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Mineralized polymer scaffolds have proven to be effective biomaterials for inducing osteoinductivity in bone tissue engineering. Sequential mineralization is a promising technique for depositing minerals in three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds. Paper, which is made of cellulose fibers, can be used as a tissue scaffold due to its highly porous structure and flexibility, as well as its excellent ability to wick fluids and support the growth of bone cells. In this study, paper-based, mineralized scaffolds were fabricated using sequential mineralization. We conducted experiments with two groups of scaffolds based on different incubation times in the mineralization solutions (30 min and 24 h). Ten cycles of mineralization were performed for each group. We found that the mineral content increased as the cycle number increased and that the 24-h group scaffolds consistently had more mineralization than did the 30-min group scaffolds when measured at the same cycle number. A quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed for two osteogenic differentiation markers of the preosteoblasts that were grown on the mineralized paper scaffolds. The gene expression results for bone-specific markers revealed that the mineralized scaffolds were osteoinductive. Subcutaneous implantation of the scaffolds in rats demonstrated favorable biocompatibility, high vascularization, and non-immunogenicity in vivo. The overall results suggest that the sequentially mineralized paper scaffolds are promising materials for use in bone tissue engineering.

Chlorpyrifos is a commonly used organophosphorus pesticide in agriculture. However, its neurotoxicity poses a huge threat to human health. In the present study, a chitosan-modified filter paper-based surface enhanced Raman scattering active substrate (Ch/AgNPs/paper) was fabricated and used to detect trace amounts of chlorpyrifos in 120 treated wheat samples.Results showed that the Ch/AgNPs/paper substrate could be used to enhance the chlorpyrifos spectral fingerprint only up to a concentration of 0.000558 mg LThe present study demonstrates that the proposed method can achieve rapid detection of chlorpyrifos in wheat. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

BACKGROUND: Ultrafiltration (UF) technology is efficient in treating wastewater. However, membrane fouling during filtration process affects the performance of UF to a large extent. Pretreatment prior to UF is important for enhancing membrane performance, reducing membrane fouling and extending the membrane lifetime. RESULTS: In this study, two pretreatment technologies, including coagulation and Fenton, were applied individually before UF for treating secondary effluent (SE) from recycled paper mill. Results exhibited that direct membrane filtration got the highest flux loss and worst membrane fouling compared with performances of those conducting pretreatments. Compared to coagulation + UF, Fenton + UF had superior performance in reducing dissolved organics with a COD rejection of 91.81%, and mitigating membrane fouling with a stable flux of 133 J m⁻² h⁻¹. GPC results further showed that Fenton pretreatment degraded macromolecules into smaller organic compounds. In addition, the classical blocking filtration laws were employed to scrutinize the fouling alleviation mechanism of pretreatments. CONCLUSION: Pretreatments prolonged the transition from pore blocking to cake filtration, thereby reducing fouling. Among them, Fenton was a promising pretreatment method prior to UF for treating recycled paper SE. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

BACKGROUND Different thermoplastic starch (TPS) films were prepared with or without the addition of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) obtained via the melt-extrusion method, and then the hot-press method was used to produce environmentally friendly TPS-based film/paper composites to replace petroleum-based materials. RESULTS The paper-plastic composites exhibited good interfacial adhesion from the scannign elctron microscopy images. It was seen that 5 wt.% MCC was added to reinforce the mechanical properties of TPS films, such that it also improved the barrier properties of MCC@TPS/paper composites and extended the path of water vapor through TPS films, which decreased the water vapor transmission rate of MCC@TPS/paper composites. TPS/paper composites and MCC@TPS/paper composites have better physical properties (i.e. smoothness, flexibility and folding resistance) than only paper. In particular, it was found that the water contact angle of MCC@TPS/paper composites and TPS/paper composites were higher than single-layer paper. Furthermore, MCC reinforced paper-plastic composites demonstrated good barrier properties which can meet the requirement of the need for lower water sensitive materials in the food packaging industry. CONCLUSION Thermoplastic corn starch-based film/paper composites have good application properties as a potential source of bioplastic materials. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Cellulases are used in textile, pulp and paper, brewery and wine, sugars and ethanol industries. Four fungal isolates obtained from organic municipal solid wastes (OMSW) were selected based on their cellulolytic activity on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar medium. Based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of the ribosomal DNA, the four cellulolytic isolates were identified as Aspergillus fumigatus AKAL1, Aspergillus oryzae AKAL4, Aspergillus flavus AKAL8 and Aspergillus flavus AKAL9. After 9 days of fermentation at 30°C and pH 6.5 under 110 rpm agitation, these isolates produced the maximum amount of cellulase. The cellulase showed optimum activity at temperature 35-40°C and pH 6.0-7.0, and was stable for 1 h at 25-45°C and pH 5.0-7.0. The Mg

