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The rapid economic growth and environmental concerns have led to high demands on paper and paper-based products in terms of variety, quantity, quality, and specialty. Enhancement and functionalization with additives are constantly required. Moving away from traditional petroleum-based additives, researchers have attempted to use “green” nanoadditives by introducing renewable environmentally friendly nanocellulose. This article studies the functions of nanocellulose as bio-additives (enhancer, retention and filtration reagent, and coating aid) in paper and paper products, and overviews the research development of nanocellulose-based additives and their applications in the paper industry for both efficient production and paper functionalization. The review shows that (1) a variety of nanocellulose-based bioadditives have been reported for various applications in paper and paper-based products, while commercially viable developments are to be advanced; (2) nanocellulose was mostly formulated with other polymer and particles as additives to achieve their synergistic effects; (3) major interests have concentrated on the nanocellulose in the specialty papers as representing more value added products and in the efficient utilization of recycled fibers, which remains most attractive and promising for future development. This report shall provide most useful database information for researchers and industries for paper recycling and enhancement, and paper-based products innovation and application.

A wide variety of biomass is available all around the world. Most of the biomass exists as a by-product from manufacturing industries. Pulp and paper mills contribute to a higher amount of these biomasses mostly discarded in the landfills creating an environmental burden. Biomasses from other sources have been used to produce different kinds and grades of biomaterials such as those used in industrial and medical applications. The present review aims to investigate the availability of biomass from pulp and paper mills and show sustainable routes for the production of high value-added biomaterials. The study reveals that using conventional and integrated biorefinery technology the ample variety and quantity of waste generated from pulp and paper mills can be converted into wealth. As per the findings of the current review, it is shown that high-performance carbon fiber and bioplastic can be manufactured from black liquor of pulping waste; the cellulosic waste from sawdust and sludge can be utilized for the synthesis of CNC and regenerated fibers such as viscose rayon and acetate; the mineral-based pulping wastes and fly ash can be used for manufacturing of different kinds of biocomposites. The different biomaterials obtained from the pulp and paper mill biomass can be used for versatile applications including conventional, high performance, and smart materials. Through customization and optimization of the conversion techniques and product manufacturing schemes, a variety of engineering materials can be obtained from pulp and paper mill wastes realizing the current global waste to wealth developmental approach.

In the present study, adsorption of colour and other pollutants from agro-based paper mill effluent onto fabricated coal fly ash nanoparticles (CFA-N) have been investigated. Response surface methodology was applied to evaluate the operational conditions for maximum ouster of colour from effluent by nano structured CFA-N. Maximum reduction in colour (92.45%) and other pollutants were obtained at optimum conditions: 60 min interaction time, 60 g/L adsorbent dosage and 80 rpm agitation rate. The regression coefficient values (adjusted R2 = 0.7169; predicted R2 = 0.7539) established harmony between predicted and the experimental data. The adsorption equilibrium results matched perfectly with both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms with maximum adsorption capacity of 250 platinum–cobalt/g. Additionally, the efficacy of CFA-N was also assessed in a continuous column mode. Furthermore, the feasibility of treated effluent for irrigation purpose was checked by growing the plant Solanum lycopersicum. Overall, the findings demonstrated the outstanding role of inexpensive and abundantly available CFA-N in treatment of paper mill effluent to the required compliance levels. HIGHLIGHTS Nano fly ash was successfully utilized for removal of colour and other pollutants from agro-based paper mill effluent.; RSM using BBD was used to optimize the operational conditions.; Quadratic models have been established for the response variables.; Fixed-bed column adsorption studies illustrated the feasibility of nano fly ash for pilot-scale applications.; The reusability of treated effluent for irrigation was examined.

BackgroundThe analysis of the quality of food is important to protect humans from food-borne or food-based illnesses caused by pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa. Rapid identification of these pathogens is critical to ensure food safety. Various detection and identification strategies exist; however, they are laborious and time consuming and hence the detection takes longer time. The aim of this study was to develop the specific and fast method for the detection of contaminants in milk.ResultsIn this study, we have developed a simple paper-based PCR method with minimum sample preparation process. The 16S rDNA universal primers were used for the detection of bacterial contaminants. LacZ primers were used for coliform detection which causes serious illness and hence their detection is crucial. ITS region primers were used for fungal detection. The most unique thing about this study is use of Whatman paper no. 1 as sample carrier material. We developed and validated the paper-based PCR method and used it for the detection of microbes and coliforms using milk as a representative sample.ConclusionWe evaluated this method for its suitability in the detection of contaminant microbes using different milk samples. The paper-based method could successfully detect contaminants in the milk samples and the results were comparable to the traditional microbial detection method. The traditional microbiological method takes at least 18–20 h for detecting the presence of microbes in any sample but the developed paper-based PCR method can confirm the microbial presence in 2–3 h. This is very promising especially in the testing where sample sterility is crucial.

