Analysis of Dibenzyltoluene Mixtures: From Fast Analysis to In-Depth Characterization of the Compounds.

The so-called dibenzyltoluene (H0-DBT) heat transfer oil contains numerous isomers of dibenzyltoluene as well as (benzyl)benzyltoluene (methyl group on the central vs. the side aromatic ring). As it is used as a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC), a detailed analysis of its composition is crucial in assessing the kinetic rate of hydrogenation for each constituent and studying the mechanism of H0-DBT hydrogenation. To identify all of the compounds in the oil, an in-depth analysis of the GC-MS spectra was performed. To confirm peak attribution, we synthesized some DBTs and characterized the pure compounds using NMR and Raman spectroscopies. Moreover, a fast-GC analysis was developed to rapidly determine the degree of hydrogenation of the mixture.

Development of uncoated near-spherical gold nanoparticles for the label-free quantification of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

The Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method based on gold nanoparticles as SERS substrate was investigated for the label-free detection and quantification of probiotic bacteria that are widely used in various pharmaceutical formulations. Indeed, the development of a simple and fast SERS method dedicated to the quantification of bacteria should be very useful for the characterization of such formulations in a more convenient way than the usually performed tedious and time-consuming conventional counting method. For this purpose, uncoated near-spherical gold nanoparticles were developed at room temperature by acidic treatment of star-like gold nanoparticle precursors. In this study, we first investigated the influence of acidic treatment conditions on both the nanoparticle physicochemical properties and SERS efficiency using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as "model" analyte. Results highlighted that an effective R6G Raman signal enhancement was obtained by promoting chemical effect through R6G-anion interactions and by obtaining a suitable aggregation state of the nanoparticles. Depending on the nanoparticle synthesis conditions, R6G SERS signals were up to 102-103-fold greater than those obtained with star-like gold nanoparticles. The synthesized spherical gold nanoparticles were then successfully applied for the detection and quantification of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG). In that case, the signal enhancement was especially due to the combination of anion-induced chemical enhancement and nanoparticle aggregation on LGG cell wall consecutive to non-specific interactions. Both the simplicity and speed of the procedure, achieved under 30 min, including nanoparticle synthesis, sample preparation, and acquisition of SERS spectra, appeared as very relevant for the characterization of pharmaceutical formulations incorporating probiotics. Graphical abstract.

Highly Sensitive Voltammetric Glucose Biosensor Based on Glucose Oxidase Encapsulated in a Chitosan/Kappa-Carrageenan/Gold Nanoparticle Bionanocomposite.

In this work, an enzymatic sensor, based on a bionanocomposite film consisting of a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) (Chitosan/kappa-carrageenan) doped with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) encapsulating glucose oxidase (GOD) deposited on a gold electrode (Au) for glucose sensing, is described. Using the electrocatalytic synergy of AuNPs and GOD as a model of enzyme, the variation of the current (µA) as a function of the log of the glucose concentration (log [glucose]), shows three times higher sensitivity for the modified electrode (283.9) compared to that of the PEC/GOD modified electrode (93.7), with a detection limit of about 5 µM and a linearity range between 10 µM and 7 mM. The response of the PEC/AuNPs/GOD based biosensor also presents good reproducibility, stability, and negligible interfering effects from ascorbic acid, uric acid, urea, and creatinine. The applicability of the PEC/AuNPs/GOD based biosensor was tested in glucose-spiked saliva samples and acceptable recovery rates were obtained.

New biosourced chiral molecularly imprinted polymer: Synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of the recognition capacity of methyltestosterone.

New biosourced chiral cross-linkers were reported for the first time in the synthesis of methyltestosterone (MT) chiral molecularly imprinted polymers (cMIPs). Isosorbide and isomannide, known as 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitols, were selected as starting diols. The cMIPs were synthesized following a noncovalent approach via thermal radical polymerization and monitored by Raman spectroscopy. These cross-linkers were fully characterized by 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The cross-polarization magic angle spinning 13 C NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and specific surface areas following the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method were used to characterize the cMIPs. The effect of stereochemistry of cross-linkers on the reactivity of polymerization, morphology, and adsorption-recognition properties of the MIP was evaluated. The results showed that the cMIP exhibited an obvious improvement in terms of rebinding capacity for MT as compared with the nonimprinted polymer (NIP). The highest binding capacity was observed for cMIP-Is (27.298 mg g-1 ) for high concentrations (500 mg L-1 ). However, the isomannide homologue cMIP-Im showed higher recovery-up to 65% and capacity for low concentrations (15 mg L-1 ). The experimental data were properly fitted by the Freundlich adsorption isothermal model.