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignocellulosic materials is commonly limited by the hydrolysis step. Unlike unprocessed lignocellulosic materials, paper and paper board (PPB) are processed for their fabrication. Such modifications may affect their methane yields and methane production rates. Previous studies have investigated the correlation between lignin and biomethane yields of unprocessed lignocellulosic materials; nevertheless, there is limited knowledge regarding the relationship between the AD kinetic parameters and composition of PPB. This study evaluated correlations of methane yields and Monod and Gompertz kinetic parameters with structural carbohydrates, lignin, and ash concentration of five types of PPBs. All components were used as single and combined independent variables in linear regressions to predict methane yield, maximum specific methanogenic activity (SMAmax), saturation constant (Ks), and lag phase (λ). Additionally, microbial community profiles were obtained for each PPB assay. Results showed methane yields ranging from 69.2 ± 8.61 to 97.2 ± 2.29% of PPB substrates provided. The highest correlation coefficients were obtained for SMAmax as function of hemicellulose / (lignin + ash) (R2 = 0.86) and for λ as a function of lignin + cellulose (R2 = 0.85). All other parameters exhibited weaker correlations (R2 ≤ 0.77). Relative abundance analyses revealed no major changes in the community profile for each of the substrates evaluated. The overall findings of this study are 1) combinations of structural carbohydrates, lignin, and ash used as ratios of degradable to either non-degradable or slowly degradable fractions predict AD kinetic parameters of PPB materials better than single independent variables, and 2) other components added during their fabrication may also influence both methane yield and kinetic parameters. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Background The quality of tea is influenced by numerous factors, especially l-theanine, which is one of the important markers used to evaluate the sweetness and freshness of tea. Sensitive, rapid, and accurate detection of l-theanine is therefore useful to identify the grade and quality of tea. Results A high-sensitivity, paper-based fluorescent sensor combined with chemometrics was established to detect l-theanine in tea water based on CdTe quantum dots / corn carbon dots and nano tetra pyridel-porphine zinc (ZnTPyP). To verify the reliability of this method, fluorescence spectra and fluorescence-visualized paper-based sensors were compared. The fluorescence spectrum method demonstrated a linear range of 1 to 10 000 nmol L-1 and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.19 nmol L-1 . In the fluorescence-visualized paper-based sensors there was a linear range of 10-1000 nmol L-1 , and the LOD was 10 nmol L-1 . Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) and partial least squares regression analysis (PLSR) were used successfully to determine l-theanine accurately in tea water with this approach. The accuracy of the PLSDA model was 100% both in the training set and the predicting set, and the correlation coefficient between the actual concentration and the predicted concentration was greater than 0.9997 in the PLSR model. Conclusion This fluorescence-visualized paper-based sensor, combined with chemometrics, could be applied efficiently to the practical analysis of tea water samples, which provides a new idea to ensure the flavor and quality of tea. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are in situ synthesized for the first time on microfibrillated silk (MFS) exfoliated from domesticated Philosamia cynthia ricini (eri) and Bombyx mori (mulberry) silkworm silk fibers. The process is rapid (hours time), does not rely on harmful chemicals, and produces robust and flexible AgNPs coated MFS (MFS-AgNPs) protein papers with excellent handling properties. None of these can be achieved by approaches used in the past to fabricate AgNPs silk systems. MFS bonds the AgNPs strongly, providing good support and stabilization for the NPs, leading to strong wash fastness. The mechanical properties of the MFS-AgNPs papers largely do not change compared to the MFS papers without nanoparticles, except for some higher concentration of AgNPs in the case of mulberry silk. The improved tensile properties of eri silk papers with or without AgNPs compared to mulberry silk papers can be attributed to the higher degree of fibrillation achieved in eri silk and its inherent higher ductility. MFS-AgNPs from eri silk also exhibit strong antibacterial activity. This study provides the basis for the development of smart protein papers based on silk fiber and functional nanomaterials.