In this paper, we present a system for automatic evaluation of the quality of a question paper. Question paper plays a major role in educational assessment. The quality of a question paper is crucial to fulfilling the purpose of the assessment. In many education sectors, question papers are prepared manually. A prior analysis of a question paper might help in finding the errors in the question paper, and better achieving the goals of the assessment. In this experiment, we focus on higher education in the technical domain. First, we conducted a student survey to identify the key factors that affect the quality of a question paper. The top factors we identified are question relevance, question difficulty, and time requirement. We explored the strategies to handle these factors and implemented them. We employ various concepts and techniques for the implementation. The system finally assigns a numerical quality score against these factors. The system is evaluated using a set of question papers collected from various sources. The experimental results show that the proposed system is quite promising.

Background The implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) with structured and standardized recording of patient data can improve data quality and reusability. Whether and how users perceive these advantages may depend on the preimplementation situation. Objective To determine whether the influence of implementing a structured and standardized EHR on perceived EHR use, data quality, and data reuse differed for users working with paper-based records versus a legacy EHR before implementation. Methods We used an electronic questionnaire to measure users' perception before implementation (2014), expected change, and perceived change after implementation (2016) on three themes. We included all health care professionals in two university hospitals in the Netherlands. Before jointly implementing the same structured and standardized EHR, one hospital used paper-based records and the other a legacy EHR. We compared perceptions before and after implementation for both centers. Additionally, we compared expected benefit with perceived benefit. Results We received 7,611 responses (4,537 before and 3,074 after implementation) of which 5,707 (75%) were from professionals reading and recording patient data. A total of 975 (13%) professionals responded to both before and after implementation questionnaires. In the formerly paper-based center staff perceived improvement in all themes after implementation. The legacy EHR center experienced deterioration of perceived EHR use and data reuse, and only one improvement in EHR use. In both centers, for half of the aspects at least 45% of responders experienced results worse than expected preimplementation. Conclusion Our results indicate that the preimplementation recording practice impacts the perceived effect of the implementation of a structured and standardized EHR. For almost half of the respondents the new EHR did not meet their expectations. Especially legacy EHR centers need to investigate the expectations as these might be different and less clear cut than those in paper-based centers. These expectations need to be addressed appropriately to achieve a successful implementation.

A paper-based electrode is a very attractive component for a disposable, nontoxic, and flexible biosensor. In particular, wearable biosensors, which have recently been attracting interest, not only require these characteristics of paper-based electrodes but must also be able to detect various ions and biomolecules in biological fluids. In this paper, we demonstrate the detection ability of paper-based metal electrodes for wearable biosensors as part of a wireless potentiometric measurement system, focusing on the detection of pH and sodium ions. The paper-based metal electrodes were obtained by simply coating a silicone-rubber-coated paper sheet with a Au (/Cr) thin film by sputtering then modifying it with different functional membranes such as an oxide membrane (Ta2O5) and a fluoropolysilicone (FPS)-based Na+-sensitive membrane, corresponding to the targeted ions. Satisfactory and stable detection sensitivities of the modified paper-based Au electrodes were obtained over several weeks even when they were bent to a radius of curvature in the range of 6.5 to 25 mm, assuming use in a flexible body patch biosensor. Moreover, the Na+ concentration in a sweat sample was evaluated using the paper-based Au electrode with the FPS-based Na+-sensitive membrane in a wireless and real-time manner while the electrode was bent. Thus, owing to their complex mesh structure, flexible paper sheets should be suitable for use as potentiometric electrodes for wearable wireless biosensors., Graphical abstarct

Flexible thin-film solar cells with high weight-specific power density are highly desired in the emerging portable/wearable electronic devices, solar-powered vehicles, etc. The conventional flexible metallic or plastic substrates are encountered either overweight or thermal and mechanical mismatch with deposited films. In this work, we proposed a novel substrate for flexible solar cells based on graphene paper, which possesses the advantages of being lightweight and having a high-temperature tolerance and high mechanical flexibility. Thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells were constructed on such graphene paper, whose power density is 4.5 times higher than that on plastic polyimide substrates. In addition, the a-Si:H solar cells present notable flexibility whose power conversion efficiencies show little degradation when the solar cells are bent to a radius as small as 14 mm for more than 100 times. The application of this unique flexible substrate can be extended to CuInGaSe and CdTe solar cells and other thin-film devices requiring high-temperature processing.

Development of paper-based microfluidic devices that perform colorimetric measurements requires quantitative image analysis. Because the design geometries of paper-based microfluidic devices are not standardized, conventional methods for performing batch measurements of regularly spaced areas of signal intensity, such as those for well plates, cannot be used to quantify signal from most of these devices. To streamline the device development process, we have developed an open-source program called ColorScan that can automatically recognize and measure signal-containing zones from images of devices, regardless of output zone geometry or spatial arrangement. This program, which measures color intensity with the same accuracy as standard manual approaches, can rapidly process scanned device images, simultaneously measure identified output zones, and effectively manage measurement results to eliminate requirements for time-consuming and user-dependent image processing procedures.

