Phosphate-type zwitterionic liquid.

The imidazolium/phosphate zwitterionic liquid synthesised in this study dissolved cellulose and satisfies all other properties required for efficient cellulosic bioethanol production such as liquid at room temperature and low toxicity.

Cell-compatible isotonic freezing media enabled by thermo-responsive osmolyte-adsorption/exclusion polymer matrices.

During the long-term storage of cells, it is necessary to inhibit ice crystal formation by adding cryoprotectants. Non-cell-permeable cryoprotectants have high osmotic pressure which dehydrates cells, indirectly suppressing intracellular ice crystal formation. However, the high osmotic pressure and dehydration often damage cells.

High loading of trimethylglycine promotes aqueous solubility of poorly water-soluble cisplatin.

Trimethylglycine (TMG) is a cheap, natural, and highly biocompatible compound. Therefore, it has been used in the fields of food and life sciences, but the application of solid TMG is limited to utilisation as an "additive". In the present study, we focussed on the high solubility of TMG in water, derived from the aprotic zwitterionic structure, and proposed TMG as the chemical accounting for a major portion of the aqueous solution (e.

Non-aqueous, zwitterionic solvent as an alternative for dimethyl sulfoxide in the life sciences.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used as a solvent in the life sciences, however, it is somewhat toxic and affects cell behaviours in a range of ways. Here, we propose a zwitterionic liquid (ZIL), a zwitterion-type ionic liquid containing histidine-like module, as a new alternative to DMSO. ZIL is not cell permeable, less toxic to cells and tissues, and has great potential as a vehicle for various hydrophobic drugs.

Anaerobic glucose consumption is accelerated at non-proliferating elevated temperatures through upregulation of a glucose transporter gene in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Cell proliferation is achieved through numerous enzyme reactions. Temperature governs the activity of each enzyme, ultimately determining the optimal growth temperature. The synthesis of useful chemicals and fuels utilizes a fraction of available metabolic pathways, primarily central metabolic pathways including glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

Requirement of de novo synthesis of pyruvate carboxylase in long-term succinic acid production in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Protein turnover through de novo synthesis is critical for sustainable cellular functions. We previously found that glucose consumption rate in Corynebacterium glutamicum under anaerobic conditions increased at temperature higher than the upper limit of growth temperature. Here, we showed that production of lactic and succinic acids increased at higher temperature for long-term (48 h) anaerobic reaction in metabolically engineered strains.

Automatic Redirection of Carbon Flux between Glycolysis and Pentose Phosphate Pathway Using an Oxygen-Responsive Metabolic Switch in .

Controlling the carbon flux into a desired pathway is important for improving product yield in metabolic engineering. After entering a cell, glucose is channeled into glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), which decreases the yield of target products whose synthesis relies on NADPH as a cofactor. Here, we demonstrate redirection of carbon flux into PPP under aerobic conditions in , achieved by replacing the promoter of glucose 6-phosphate isomerase gene () with an anaerobic-specific promoter of the lactate dehydrogenase gene ().

Short Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers: Utilizing Lignin to Engineer Potentially Sustainable Resource-Based Biocomposites.

Carbon fiber reinforced composites have exceptional potential to play a key role in the materials world of our future. However, their success undoubtedly depends on the extent they can contribute to advance a global sustainability objective. Utilizing polymers in these composites that can be potentially derived from biomasses would be certainly vital for next-generation manufacturing practices.

Lignin as a Functional Green Coating on Carbon Fiber Surface to Improve Interfacial Adhesion in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers.

While intensive efforts are made to prepare carbon fiber reinforced plastics from renewable sources, less emphasis is directed towards elaborating green approaches for carbon fiber surface modification to improve the interfacial adhesion in these composites. In this study, we covalently attach lignin, a renewable feedstock, to a graphitic surface for the first time. The covalent bond is established via aromatic anchoring groups with amine functions taking part in a nucleophilic displacement reaction with a tosylated lignin derivative.

Interphase Engineering of a Cellulose-Based Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite by Applying Click Chemistry.

Given our possible future dependence on carbon fiber reinforced composites, the introduction of a renewable matrix might be advantageous for the vision of a sustainable world. Cellulose is a superior green candidate and provides exceptional freedom in composite design as the free OH groups can be conveniently functionalized to give tailor-made materials. To obtain a high-performing carbon fiber reinforced cellulose propionate composite, we accurately tailored the interfacial adhesion by invoking click chemistry.

Carbon fibre reinforced cellulose-based polymers: intensifying interfacial adhesion between the fibre and the matrix.

Interfacial interactions governing the interfacial adhesion between cellulose propionate and carbon fibre surface are placed under scrutiny to pave the way towards the development of green cellulose-based carbon fibre reinforced polymers. A range of molecular entities are deposited on the surface by initially grafting aromatic structures with appropriate functions diazonium species followed by further derivatization of these entities. Cellulose propionate was also bound covalently to the surface a tosylated derivative invoking its facile nucleophilic displacement reaction with surface-grafted amino functions.

Application of microalgae hydrolysate as a fermentation medium for microbial production of 2-pyrone 4,6-dicarboxylic acid.

Actual biomass of microalgae was tested as a fermentation substrate for microbial production of 2-pyrone 4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC). Acid-hydrolyzed green microalgae Chlorella emersonii (algae hydrolysate) was diluted to adjust the glucose concentration to 2 g/L and supplemented with the nutrients of Luria-Bertani (LB) medium (tryptone 10 g/L and yeast extract 5 g/L). When the algae hydrolysate was used as a fermentation source for recombinant Escherichia coli producing PDC, 0.