Synthesis and Surface Reactivity of Vinylized Macroporous Silica Monoliths: One-Pot Hybrid versus Postsynthesis Grafting Strategies.

Different synthesis routes have been implemented to prepare macroporous monoliths with vinyl pendant groups and micrometric skeletons and through-pore sizes. A standard process combining the synthesis of a widely used (methyltrimethoxysilane/tetramethoxysilane) (MTMS/TMOS) hybrid silica monolith and the postsilanization with vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) was used as reference material (Vgr-MTMS). An alternative "one-pot" procedure was used to obtain vinylized hybrid monoliths. Two VTMS/TMOS hybrid based monoliths were successfully prepared starting from 20% (w) and 80% (w/w) of VTMS, respectively, called 20-VTMS and 80-VTMS. Monoliths were characterized by SEM, nitrogen-adsorption isotherm, and (29)Si MAS NMR spectroscopy. One-pot synthesis allowed to obtain higher vinyl contents (15.9 and 61.5 mol % of Si atoms bonded to vinyl groups respectively for 20-VTMS and 80-VTMS) than for the postgrafted one (7.1%). Accessibility of vinyl groups was determined by the extent of bromination reactions followed by FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. Bromination with reaction yields were higher than 80% for all materials (80%, 85%, and 100% for 80-VTMS, 20-VTMS, and Vgr-MTMS respectively), with no diffusion issues The chemical reactivity of the pendant vinyl groups was investigated through radical-mediated thiol-ene reaction and radical-initiated bisulfite addition. Reaction yields for the two VTMS hybrid monoliths were quite lower (4-6%) than those obtained (about 50%) for the Vgr-MTMS monolith. The difference in reactivity was attributed to the steric hindrance of the vinyl moieties at the surface of hybrid materials. However, the lower reactivity of vinyl groups is compensated by their considerably higher surface density. Thus, hybrid monoliths are advantageous over their grafted counterparts, due to their higher hydrolytic stability and to the greater simplicity of the one-pot process. A chromatographic application exemplifies their interest and performances in separation science.

Gold(I)-Thiolate Coordination Polymers as Multifunctional Materials: The Case of Au(I)-p-Fluorothiophenolate.

Gold-sulfur interaction has vital importance in nanotechnologies and material chemistry to design functional nanoparticles, self-assembled monolayers, or molecular complexes. In this paper, a mixture of only two basic precursors, such as the chloroauric acid (HAu(III)Cl4) and a thiol molecule (p-fluorothiophenol (p-HSPhF)), are used for the synthesis of gold(I)-thiolate coordination polymers. Under different conditions of synthesis and external stimuli, five different functional materials with different states of [Au(I)(p-SPhF)]n can be afforded. These gold-thiolate compounds are (i) red emissive, flexible, and crystalline fibers; (ii) composite materials made of these red emissive fibers and gold nanoparticles; (iii) amorphous phase; (iv) transparent glass; and (v) amorphous-to-crystalline phase-change material associated with an ON/OFF switch of luminescence. The different functionalities of these materials highlight the great versatility of the gold(I) thiolate coordination polymers with easy synthesis and diverse shaping that may have great potential as sustainable phosphors, smart textiles, sensors, and phase change memories.

Cleaner degreasing of sheepskins by the Yarrowia lipolytica LIP2 lipase as a chemical-free alternative in the leather industry.

