No abstract

To utilize the lignin generated by the paper industry and reduce the cost of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), PLA/lignin composites were prepared from PLA and different ratios of lignosulfonate (LS) or desulfonated lignosulfonate (DLS) particles using a casting method. The physicochemical properties of the lignins were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation-high performance liquid chromatography (GPC), and elementary analysis. The results indicate that the sulfur content of the original LS was successfully reduced to half by desulfonation to produce DLS, which was found to have a higher thermal stability and a lower average molecular weight than LS. Additionally, the thermal stability, crystallization, compatibility, mechanical, hydrophobicity, and optical properties of the PLA/lignin composites were also meticulously evaluated. Comparison of the PLA/DLS and PLA/LS composites revealed that the incorporation of DLS into PLA improved compatibility, thermal stability (T5% and Tmax), and hydrophobicity, while the mechanical properties remained almost unchanged. In addition, both PLA/DLS and PLA/LS exhibited UV light absorption capacity. Finally, the low-rate addition of both LS (10%) and DLS (5%) accelerated the crystallization of PLA, but crystallization was delayed with higher lignin content.

No abstract

Assembly of nano-objects with tunable size, morphology and function into integrated nanostructures is critical for the development of a novel nanosystem in adsorption, sensing and drug/gene delivery. We demonstrate herein the fabrication of ordered mesoporous carbon by assembling uniform and highly dispersed copper-oxide (CuxOy) nanoparticles into the mesopores via evaporation of solvent from the mixture of triblock copolymer, carbon source and metal nitrate hydrate. The ordered 2D hexagonal mesoporous carbon composite possesses a large surface area of 580.8 cm(2)/g, a uniform pore size of 5.4 nm, a large pore volume of 0.64 cm(3)/g and a high metal content of 3.32 wt %. The mesoporous composite exhibits excellent adsorption selectivity and high adsorption capacity to hemoglobin (Hb) under the synergistic effect of hydrophobic and metal-affinity interactions as well as size exclusion. This facilitates multimode adsorption of hemoglobin fitting Langmuir adsorption model and offers an adsorption capacity of 1666.7 mg g(-1) for hemoglobin. The mesoporous composite is used for the isolation of hemoglobin from human whole blood with high purity. It demonstrates the potential of the copper-oxide nanoparticle-embedded mesoporous carbon composite in selective isolation/removal of specific protein species from biological sample matrixes.

Studies on the influence of drying processes on cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogel performance has always been a great challenge. In this study, CNF aerogels were prepared via two different drying techniques. The CNF solution was prepared via existing chemical methods, and the resultant aerogel was fabricated through supercritical CO2 drying and liquid nitrogen freeze-drying techniques. The microstructure, shrinkage, specific surface area, pore volume, density, compression strength, and isothermal desorption curves of CNF aerogel were characterized. The aerogel obtained from the liquid nitrogen freeze-drying method showed a relatively higher shrinkage, higher compression strength, lower specific surface area, higher pore volume, and higher density. The N2 adsorption capacity and pore diameter of the aerogel obtained via the liquid nitrogen freeze-drying method were lower than the aerogel that underwent supercritical CO2 drying. However, the structures of CNF aerogels obtained from these two drying methods were extremely similar.