Isolation of ocotillol/ocotillone from Fouquieria splendens (Ocote) using a batch reactor.

Exploitation of the "ocotillo" tree (Fouquieria splendens Engelm) to produce ocotillol/ocotillone (o/o) in Northern Mexico hasn't been explored to this date. In the present work, isolation of ocotillol/ocotillone was performed through a batch reactor, which allowed the elimination of alcohol and phenols present in the ocote plant, yielding only resins and waxes from the ocote trunks. The ocotillol/ocotillone was extracted from the remaining resin on the ocote logs by solvent extraction in a batch reactor, to be crystallized after its extraction using a rotary evaporator. FTIR, and NMR analysis exhibited the characteristic ginsenoside bands, while the UV-vis spectrum of ocotillol/ocotillone depicted an absorption band belonging to the O-H bonds, indicating that the group is anchored to the ginsenoside structure and not due to a water signal. Lastly, the thermogravimetric analysis described a common behavior among other ginsenosides. Production of ocotillo/ocotillone has an energy consumption of 3624 kWh/gr. With a cost of $0.478 USD in laboratory equipment, which translates as a plausible sustainable production of ocotillol/ocotillone.

Evaluation of Thermal Properties of Composites Prepared from Pistachio Shell Particles Treated Chemically and Polypropylene.

The purpose of the present work was to prepare polypropylene (PP) matrix composited filled with chemically treated pistachio shell particles (PTx), and evaluate their effect on the composites' thermal properties. PP-PTx composites were formulated in different PTx content (from 2 to 10 phr) in a mixing chamber, using the melt-mixing process. The PTx were chemically treated using a NaOH solution and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). According to thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the treatment of pistachio shell particles resulted in the remotion of lignin and hemicellulose. The thermal stability was evaluated by means of TGA, where the presence of PTx in composites showed a positive effect compared with PP pristine. Thermal properties such as crystallization temperature (Tc), crystallization enthalpy (∆Hc), melting temperature (Tm) and crystallinity were determinate by means differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); these results suggest that the PTx had a nucleation effect on the PP matrix, increasing their crystallinity. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that stiffness of the composites increase compared with that PP pristine, as well as the storage modulus, and the best results were found at a PTx concentration of 4 phr. At higher concentrations, the positive effect decreased; however, they were better than the reference PP.

Short Glass Fiber Modifier Trisilanol-Isobutyl Polyhedral Silsesquioxane as Interfacial in Polypropylene Matrix: Effect of Flame Retardation and Mechanical Properties.

In the present work, short glass fiber is superficially modified with different concentrations of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (Trisilanol-Isobutyl, TSI-POSS) for processing as a filler in a polypropylene matrix (PP). It is observed that increasing the amount of TSI-POSS increases the fracture point and tensile strength; the opposite is the case for the strength impact property. The behaviors of both dynamic mechanical and thermal analyses are also observed. The flame behavior, i.e., the burning rate, decreases with increasing TSI-POSS in the polymers.

Synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerin with CaCO3 in a batch reactor.

In the present work, a reaction methodology was implemented using a batch reactor, which synthesized glycerol carbonate (GC) using glycerin and CaCO3. A crystallographic analysis of CaCO3 was performed to determine its crystalline form. The obtained product was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H and 13C). Our analysis demonstrated that the obtained product with the implemented reaction methodology has GC, FTIR showed the signals of the carbonyl groups, and the NMR spectrum confirmed the presence of cyclic carbonate structure in addition to linear carbonates. The thermogravimetric study showed that the thermal stability of the product is highly similar to that reported for GC. These results exhibit that the synthesis process produces linear and cyclic carbonates.