3D structural analysis of the biodegradability of banana pseudostem nanocellulose bioplastics.

X-Ray micro-computed tomography (XCT) is used to reveal the micro-structural changes of banana pseudostem nanocellulose bioplastic due to a biodegradation process initiated in a formulated composting media that allowed the growth of aerobic microflora. The bioplastic itself was made of nanocellulose, which was isolated from banana pseudostem using the 2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) mediated oxidation method, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as plasticiser. XCT provided insights into the 3D structural change of the bioplastic identifying the degradation process at two scales.

A comparison between the characteristics of a biochar-NPK granule and a commercial NPK granule for application in the soil.

Continual application of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) fertilizer may not return a profit to farmers due to the costs of application and the loss of NPK from soil in various ways. Thus, a combination of NPK granule with a porous biochar (termed here as BNPK) appears to offer multiple benefits resulting from the excellent properties of biochar. Given the lack of information on the properties of NPK and BNPK fertilizers, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of both to achieve a good understanding of why BNPK granule is superior to NPK granule.

About the connectivity of dual-scale media based on micro-structure based regional analysis of NMR flow propagators.

The characterisation of heterogeneous porous media at multiple length scales typically requires the classification of structure at some scale to allow the calculation of effective transport properties at a scale relevant for macroscopic description. While such a classification may be derived from various imaging methods, a shortcoming is often the simultaneous characterisation of the connectivity between regions representing different micro-structure. In this work we combine NMR based flow propagators with the simulations performed on corresponding reconstructed structure, and relate the NMR measurements to their simulated global and local representations to study fluid transport locally and the exchange between micro- and macro-porous regions.

High-fidelity replication of thermoplastic microneedles with open microfluidic channels.

Development of microneedles for unskilled and painless collection of blood or drug delivery addresses the quality of healthcare through early intervention at point-of-care. Microneedles with submicron to millimeter features have been fabricated from materials such as metals, silicon, and polymers by subtractive machining or etching. However, to date, large-scale manufacture of hollow microneedles has been limited by the cost and complexity of microfabrication techniques.

Characteristics of a free-standing film from banana pseudostem nanocellulose generated from TEMPO-mediated oxidation.

Demand for bioplastic, especially for food packaging, increases as the consumers become more aware of the destructive effect of non-biodegradable plastics. Nanocellulose from banana pseudo-stem has great potential to be formed as a bioplastic. This study aimed to characterize the free-standing film produced from banana pseudo-stem nanocellulose that was prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation.