Flexible Biofoams Based on Furanics and Fatty Acids Esterified Tannin

Water repellant,flexible biofoams using tannin esterified with various fatty acid chains,namely lauric,palmitic and oleic acids,by reaction with lauryl chloride,palmitoyl chloride,and oleyl chloride were developed and their characteristics compared with the equivalently esterified rigid biofoams.Glycerol,while initially added to control the reaction temperature,was used as a plasticizer yielding flexible biofoams presenting the same water repellant character that the equivalent rigid foams.Acetaldehyde was used as the cross-linking agent instead of formaldehyde,as it showed a better performance with the esterified tannin.The compression results showed a significant decrease of the Modulus of Elasticity(MOE)of the flexible foams in relation to that of the rigid foams,confirming their flexible character.The lauryl-and palmitoyl-esterified biofoams presented similar mechanical properties,while the oleyl-esterified biofoam presented different mechanical and morphological result not really showing the expected flexibility.Both the esterified rigid and flexible tannin-based biofoams showed good water resistance and their sessile drop contact angle analysis as a function of time confirmed this characteristic.Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM)analysis showed the flexible foams to present a higher proportion of closed cells than the rigid foams.Conversely,the cells depth of the flexible foams was lower than that of the rigid foam.As regards their thermal resistance,the flexible foams showed a slight loss of mass compared to the rigid ones without glycerol.Both types of foams presented much lower surface friability of non-esterified rigid foams.

Insights into the thermochemical evolution of maleic anhydride-initiated esterified starch to construct hard carbon microspheres for lithium-ion batteries

Starch,as a typical polysaccharide with natural spherical morphology,is not only a preferred precursor for preparing carbon materials but also a model polymer for investigating thermochemical evolution mechanisms.However,starch usually suffers from severe foaming and low carbon yield during direct pyrolysis.Herein,we report a simple and eco-friendly dry strategy,by maleic anhydride initiating the esterification of starch,to design carbon microspheres against the starch foaming.Moreover,the infuence of ester grafting on the pyrolytic behavior of starch is also focused.The formation of ester groups in precursor guarantees the structural stability of starch-based intermediate because it can promote the accumulation of unsaturated species and accelerate the water elimination during pyrolysis.Meanwhile,the esterification and dehydration reactions greatly deplete the primary hydroxyl groups in the starch molecules and thus the rapid levoglucosan release is inhibited,which well keeps the spherical morphology of starch and ensures the high carbon yield.In further exploration as anode materials for Lithium-ion batteries,the obtained carbon microspheres exhibit good cyclability and rate performance with a reversible capacity of 444 m Ah g^(-1)at 50 m A g^(-1).This work provides theoretical fundamentals for the controllable thermal transformation of biomass towards wide applications.

Influence of different levels of humic acid and esterified glucomannan on growth performance and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens

A study was under taken to investigate the effect of dietary supplementations of humic acid and esterified glucomannan) on broiler performance and the morphological measurements of small intestine. Two hundred and ten day old broiler chicks were weighed and randomly assigned to seven treatment groups in triplicate. The dietary treatments included T1) control (basal diet without any additives), T2) basal diets supplemented with 0.1% humic acid, T3) basal diets supplemented with 0.2% humic acid, T4) basal diets supplemented with 0.3% humic acid, T5) basal diets supplemented with 0.1% esterified glucomannan, T6) basal diets supplemented with 0.2% esterified glucomannan and T7) basal diets supplemented with 0.3% esterified glucomannan. Different parameters including body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and morphology of small intestine were evaluated during six weeks of experimental period. According to the results, at the end of experimental period, the highest average BWG were recorded in T4 group (fed with 0.3% humic acid), compared to control (T1) and other experimental groups (p < 0.05). Where as, the highest body weight gain were observed during starter period in treatment 7 (fed with 0.3% esterified glucomannan) as compare to other experimental groups (p < 0.05). Statistically, feed intake remained unaffected during the experimental period in all the treatment groups. However, the lowest and the highest feed intake were observed numerically within treatments T4 and T1 with 4229.70 g and 4362.30 g, respectively. Addition of dietary supplements used in the study appeared to have significant effect on the morphology of the small intestine (jejunum mucosal development) of the broilers in different treatment groups. Compared to control group, the inclusion of either humic acid or esterified glucomannon decreased (p < 0.01) the crypt depth and increased villus height respectively (p < 0.05). More ever, the diet supplements with humic acid 0.3% (T4) decreased crypt depth compared to esterified glucomannan and control. The dietary supplementations resulted in an increase in the villus height of intestinal mucosa of broilers. The increase in the villus height was associated with improvement of growth performance for both humic acid and esterified glucomannan. Based on our results it appeared that humic acid and esterified glucomannan can be used as a growth promoter in broiler diets and they can improve the gut health too.

