Interpretation of the phenolation and structural changes of lignin in a novel ternary deep eutectic solvent.

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are promising green solvents for depolymerization and reconstruction of lignin. Revealing the transformations of lignin during DES treatment is beneficial for high potential lignin applications. In this study, bagasse lignin was treated with a binary DES and three ternary DESs, respectively.

Phenomenological Modeling of Formic Acid Fractionation of Sugarcane Bagasse by Integration of Operation Parameters as an Extended Combined Severity Factor.

In order to more conveniently simulate and optimize the solubilization of sugarcane bagasse components during formic acid (FA) fractionation, an extended combined severity factor () was defined to integrate various operation parameters as a single factor. Two phenomenological models based on Arrhenius and Logistic equations were further used to describe the phenomenological kinetics. Different data-processing methods were compared to fit the severity parameters and model constants.

Preparation of formyl cellulose and its enhancement effect on the mechanical and barrier properties of polylactic acid films.

Cellulose was modified by formic acid to prepare formyl cellulose (FC). The amount of formyl groups in FC was adjusted by controlling the reaction time, reaction temperature, and formic acid concentration. Then, FC was used to reinforce polylactic acid (PLA) films prepared by solution casting.

Designed Single Atom Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting: 3d Transition Metal Atoms Doped Borophene Nanosheets.

Single atom catalysts (SAC) for water splitting hold the promise of producing H in a highly efficient and economical way. As the performance of SACs depends on the interaction between the adsorbate atom and supporting substrate, developing more efficient SACs with suitable substrates is of significance. In this work, inspired by the successful fabrications of borophene in experiments, we systematically study the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activities of a series of 3d transition metal-based SACs supported by various borophene monolayers (BMs=α_sheet, α _sheet, and β _sheet borophene), TM/BMs, using density functional theory calculations and kinetic simulations.

Unveiling chemical reactivity and oxidation of 1T-phased group VI disulfides.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are of particular interest because of their unique electrical and optical properties that evolve from the quantum confinement and surface effects. However, their long-term stability in air is proved to be a main concern for practical applications of the ultrathin materials, especially for TMDs with 1T phased structures. Here, we provide an in-depth understanding of the oxidation and degradation mechanisms of monolayers of group VIB disulfides, including TiS, ZrS, and HfS.

Evaluation of the mass transfer effects on delignification kinetics of atmospheric acetic acid fractionation of sugarcane bagasse with a shrinking-layer model.

A shrinking-layer model by modification of classical shrinking-core model was developed based on cell wall multi-layered structure for delignification of sugarcane bagasse with sulfuric acid (SA) catalyzed atmospheric acetic acid (AA) fractionation. The general model for overall rate of delignification was obtained and further employed to evaluate the mass transfer effects on delignification. It was found that the external diffusion could be neglected under the studied fractionation conditions, while the internal diffusion appeared to play an important role.

Rapid and near-complete dissolution of wood lignin at ≤80°C by a recyclable acid hydrotrope.

We report the discovery of the hydrotropic properties of a recyclable aromatic acid, -toluenesulfonic acid (-TsOH), for potentially low-cost and efficient fractionation of wood through rapid and near-complete dissolution of lignin. Approximately 90% of poplar wood (NE222) lignin can be dissolved at 80°C in 20 min. Equivalent delignification using known hydrotropes, such as aromatic salts, can be achieved only at 150°C or higher for more than 10 hours or at 150°C for 2 hours with alkaline pulping.

Downstream processing of biotechnological produced succinic acid.

Succinic acid is a promising chemical which has a wide range of applications and can be biologically produced. The separation of succinic acid from fermentation broth makes more than 50 % of the total costs in their microbial production. This review summarizes the present state of methods studied for the recovery and purification of biologically produced succinate.

[Progress in down-stream processing of biologically produced 1,3-propanediol].

1,3-propanediol is an important raw material in chemical industry. Microbial conversion of glycerol or glucose into 1,3-propanediol has been given much attention due to its renewable resource, mild reaction conditions, and other advantages. It is a challenge to efficiently separate 1,3-propanediol from a mixture of multiple components, such as 1,3-propanediol, 2,3-butanediol, water, residual glycerol, ethanol, macromolecules and salts, for the reason that 1,3-propanediol, glycerol and 2,3-butanediol are all very hydrophilic and have intense polarity.

[Comparison of 2,3-butanediol production by several strains and optimization of the fermentation medium].

Five Klebsiella pneumonia strains (including two strains whose genes for lactic acid were knocked out) were used to produce 2,3-butanediol, in which K. pneumonia HR521 LDH (gene for lactic acid was knocked out) was the best for the production, and then the fermentation medium was optimized by orthogonal design. The optimum compositions were as follows: glucose 90 g/L, (NH4)2HPO4 3 g/L, CLSP 6 g/L, sodium acetate 5 g/L, KCl 0.

Influence of dhaT mutation of K. pneumoniae on 1,3-propanediol fermentation.

Metabolic role of 1,3-propanediol oxidoreductase (PDOR) in the production of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) with K. pneumonia was investigated by knocking out the coded gene dhaT. Fermentation with both the wide-type and mutant were studied in 5 l fermentor.

Immobilization of oxalate decarboxylase to Eupergit and properties of the immobilized enzyme.

Oxalate decarboxylase, an oxalate degradation enzyme used for medical diagnosis and decreasing the oxalate level in the food or paper industry, was covalently immobilized to Eupergit C. Different immobilization parameters, including ratio of enzyme to support, ammonia sulfate concentration, pH, and incubation time, were optimized. Under the condition of enzyme/support ratio at 1:20, pH 9, with 1.