Cold plasma for the disinfection of industrial food-contact surfaces: An overview of current status and opportunities

Food safety is the primary goal for food and drink manufacturers. Cleaning and disinfection practices applied to the processing environment are vital to maintain this safety; yet, current approaches can incur costly downtime and the potential for microorganisms to grow and establish, if not effectively removed. For that reason, manufacturers are seeking nonthermal, online, and continuous disinfection processes to control the microbial levels within the processing environment. One such emerging technique, with great potential, is cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP). This review presents the latest advances and challenges associated with CAP-based technologies for the decontamination of surfaces and equipment found within the food-processing environment. It provides a detailed overview of the technology and a comprehensive analysis of the many CAP-based antimicrobial studies on food-contact surfaces and materials. As CAP is considered an emerging technique, many of the recent studies are still in the preliminary stages, with results obtained under widely different conditions. This lack of cohesive information and an inability to directly compare CAP systems has greatly impeded technological development. The review further explores the challenge of scaling CAP technology to meet industry needs, considering aspects such as regulatory constraints, environmental credentials, and cost of use. Finally, a discussion is presented on the future outlook for CAP technology in this area, identifying key challenges that must be addressed to promote industry uptake.     

Coralline Skeleton Biomaterial Reduces Phagocytosis in Mouse Blood in vitro

Inflammatory and immunogenic response to foreign bodies presents a challenge in the use of biomaterials as implants for tissue restoration. Therefore, there is a need to understand the interactions between such implants and the blood. One such material, currently in clinical use for bone replacement in humans, is the skeleton of corals, in the form of crystalline aragonite. This biomaterial has been shown to impart a protective and supportive influence on several types of cells ex vivo. The carbonate skeleton activates secretion in phagocytes in vitro, however its effects on these cells in the blood, and on the process of phagocytosis itself, remain unknown. Using 1–500 μm particles of coral skeleton, we show that these particles bind blood proteins and alter the leukocyte population, reducing the proportion of granulocytes by more than 3-fold with no effect on the proportion of monocytes. In addition, the presence of coral skeleton in the blood causes a reduction in phagocytosis. Specifically, we observed a decrease in the percentage of phagocytic cells by 27 % in the granulocytes and by 73 % in monocyte family, as well as a 41.6 % reduction in the MFI of granulocytes, but with no such effect on monocytes. Taken together, the results suggest that the coral skeleton biomaterial may act as a strong, promotive scaffold for tissue regeneration due to its ability to reduce its rejection by inflammatory reactions such as phagocytosis.     

Effect of silane structure on the properties of silanized multiwalled carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposites

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were functionalized with aminosilanes via an aqueous deposition route. The size and morphology of siloxane oligomers grafted to the MWCNTs was tuned by varying the silane functionality and concentration and their effect on the properties of a filled epoxy system was investigated. The siloxane structure was found to profoundly affect the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites reinforced with the silanized MWCNTs. Well-defined siloxane brushes increased the epoxy T_g by up to 19 °C and significantly altered the network relaxation dynamics, while irregular, siloxane networks grafted to the MWCNTs had little effect. The addition of both types of silanized MWCNTs elicited improvements in the strength of the nanocomposites, but only the well-defined siloxane brushes engendered dramatic improvements in toughness. Because the silanization reaction is simple, rapid, and performed under aqueous conditions, it is also an industrially attractive functionalization route.     

A simplified procedure for determining indoor daylight illuminance using daylight coefficient concept

The first step in evaluating the visual performance and energy efficiency provided by daylight requires an accurate estimation of the amount of daylight entering a building. The actual daylight illuminance of a room is mainly influenced by the luminance levels and patterns of the sky in the direction of view of the window at that time. The daylight coefficient concept, which considers the changes in the luminance of the sky elements, offers a more effective way of computing indoor daylight illuminances. Recently, Kittler et al. have proposed a new range of 15 standard sky luminance distributions including the CIE (International Commission on Illumination) standard clear sky. Lately, these 15 sky luminance models have been adopted as the CIE Standard General Skies. This paper presents a graphical method to calculate interior illuminance for the CIE standard clear sky using the daylight coefficient approach. The simplified techniques in the form of a nomograph and Waldram diagram were established and described. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated against the results obtained by an independent calculation approach and a computer simulation program. It was shown that the daylight illuminances estimated by our graphical tool were in reasonably good agreement with those produced from the other two methods. The findings provide building professionals and students a reliable and simple alternative that incorporates the daylight coefficient concept to estimate the interior daylight illuminance and assess daylighting performance.     

Nano-Porous Composites of Activated Carbon–Metal Organic Frameworks (Fe-BDC@AC) for Rapid Removal of Cr (VI): Synthesis,Adsorption, Mechanism,and Kinetics Studies

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a group of porous materials that display potential in the elimination of toxic industrial...     

Catalyst Design by NH4OH Treatment of USY Zeolite

Hierarchical zeolites are a class of superior catalysts which couples the intrinsic zeolitic properties to enhanced accessibility and intracrystalline mass transport to and from the active sites. The design of hierarchical USY (Ultra‐Stable Y) catalysts is achieved using a sustainable postsynthetic room temperature treatment with mildly alkaline NH₄OH (0.02 m ) solutions. Starting from a commercial dealuminated USY zeolite (Si/Al = 47), a hierarchical material is obtained by selective and tuneable creation of interconnected and accessible small mesopores (2–6 nm). In addition, the treatment immediately yields the NH₄⁺ form without the need for additional ion exchange. After NH₄OH modification, the crystal morphology is retained, whereas the microporosity and relative crystallinity are decreased. The gradual formation of dense amorphous phases throughout the crystal without significant framework atom leaching rationalizes the very high material yields (>90%). The superior catalytic performance of the developed hierarchical zeolites is demonstrated in the acid‐catalyzed isomerization of α‐pinene and the metal‐catalyzed conjugation of safflower oil. Significant improvements in activity and selectivity are attained, as well as a lowered susceptibility to deactivation. The catalytic performance is intimately related to the introduced mesopores, hence enhanced mass transport capacity, and the retained intrinsic zeolitic properties.     

Electrical Characterization of Individual Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanowires Using Conductive AFM

Perovskite nanostructures have attracted much attention in recent years due to their suitability for a variety of applications such as photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), nanometer-size lasing, and more. These uses rely on the conductive properties of these nanostructures. However, electrical characterization of individual, thin perovskite nanowires has not yet been reported. Here, conductive atomic force microscopy characterization of individual cesium lead halide nanowires is presented. Clear differences are observed in the conductivity of nanowires containing only bromide and nanowires containing a mixture of bromide and iodide. The differences are attributed to a higher density of crystalline defects, deeper trap states, and higher inherent conductivity for nanowires with mixed bromide–iodide content.