Nasrullah Shah

Overview of bacterial cellulose composites: A multipurpose advanced material

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received substantial interest owing to its unique structural features and impressive physico-mechanical properties. BC has a variety of applications in biomedical fields, including use as biomaterial for artificial skin, artificial blood vessels, vascular grafts, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and wound dressing. However, pristine BC lacks certain properties, which limits its applications in various fields; therefore, synthesis of BC composites has been conducted to address these limitations. A variety of BC composite synthetic strategies have been developed based on the nature and relevant applications of the combined materials. BC composites are primarily synthesized through in situ addition of reinforcement materials to BC synthetic media or the ex situ penetration of such materials into BC microfibrils. Polymer blending and solution mixing are less frequently used synthetic approaches. BC composites have been synthesized using numerous materials ranging from organic polymers to inorganic nanoparticles. In medical fields, these composites are used for tissue regeneration, healing of deep wounds, enzyme immobilization, and synthesis of medical devices that could replace cardiovascular and other connective tissues. Various electrical products, including biosensors, biocatalysts, E-papers, display devices, electrical instruments, and optoelectronic devices, are prepared from BC composites with conductive materials. In this review, we compiled various synthetic approaches for BC composite synthesis, classes of BC composites, and applications of BC composites. This study will increase interest in BC composites and the development of new ideas in this field.

Adsorption kinetic and isotherm of methylene blue, safranin T and rhodamine B onto electrospun ethylenediamine-grafted-polyacrylonitrile nanofibers membrane

AbstractEDA-g-PAN NFs membrane was prepared via electrospinning and chemical grafting techniques. Grafting (64%) with no change in the physical nature and colour was confirmed by FT-IR spectra. Adsorption kinetics of methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RB) and safranin T (ST) dyes onto PAN and EDA-g-PAN NFs membranes showed equilibrium time of around ~60 min. The adsorption kinetic followed pseudo-second-order model and intraparticle diffusion was not the only rate-limiting step. The adsorption data for the dyes fitted well to Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The order of adsorption capacity (qmax) obtained from Langmuir plot was: MB (94.07 mg/g) < ST (110.62 mg/g) < RB (138.69 mg/g). These values are more than most of the values reported in literature.

Potential of the waste from beer fermentation broth for bio-ethanol production without any additional enzyme, microbial cells and carbohydrates

The potential of the waste from beer fermentation broth (WBFB) for the production of bio-ethanol using a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process without any extra additions of saccharification enzymes, microbial cells or carbohydrate was tested. The major microbial cells in WBFB were isolated and identified. The variations in compositions of WBFB with stock time were investigated. There was residual activity of starch hydrolyzing enzymes in WBFB. The effects of reaction modes e.g. static and shaking on bio-ethanol production were studied. After 7 days of cultivation using the supernatant of WBFB at 30 °C the ethanol concentration reached 103.8 g/L in shaking culture and 91.5 g/L in static culture. Agitation experiments conducted at a temperature-profile process in which temperature was increased from 25 to 67 °C shortened the simultaneous process time. The original WBFB was more useful than the supernatant of WBFB in getting the higher concentration of ethanol and reducing the fermentation time. From this whole study it was found that WBFB is a cheap and suitable source for bio-ethanol production.

Photodetachment of Di-atomic Negative Ion H 2 − near a Surface

We describe the effects of plane surface on the photo-detached electron spectra from H−2. A z-polarized laser is used for the detachment of electrons. The detached electron flux and photodetachment cross section are derived. There exists strong dependence on the distance of the H−2 from the surface and also on the separation of atomic centers of H−2. The results show strong oscillations for smaller values of distances, whereas for larger values the oscillating structure disappears.

Strategies for cost-effective and enhanced production of bacterial cellulose

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received substantial attention because of its high purity, mechanical strength, crystallinity, liquid-absorbing capabilities, biocompatibility, and biodegradability etc. These properties allow BC to be used in various fields, especially in industries producing medical, electronic, and food products etc. A major discrepancy associated with BC is its high production cost, usually much higher than the plant cellulose. To address this limitations, researchers have developed several strategies for enhanced production of BC including the designing of advanced reactors and utilization of various carbon sources. Another promising approach is the production of BC from waste materials such as food, industrial, agricultural, and brewery wastes etc. which not only reduces the overall BC production cost but is also environment-friendly. Besides, exploration of novel and efficient BC producing microbial strains provides impressive boost to the BC production processes. To this end, development of genetically engineered microbial strains has proven useful for enhanced BC production. In this review, we have summarized major efforts to enhance BC production in order to make it a cost-effective biopolymer. This review can be of interest to researchers investigating strategies for enhanced BC production, as well as companies exploring pilot projects to scale up BC production for industrial applications.

Current advancements of magnetic nanoparticles in adsorption and degradation of organic pollutants

AbstractNanotechnology is a fast-emerging field and has received applications in almost every field of life. Exploration of new synthetic technologies for size and shape control of nanomaterials is getting immense consideration owing to their exceptional properties and applications. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are among the most important group of nanoparticles thanks to their diverse applications in medical, electronic, environmental, and industrial sectors. There have been numerous synthetic routes of MNPs including thermal decomposition, co-precipitation, microemulsion, microwave assisted, chemical vapor deposition, combustion synthesis, and laser pyrolysis synthesis. The synthesized MNPs have been successfully applied in medical fields for therapy, bioimaging, drug delivery, and so on. Among environmental aspects, there has been great intimidation of organic pollutants in air and water. Utilization of various wastes as adsorbents has removed 80 to 99.9% of pollutants from contaminated water. MNPs as adsorbents compared to coarse-grained counterparts have seven times higher capacity in removing water pollutants and degrading organic contaminants. This study is focused to introduce and compile various routes of MNP synthesis together with their significant role in water purifications and degradation of organic compounds. The review has compiled recent investigation, and we hope it will find the interest of researchers dealing with nanoparticles and environmental research. Graphical abstractSynthesis and applications of magnetic nanoparticles.

Development of microwave assisted spectrophotometric method for the determination of glucose

A spectrophotometric method was developed based on the microwave assisted synthesis of Maillard product. Various conditions of the reaction were optimized by varying the relative concentration of the reagents, operating temperature and volume of solutions used in the reaction in the microwave synthesizer. The absorbance of the microwave synthesized Maillard product was measured in the range of 360-740 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Based on the maximum absorbance, 370 nm was selected as the optimum wave length for further studies. The LOD and LOQ of glucose was found 3.08 μg mL(-1) and 9.33 μg mL(-1) with standard deviation of ±0.05. The developed method was also applicable to urine sample.

Recent Advancement in Cellulose based Nanocomposite for Addressing Environmental Challenges

BACKGROUND Cellulose being the most abundant polymer has been widely utilized in multiple applications. Its impressive nanofibril arrangement has provoked its applications in numerous fields. Recent trends have been shifted to produce composites of nanocellulose for numerous applications among which the most important ones are its use in medical and environmental prospective. This review has basically focused the development of nanocellulose composites and its applications in resolving environmental hazards. METHODS We have reviewed large number of research and review articles from famous journals using a focused review question. The quality of retrieved papers was assessed through standard tools. The contents from reviewed articles were described in scientific way. RESULTS We included 85 papers including research and review articles and patents in this review. 18 papers introduced the theme of current review. More than 10 papers were used to describe the approaches used for synthesizing cellullose nanocomposites. Composite synthesis strategies included the in situ addition, ex situ penetration, solution mixing, and solvent casting etc. Around 60 manuscripts including 6 patents were used to demonstrate various applications of nanocellulose composites. Nanocellulose based materials offer several applications in the development of antimicrobial filters, air and water filters, filters for removal of heavy metals, pollutant sensors as well as applications in catalysis and energy sectors. Such products are more efficient, robust, reliable, and environment-friendly. CONCLUSION This review gives a comprehensive picture of ongoing research and development on environmental remediation by nanotechnology. We hope that the contents reviewed herein will catch the readers interest and will provide interesting background to extend future research activities regarding cellulose based materials.

Recent advancements in bioreactions of cellular and cell-free systems: A study of bacterial cellulose as a model

Conventional approaches of regulating natural biochemical and biological processes are greatly hampered by the complexity of natural systems. Therefore, current biotechnological research is focused on improving biological systems and processes using advanced technologies such as genetic and metabolic engineering. These technologies, which employ principles of synthetic and systems biology, are greatly motivated by the diversity of living organisms to improve biological processes and allow the manipulation and reprogramming of target bioreactions and cellular systems. This review describes recent developments in cell biology, as well as genetic and metabolic engineering, and their role in enhancing biological processes. In particular, we illustrate recent advancements in genetic and metabolic engineering with respect to the production of bacterial cellulose (BC) using the model systems Gluconacetobacter xylinum and Gluconacetobacter hansenii. Besides, the cell-free enzyme system, representing the latest engineering strategies, has been comprehensively described. The content covered in the current review will lead readers to get an insight into developing novel metabolic pathways and engineering novel strains for enhanced production of BC and other bioproducts formation.

PHOTODETACHMENT OF

Photodetachment of near a soft reflecting surface is investigated by using theoretical imaging method. Analytical expressions are derived for detached electron flux and photodetachment cross section. The surface strongly affects the results and induces oscillation in the detached electron spectra. The photodetachment cross section is double of the H- near a plane wall. For a very large distance between the surface and (R → ∞) the cross section reduces to the cross section of two center system in free space.