Conventional degreasing of skins and hides in the leather industry requires high amounts of organic solvents and detergents that cause environmental issues. In this study, the LIP2 lipase from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica (YLLIP2) was shown to be effective in degreasing sheepskins, thus reducing the amount of harmful chemicals. Using 6 mg of lipase/kg of raw skin, successful degreasing was achieved in only 15 min at pH 8 and 30°C. ToF-SIMS mass spectra of chemically and enzymatically treated sheepskins are consistent with a selective elimination process for the enzymatic treatment. Comparative SEM microscopy, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and physicochemical analyses showed better properties of the enzymatically treated leather than those of the chemical treatment. Effluent physicochemical parameters showed that the enzymatic treatment is a cleaner degreasing operation. Altogether, this work opens new horizons to use the YLLIP2 lipase as a more efficient alternative in the leather industry.

Sewage sludge ash-derived materials for H2S removal from a landfill biogas.

H2S removal is a key step for biogas cleaning because this component can lead to premature corrosion of the equipment and its cleaning has a significant cost. The aim of the present work was to assess the use of sewage sludge derived ash (SSA)-materials for H2S removal from a landfill biogas. SSA and mixtures made with SSA, activated carbon (AC) and sand were tested for H2S removal. The best removal efficiency was obtained with the mixture 80%m SSA and 20%m AC, while SSA alone was not a good adsorbent under tested experimental conditions. The materials characterization helped the adsorption mechanism understanding. Indeed, results highlighted that SSA presence stabilizes the pH on a basic range, favorable for H2S dissociation into HS- then its chemisorption. On the other hand, with the microporosity of AC, the contact surface between H2S and oxygen was sufficiently large for chemisorption kinetics. It also appeared that the mixture with sand and AC adorbs non selectively H2S but also other volatile organic pollutants present in biogas. Contrariwise, with SSA/AC mixtures, H2S seems to be selectively chemisorbed.

Development of enteric polymer-based microspheres by spray-drying for colonic delivery of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.

Antibiotics are well-known disruptive elements of the intestinal microbiota and antibiotic-associated diarrhea appeared as the most common complication related with post-antibiotic dysbiosis. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) strain is very effective in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children and adults. However, as any probiotics, it is concerned by the loss of viability during storage and gastrointestinal transit. The aim of this study was to develop an encapsulation system suitable for the specific colonic delivery of LGG strain after oral administration. For this purpose, spray-dried Eudragit® S100 microparticles encapsulating LGG bacteria were developed by using an aqueous based spray-drying approach, avoiding the use of organic solvents. Carbohydrates were added to the formulation since they are widely used as protective agents of bacteria against the harmful effect of dehydration stress. Here, both Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and conventional plate count methods showed that carbohydrates increased the survival ratio of bacteria after spray-drying from 3 to more than 50%. Moreover, these protective agents ensured low residual moisture content thus providing great stability of the cells in the spray-dried powder during storage. Significant improvement of the cell viability in simulated gastro intestinal fluid (SGIF) was observed for encapsulated cells as compared with free LGG bacteria for which no viable cell was detectable after 1 h incubation in gastric fluid only. As a consequence, 4.5 × 107 CFU/g of encapsulated LGG were found viable after incubation of microparticles 1 h in Simulated Gastric Fluid followed by 6 h in Simulated Intestinal Fluid, corresponding to less than 3 log reduction of viable cells during the 7 h incubation in Simulated Gastro Intestinal Fluid. These results attested that the developed encapsulation system is suitable for its use as a bacteria carrier for specific colonic delivery.

Laccase-Based Biosensor Encapsulated in a Galactomannan-Chitosan Composite for the Evaluation of Phenolic Compounds.

Galactomannan, a neutral polysaccharide, was extracted from carob seeds and characterized. It was used for the first time for the fabrication of a laccase-based biosensor by the encapsulation of laccase in a chitosan+galactomannan composite. The fabricated biosensor was characterized by FTIR, scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The pyrocatechol detection was obtained by cyclic voltammetry measurements, through the detection of o-quinone at -0.447 V. The laccase activity was well preserved in the chitosan+galactomannan composite and the sensitivity of detection of pyrocatechol in the 10-16 M-10-4 M range was very high. The voltammetric response of the biosensor was stable for more than two weeks. To estimate the antioxidant capacity of olive oil samples, it was shown that the obtained laccase-based biosensor is a valuable alternative to the colorimetric Folin-Ciocalteu method.

