Application of Prunus amygdalus By-products in Eco-friendly Dyeing of Textile Fabrics

Natural dyes have become an interesting subject of study because of their better ecological properties in comparison to their synthetic counterparts.This article concerns the dyeing of wool,silk,and polyamide fabrics with natural dyes extracted from almond shells and stems.The developed method of dyeing by these extracts is interesting and very attractive for several reasons:firstly,the extracts used are the black liquor discharged from the industries of delignification,which is a chemical process for removing lignin from agricultural wastes to produce a cellulosic fiber;(ii)these natural dyes are renewable and available in large quantities;(iii)this method is economical;and(iv)lastly,the dyeing performances of the obtained dyed textiles are very promising.The color of each dyed material was investigated in terms of the CIELAB coordinates and their fastness properties measured by washing,rubbing,and light.

Application of Pyroligneous Acid in the Prevention and Control of Brown Blotch Disease in Pleurotus ostreatus

In the present study, agar diffusion test and field trials were carried out using a mushroom （Pleurotus ostreatus） culti- var Shouyanping as the experimental material to determine the antibacterial activity of refined pyroligneous acid prepared from almond shell against Pseudomonas tolaasfi and its effects on mycelial growth of mushroom. The results revealed that 1.25%, 2.50% and 5.00% of refined pyroligneous acid obviously inhibited the occurrence of brown blotch disease in mushroom, but also greatly promoted mushroom mycelial growth. Therefore, 1.25% and 2.50% of refined pyroligneous acid can be used in fields to prevent brown blotch disease, and 5.00% refined pyroligneous acid can be used to control the incidence of brown blotch disease when it widely occurs in fields.

Development of Biocomposites of MCC Extracted From Non-Wood Sources

The present work mainly focuses on the estimation of various components and the extraction of microcrystalline cellulose(MCC)from non-wood sources like Country Almond/Badam shell through acid hydrolysis.This hydrolyzed MCC was successfully used as reinforcement for development of biocomposites.Country Almond/Badam trees are found all over Kerala,India and they give nuts once in a year.Usually the nut shells are discarded and are becoming one of the sources of agricultural waste.During this investigation various components were isolated from the Country Almond shells and they were characterised using different spectral and analytical techniques thereby the composition of Country Almond shells was successfully determined for the first time.The properties of MCC especially the crystalline nature depends on the source from which is isolated.FT-IR spectra give evidence for the chemical structure of MCC.Morphology of MCC was evidenced from scanning electron microscopy.Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy reveal the agglomerated bundles of particles and rough surface of MCC.The extracted MCC was found to contain Cellulose I and Cellulose II polymorphs,and this was confirmed from the X-ray diffraction(XRD)studies.The MCC extracted from Country Almond shells has reasonably good thermal stability.Solution casting method was adopted for the development of green composite of Poly(vinyl alcohol)reinforced with MCC extracted from Country Almond shell.The mechanical property of developed composites has been enhanced by the addition of MCC.The dispersion of MCC in the PVA matrix and flocculation of MCC significantly influence the mechanical strength.

Synthesis, Surface Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity of TiO_2 Supported on Almond Shell Activated Carbon

Three types of photocatalysts were synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and impregnation methods using the almond shell activated carbon as support. These photocatalysts denoted by （TiO2/ASAC （V）, TiO2/ASAC （11） and TiO2/ASAC （12）） were characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR）, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy （DRS） and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. SEM observation shows that TiO2 was deposited on activated carbon surface. XRD results confirm that TiO2 existed in a mixture of anatase and rutile phases. The DRS spectra show the characteristic absorption edge of TiO2 at approximate 380 nm corresponding to the optical band gap of 3.26 eV. Besides, FTIR spectrum indicated the presence of （Ti-O） groups. The specific surface area of photocatalysts decreased drastically in comparison with the original activated carbon. The catalysts were very efficient for the photodegradation of total organic carbon （TOC） from industrial phosphoric acid solution under UV irradiation. The kinetics of photocatalytic TOC degradation was found to follow a pseudo- first-order model. The prepared TiO2/ASAC showed high photoactivity for the photodegradation of TOC in the following order： TiO2/ASAC （V） 〉 TiO2/ASAC （11） 〉 TiO2/ASAC （12） 〉 ASAC 〉 TiO2 （P25）.