Chitosan-coated electrospun PLA fibers for rapid mineralization of calcium phosphate.

In this work, hydroxyapatite (HA) mineralized on chitosan (CS)-coated poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanofiber mat was prepared and compared in terms of mineralization characteristics. Significant calcium phosphate crystals formed on various concentrations of CS-coated PLA fiber mat with better uniformity after 2h of incubation in 10 times simulated body fluid (10× SBF). X-ray diffraction results further indicated that the composition of the deposited mineral was a mixture of dicalcium phosphate dehydrates and apatite. Chitosan, a cationic polysaccharide, can promote more nucleation and growth of calcium phosphate under conditions of 0.4% chitosan concentrations. These results indicated that HA-mineralized on CS-coated PLA fiber mat can be prepared directly via simply using CS coating followed by SBF immersion, and the results also suggest that this composite can mimic structural, compositional, and biological functions of native bone and can serve as a good candidate for bone tissue engineering (BTE).

Use of the composite membrane of poly(ether-block-amide) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a pervaporation system incorporated with fermentation for butanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Fermentation incorporated with pervaporation was regarded as an efficient way to relieve the feedback inhibition of butanol in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. The addition of CNTs (carbon nanotubes) to PEBA (poly(ether-block-amide)) could greatly enhance the removal flux of solvents (acetone, butanol and ethanol) in a model solution test. The butanol removing rate results in a 61% increase in the batch with PEBA+CNTs (5%) membrane compared with that of the batch with PEBA alone. Besides the increase of removal flux, the addition of CNTs enforces the mechanical strength of the pervaporation membrane, which leads to more resistance for a longer operational time. The combination of a 5-L fermenter with the pervaporation membrane of PEBA+CNTs (10%) indicates a 20% increase both in productivity and yield compared to using PEBA. In conclusion, the addition of CNTs to a PEBA pervaporation membrane has great potential when applied in the ABE fermentation industry.

Use of poly(ether-block-amide) in pervaporation coupling with a fermentor to enhance butanol production in the cultivation of Clostridium acetobutylicum.

The toxicity of the end-products of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) process, mainly butanol, is recognized as the major problem contributing to the low productivity of butanol. The pervaporation technique was regarded as one of the ways to efficiently remove organic components. The results of pervaporation performance of poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane in a model solution indicated that PEBA membrane owned a higher butanol permeation flux of 9.975 gm(-2)h(-1) as opposed to 3.911 gm(-2)h(-1) using a PDMS membrane. Moreover, a higher temperature would result in a higher permeation flux, but has a lower separation factor (α) obtained, while using PEBA membrane. The batch fermentor operation connected to the pervaporation with PEBA membrane created 43% and 34% of increase in the butanol productivity and in the yield as compared to that of the simple batch. The fed-batch fermentation mode by glucose feeding combined with PEBA pervaporation lasting for 24h could achieve 39% increase of butanol productivity as compared to a simple batch. Conclusively, the pervaporation with PEBA membrane coupling with fermentor was presumed to be capable of enhancing butanol production in ABE fermentation, which might have the potential applied in the commercialized ABE fermentation process.