Raman spectroscopy combined with advanced chemometric methods: A new approach for detergent deformulation.

Deformulation of a commercial surfactant mixture using Raman spectroscopy and advanced chemometric tools have been investigated. Since the use of surfactants is drastically expanding, their fine identification and quantification are required for quality control and regulation. Dilution of the detergent mixtures combined with Raman spectroscopy for signal extraction tools allowed the extraction of the first information concerning the composition of the mixture. The raw materials identified were thus used in an experimental design to obtain a robust model for the determination of detergent composition. The combination of chemometric tools (independent component analysis and Partial Least Square) and spectroscopic methods provided pertinent information for detergent composition. This methodology can easily be transposed to the industrial world.

Voltammetric glucose biosensor based on glucose oxidase encapsulation in a chitosan-kappa-carrageenan polyelectrolyte complex.

In this work, a new design of voltammetric glucose biosensor, based on the encapsulation of glucose oxidase (GOx) in a chitosan/κ­carrageenan (CHIT/CAR) polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) using a simple coacervation process is presented. A conductometric monitoring of this is performed. Spectroscopic and morphological characterization of the PEC film encapsulating GOx is carried out. Compared to biosensors based on a chitosan film, a more sensitive voltammetric detection of glucose is obtained. Using square wave voltammetry (SWV), the CHIT/CAR PEC based biosensor exhibits a wide linearity range from 5 µM to 7 mM glucose with a detection limit of 5 µM. Excellent selectivity against ascorbic acid, uric acid and urea is observed and the applicability of the biosensor for glucose detection in spiked saliva samples was demonstrated.

Characterization of surfactant complex mixtures using Raman spectroscopy and signal extraction methods: Application to laundry detergent deformulation.

This paper presents the analysis of surfactants in complex mixtures using Raman spectroscopy combined with signal extraction (SE) methods. Surfactants are the most important component in laundry detergents. Both their identification and quantification are required for quality control and regulation purposes. Several synthetic mixtures of four surfactants contained in an Ecolabel laundry detergent were prepared and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. SE methods, Independent Component Analysis and Multivariate Curve Resolution, were then applied to spectral data for surfactant identification and quantification. The influence of several pre-processing treatments (normalization, baseline correction, scatter correction and smoothing) on SE performances were evaluated by experimental design. By using optimal pre-processing strategy, SE methods allowed satisfactorily both identifying and quantifying the four surfactants. When applied to the pre-processed Raman spectrum of the Ecolabel laundry detergent sample, SE models remained robust enough to predict the surfactant concentrations with sufficient precision for deformulation purpose. Comparatively, a supervised modeling technique (PLS regression) was very efficient to quantify the four surfactants in synthetic mixtures but appeared less effective than SE methods when applied to the Raman spectrum of the detergent sample. PLS seemed too sensitive to the other components contained in the laundry detergent while SE methods were more robust. The results obtained demonstrated the interest of SE methods in the context of deformulation.

Aflatoxin B1 Detection Using a Highly-Sensitive Molecularly-Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor Based on an Electropolymerized Metal Organic Framework.

A sensitive electrochemical molecularly-imprinted sensor was developed for the detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), by electropolymerization of p-aminothiophenol-functionalized gold nanoparticles in the presence of AFB1 as a template molecule. The extraction of the template leads to the formation of cavities that are able to specifically recognize and bind AFB1 through π-π interactions between AFB1 molecules and aniline moities. The performance of the developed sensor for the detection of AFB1 was investigated by linear sweep voltammetry using a hexacyanoferrate/hexacyanoferrite solution as a redox probe, the electron transfer rate increasing when the concentration of AFB1 increases, due to a p-doping effect. The molecularly-imprinted sensor exhibits a broad linear range, between 3.2 fM and 3.2 µM, and a quantification limit of 3 fM. Compared to the non-imprinted sensor, the imprinting factor was found to be 10. Selectivity studies were also performed towards the binding of other aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, proving good selectivity.