Graphene paper (GP) has attracted great attention as a heat dissipation material due to its unique thermal transfer property exceeding the limit of graphite. However, the relatively poor thermal transfer properties in the normal direction of GP restricts its wider applications in thermal management. In this work, a 3D bridged carbon nanoring (CNR)/graphene hybrid paper is constructed by the intercalation of polymer carbon source and metal catalyst particles, and the subsequent in situ growth of CNRs in the confined intergallery spaces between graphene sheets through thermal annealing. Further investigation demonstrates that the CNRs are covalently bonded to the graphene sheets and highly improve the thermal transport in the normal direction of the CNR/graphene hybrid paper. This full-carbon architecture shows excellent heat dissipation ability and is much more efficient in removing hot spots than the reduced GP without CNR bridges. This highly thermally conductive CNR/graphene hybrid paper can be easily integrated into next generation commercial high-power electronics and stretchable/foldable devices as high-performance lateral heat spreader materials. This full-carbon architecture also has a great potential in acting as electrodes in supercapacitors or hydrogen storage devices due to the high surface area.

Injuries to the peripheral nerves result in loss of motor, sensory and autonomic functions in the denervated segments of the body, thus having strong impact in the quality of life of affected patients. Neurons are able to regenerate their injured axons in the peripheral nerves; however, the endogenous repair mechanisms usually do not allow for a satisfactory functional recovery, especially after severe nerve injuries. The interest on regeneration after peripheral nerve injuries has increased in the recent years due to the numerous advances derived from studies of neurobiology, cell therapy, and tissue engineering. This Thematic Papers Issue brings together a number of papers, authored by researchers in the field, which cover a wide spectrum of topics related to regeneration and repair of peripheral nerve injuries. The Issue proposal originated from the recent 4th International Symposium on Peripheral Nerve Regeneration (ISPNR2017) which was hosted by Xavier Navarro and the European Society for the Study of Peripheral Nerve Repair and Regeneration in Barcelona, Spain. Anat Rec, 301:1614-1617, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of paper mill effluent is crucial owing to its high organic constituents which necessitate the use of efficient membranes having greater anti-fouling ability. In this study, functionalized zeolite and activated carbon incorporated polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were developed to maximize the fouling resistance and rejection efficiency thereby to achieve greater reduction levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total dissolved solids (TDS) in the effluent. RESULTS: The synthesized inorganic modifiers such as functionalized copper (Cu)-zeolite, iron (Fe)-zeolite and calcium alginate functionalized activated carbon were incorporated into PES in distinct wt% of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1. The high pure water flux of 38.9 L m−2 h−1 was observed with 0.25 wt% of Cu-zeolite when compared to 24.3 L m−2 h−1 of virgin PES. The addition of 0.5 wt% of functionalized activated carbon resulted in reduction levels of about 90.2%, 92% and 80% of COD, BOD and TDS respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Facile functionalization of zeolite and activated carbon using metal salts and calcium alginate was achieved. Functionalized Cu-zeolite imparted increased hydrophilicity, anti-fouling property and increased pore size compared to that of Fe-zeolite and functionalized activated carbon.

Solar-blind photodetectors (PDs) are widely applicable in special, military, medical, environmental, and commercial fields. However, high performance and flexible PD for deep ultraviolet (UV) range is still a challenge. Here, it is demonstrated that an upconversion of photon absorption beyond the energy bandgap is achieved in the ZnO nanoarray/h-BN heterostructure, which enables the ultrahigh responsivity of a solar-blind photodetecting paper. The direct growth of ultralong ZnO nanoarray on polycrystalline copper paper induced by h-BN 2D interlayer is obtained. Meanwhile, strong photon trapping takes place within the ZnO nanoarray forest through the cyclic state transition of surface oxygen ions, resulting in an extremely high absorption efficiency (99.5%). A flexible photodetecting paper is fabricated for switchable detections between near UV and deep UV signals by critical external bias. The device shows robust reliability, ultrahigh responsivity up to 700 A W

