Muconic acid is a six-carbon dicarboxylic acid with conjugated double bonds that finds extensive use in the food (additive), chemical (production of adipic acid, monomer for functional resins and bio-plastics), and pharmaceutical sectors. The biosynthesis of muconic acid has been the subject of recent industrial and scientific attention. However, because of its low concentration in aqueous solutions and high purity requirement, downstream separation presents a significant problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of products with skin-protective effects has been driven by the increasing incidence of skin diseases that are exacerbated by increasing pollution, urbanization, poor living, working, fatigue, dietary habits, and general treatment. The ability of antioxidants to protect the skin from oxidative stress and its effects makes them one of the most important ingredients in today's cosmetics. This article aims first to characterize the plant extracts obtained from () and then to evaluate the preliminary criteria for a new marketed product: the stability, antioxidant activity, and in vitro behavior of certain serums based on plant extract and hyaluronic acid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current study deals with an examination of strategies for the sequential treatment of corn stalks (CSs) in an integrated manner aiming to obtain papermaking fibers and to recover both lignin and hemicelluloses (HCs). Several pathways of valorization were experimentally trialed, focusing on getting information from mass balance analysis in an attempt to reveal the potential outcomes in terms of pulp yield, chemical composition, and papermaking properties such as tensile and burst strength. The raw lignin amounts and purity as well as separated hemicelluloses were also characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study deals with the valorization of corn stalks in an integrated processing strategy targeting two products: extracted hemicelluloses (HC) and papermaking fibers. Preliminary trials were conducted to assess the individual or the combined effects of biomass treatment on the quality of the obtained hemicelluloses and papermaking fibers. Depending on the hot alkaline extraction (HAE) conditions, the extracted HC had a xylan content between 44-63%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe alkaline extraction of hemicelluloses from a mixture of three varieties of wheat straw (containing 40.1% cellulose, 20.23% xylan, and 26.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, we describe an experimental study on the hot alkali extraction of hemicelluloses from wheat straw and corn stalks, two of the most common lignocellulosic biomass constituents in Romania. The chemical compositions of the raw materials were determined analytically, and the relevant chemical components were cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and ash. Using the response surface methodology, the optimum values of the hot alkaline extraction parameters, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural polymers can themselves be efficient as materials with biosorptive properties but can also be used to transform microbial biomass into an easy-to-handle form, respectively, into biosorbents, through immobilization. The article aims to study biosorbents based on residual microbial biomass ( yeast, separated after the brewing process by centrifugation and dried at 80 °C) immobilized in sodium alginate. The biosorptive properties of this type of biosorbent (spherical particles 2 and 4 mm in diameter) were studied for removal of reactive dye Brilliant Red HE-3B (with concentration in range of 16.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural polymers have proven to be extremely interesting matrices for the immobilization of microbial biomasses, via various mechanisms, in order to bring them into a form easier to handle-the form of composites. This article aimed to study composites based on a residual microbial biomass immobilized in sodium alginate via an encapsulation technique as materials with adsorbent properties. Thus, this study focused on the residual biomass resulting from beer production ( yeast, separated after the biosynthesis process by centrifugation and dried at 80 °C)-an important source of valuable compounds, used either as a raw material or for transformation into final products with added value.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, the active carbon adsorption and TiO/UV decolorization of black liquor were studied through experimental analysis (planned using Design of Experiments), modelling and optimization (with Response Surface Method and Differential Evolution). The aim is to highlight the importance of optimization methods for increasing process efficiency. For active carbon adsorption, the considered process parameters were: quantity of active carbon, dilution, and contact time.
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