Designing amorphous formulations of polyphenols with naringin by spray-drying for enhanced solubility and permeability

Naringin (NAR), a major flavanone (FVA) glycoside, is a component of food mainly obtained from grapefruit. We used NAR as a food additive to improve the solubility and permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols used as supplements in the food industry. The spray-dried particles (SDPs) of NAR alone show an amorphous state with a glass transition temperature (T_g) at 93.2 °C. SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols, such as flavone (FVO), quercetin (QCT), naringenin (NRG), and resveratrol (RVT) were prepared by adding varying amounts of NAR. All SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols with added NAR were in an amorphous state with a single T_g, but SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols without added NAR showed diffraction peaks derived from each crystal. The SDPs with NAR could keep an amorphous state after storage at a high humidity condition for one month, except for SDPs of RVT/NAR. SDPs with NAR enhanced the solubility of hydrophobic polyphenols, especially NRG solubility, which was enhanced more than 9 times compared to NRG crystal. The enhanced solubility resulted in the increased membrane permeability of NRG. The antioxidant effect of the hydrophobic NRG was also enhanced by the synergetic effect of NAR. The findings demonstrated that NAR could be used as a food additive to enhance the solubility and membrane permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols.     

Phosphorylated chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) based proton exchange membranes modified with propylammonium nitrate ionic liquid and silica filler for fuel cell applications

In our previous work, phosphorylated chitosan was modified through polymer blending with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer to produce N-methylene phosphonic chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (NMPC/PVA) composite membranes. The aim of this work is to further investigate the effects of a propylammonium nitrate (PAN) ionic liquid and/or silicon dioxide (SiO₂) filler on the morphology and physical properties of NMPC/PVA composite membranes. The temperature-dependent ionic conductivity of the composite membranes with various ionic liquid and filler compositions was studied by varying the loading of PAN ionic liquid and SiO₂-PAN filler in the range of 5–20 wt%. As the loading of PAN ionic liquid increased in the NMPC/PVA membrane matrix, the ionic conductivity value also increased with the highest value of 0.53 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 25 °C and increased to 1.54 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 100 °C with 20 wt% PAN. The NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane also exhibited the highest water uptake and ion exchange capacity, with values of 60.5% and 0.60 mequiv g^?1, respectively. In addition, in the single-cell performance test, the NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane displayed a maximum power density, which was increased by approximately 14% compared to the NMPC/PVA composite membrane with 5 wt% SiO₂-PAN. This work demonstrated that modified NMPC/PVA composite membranes with ionic liquid PAN and/or SiO₂ filler showed enhanced performance compared with unmodified NMPC/PVA composite membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.     

Highly stable nanocarbon supported Pt catalyst for fuel cell via a molten salt graphitization strategy

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) durability has been severely hindered by carbon support poor stability in the cathodic Pt-based catalyst. Herein, a high-surface-area nitrogen-doped graphitic nanocarbon (N-G-CA) with mesopores is developed as Pt support to address PEMFCs durability challenge. Resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel pyrolyzed carbon aerogel is selected as N-G-CA raw material. Nitrogen atoms are introduced into carbon aerogel via NH₃ heat treatment. Then, nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel is transferred into N-G-CA via heating together with transition-metal salts (one of FeCl₃, FeCl₂, CoCl₂, or MnCl₂, etc.) at 1200 °C. As ORR catalyst, Pt/N-G-CA half-wave potential only lost 10 mV, after 30, 000 cycles accelerated aging test in the rotating-desk-electrode. Only 12 mV voltage loss at 1.5 A/cm2 is observed, after 5, 000 cycles for membrane electrode. Pt/N-G-CA exhibits superior durability and activity than commercial Pt/C. High durability of Pt/N-G-CA is due to N-G-CA high graphitization extent, as well as the interactions between doping nitrogen and Pt. N-G-CA is promising as stable support for durable Pt-based catalysts in PEMFCs, thanks to enhanced carbon corrosion resistance, uniformly dispersed Pt, and strong support-metals interaction.     

Exploring the feasibility of green hydrogen production using excess energy from a country-scale 100% solar-wind renewable energy system

When planning large-scale 100% renewable energy systems (RES) for the year 2050, the system capacity is usually oversized for better supply-demand matching of electrical energy since solar and wind resources are highly intermittent. This causes excessive excess energy that is typically dissipated, curtailed, or sold directly. The public literature shows a lack of studies on the feasibility of using this excess for country-scale co-generation. This study presents the first investigation of utilizing this excess to generate green hydrogen gas. The concept is demonstrated for Jordan using three solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and hybrid PV-wind RESs, all equipped with Lithium-Ion battery energy storage systems (ESSs), for hydrogen production using a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) system. The results show that the PV-based system has the highest demand-supply fraction (>99%). However, the wind-based system is more favorable economically, with installed RES, ESS, and PEM capacities of only 23.88 GW, 2542 GWh, and 20.66 GW. It also shows the highest hydrogen annual production rate (172.1 × 10³ tons) and the lowest hydrogen cost (1.082 USD/kg). The three systems were a better option than selling excess energy directly, where they ensure annual incomes up to 2.68 billion USD while having payback periods of as low as 1.78 years. Furthermore, the hydrogen cost does not exceed 2.03 USD/kg, which is significantly lower than the expected cost of hydrogen (3 USD/kg) produced using energy from fossil fuel-based systems in 2050.     

