is the use of electromagnetic fields for the stimulation of growth and metabolic cascades and controlling biochemical pathways. An effort has been made in this review to consolidate the information on the current status of biostimulation research to enhance microbial growth and metabolism using electromagnetic fields. It summarizes information on the biostimulatory effects on growth and other biological processes to obtain insight regarding factors and dosages that lead to the stimulation and also what kind of processes have been reportedly affected. Diverse mechanistic theories and explanations for biological effects of electromagnetic fields on intra and extracellular environment have been discussed. The foundations of biophysical interactions such as bioelectromagnetic and biophotonic communication and organization within living systems are expounded with special consideration for spatiotemporal aspects of electromagnetic topology, leading to the potential of multipolar electromagnetic systems. The future direction for the use of biostimulation using bioelectromagnetic, biophotonic and electrochemical methods have been proposed for biotechnology industries in general with emphasis on an holistic biofuel system encompassing production of algal biomass, its processing and conversion to biofuel

Raman Scattering of Water and Photoluminescence of Pollutants Arising from Solid-Water Interaction

Systematic Raman experiments performed on water and water-ethanol samples, stored in different containers (fused silica, polypropylene, soda-lime glass type III) for several hours, have shown that the luminescence contribution to the Raman signal fluctuations is directly related to the container composition. Intensity fluctuations as large as 98%, have been observed in the spectral regions corresponding to the both water intramolecular and intermolecular vibrations, despite the fact that the wavenumbers of the modes remained unchanged. We undoubtedly attribute these fluctuations to a luminescence phenomenon on the basis of : i) the absence of such effect in the anti-Stokes domain, ii) its dependence on the excitation laser wavelength, iii) other relevant photoluminescence experiments. This luminescence is attributed to pollutants at ultra-low concentration coming from the different containers.Comment: Journal of Molecular Structure, 2003, 651-653: 371-37