This study investigates the effect of ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) and solvent extraction (SE) on keratin recovery from duck feathers using sodium sulfide-based ionic liquids under different pH conditions. The results showed that SE at acidic pH (pH=3) achieved the highest yield (92%), whereas UAE showed lower recovery (28%) under mildly acidic conditions (pH=5). Spectroscopic and electrophoretic analyses using FTIR confirmed the β-sheet structure with characteristic peaks at 3400 cm−1 (O–H and N–H stretching) and 1660 cm−1 (C=O stretching). Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis analysis (SDS-PAGE) revealed protein bands in the 15–25 kDa range, typical of β-keratin, with higher intensity in SE. Morphological analysis using SEM revealed finer and more homogeneous particles for UAE, while SE produced denser aggregates. Thermal analysis revealed two main degradation stages, occurring at 0–100 °C and 250–500 °C, with UAE samples exhibiting lower residual mass (5.46%) than SE (8.65%). Particle size analysis showed UAE samples had larger but more uniformly distributed particles. XRD results confirmed semi-crystalline structures, with UAE increasing amorphous content and SE maintaining crystallinity. These findings highlight the complementary advantages for tailoring keratin properties toward diverse applications.

The depletion of bauxite reserves has prompted the research of various types of soil as alternative sources of aluminum, such as the peat clay used in this study. The complexity of the minerals requires a more efficient leaching methods, while microwave-based leaching offers a potential approach through rapid and uniform heating. This study examines the effect of microwave power, HCl concentration, operating temperature, and particle size on the leaching efficiency of aluminum from peat clay soil. The leaching process was modeled using two approaches, namely the shrinking core (SC) model and the broken-intact cell (BIC) model under pseudo-steady state conditions. The results showed that increasing HCl concentration, microwave power, and temperature accelerated leaching, while increasing particle size decreased leaching efficiency. Optimum conditions were achieved at 4 M HCl concentration, 100 W power, 40 °C temperature, and 0.0074 cm particle size. The shrinking core (SC) model showed better fit under most conditions, while the intact-broken cell (BIC) model was more accurate at lower temperatures and particle sizes. The simulation results showed that the most suitable parameter values in the SC model were De = 0.0049 cm2/s, k = 10.5 cm/s, and kc = 2.49 cm/s, while in the BIC model De = 0.04808 cm2/s and K = 0.02689 g/cm3 were obtained. These results confirm the superiority of the SC model in representing microwave-based leaching mechanisms in general, while the BIC model provides additional insights under diffusion-limited conditions. Process Performance Index (PPI) analysis showed that optimum conditions were achieved at 4 M HCl and 40 °C, but lower acid concentrations also yielded competitive PPI. This confirms that leaching effectiveness is determined by a combination of alumina recovery and reagent consumption efficiency. These findings contribute to the development of leaching kinetics models and the optimization of more efficient and energy-saving aluminum extraction processes.

This research aims to optimize keratin extraction from duck feathers using an eco-friendly ionic liquid-ultrasound-assisted extraction (IL-UAE) method and evaluate its potential applications in tissue engineering. It investigated the effects of deposition pH (1-6), ultrasonication temperature (40-60°C), and time (60-180 min) on extraction yield and physicochemical properties. The results demonstrated the optimal extraction conditions at pH 3, 40°C, and 60 minutes, yielding 82% keratin with a 0.50 mg/mL concentration, while the lowest yield production was found at pH 6 (33%, 0.20 mg/mL). Meanwhile, characterization via FTIR confirmed predominant ?-sheet structures with characteristic peaks at 3250-3300 cm?¹ (N-H/O-H stretching) and 1700-1500 cm?¹ (C=O stretching). SDS-PAGE revealed pure keratin bands (10-15 kDa), while SEM showed layered, porous morphology suitable for biomaterial applications. Thermogravimetric analysis, furthermore, identified three degradation stages occurred at 0-200°C (3.05% loss), 200-400°C (39.37% loss), and 400-700°C (31.13% loss). Amino acid profiling revealed high L-cystine content (153,064.90-156,926.33 mg/kg) with the significant amounts of glycine (63,958.25-64,064.73 mg/kg), L-proline (77,631.16-77,717.42 mg/kg), and L-leucine (59,111.43-59,198.60 mg/kg). In silico molecular docking studies identified leucine as a promising procollagen N-endopeptidase inhibitor (binding energy -5.0 kcal/mol), which controlled the collagen-breaking and forming process. This ability makes keratin potential to be developed as a scaffold for bone tissue regeneration in medical industry.

