Effect of Lithium Salts on the Properties of Cassava Starch Solid Biopolymer Electrolytes.

This study evaluates the effect of lithium salts on the structural, electrochemical, and thermal properties of cassava starch solid biopolymer electrolytes (SBPEs). Films of SBPEs were synthesized using plasticizing agents and lithium salts (LiCl, LiSO, and CFLiSO) via thermochemical method. The SBPEs with lithium salts exhibited characteristic FTIR bands starch, with slight variations in the vibration oxygen-related functional groups compared to salt-free biopolymer spectra.

Evaluation of the energy generation potential by an experimental characterization of residual biomass blends from Córdoba, Colombia in a downdraft gasifier.

An experimental characterization of crop residue biomass blends to evaluate their energy potential was conducted using an experimental approach in a commercial scale downdraft gasifier. Corncobs, rice husks, sesame stalks and cotton gin refuse were used to study the effect of mixture proportions on equivalence ratio, gasification temperature, syngas lower heating value (LHV), and cold gas efficiency (CGE). Using an experimental mixture design, thirty-two sample blends were evaluated in an Ankur WBG-30 downdraft gasifier with 30 kg/h feed supply coupled with a syngas purification system, temperature sensors and a gas chromatograph.

Analysis of coffee adulterated with roasted corn and roasted soybean using voltammetric electronic tongue.

Background: Coffee samples adulterated with roasted corn and roasted soybean were analyzed using a voltammetric electronic tongue equipped with a polypyrrole sensor array.

Methods: Coffee samples were adulterated in concentrations of 2%, 5%, 10% and 20% of roasted corn and roasted soybean; 5 replicates of each were used. The discrimination capacity of a voltammetric electronic tongue elaborated with a polypyrrole sensor array, was evaluated by principal component analysis and cluster analysis, while the capacity to perform quantitative determinations was carried out by partial least squares.