A mechanistic investigation into combined influences of NaCl and extrusion temperature on fibrous structures of high-moisture textured yeast protein.

NaCl and extrusion temperature have an important influence on the qualities of high-moisture textured proteins, but the influence mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, this study prepared high-moisture textured yeast protein (HMTYP) with different NaCl contents (0%-4%) under different extrusion temperatures (170 °C, 180 °C) and characterized their physicochemical properties. The results showed that the HMTYP containing 1% and 2% NaCl prepared at 180 °C contained a strong fibrous structure. The possible mechanism was as follows: YP could not be sufficiently melted at 170 °C after adding NaCl, causing a decrease in the structural strength; however, at 180 °C, YP still reached a fully molten state even though 1%-2% NaCl was added. After YP sufficiently melted, NaCl enhanced the cross-linking and aggregation of proteins during cooling, which improved the textural properties of HMTYP. Accordingly, NaCl and extrusion temperature could combine to adjust the fibrous structure and texture of HMTYP.

Enabling Electrochemical-Mechanical Robustness of Ultra-High Ni Cathode via Self-Supported Primary-Grain-Alignment Strategy.

The electrochemical-mechanical degradation of ultrahigh Ni cathode for lithium-ion batteries is a crucial aspect that limits the cycle life and safety of devices. Herein, the study reports a facile strategy involving rational design of primary grain crystallographic orientation within polycrystalline cathode, which well enhanced its electro-mechanical strength and Li+ transfer kinetics. Ex situ and in situ experiments/simulations including cross-sectional particle electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), single-particle micro-compression, thermogravimetric analysis combined with mass spectrometry (TGA-MS), and finite element modeling reveal that, the primary-grain-alignment strategy effectively mitigates the particle pulverization, lattice oxygen release thereby enhances battery cycle life and safety. Besides the preexisting doping and coating methodologies to improve the stability of Ni-rich cathode, the primary-grain-alignment strategy, with no foreign elements or heterophase layers, is unprecedently proposed here. The results shed new light on the study of electrochemical-mechanical strain alleviation for electrode materials.

Effects of the soy protein to wheat gluten ratio on the physicochemical and structural properties of Alaska pollock surimi-based meat analogs by high moisture extrusion.

Surimi products have attracted much attention and are widely used in the food industry. Currently, the processing and exploitation of surimi products are mostly based on their gel characteristics. However, the abundant protein in surimi can be rearranged and integrated by high-temperature melting to generate a new surimi product with fibrous structures. In this study, meat analogs (new surimi product) were produced by high moisture extrusion (HME) using Alaska pollock surimi and plant protein (8:2), where the plant protein consisted of different ratios of soy protein and wheat gluten (9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7 and 1:9). The product was marked as SSG because it was composed of Alaska pollock surimi, soy protein and wheat gluten. The structure and color results showed that the hardness and ΔE of SSG decreased, while the fibrous degree and lightness increased with increasing WG content. The observation of the macrostructure and microstructure also showed that the skeleton structure of SSG was more obvious with increasing WG addition, but the viscosity reflected a decreasing trend. Furthermore, an increase in the WG content raised the free water ratio and the total content of ß-sheets, whereas the appropriate plant protein ratio reduced the SSG's thermal stability. In conclusion, Alaskan pollock surimi and the appropriate proportion of plant protein can form structurally stable meat analogs by high moisture extrusion.

Yeast protein as a novel dietary protein source: Comparison with four common plant proteins in physicochemical properties.

Currently, with the preference for a healthy diet and increased awareness of reducing the carbon footprint, the demand for protein is becoming more and more diversified. In this study, the physicochemical properties of yeast protein (YP) and four common plant proteins (soy protein isolate, pea protein isolate, wheat gluten, and peanut protein) were compared. The most prevalent secondary structure in YP is the ß-sheet. Furthermore, YP is in an aggregated state, and it has a high surface hydrophobicity. The tryptophan residues are primarily exposed on the polar surface of YP. The results of in vitro digestibility indicated that YP (84.91 ± 0.52%) was a high-quality protein. Moreover, YP has a higher thermal stability and relatively stable low apparent viscosity, which provides ample possibility for its application in food processing and in foods for people with swallowing difficulties. This study provides theoretical basis in the potential of YP as an alternative protein source.

Emulsion Lyophilization as a Facile Pathway to Fabricate Stretchable Polymer Foams Enabling Multishape Memory Effect and Clip Application.