Malic acid is a valuable organic acid widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. It can be sustainably produced from underutilized molasses, often classified as waste. This study evaluated the feasibility of malic acid production from molasses, using Rhizopus arrhizus. A SuperPro Designer simulation integrated process design, economic analysis, and sensitivity evaluation and the results demonstrated economic viability with a Net Present Value (NPV) of $2,140,000 (7% discount rate), an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 15.81%, a Return on Investment (ROI) of 22.70, and a payback period (PP) of 4.40 years for an annual production capacity of 2,830 MT. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the selling price of malic acid as the most important economic factor. This feasibility study provides a novel approach to integrate molasses-based fermentation with simulation tools, offering actionable insights for industrial-scale implementation by quantifying key economic drivers.

The oxidation of dipyrromethane by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) generally produces dipyrrin, but in the presence of trace water, a meso-hydroxy dipyrromethane can be formed. To investigate this unusual product, we then studied meso-hydroxy bis(p-anisoyl)-p-fluorophenyl dipyrromethane (3) obtained from the oxidation of bis(p-anisoyl)-p-fluorophenyl dipyrromethane (2). Spectroscopic studies (1H-NMR, UV-Vis, and fluorescence), mass spectrometry, and computational analyses were performed to investigate this mechanism. Zinc complexation of compound 3 altered the 1H-NMR spectrum and shifted the absorption peak from 325 nm to 567 nm with “turn-on” fluorescence. Thermochemical studies have indicated that the formation of meso-hydroxy requires energy higher than dipyrrin. This study suggests that the electronic properties of meso-aryl and acyl groups are the key factors for the nucleophilic attack of water on cationic dipyrromethane intermediate. These results further improve the understanding of dipyrromethane oxidation pathways, which is crucial for the design and synthesis of dipyrrin-chemosensors.

This study presents a novel approach to fabricate alkali-treated aluminum (ATA) foil for point-of-use (POU) water disinfection, addressing the residue issue associated with conventional production methods. Traditional ATA foil production leaves a residual layer that hinders practicality in use. To cope with it, a supernatant Mg(OH)2 solution was employed, resulting in residue-free ATA foil. Two variants, conventional ATA foil (ATA foil-1) and supernatant-treated ATA foil (ATA foil-2), were fabricated and analyzed. Surface characterization revealed that ATA foil-2 had a smoother surface with fewer cracks while maintaining E. coli removal efficiency and methyl orange adsorption capacity similar as ATA foil-1. Maximum E. coli adsorption capacities were found at 572,967 CFU/cm2 for ATA foil-1 and 561,513 CFU/cm2 for ATA foil-2. Both foils achieved over 84% methyl orange removal, indicating adsorption as the primary removal mechanism. The findings demonstrated that the supernatant Mg(OH)2 method successfully produced residue-free ATA foil with comparable disinfection performance, thus eliminating the need for a washing step and enhancing its suitability for point-of-use water treatment applications.

