Microporous Matrimid/PIM-1 Thin Film Composite Membranes with Narrow Pore Size Distribution used for Molecular Separation in Organic Solvents.

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are a class of microporous organic materials that contain interconnected pores of less than 2 nm in diameter. Such materials are of great potential used in membranes for molecular separation, such as drug fractionation in pharmaceutical industry. However, the PIMs membranes are often susceptible to low separation selectivity toward different molecules due to their wide pore size distribution. Herein, a linear polyimide, Matrimid, is incorporated with PIM-1 (a typical member of PIMs) by solution blending, and the blends are dip-coated onto a polyimide P84 support membrane to prepare thin-film composite (TFC) membranes to control pore size distribution while keep high microporosity. The component miscibility, pore characteristics, and molecular separation performances of the Matrimid/PIM-1 TFC membranes are investigated in detail. The Matrimid and PIM-1 are partially miscible due to their similar Hansen solubility parameters. The Matrimid endows the selective layers (coatings) with narrower pore size distribution due to more compact chain packing. The prepared Matrimid/PIM-1 TFC membranes show high selectivity for separation of riboflavin (80% of retention) and isatin (only 5% of retention). The developed membranes exhibit great potential for separating molecules with different molecular weights.

High Voltage Electrical Discharges as an Alternative Extraction Process of Phenolic and Volatile Compounds from Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.): In Silico and Experimental Approaches for Solubility Assessment.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of green solvents for extractions of bioactive compounds (BACs) and essential oils from wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.) using theoretical and experimental procedures. Theoretical prediction was assessed by Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) and conductor-like screening model for realistic solvents (COSMO-RS), to predict the most suitable solvents for extraction of BACs. An experimental procedure was performed by nonthermal technology high voltage electrical discharge (HVED) and it was compared with modified conventional extraction (CE). Obtained extracts were analyzed for chemical and physical changes during the treatment. Theoretical results for solution of BACs in ethanol and water, as green solvents, were confirmed by experimental results, while more accurate data was given by COSMO-RS assessment than HSPs. Results confirmed high potential of HVED for extraction of BACs and volatile compounds from wild thyme, in average, 2.03 times higher yield of extraction in terms of total phenolic content was found compared to CE. The main phenolic compound found in wild thyme extracts was rosmarinic acid, while the predominant volatile compound was carvacrol. Obtained extracts are considered safe and high-quality source reach in BACs that could be further used in functional food production.

Extraction of carotenoid-rich palm pressed fiber oil using mixtures of hydrocarbons and short chain alcohols.

Solvent extraction is the most efficient method for recovering residual oil from palm pressed fiber (PPFO), which may contain up to eight times the carotenoid content of that found in crude palm oil. The objective of the present study is the use of binary mixtures of hydrocarbons (HC), hexane (Hex), cyclohexane (CHex) or heptane (Hep), and alcohols (ALC), ethanol (Eth) or isopropanol (IPA), in order to promote the highest recovery of a carotenoid-rich PPFO, in which the compositions of the mixtures are defined based on the calculation of solute-solvent distance (Ra) considering ß-carotene as the solute. The extraction experiments were conducted in batch, at 60 ± 2 °C, or in a fixed-bed packed column, at 55 ± 3 °C. Hex and Hep:IPA provided 80% of batch PPFO extraction yield, while in column, the highest yields were obtained with Eth and Hex:IPA (66%). The total carotenoid content obtained was the same independent of the solvent and extraction configuration (from 1790 ± 230 up to 2539 ± 78 mg ß-carotene/kg PPFO). In terms of the carotenoid profile, ß-carotene was mostly extracted by Hex, Hex:Eth stood out in the extraction of α-carotene, and Eth extracted the highest content of lycopene. It is possible to infer that mixtures of HC and ALC with compositions defined based on Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSPs) demonstrated good ability to extract carotenoid-rich PPFO, maintaining their relatively stable fatty acids composition and free acidity, showing that partial substitution of HC by ALC is technically possible.

Method for efficient recovery of high-purity polycarbonates from electronic waste.

More than one million tons of polycarbonates from waste electrical and electronic equipment are consigned to landfills at an increasing rate of 3-5% per year. Recycling the polymer waste should have a major environmental impact. Pure solvents cannot be used to selectively extract polycarbonates from mixtures of polymers with similar properties. In this study, selective mixed solvents are found using guidelines from Hansen solubility parameters, gradient polymer elution chromatography, and solubility tests. A room-temperature sequential extraction process using two mixed solvents is developed to recover polycarbonates with high yield (>95%) and a similar purity and molecular weight distribution as virgin polycarbonates. The estimated cost of recovery is less than 30% of the cost of producing virgin polycarbonates from petroleum. This method would potentially reduce raw materials from petroleum, use 84% less energy, reduce emission by 1-6 tons of CO2 per ton of polycarbonates, and reduce polymer accumulation in landfills and associated environmental hazards.

Use of response surface methodology to evaluate the extraction of Debaryomyces hansenii xylose reductase by aqueous two-phase system.

Xylose reductase (XR) from Debaryomyces hansenii was extracted by partitioning in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 in the presence of different salts, specifically sodium sulfate, lithium sulfate and potassium phosphate. Batch extractions were carried out under different conditions of temperature (25-45 degrees C) and tie-line length (TLL) for each system, according to a central composite design face-centered of 36 tests, and the response surface methodology was used to evaluate the results. Quadratic polynomial models were adjusted to the data to predict the behavior of four responses, namely the XR partition coefficient (K(XR)), the selectivity (S), the purification factor (PF(T)) and the activity yield (Y(T)) in the top phase. The optimal extraction conditions were found using the PEG 4000/sodium sulfate system at 45 degrees C and TLL=25.1, which ensured PF(T)=3.1 and Y(T)=131%. The ATPS proved effective for partial purification of D. hansenii xylose reductase in cell-free crude extract, and the response surface methodology revealed to be an appropriate and powerful tool to determine the best dominion of temperature and ATPS composition.

A CTAB based method for the preparation of total protein extract of wine spoilage microrganisms for proteomic analysis.

Mapping the proteome of microrganisms by 2D-electrophoresis is often a hard task, because many contaminants, e.g. polysaccharides of the cell wall and nucleic acid, can obstruct the pores of the IEF gel resulting in streaks and smears. A protocol based on the use of the cationic detergent cetyl-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and its salt-dependent solubility was developed. The cellulose-producing strain Gluconoacetobacter hansenii AAB0248 was resolved on 7cm Minigels in over 500 protein spots (a hundred more than with protocols reported in literature). The method was further employed for mapping the proteome of some acid adapted, wine spoilage microrganisms e.g. acetic acid bacteria and a yeast.