The Modification of Activated Carbon for the Performance Enhancement of a Natural-Rubber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

Increasing energy demands and growing environmental concerns regarding the consumption of fossil fuels are important motivations for the development of clean and sustainable energy sources. A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising energy technology that harnesses mechanical energy from the ambient environment by converting it into electrical energy. In this work, the enhancement of the energy conversion performance of a natural rubber (NR)-based TENG has been proposed by using modified activated carbon (AC).

Antimicrobial Treatment of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in Herbal Tea Using Low-Temperature Plasma.

A low-pressure capacitively coupled discharge was used to study antimicrobial treatment in herbal tea. Ambient air with a relative humidity of 40% was used as a precursor gas and fed into the chamber via a perforated power electrode. An electrical discharge plasma was produced at a radio frequency of 10 kHz and power of 80 W.

A plasma modified cellulose-chitosan porous membrane allows efficient DNA binding and provides antibacterial properties: A step towards developing a new DNA collecting card.

In forensic DNA analyses, biological specimens are collected and stored for subsequent recovery and analysis of DNA. A cost-effective and efficient DNA recovery approach is therefore a need. This study aims to produce a plasma modified cellulose-chitosan membrane (pCE-CS) that efficiently binds and retains DNA as a potential DNA collecting card.

Repetitive Gly-Leu-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Arg-Gly-Asp peptide derived from collagen and fibronectin for improving cell-scaffold interaction.

Suitable scaffolds for tissue engineering should provide a microenvironment for cell dwelling and directing cell behavior that resemble the native environment. Three-dimensional geometry of electrospun scaffolds well supports cell deposition, but they often lack biomacromolecules to induce cell responses. In this work, the repetitive collagen and fibronectin motif (rCF) peptide containing multiple repeats of Gly-Leu-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Arg-Gly-Asp sequence derived from the cell adhesion motifs of collagen and fibronectin was produced as the alternative agent to induce cell-scaffold interaction.

Repetitive Arg-Gly-Asp peptide as a cell-stimulating agent on electrospun poly(ϵ-caprolactone) scaffold for tissue engineering.

Electrospun scaffolds derived from poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PCL), a well known biodegradable material, have an architecture that is suitable for hosting cells. However, their biomedical applications are restricted because these scaffolds lack the bioactivity necessary to stimulate cell responses. In this work, a repetitive Arg-Gly-Asp (rRGD) peptide was produced as a cell-stimulating agent to provide the PCL scaffold with bioactivity.