Lithium batteries are crucial for energy storage in electronics, transportation, and industrial sectors. However, lithium-ion battery separators such as Celgard require significant improvements, particularly in ionic conductivity (?). Combining Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) with polymers is expected to create a separator membrane that enhances conductivity and mechanical properties in lithium-ion batteries. UiO-66 MOFs were synthesized using the solvothermal method at 120? and then composited with polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer membranes using the solution casting method. The UiO-66 MOFs/PEO/PVA polymer composites were made by varying the UiO-66 content from 2% to 8% (w/w) while keeping a constant LiPF6 concentration of 9% (w/w). These composites were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Subsequently, the EIS test and tensile tests assessed the performance of the composite membranes. The resulting membrane with 6% (w/w) UiO-66 MOFs exhibited a conductivity (?) of 5.60 × 10–3 S cm–1 and a tensile strength of 32.5 MPa.

The growing and relatively large market share of 1,2-pentanediol (1,2-PeD) has attracted attention of researchers to find effective and economically viable catalysts. One type of catalyst that can be used for synthesizing this compound is transition-metal-based catalysts, employed in the hydrogenolysis of furfuryl alcohol (FOL). In this study, the hydrogenolysis of furfuryl alcohol were performed with 2-propanol as the hydrogen source and transition metal salts as the catalysts. The used catalysts include first-row early and late transition metals, i.e., ZrOCl2·8H2O, VOSO4·H2O, FeSO4·7H2O, CuSO4·5H2O, NiCl2, Al(NO3)3·H2O, CoCl2, FeCl3·6H2O, and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O. It was found that ZrOCl2·8H2O, VOSO4·H2O, and FeCl3·6H2O demonstrated superior catalytic activity compared to the other catalysts. Optimal reaction conditions for these three catalysts were achieved at 150 °C for 1 hour, using 2-propanol as the hydrogen source. Under these reaction conditions, the ZrOCl?·8H?O catalyst achieved 95.5% conversion of FOL and 30.3% yield of 1,2-PeD, while the VOSO?·H?O catalyst attained 80.5% conversion of FOL and 36.9% yield of 1,2-PeD. Both results were obtained with a low catalyst concentration of 0.6 mmol%. Meanwhile, the FeCl3·6H2O catalyst converted 94.9% of FOL and yielded 30.9% of 1,2-PeD, using a lower catalyst concentration of 0.4 mmol%. Kinetic studies suggested that the reactions likely follow pseudo-first-order kinetics with experimental activation energies (Ea) of 65 kJ/mol, 55 kJ/mol, and 37 kJ/mol for ZrOCl?·8H?O, VOSO?·H?O, and FeCl?·6H?O catalysts, respectively. These findings highlight the potential of transition-metal-based catalysts in achieving high efficiency with low loading, emphasizing their suitability for industrial applications.

In this work, a simple sol-gel process method was studied for “one-pot” fabrication of silica particle cross-linked networks (SPCN). It is the first time that the co-precursors of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and ?-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and capping agent of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) are formulated to achieve the complete co-polymerization of the reaction solution. The reaction solution proposed involved TEOS and GPTMS (5:1 w/w) for feasibility preparation of SPCN. The copolymerization temperature was set at 40? for 24h of aging time. The results indicated that, by means of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a capping agent, SPCN exhibited a well-defined three-dimensional (3D) porous network. The prepared SPCN was used for the synthesis of silica monolithic columns to show interstices distributed across the whole SPCN as well as monolithic columns. The BET surface area of the SPCN column was obtained at approximately 156 m2/g and an average pore width smaller than 26 nm.

This paper presents a new technique that can electrically inject stabilizing ions, which can be used to stabilize soil. Other processes also occur simultaneously during treatment such as electrolysis, dissociation, sorption, and exchange mechanisms, etc. The aim of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the injection of stabilizing ions (Ca2+, CO32-, and HPO42-) in enhancing the shear strength of fine-grained soils. The shear strength of the soil increased up to 127% after treatment when measured near the anode and up to 495% when measured near the cathode. The results show that the proposed method can significantly increase soil strength; hence, it overcomes bearing capacity problems in soft fine-grained soils with low hydraulic conductivity.