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The objective of this study is the establishment of a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) based method for online analysis of the biodegradation of polymers in complex environments. Structural changes during biodegradation, such as an increase in brittleness or crystallinity, can be detected by carefully observing characteristic changes in DSC profiles. Until now, DSC profiles have not been used to draw quantitative conclusions about biodegradation. A new method is presented for quantifying the biodegradation using DSC data, whereby the results were validated using two reference methods.
The proposed method is applied to evaluate the biodegradation of three polymeric biomaterials: polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), cellulose acetate (CA) and Organosolv lignin. The method is suitable for the precise quantification of the biodegradability of PHB. For CA and lignin, conclusions regarding their biodegradation can be drawn with lower resolutions. The proposed method is also able to quantify the biodegradation of blends or composite materials, which differentiates it from commonly used degradation detection methods.
A future bio-economy should not only be based on renewable raw materials but also in the raise of carbon yields of existing production routes. Microbial electrochemical technologies are gaining increased attention for this purpose. In this study, the electro-fermentative production of biobutanol with C. acetobutylicum without the use of exogenous mediators is investigated regarding the medium composition and the reactor design. It is shown that the use of an optimized synthetic culture medium allows higher product concentrations, increased biofilm formation, and higher conductivities compared to a synthetic medium supplemented with yeast extract. Moreover, the optimization of the reactor system results in a doubling of the maximum product concentrations for fermentation products. When a working electrode is polarized at −600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, a shift from butyrate to acetone and butanol production is induced. This leads to an increased final solvent yield of Yᴀᴃᴇ = 0.202 gg⁻¹ (control 0.103 gg⁻¹), which is also reflected in a higher carbon efficiency of 37.6% compared to 23.3% (control) as well as a fourfold decrease in simplified E-factor to 0.43. The results are promising for further development of biobutanol production in bioelectrochemical systems in order to fulfil the principles of Green Chemistry.
In the present work an optical sensor in combination with a spectrally resolved detection device for in-line particle-size-monitoring for quality control in beer production is presented. The principle relies on the size and wavelength dependent backscatter of growing particles in fluids. Measured interference structures of backscattered light are compared with calculated theoretical values, based on Mie-Theory, and fitted with a linear least square method to obtain particle size distributions. For this purpose, a broadband light source in combination with a process-CCD-spectrometer (charge ? coupled device spectrometer) and process adapted fiber optics are used. The goal is the development of an easy and flexible measurement device for in-line-monitoring of particle size. The presented device can be directly installed in product fill tubes or vessels, follows CIP- (cleaning in place) and removes the need of sample taking. A proof of concept and preliminary results, measuring protein precipitation, are presented.
Nitratfreie Molke
(2009)
An immunochromatographic lateral flow dipstick assay for the fast detection of microcystin-LR was developed. Colloid gold particles with diameters of 40 nm were used as red-colored antibody labels for the visual detection of the antigen. The new dipstick sensor is capable of detecting down to 5 µg·l−1 (ppb; total inversion of the color signal) or 1 ppb (observation of color grading) of microcystin-LR. The course of the labeling reaction was observed via spectrometric wave shifts caused by the change of particle size during the binding of antibodies. Different stabilizing reagents showed that especially bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein increase the assays sensitivity and the conjugate stability. Performance of the dipsticks was quantified by pattern processing of capture zone CCD images. Storage stability of dipsticks and conjugate suspensions over 115 days under different conditions were monitored. The ready-to-use dipsticks were successfully tested with microcystin-LR-spiked samples of outdoor drinking- and salt water and applied to the tissue of microcystin-fed mussels.