Ecofriendly Zinc Oxide-Decorated Poly-3-hydroxyalkanoate—graft—Poly-Methyl Acrylate Copolymer Film for Photocatalysis-Mediated Water Treatment

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The application of microbiologically produced polymer, i.e., medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA), in environmental remediation technology...     

Extrication of biodiesel feedstock from early stage of food waste liquefaction

Biodiesel is commonly produced from vegetable oils, mostly edible and more expensive than petroleum diesel. By considering the cost of the conversion processes, cheap feedstock such as triglycerides and fatty acids (FA) extracted from early stage of food waste liquefaction has become a better choice than vegetable oils, as it could provide high yield of biodiesel without any compromise to food supply and other resources. In this study, FA from early stage of food waste liquefaction was extracted and tested for use as feedstock for biodiesel synthesis. The raw material was not pretreated but extraction was done by dry and wet methods. It was found that wet method could minimized the lost of short and medium-chained FA as well as reducing the number of steps required, thus, yielding higher amount of FA as feedstock. The effects of mixing, methanol ratio, reaction time and catalyst content were investigated for the acid-catalyzed esterification. The maximum biodiesel conversion obtained was 97.4 %.     

Recent Advances in the Production, Recovery and Applications of Polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters that can potentially replace certain plastics derived from petroleum. PHAs can be produced using a combination of renewable feedstocks and biological methods. Native and recombinant microorganisms have been generally used for making PHAs via fermentation processes. As much as 90 % of the microbial dry mass may accumulate as PHAs. A range of PHAs has been produced using fermentation methods, including copolymers and block copolymers. Alternative production schemes based on genetically modified plants are becoming established and may become the preferred route for producing certain PHAs. Production in plants is likely to be inexpensive compared to production by fermentation, but it does not appear to be as versatile as microbial synthesis in terms of the range of products that may be generated. Cell-free enzymatic production of PHAs in vitro is receiving increasing attention and may become the preferred route to some specialty products. This review discusses the recent advances in production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by the various methods. Methods of recovering the polymer from microbial biomass are reviewed. Established and emerging applications of PHAs are discussed.     

Effects of different pretreatment methods on anaerobic mixed microflora for hydrogen production and COD reduction from palm oil mill effluent

Effects of different pretreatment methods on sludge inocula were evaluated with respect to hydrogen (H₂) production enhancement using palm oil mill effluent (POME) in a batch system. The experimental results showed that the pretreatment methods (chemical, acid, heat-shock, freezing and thawing, and base) at 35 °C and initial pH 5.5 had a positive influence on H₂ production yield and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency during the fermentative H₂ production as compared to the control experiments (without pretreatment). Heat-shock pretreatment method was shown to be a simple and useful method for enhancing both H₂ producing and COD removal processes from POME with highest H₂ yield and COD removal efficiency at 0.41 mmol H₂/g COD and 86%, respectively.