My concern in this presentation is with the falling standard of papers, particularly primary research articles, in the scientific and medical literature. Few of our younger generation of scientists (and many older ones) have never had specific training in how to write a good article, and yet this is the major product of all research effort that has been done, perhaps over a year or more. This is a situation that has to be corrected by all institutions, universities, and similar bodies, who need to introduce into the curriculum a course (not just a token lecture) that deals with the complexity of writing a lucid article that is succinct and written with style. To assist in this exercise, I have now produced a manual (1) that goes step-by-step through the process of writing and publishing scientific papers in such a way that they have much greater chance of being accepted by learned journals. Anat Rec, 301:1493-1496, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Laccase, through its versatile mode of action, has the potential to revolutionize the pulping and paper making industry. It not only plays a role in the delignification and brightening of the pulp but has also been described for the removal of the lipophilic extractives responsible for pitch deposition from both wood and nonwood paper pulps. Laccases are capable of improving physical, chemical, as well as mechanical properties of pulp either by forming reactive radicals with lignin or by functionalizing lignocellulosic fibers. Laccases can also target the colored and toxic compounds released as effluents from various industries and render them nontoxic through its polymerization and depolymerization reactions. This article reviews the use of both fungal and bacterial laccases in improving pulp properties and bioremediation of pulp and paper mill effluents. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012

BACKGROUND: The effect of coupled biological and photochemical processes for treatment of bio-recalcitrant effluents from chlorination (C) and first alkaline extraction (E1) stages of soda pulp bleaching in an agro-residue based pulp and paper mill has been investigated. RESULTS: The work aims to evaluate the coupled effect on the extent of degradation in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction. Biological treatment of C and E1 effluent resulted in 30% and 57% COD, respectively, after 1 day of treatment with acclimatized activated sludge. However, further increase in retention time did not show any significant change in degradation efficiency. Investigations on photocatalytic treatment (at 365 nm and 0.625 W) of C effluent resulted in 47% degradation under optimized conditions (3 g L−1 TiO2, pH 6.0 and 0.01 mol L−1 NaOCl), and E1 effluent showed 37% degradation under optimized conditions (2.5 g L−1, pH 4.0 and 0.03 mol L−1 NaOCl) after 6 h of UV irradiation. However, photocatalytic treatment of biotreated (1 day) effluents under similar optimized conditions significantly enhanced the degradation to 81% and 93% in C and E1 effluent, respectively, after 2 h irradiation. CONCLUSION: Coupled biological treatment followed by photocatalysis is an effective method for the reduction of total organic carbon (TOC) of the test effluents and it would facilitate closed circuiting of water used for soda bleaching in an agro pulp and paper mill. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

The simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) kinetic model described in the companion paper can predict batch and fed batch fermentations well at solids concentrations up to 62.4 g/L cellulose paper sludge but not in batch fermentation at 82.0 g/L cellulose paper sludge. Four hypotheses for the discrepancy between observation and model prediction at high solids concentration were examined: ethanol inhibition, enzyme deactivation, inhibition by non-metabolizable compounds present in paper sludge, and mass transfer limitation. The results show that mass transfer limitation was responsible for the discrepancy between model and experimental data. The model can predict the value of high paper sludge SSCF in the fermentation period with no mass transfer limitation. The model predicted that maximum ethanol production of fed-batch fermentation was achieved when it was run as close to batch mode as possible with the initial solids loading below the mass transfer limitation threshold. A method for measuring final enzyme activity at the end of fermentation was also developed in this study.

This article discusses the preparation of novel Paper-PEG interpenetrating polymer network-based membranes as inexpensive alternative to currently available adsorptive membranes. The Paper-PEG membranes were developed for carrying out hydrophobic interaction membrane chromatography (HIMC). PEG is normally very hydrophilic but can undergo phase separation and become hydrophobic in the presence of high antichaotropic salt concentrations. Two variants of the Paper- PEG membranes, Paper-PEG 1 and Paper-PEG 2 were prepared by grafting different amounts of the polymer on filter paper and these were tested for their hydraulic properties and antibody binding capacity. The better of the two membranes (Paper-PEG 1) was then used for purifying the monoclonal antibody hIgG1-CD4 from simulated mammalian cell culture supernatant. The processing conditions required for purification were systematically optimized. The dynamic antibody binding capacity of the Paper-PEG 1 membrane was about 9 mg/mL of bed volume. A single step membrane chromatographic process using Paper-PEG 1 membrane gave high monoclonal antibody purity and recovery. The hydraulic permeability of the paper-based membrane was high and was maintained even after many runs, indicating that membrane fouling was negligible and the membrane was largely incompressible.