Preparation and antifouling performance of thin inorganic ultrafiltration membrane via assisted sol-gel method with different composition of dual additives

A novel TiO₂ thin film was prepared on the ceramic hollow fiber by the sol-gel method using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as additives. SEM images verified the formation of TiO₂ layer with various thickness using different composition of titania sols. The effect of the PVP and PVA contents on the TiO₂ sol properties, the separation and the antifouling performance of the ultrafiltration membranes were investigated thoroughly. When the contents of PVP and PVA were 1.0 wt% and 0.8 wt%, respectively, the resultant membrane showed a thickness of 0.55 μm with a pure water flux of 255 L m^?2 h^?1. In addition, the adherent foulant bovine serum albumin was applied to evaluate the antifouling performance. During the three fouling-recovery cycles, the flux recovery ratio and the flux decay ratio maintained about 99% and 30%. The BSA flux and rejection were still 169 L m^?2 h^?1 and 96.9% after the cycles, indicating a superior antifouling property.     

Identifying catalyst layer compositions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells through machine-learning-based approach

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is considered a key component of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, developing a new MEA to meet desired properties, such as operation under low-humidity conditions without a humidifier, is a time- and cost-consuming process. This study employs a machine-learning-based approach using K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and neural networks (NN) in the MEA development process by identifying a suitable catalyst layer (CL) recipe in MEA. Minimum redundancy maximum relevance and principal component analysis were implemented to specify the most important predictor and reduce the data dimension. The number of predictors was found to play an essential role in the accuracy of the KNN and NN models although the predictors have self-correlations. The KNN model with a K of 7 was found to minimize the model loss with a loss of 11.9%. The NN model constructed by three corresponding hidden layers with nine, eight, and nine nodes can achieve the lowest error of 0.1293 for the Pt catalyst and 0.031 for PVA as a good additive blending in the CL of the MEA. However, even if the error is low, the prediction of PVA seems to be inaccurate, regardless of the model structure. Therefore, the KNN model is more appropriate for CL recipe prediction.     

离子型稀土矿山淋洗及尾水富集试验研究

对浸矿后离子型稀土原地浸矿场采用清水进行淋洗，在184天的清水淋洗过程中，尾水氨氮值从最开始的507mg/L，降低至140mg/L，淋洗尾水pH4.52~3.10。淋洗尾水采用两级反渗透膜分离，既回收有价资源稀土，又能使出水氨氮达标。结果表明，产水氨氮浓度稳定低于15mg/L，对稀土的截留率高于98.25%，浓水中稀土离子平均浓度313.4mg/L，可进一步回收稀土资源。     

Preparation and Evaluation of a Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System Loaded with Heparin Phospholipid Complex

A self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) was developed to enhance the absorption of heparin after oral administration, in which heparin was compounded with phospholipids to achieve better fat solubility in the form of heparin-phospholipid (HEP-Pc) complex. HEP-Pc complex was prepared using the solvent evaporation method, which increased the solubility of heparin in n-octanol. The successful preparation of HEP-Pc complex was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, NMR, and SEM. A heparin lipid microemulsion (HEP-LM) was prepared by high-pressure homogenization and characterized. HEP-LM can enhance the absorption of heparin after oral administration, significantly prolong activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) in mice, and reduce fibrinogen (FIB) content. All these outcomes indicate that HEP-LM has great potential as an oral heparin formulation.     

Manufacturing catalyst-coated membranes by ultrasonic spray deposition for PEMFC: Identification of key parameters and their impact on PEMFC performance

This study deals with the manufacturing of catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for newcomers in the field of coating. Although there are many studies on electrode ink composition for improving the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), there are few papers dealing with electrode coating itself. Usually, it is a know-how that often remains secret and constitutes the added value of scientific teams or the business of industrialists. In this paper, we identify and clarify the role of key parameters to improve coating quality and also to correlate coating quality with fuel cell performance via polarization curves and electrochemical active surface area measurements. We found that the coating configurations can affect the performance of lab-made CCMs in PEMFCs. After the repeatability of the performance obtained by our coating method has been proved, we show that: (i) edge effects, due to mask shadowing - cannot be neglected when the active surface area is low, (ii) a heterogeneous thickness electrode produces performance lower than a homogeneous thickness electrode, and (iii) the origin and storage of platinum on carbon powders are a very important source of variability in the obtained results.     

What Can We Learn from FGF-2 Isoform-Specific Mouse Mutants? Differential Insights into FGF-2 Physiology In Vivo

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2), ubiquitously expressed in humans and mice, is functionally involved in cell growth, migration and maturation in vitro and in vivo. Based on the same mRNA, an 18-kilo Dalton (kDa) FGF-2 isoform named FGF-2 low molecular weight (FGF-2LMW) isoform is translated in humans and rodents. Additionally, two larger isoforms weighing 21 and 22 kDa also exist, summarized as the FGF-2 high molecular weight (FGF-2HMW) isoform. Meanwhile, the human FGF-2HMW comprises a 22, 23, 24 and 34 kDa protein. Independent studies verified a specific intracellular localization, mode of action and tissue-specific spatiotemporal expression of the FGF-2 isoforms, increasing the complexity of their physiological and pathophysiological roles. In order to analyze their spectrum of effects, FGF-2LMW knock out (ko) and FGF-2HMWko mice have been generated, as well as mice specifically overexpressing either FGF-2LMW or FGF-2HMW. So far, the development and functionality of the cardiovascular system, bone formation and regeneration as well as their impact on the central nervous system including disease models of neurodegeneration, have been examined. This review provides a summary of the studies characterizing the in vivo effects modulated by the FGF-2 isoforms and, thus, offers a comprehensive overview of its actions in the aforementioned organ systems.