The UV Aging Properties of Maleic Anhydride Esterified Starch/Polylactic Acid Composites

Esterified starch/polylactic acid（ES/PLA） blending composite was prepared by melting extrusion with maleic anhydride esterified starch and PLA as the raw materials. The composite was accelerated aging by using UV aging box, and its properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, thermo gravimetric analysis（TGA） and mechanical testing machine. FT-IR and SEM results show that the infrared absorption peak intensities of C-O, C-H, and C=O in aged samples decrease gradually with increasing aging time. The damage degree of surface and internal of aged samples increases gradually. XRD analysis results show that after aging treatment, the crystalline diffraction peak of thermoplastic esterified starch at 2θ = 21° disappears and the diffraction peaks of PLA at 2θ = 16.5° appear, indicating that the hydrolysis rate of esterified starch is greater than that of PLA. The crystallinity of PLA in aged sample shows an increasing trend at first followed by a decreasing one along with the increasing time of aging treatment, suggesting that the hydrolysis of amorphous regions of PLA is more preferential than its crystalline regions. Because of the influence of crystal structure and the change of composition structure, the initial decomposition temperature of aging test specimen gradually increases with the extension of aging time. The maximum decomposition rate temperature and residual mass increases at first, and then decrease after the aging time extending to 1600 h. As the aging time increases, the damage degree of combination interface between esterification starch and PLA is exacerbated, resulting in the tensile strength and bending strength of aged specimen decreasing gradually.

Antibacterial activity and inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus NorA efflux pump by ferulic acid and its esterified derivatives

Objective:To evaluate the inhibitory activity of ferulic acid and four of its esterified derivatives(methyl,ethyl,propyl,and butyl)against resistance mechanisms in Staphylococcus aureus strains.Methods:Ferulic acid derivatives were obtained by esterification with methanol,ethanol,propanol,and butanol,and then characterized by hydrogen and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance analysis.The minimum inhibitory concentrations(MIC)of ferulic acid and its esterified derivatives,ethidium bromide,and norfloxacin were obtained using the microdilution test,while the efflux pump inhibition test was conducted by examining reduction in the MICs of norfloxacin and ethidium bromide.Molecular docking was also carried out using the Schrodinger Suite 2015 molecular modeling software.A three-dimensional model of NorA efflux pump was generated using I-TASSER.The best scoring model was used as a receptor for ligand-receptor docking.Results:The methyl and butyl ester derivatives did not demonstrate significant antimicrobial activity.However,a significant synergic effect was evidenced when norfloxacin was combined with the ethyl and propyl esterified derivatives.The docking study demonstrated favorable energy of interaction between ferulate derivatives and NorA,and amino acid residues TYR57,TYR58,and LEU255 were present commonly in stabilizing all complexes.The PCA analysis corroborated the docking hypothesis that the lipophilic character and hydrogen bond interactions were the most relevant characteristics involved with NorA inhibitors.The pharmacokinetic parameters of ferulic acid derivatives showed good ADMET properties,demonstrating that they can be easily absorbed and have no effect or inhibit the cytochrome P450 enzyme complex,revealing their potential as drug candidates.Conclusions:This study provides strong evidence that the molecular basis for this activity is potentially due to the NorA efflux pump.

Effect of Starch Dodecenylsuccinylation on the Adhesion and Film Properties of Dodecenylsuccinylated Starch for Polyester Warp Sizing

A series of dodecenylsuccinylated starches( DSSs) with different degree of substitution( DS) were prepared via the esterification of dodencenylsuccinic anhydride with hydrolyzed cornstarch in aqueous dispersion for investigating the influences of starch dodecenylsuccinylation upon the performances such as apparent viscosity and surface tension of starch paste, film behaviors,and adhesion to fibers for warp sizing. It was found that the dodecenylsuccinylation was able to reduce the surface tension of cooked starch paste and enhance the adhesion of starch to polyester fibers. It was also capable of depressing the brittleness of native starch and improving the mechanical behaviours such as breaking elongation and work-to-break of starch film. Initial increase in DS level of dodecenylsuccinylation enhanced these positive effects,while excessively increasing the level resulted in marked reduction in tensile strength of starch film and significant decrement in reaction efficiency. X-ray diffraction patterns of starch films showed the dodecenylsuccinates derivatized onto the backbones of starch depressed the degree of crystallinity of starch film. Based on the paste behaviors, adhesion, and film properties, the dodecenylsuccinylation level is recommended in a range of 0. 015-0. 025 for sizing polyester warps.