BACKGROUND: In this study the antimicrobial effectiveness of oregano and sage essential oils (EOs) incorporated into two different matrices, whey protein isolate (WPI) and cellulose-based filter paper, was analysed. RESULTS: Antimicrobial properties of WPI-based films containing oregano and sage EOs were tested against Listeria innocua, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enteritidis. Oregano EO showed antimicrobial activity against all three micro-organisms. The highest inhibition zones were against L. innocua. However, sage EO did not show antimicrobial activity against any of the micro-organisms. Antimicrobial activity was confirmed for both EOs using cellulose-based filter paper as supporting matrix, although it was significantly more intense for oregano EO. Inhibition surfaces were significantly greater when compared with those of the WPI films. This finding is likely due to the higher porosity and diffusivity of the active compounds in the filter paper. CONCLUSION: The interactions between the EOs and the films have a critical effect on the diffusivity of the active compounds and therefore on the final antimicrobial activity. As a result, to obtain active edible films, it is necessary to find the equilibrium point between the nature and concentration of the active compounds in the EO and the formulation of the film. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry

The major processes of the pulp and paper industry are overviewed with particular emphasis given to existing chemical requirements; processing trends are identified which may affect future chemical requirements. The pulp and paper industry represents a vast market for chemicals. On the papermaking side, overall chemical usage will probably increase due to ever greater product sophistication and emphasis on value-added grades. On the pulping side, the pressing needs for fibre conservation and more effective utilization of fibre sources can only be achieved through continuing exploitation of chemical developments.

BACKGROUND: Conventional biological waste-water treatment techniques are insufficient to degrade large quantities of dissolvedlignindischargedbysmall-scalepapermills.Thecurrentinvestigationisaimedatcomparingtheoverallperformance of basic electrochemical reactor configurations such as batch, batch recirculation, recycle and single pass systems,in removing the organic part of waste-water from a small-scale, agro-based paper industry. The effect of current density, supporting electrolyte concentration, duration of electrolysis, specific electrode surface and fluid flow rate on the removal of pollutants and energy consumption are critically evaluated. The improvement in biodegradability of the effluent during treatmentis also noticed. RESULTS: The batch recirculation mode of operation was found to be superior in comparison with a batch system using the same specific electrode surface for both COD removal (73.3 vs. 64%) and capacity utilization (rate constant 1.112 × 10 −3 vs. 1.049×10 −3 cms −1 ).Thepollutantremovalperformanceofthebatchrecirculationsystemimprovedconsiderablywithincrease in the circulation flow rate. At the best operating point in the recycle system, 59% of COD was removed, corresponding to a currentefficiency of 68.9% andspecific energy consumptionof 18.46kWhkg −1 .Thebiodegradability indexof thewaste-water was improved from 0.18 ± 0.01 to 0.36 ± 0.01. CONCLUSION: A recycle reactor was the best configuration, because of its flexibility of operation. Circulation flow rate and withdrawalflowrateenablethecontroloftransfercoefficientsandtreatmentdurationrespectively.Electrochemicaltreatment not only removes the bulk of the organic matter, but also makes the remaining pollutants more easily biodegradable. c � 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the reuse of paper sludge, an industrial solid waste, for the preparation of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The process includes pretreatment, basification and etherification. RESULTS: The optimal pretreatment condition involved the addition of 6.7% hydrochloric acid to the paper sludge for 30 min at 70 °C. The order of factors influencing the effect of reaction was: etherification temperature > sodium hydroxide dose > basification temperature > etherification time > sodium chloroacetate dose. The optimal preparation condition of CMC was: mpapersludge: msodiumhydroxide: msodiumchloroacetate = 0.9:0.8:1.15; basification at 40 °C; etherification at 60 °C for 1 h. Under these conditions, certified CMC with viscosity less than 20 mPa· s, DS more than 0.50 and purity more than 90% was produced. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra analyses indicated that the product has characteristics of high degree of substitution (DS) and low crystallinity. The coated paper using CMC prepared from paper sludge as a water retention agent can meet the quality standards of GB/T 10335.1-2005. CONCLUSION: Preparation of CMC from paper sludge can be considered a feasible alternative, generating value-added product and contributing to solving environmental problems resulting from paper sludge. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry