Sadaf Afrin

Necessity of enzymatic hydrolysis for production and functionalization of nanocelluloses

Nanocellulose (NC) from cellulosic biomass has recently gained attention owing to their biodegradable nature, low density, high mechanical properties, economic value and renewability. They still suffer, however, some drawbacks. The challenges are the exploration of raw materials, scaling, recovery of chemicals utilized for the production or functionalization and most important is toxic behavior that hinders them from implementing in medical/pharmaceutical field. This review emphasizes the structural behavior of cellulosic biomass and biological barriers for enzyme interactions, which are pertinent to understand the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose for the production of NCs. Additionally, the enzymatic catalysis for the modification of solid and NC is discussed. The utility of various classes of enzymes for introducing desired functional groups on the surface of NC has been further examined. Thereafter, a green mechanistic approach is applied for understanding at molecular level.

Nanocellulose as Novel Supportive Functional Material for Growth and Development of Cells

The exploration of biological polymer is a new interest due to its favorable properties used in biomedical and clinical applications. Within the used biopolymer, cellulose emerged as a most exploitable functional material at nanoscale. Working with nanosize cellulose, provides some additional advantages compare to other manmade functional polymers. The fabrication of cellulosic scaffold as a platform for growth and development of cells is a thrust area of tissue engineering but this fabricated scaffold needs to have some fundamental prerequisite before implantation in donor. Thus, this short report discusses about the NC based scaffolds for the growth and development of cells and tissue. The main focus is on derived wood and microbial NCs. Thereafter; some interesting examples will be discussed to understand the necessity of cellulose-based supports in tissue engineering field.

Green Composites: Versatile Material for Future

The growing concern towards environmental problems and the urgent need for more versatile environmental friendly materials has led to increasing attention about polymer composites, i.e. fillers/reinforcing materials coming from renewable sources and biodegradable, especially from forest. The composites usually referred to as “green”, can find several industrial applications as discussed in this chapter. Biodegradable polymers coming from natural resources are also one important constituent of green composites. This chapter provides tactic for readers regarding the materials used for the fabrication and specific application of green composites in various fields. Furthermore, a discussion of the major material attributes of green composites is provided. From these focuses, a series of balancing application properties are explained. The chapter concludes that green composites have potential for use in a number of applications, but as with all design, one must carefully match the material to the application.

Bacterial cellulose: Preparation and characterization

This chapter reports the most relevant aspects related to the isolation, production, and characterization of bacterial nanocellulose (BC). Furthermore, various used strains for high-yield production of BC were summarized. Some vital parameters (e.g., mode of culture, type of bioreactor, media, etc.) for high-yield production of BC were further exemplified. Moreover, various characterization techniques were reported to understand the physiochemical properties of BC. Specific focus has been given to morphological, structural, and mechanical characterization, to utilize these properties for further application.

Effects of concentration and temperature on molar volumes of L-serine, L-isoleucine, and L-glutamine in aqueous NaCl and NaNO3 solutions

Densities of L-serine, L-isoleucine, L-glutamine in 1.5 mol kg−1 aqueous NaCl, and NaNO3 solutions have been measured for several molal concentrations of amino acids at temperatures from 298.15 to 323.15 K. The partial molar volumes (ϕv0) of L-serine, L-isoleucine, and L-glutamine in 1.5 mol kg−1 aqueous NaCl/NaNO3 solutions have been computed using density data. The transfer partial molar volumes (Δtrϕv0) of L-serine, L-isoleucine, and L-glutamine from water to 1.5 mol kg−1 aqueous NaCl/1.5 mol kg−1 aqueous NaNO3 solutions have been determined at 298.15 K. The trends of variation of ϕv0 and Δtrϕv0 with change in temperature have been discussed in terms of ion-ion, ion-hydrophilic, and ion-hydrophobic interactions operative in solutions.

Erratum to: “Interactions in L-Phenylalanine/L-Leucine/L-Glutamic Acid/L-Proline + 2 M Aqueous NaCl/2 M NaNO3 Systems at Different Temperatures”

Density (ρ) and speed of sound (u) in 2 M aqueous NaCl and 2 M NaNO3 solutions of amino acids: L-phenylalanine, L-leucine, L-glutamic acid, and L-proline have been measured for several molal concentrations of amino acids at different temperatures. The ρ and u data have been used to calculate the values of isothermal compressibility and internal pressure at different temperatures. The trends of variations of κT and Pi with an increase in molal concentration of amino acid and temperature have been discussed in terms of solute-solvent and solute-solute interactions in the systems.