Andreia de Araújo Morandim-Giannetti

Synthesis and characterization of new low-cost ILs based on butylammonium cation and application to lignocellulose hydrolysis

Fourteen ionic liquids (ILs) were obtained and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and infra-red spectroscopy. One of these liquids, n-butylammonium acetate, was used in the treatment of coir fiber prior to acid hydrolysis. For this purpose, the fiber was pulped with 8% (w/w) sodium hydroxide for 6h under 2.5 atm pressure at 137°C and then treated with IL for 2h at 90°C. The samples were hydrolyzed in acetic acid at different concentrations and temperatures. The reducing sugar concentrations were determined in all samples, and the optimal hydrolysis conditions were established (32.2% acetic acid at 122.4°C). The reaction time was also studied, and the conversion was maximized at 3h. Under the best hydrolysis conditions, crude fiber, pulping fiber, and IL-treated fiber were hydrolyzed to yield 8.53%, 47.58%, and 89.75% of reducing sugars, respectively.

Conditions for obtaining polyvinyl alcohol/trisodium trimetaphosphate hydrogels as vitreous humor substitute

Hydrogels are polymeric materials with numerous medical and biological applications because of their physicochemical properties. In this context, the conditions were defined for obtaining a hydrogel with characteristics similar to the vitreous humor using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and trisodium trimetaphosphate (STMP). The concentration of PVA (X1 ), PVA/STMP ratio (X2 ), and initial pH (X3 ) were modified, and their effect was analyzed in terms of the refractive index (Y1 ), density (Y2 ), dynamic viscosity (Y3 ), and final pH (Y4 ). The results demonstrated that X1 interferes with Y1 , Y2 , and Y3 , and X2 interferes with Y2 and Y3 . The best condition for obtaining a hydrogel with characteristics similar to the vitreous humor was 4.2586% PVA (wt/wt), STMP/PVA ratio of 1:6.8213 (wt/wt), and initial pH of 9.424. DSC, ATR-FTIR, swelling degree, and AFM analysis confirmed the PVA reticulation with STMP. Furthermore, STMP increased the glass transition temperature and decreased the water uptake of ∼50% of the hydrogels, which can be explained by the crosslinking of PVA chains. Infrared spectroscopy revealed a decrease of hydroxyl bonds and confirmed the reticulation between PVA and STMP.

Study of Salmonella typhimurium mutagenicity assay of (E)-piplartine by the Ames test

Phytochemical studies carried out with Piperaceae species have shown great diversity of secondary metabolites among which are several displayed considerable biological activities. The species Piper tuberculatum has been intensively investigated and a series of amides have been described. For instance, (E)-piplartine showed significant cytotoxic activity against tumor cell lines, especially human leukemia cell lines; antifungal activity against Cladosporium species; trypanocidal activity and others. Considering the popular use of P. tuberculatum and the lack of pharmacological studies regarding this plant species, the mutagenic and antimutagenic effect of (E)-piplartine was evaluated by the Ames test, using the strains TA97a, TA98, TA100 and TA102 of Salmonella typhimurium. No mutagenic activity was observed for this compound. Key words: Piperaceae, Piper tuberculatum, (Z)-piplartine, mutagenic activated, Ames test.

Characterization of Rabbit Corneas Subjected to Stromal Stiffening by the Açaí Extract ( Euterpe oleracea )

ABSTRACT Purpose: In this study, we characterized rabbit corneas subjected to corneal cross-linking (CXL) with açaí extract compared with a riboflavin photo-stimulated procedure. Materials and Methods: The corneas of the slaughterhouse rabbits were divided into three groups: control, consisting of untreated corneal samples; riboflavin/UVA, where corneas were treated with 0.1% riboflavin photo-stimulated at 365 nm as the standard protocol; and açaí, where the samples were subjected to 4% açaí extract for 0.5–2 h. After the CXL procedure, corneas of the three groups were characterized by analyzing their elastic modulus and thermal denaturation profile. Results: The elastic modulus at 3% strain showed an approximately threefold increase in the riboflavin/UVA group and 10.5 times in the corneas treated with 4% açaí extract for 2 h, compared with the control group (p < 0.01). The denaturation temperature values of the two groups of crosslinked corneas increased significantly (p < 0.05) and were more pronounced in the açaí group. Conclusions: The açaí extract was effective in promoting CXL in rabbit corneas as characterized by the different techniques.

Characterization of PVA/glutaraldehyde hydrogels obtained using Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD)

Hydrogels are made from natural or synthetic polymers and, currently, they have many biomedical applications. In this work, the conditions for obtaining a hydrogel with similar physicochemical characteristics to the vitreous humor were defined using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GLUT) as cross-linker. The concentration of PVA and GLUT were modified, and their effect was analyzed in terms of the refractive index, density, and dynamic viscosity. The hydrogel which was obtained using 3.98% (w/V) of PVA, 3.13 mL (1.57 g) of GLUT in 100 mL, and the initial pH of 7.2 showed similar characteristics to the vitreous humor (density = 1.0174 ± 0.0050 g mL-1 , dynamic viscosity = 3.7425 ± 0.1800 mPa s and refractive index = 1.3410 ± 0.0010). The hydrogels were further investigated by rheological measurements, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and determination of swelling degree. The reticulation with GLUT promoted an increase in viscosity and glass transition temperature. On the other hand, it stimulated a decrease in the swelling degree, crystallinity, melting temperature, and intensity of the band related to the -OH bond, compared with the PVA without reticulation. The reticulated hydrogel displayed Newtonian behavior and a higher apparent viscosity than the PVA.

Optimizing treatment condition of coir fiber with ionic liquid and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis for future bioethanol production

In the present study, we pretreated coir fiber with an ionic liquid (IL), n-butylammonium acetate, to expose its cellulose fibers. The best IL pretreatment conditions were determined by central composite design using a desirability function to maximize the enzymatic hydrolysis. To collect data for this optimization, coir fiber was subjected to a pulping process with 9% (w/w) sodium hydroxide for 6 h at 137 °C with a pressure of 2.5 atm. The pulping fiber was then treated with the IL for a range of times and at a range of temperatures. Based on the results, the best treatment conditions were determined to be 90 °C for 40 h. The best conditions for enzymatic hydrolysis were determined to be pH 6 at 44.16 °C for 25.57 h. Under these conditions, 32.33 ± 1.08% of the coir fiber was converted to glucose. The efficiency obtained with pulped coir fiber was 14.34 ± 0.14% and with crude coir fiber was 6.27 ± 0.15%, demonstrating the benefits of the proposed IL pretreatment.