Lignocellulose nanofibers prepared by ionic liquid pretreatment and subsequent mechanical nanofibrillation of bagasse powder: Application to esterified bagasse/polypropylene composites.

In the present study, we examined the efficacy of choline acetate (ChOAc, a cholinium ionic liquid))-assisted pretreatment of bagasse powder for subsequent mechanical nanofibrillation to produce lignocellulose nanofibers. Bagasse sample with ChOAc pretreatment and subsequent nanofibrillation (ChOAc/NF-bagasse) was prepared and compared to untreated control bagasse sample (control bagasse), bagasse sample with nanofibrillation only (NF-bagasse) and with ChOAc pretreatment only (ChOAc-bagasse). The specific surface area was 0.

Design of Wall-Destructive but Membrane-Compatible Solvents.

We report an extremely biocompatible solvent for plant cell walls based on a polar liquid zwitterion that dissolves cellulose, the most recalcitrant component of the plant cell walls. The polar liquid zwitterion does not affect the viability and activity of Escherichia coli, even at high concentrations. We demonstrate conversion of cell walls to ethanol via a starch-like process, namely successive dissolution, hydrolysis and fermentation in the same reaction pot.

Investigation of accessibility and reactivity of cellulose pretreated by ionic liquid at high loading.

High loading of cellulose in ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment is potentially a key technique for cellulose conversion to glucose in biorefining. In this work, to expand the potential use of this high loading technique, the accessibility of microcrystalline cellulose pretreated with an IL across a wide cellulose loading range (5-50mol%) and its relationship with the hydrolytic reactivity were comprehensively investigated. The results show that the estimated cellulose accessibility based on the crystallinity and specific surface area was notably higher in 25mol% loading than that for a conventional loading of 5mol%.

Development and evaluation of consolidated bioprocessing yeast for ethanol production from ionic liquid-pretreated bagasse.

This work aimed to study the use of consolidated bioprocess (CBP) yeast expressing five cellulase genes (BGL, XYNII, EGII, CBHI and CBHII) for ethanol production from ionic liquid-pretreated bagasse and Laubholz unbleached Kraft pulp (LUKP). A proposed screening method shows that the optimal cellulase ratio varies for each biomass substrate, and thus it is essential to breed CBP yeast having optimal cellulase-displaying ratio for the target biomass. CBP yeast specialized towards bagasse produced 0.

Nano-Structural Investigation on Cellulose Highly Dissolved in Ionic Liquid: A Small Angle X-ray Scattering Study.

We investigated nano-structural changes of cellulose dissolved in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate-an ionic liquid (IL)-using a small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique over the entire concentration range (0-100 mol %). Fibril structures of cellulose disappeared at 40 mol % of cellulose, which is a significantly higher concentration than the maximum concentration of dissolution (24-28 mol %) previously determined in this IL. This behavior is explained by the presence of the anion bridging, whereby an anion prefers to interact with multiple OH groups of different cellulose molecules at high concentrations, discovered in our recent work.

Targeted and ultrasound-triggered cancer cell injury using perfluorocarbon emulsion-loaded liposomes endowed with cancer cell-targeting and fusogenic capabilities.

This study investigated the targeting and ultrasound-triggered injury of cancer cells using anticancer drug-free liposomes that contained an emulsion of perfluoropentane (ePFC5) and were co-modified with avidin as a targeting ligand for cancer cells and the hemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ) envelope to promote liposome fusion with the cells. These liposomes are designated as ePFC5-loaded avidin/HVJ liposomes. ePFC5-loaded liposomes were sensitized to ultrasound irradiation.

Sonocatalytic injury of cancer cells attached on the surface of a nickel-titanium dioxide alloy plate.

The present study demonstrates ultrasound-induced cell injury using a nickel-titanium dioxide (Ni-TiO2) alloy plate as a sonocatalyst and a cell culture surface. Ultrasound irradiation of cell-free Ni-TiO2 alloy plates with 1 MHz ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm(2) for 30s led to an increased generation of hydroxyl (OH) radicals compared to nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) control alloy plates with and without ultrasound irradiation.

Saccharification and ethanol fermentation from cholinium ionic liquid-pretreated bagasse with a different number of post-pretreatment washings.

Choline acetate (ChOAc), a cholinium ionic liquid (IL), was compared with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimOAc) with regard to biomass pretreatment, inhibition on cellulase and yeast, residuals in pretreated biomass, and saccharification and fermentation of pretreated biomass. Irrespective of ChOAc and EmimOAc, cellulose and hemicellulose saccharification of the IL-pretreated bagasse were over 90% and 60%, respectively. Median effective concentrations (EC50) based on cellulase activity were 32 wt% and 16 wt% for ChOAc and EmimOAc, respectively.

Ionic liquid/ultrasound pretreatment and in situ enzymatic saccharification of bagasse using biocompatible cholinium ionic liquid.

Choline acetate (ChOAc), a cholinium ionic liquid (IL), showed almost the same bagasse pretreatment capability as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimOAc), a conventional imidazolium IL used for biomass pretreatment. Moreover, ChOAc showed less of an inhibitory effect on cellulase than EmimOAc. Thus, ChOAc was used for IL/ultrasound-assisted pretreatment and in situ enzymatic saccharification, where IL was not washed out from the pretreated bagasse but diluted with the addition of a buffer solution.

Pretreatment of Japanese cedar by ionic liquid solutions in combination with acid and metal ion and its application to high solid loading.

Background: Lignocellulosic biomass from plant biomass, especially softwoods, are well-known to present difficulties during attempts at hydrolysis due to their rigid structure. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids (ILs) is attractive as this requires to a low input of energy. However, IL pretreatment has the disadvantage of the presence of large amounts of water.