Gold-catalyzed growth of aluminium-doped zinc oxide nanorods by sputtering method

Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanorods thin films were grown by RFmagnetron sputtering on gold (Au) metal catalyst. The Au catalyst layers with 5, 10, and 15nm thickness were deposited on glass substrates by sputtering method followed by annealing for 15 min at 500∘C to form Au nanostructures on the glass substrate.The AZO thin films were then deposited on the Au catalyst at different deposition temperature varying from 200 to 500∘C. Postdeposition annealing processes of the Au catalyst resulted in different morphologies of the Au catalyst layers depending on their thicknesses. This in turn gave different AZO morphologies which suggest that the Au catalyst layer thickness and the deposition temperature contribute to the growthmechanism of the AZO nanostructures. AZO nanorods thin films having hexagonal wurtzite structure with individual nanorods on the film surface were obtained from the samples deposited on 5 and 10 nm thick Au catalyst with the deposition temperature of 300∘C

Combined Effects of Calcium Addition and Thermal Processing on the Texture and In Vitro Digestibility of Starch and Protein of Black Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Legumes are typically soaked overnight to reduce antinutrients and then cooked prior to consumption. However, thermal processing can cause over-softening of legumes. This study aimed to determine the effect of calcium addition (0, 100, 300, and 500 ppm in the form of calcium chloride, CaCl2), starting from the overnight soaking step, in reducing the loss of firmness of black beans during thermal processing for up to 2 h. The impact of calcium addition on the in vitro starch and protein digestibility of cooked beans was also assessed. Two strategies of calcium addition were employed in this study: (Strategy 1/S1) beans were soaked and then cooked in the same CaCl2 solution, or (Strategy 2/S2) cooked in a freshly prepared CaCl2 solution after the calcium-containing soaking medium was discarded. Despite the texture degradation of black beans brought about by increasing the cooking time, texture profile analysis (TPA) revealed that their hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness, and resilience improved significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing calcium concentration. Interestingly, beans cooked for 2 h with 300 ppm CaCl2 shared similar hardness with beans cooked for 1 h without calcium addition. Starch and protein digestibility of calcium-treated beans generally improved with prolonged cooking. However, calcium-treated beans cooked for 1 h under S2 achieved a reduced texture loss and a lower starch digestibility than those beans treated in S1. A lower starch digestion could be desired as this reflects a slow rise in blood glucose levels. Findings from this result also showed that treating black beans with high level of CaCl2 (i.e., 500 ppm) was not necessary, otherwise this would limit protein digestibility of cooked black beans