Solvent freezing is an important method to produce polymer foams with highly tunable pore structure. However, foams prepared from aqueous solution precursors commonly suffer from poor water resistance, whereas those organo-phase systems are not environmental friendly. Here, we present that using an emulsion lyophilization method can overcome such a contradiction and synthesize multifunctional polymer foams. Commercially available polyacrylate-based emulsions with various targeted glass transition temperatures (Tgs) were applied. Adipodihydrazide molecules contained in the water phase of the emulsions reacted with the acetyl groups on the polymers during the freeze-drying, forming elastic networks to maintain the pore structure. The foams can tolerate a 650% elongation without failure and are notch insensitive. The porosity of the foams can be tuned from approximately 45 to 90% via lyophilization of diluted emulsions. The facile blending of emulsions with different targeted Tgs enabled foams with multishape memory capability. Moreover, the foams showed an excellent mechanical damping property, and the slow recovery nature enabled a clip application of clamping extremely weak objects.

LiMn0.8Fe0.2PO4/Carbon Nanospheres@Graphene Nanoribbons Prepared by the Biomineralization Process as the Cathode for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Biomineralization technology is a feasible and promising route to fabricate phosphate cathode materials with hierarchical nanostructure for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, to improve the electrochemical performance of LiMn0.8Fe0.2PO4 (LMFP), hierarchical LMFP/carbon nanospheres are wrapped in situ with N-doped graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) via biomineralization by using yeast cells as the nucleating agent, self-assembly template, and carbon source. Such LMFP nanospheres are assembled by more fine nanocrystals with an average size of 18.3 nm. Moreover, the preferential crystal orientation along the [010] direction and certain antisite lattice defects can be identified in LMFP nanocrystals, which promote rapid diffusion of Li ions and generate more active sites for the electrochemical reaction. Moreover, such N-doped GNR networks, wrapped between LMFP/carbon nanospheres, are beneficial to the fast mobility of electrons and good penetration of the electrolyte. As expected, the as-prepared LMFP/carbon multicomposite presents the outstanding electrochemical performance, including the large initial discharge capacity of 168.8 mA h g-1, good rate capability, and excellent long-term cycling stability over 2000 cycles. Therefore, the biomineralization method is demonstrated here to be effective to manipulate the microstructure of multicomponent phosphate cathode materials based on the requirement of capacity, rate capability, and cycle stability for LIBs.

Fabricating high performance lithium-ion batteries using bionanotechnology.

Designing, fabricating, and integrating nanomaterials are key to transferring nanoscale science into applicable nanotechnology. Many nanomaterials including amorphous and crystal structures are synthesized via biomineralization in biological systems. Amongst various techniques, bionanotechnology is an effective strategy to manufacture a variety of sophisticated inorganic nanomaterials with precise control over their chemical composition, crystal structure, and shape by means of genetic engineering and natural bioassemblies. This provides opportunities to use renewable natural resources to develop high performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). For LIBs, reducing the sizes and dimensions of electrode materials can boost Li(+) ion and electron transfer in nanostructured electrodes. Recently, bionanotechnology has attracted great interest as a novel tool and approach, and a number of renewable biotemplate-based nanomaterials have been fabricated and used in LIBs. In this article, recent advances and mechanism studies in using bionanotechnology for high performance LIBs studies are thoroughly reviewed, covering two technical routes: (1) Designing and synthesizing composite cathodes, e.g. LiFePO4/C, Li3V2(PO4)3/C and LiMn2O4/C; and (2) designing and synthesizing composite anodes, e.g. NiO/C, Co3O4/C, MnO/C, α-Fe2O3 and nano-Si. This review will hopefully stimulate more extensive and insightful studies on using bionanotechnology for developing high-performance LIBs.

Carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation in the surface and ground water treatment plants using Yellow River as water source.

This work investigated the formation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous disinfection by-products (C-DBPs, N-DBPs) upon chlorination of water samples collected from a surface water and a ground water treatment plant (SWTP and GWTP) where the conventional treatment processes, i.e., coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration were employed. Twenty DBPs, including four trihalomethanes, nine haloacetic acids, seven N-DBPs (dichloroacetamide, trichloroacetamide, dichloroacetonitrile, trichloroacetonitrile, bromochloroacetonitrile, dibromoacetonitrile and trichloronitromethane), and eight volatile chlorinated compounds (dichloromethane (DCM), 1,2-dichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene) were detected in the two WTPs. The concentrations of these contaminants were all below their corresponding maximum contamination levels (MCLs) regulated by the Standards for Drinking Water Quality of China (GB5749-2006) except for DCM (17.1 microg/L detected vs. 20 microg/L MCL). The SWTP had much higher concentrations of DBPs detected in the treated water as well as the DBP formation potentials tested in the filtered water than the GWTP, probably because more precursors (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen) were present in the water source of the SWTP.