Extrusion Freeform Fabrication of Bone-Like Mineralized Hydrogels and Muscle-like Actuators

Extrusion freeform fabrication has been used to build shapes from agarose, polyacrylamide and polyacrylic acid hydrogels. Contraction and bending can be induced by pH change or application ofa voltage between embedded electrodes. Mineral reinforcement can be induced by incorporating salts into the gels and allowing them to react.Mechanical Engineerin

Biosurfactants for Microbubble Preparation and Application

Biosurfactants can be classified by their chemical composition and their origin. This review briefly describes various classes of biosurfactants based on their origin and introduces a few of the most widely used biosurfactants. The current status and future trends in biosurfactant production are discussed, with an emphasis on those derived from plants. Following a brief introduction of the properties of microbubbles, recent progress in the application of microbubble technology to molecular imaging, wastewater treatment, and aerobic fermentation are presented. Several studies on the preparation, characterization and applications of biosurfactant-based microbubbles are reviewed

Lignocellulosic Composites Prepared Utilizing Aqueous Alkaline/Urea Solutions with Cold Temperatures

Lignocellulosic composites (LCs) were fabricated by partially dissolving cotton to create a matrix that was reinforced with osage orange wood (OOW) particles and/or blue agave fibers (AF). LCs were composed of 15–35% cotton matrix and 65–85% OWW/AF reinforcement. The matrix was produced by soaking cotton wool in a cold aqueous alkaline/urea solvent and was stirred for 15 minutes at 350 rpm to create a viscous gel. The gel was then reinforced with lignocellulosic components, mixed, and then pressed into a panel mold. LC panels were soaked in water to remove the aqueous solvent and then oven dried to obtain the final LC product. Several factors involved in the preparation of these LCs were examined including reaction temperatures (−5 to −15°C), matrix concentration (15–35% cotton), aqueous solvent volume (45–105 ml/panel), and the effectiveness of employing various aqueous solvent formulations. The mechanical properties of LCs were determined and reported. Conversion of the cotton into a suitable viscous gel was critical in order to obtain LCs that exhibited high mechanical properties. LCs with the highest mechanical properties were obtained when the cotton wools were subjected to a 4.6% LiOH/15% urea solvent at −12.5°C using an aqueous solvent volume of 60 ml/panel. Cotton wool subjected to excessive cold alkaline solvents volumes resulted in irreversible cellulose breakdown and a resultant LC that exhibited poor mechanical properties

Antimicrobial Double-Layer Coating Prepared from Pure or Doped-Titanium Dioxide and Binders

Fruit and vegetable containers with microbe-free surfaces can be made by coating with titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles or nonmetal (C, N, B, F) doped-TiO2 particles, using wear resistant polymers, such as zein, and paint, as the binders and to form a continuous binding phase. The doped-TiO2 powders absorb visible light radiation, and thus possess a higher antibacterial effect than non-modified TiO2 particles in environmental conditions. The study also presents a double-layer coating to use less TiO2 particles in coating, while achieving higher antimicrobial activity. Containers with microbe-free surfaces can stop cross-contamination from infected workers or spoiled/decayed/contaminated fruits or vegetables, and thus are expected to be able to reduce the risk from microbiological contamination of fruits and vegetables during harvest in fields, and postharvest storage or transportation

Synthesis and Characterization of an Iron-Containing Fatty Acid-Based Ionomer

One of the desirable research goals today is to convert agro-based raw materials into low-cost functional polymers. Among the readily available natural raw materials are the fatty acids that can be obtained from the hydrolysis of plant oils or from the paper industry as byproducts. In this work, a novel iron-containing ionomer has been prepared through the reaction of fatty acids with steel dust or iron powder in the presence of carbon dioxide and water. Characterization has been achieved via 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR, and size exclusion chromatography. The product has been shown to have an ionomeric structure, consisting of oligomers of fatty acid carboxylates (derived from Diels-Alder reaction) coupled with iron(II) and iron(III) ions (from the oxidation of iron). Because the fatty acid oligomers have low molecular weights, the ionomer easily dissolves in a solvent and can be made into different physical forms, such as liquid, solid, film, or foam

A Mini Review on Nanocarbon-Based 1D Macroscopic Fibers: Assembly Strategies and Mechanical Properties

Abstract Nanocarbon-based materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have been attached much attention by scientific and industrial community. As two representative nanocarbon materials, one-dimensional CNTs and two-dimensional graphene both possess remarkable mechanical properties. In the past years, a large amount of work have been done by using CNTs or graphene as building blocks for constructing novel, macroscopic, mechanically strong fibrous materials. In this review, we summarize the assembly approaches of CNT-based fibers and graphene-based fibers in chronological order, respectively. The mechanical performances of these fibrous materials are compared, and the critical influences on the mechanical properties are discussed. Personal perspectives on the fabrication methods of CNT- and graphene-based fibers are further presented