Microbial Fuel Cell Application for Azoic Dye Decolorization with Simultaneous Bioenergy Production Using Stenotrophomonas sp.

A single‐chamber air‐cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) was successfully applied for decolorization of the diazoic dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) with simultaneous production of electricity. An innovative low‐cost medium, the marine water‐glucose‐yeast extract medium (MWGY), was developed which appears as a textile marine effluent in terms of salinity. The anode compartment containing a single bacterial strain of Stenotrophomonas sp. showed almost complete dye decolorization with different RB5 concentrations after seven days of treatment. For the four dye concentrations used, a correlation between dye removal and production of electrical energy was found. The comparison of the decolorization process in the MFC with that in a batch reactor as control experiment highlights the efficiency of the single‐chamber air‐cathode MFC technology which improved the dye removal by the same bacterial strain.     

Controllability Analysis of Process Alternatives for Biobutanol Purification

Biobutanol has characteristics similar to petroleum fuel and is considered as a superior biofuel compared to ethanol. The development of technologies for biobutanol production by fermentation has resulted in higher final biobutanol concentrations together with less energy‐intensive separation and purification techniques. These new technological developments have the potential to provide a production process for biobutanol that is economically viable in comparison to the petrochemical pathway for its production. The control properties of four different possible process designs for biobutanol purification are analyzed. The results, using the singular value decomposition technique, indicated that the scheme where only biobutanol flow is purified, and both ethanol and acetone leaving the purification process mixed with water and biobutanol traces, showed the best control properties.     

Taking back the power: an analysis of Black women’s communicative resistance

Black women are a structurally oppressed group in a subordinate position in the power hierarchy. Language is an important demonstration of group identity and is used to manage the day-to-day realities of being both Black and women. Scholars have devoted attention to explaining why Black women’s discursive practices are a function of their particular vantage point and can serve as a measure of protection against social and political hostilities. While there is a great deal of research acknowledging Black women’s ability to resist, the work can be extended by analyzing the specific resistance strategies Black women employ in common social environments. This essay uses Black/feminist standpoint and power and discourse frameworks to analyze Black women’s communicative resistance across three communication contexts: (1) education, (2) workplace, and (3) personal relationships.