The development of diagnostic tools for measuring a wide spectrum of target analytes, from biomarkers to other biochemical parameters in biological fluids, has experienced a significant growth in the last decades, with a good number of such tools entering the market. Recently, a clear focus has been put on miniaturized wearable devices, which offer powerful capabilities for real-time and continuous analysis of biofluids, mainly sweat, and can be used in athletics, consumer wellness, military, and healthcare applications. Sweat is an attractive biofluid in which different biomarkers could be noninvasively measured to provide rapid information about the physical state of an individual. Wearable devices reported so far often provide discrete (single) measurements of the target analytes, most of them in the form of a yes/no qualitative response. However, quantitative biomarker analysis over certain periods of time is highly demanded for many applications such as the practice of sports or the precise control of the patient status in hospital settings. For this, a feasible combination of fluidic elements and sensor architectures has been sought. In this regard, this paper shows a concise overview of analytical tools based on the use of capillary-driven fluidics taking place on paper or fabric devices integrated with solid-state sensors fabricated by thick film technologies. The main advantages and limitations of the current technologies are pointed out together with the progress towards the development of functional devices. Those approaches reported in the last decade are examined in detail.

The fabrication of low-cost, flexible, and recyclable electronic devices has been the focus of many research groups, particularly for integration in wearable technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). In this work, porous zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are incorporated as a UV sensing material into the composition of a sustainable water-based screen-printable ink composed of car-boxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The formulated ink is used to fabricate flexible and foldable UV sensors on ubiquitous office paper. The screen-printed CMC/ZnO UV sensors operate under low voltage (≤2 V) and reveal a stable response over several on/off cycles of UV light exposure. The devices reach a response current of 1.34 ± 0.15 mA and a rise and fall time of 8.2 ± 1.0 and 22.0 ± 2.3 s, respectively. The responsivity of the sensor is 432 ± 48 mA W−1, which is the highest value reported in the literature for ZnO-based UV sensors on paper substrates. The UV-responsive devices display impressive mechanical endurance under folding, showing a decrease in responsivity of only 21% after being folded 1000 times. Their low-voltage operation and extreme folding stability indicate a bright future for low-cost and sustainable flexible electronics, showing potential for low-power wearable applications and smart packaging. publishersversion published

This study investigates the efficacy of using discarded textile (cotton and polycotton) and paper waste (newspaper and corrugated cardboard) as substrates to form sheets with optimum tensile strength. The effect of alkali treatment (sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)), compressive loads (200 N and 500 N), and the use of binding agents (blackstrap molasses, sodium alginate, and cornstarch) were studied to optimize the tensile strength of homogeneous sheets. The alkali treatment using 5% NaOH for 5 h of soaking demonstrated the highest increase in tensile strength of 21% and 19% for cotton and newspaper, respectively. Increasing compressive load from 200 N to 500 N showed the highest increase in tensile strength of 37% and 42% for cotton and newspaper, respectively. Remarkably, among the binders, cornstarch at 20% concentration obtained an increase in tensile strength of 395%, 320%, 310%, and 185% for cotton, polycotton, corrugated cardboard, and newspaper sheets, respectively. The optimum results obtained from this study will be utilized to develop biodegradable seedling pots using discarded textile and paper waste.

A novel paper-based potentiometric platform for the simple and fast monitoring of water hardness is presented. First, potentiometric ion-selective electrodes for calcium and magnesium printed on a paper substrate were built and optimized. These sensors, which display near-Nernstian sensitivity, were used for the determination of the concentration of these cations and the calculation of the water hardness. Second, the incorporation of a solid-state reference electrode allowed building an integrated paper-based potentiometric cell for the determination of the hardness of artificial and real samples (mineral waters). The validation of the results shows good ability to predict hardness in the conventional scale. Truly decentralized measurements were demonstrated by integration of a miniaturized instrument and dedicated software in a portable device. The measurements were able to be performed in just under two minutes, including a two-point calibration. Since the method is simple to use and cost-effective, it can be implemented in domestic and industrial settings.

The textile industry is resource-intensive, which has a significant impact on global emissions and waste pollution. To meet the demand of textiles over a third of fibres used in manufacturing are sourced from fossil fuels. As the global demand for textiles continues to grow, manufacturers are having to seek innovative approaches to providing sustainable and regenerative cellulose fibres. However, the latest climate change pressures on the textile industry have uncovered grave environmental issues associated with traditional regenerative cellulose production, such as the viscose manufacturing process. The viscose process requires intensive use of hazardous chemicals which leads to water pollution and ecotoxicity. In addition, if forestry products are unsustainably sourced for this process, this can lead to resource scarcity and deforestation. To provide a holistic solution for mitigating these challenges this study uses the by-products of paper manufacturing dissolved in an ionic liquid to produce regenerated cellulose filaments. Paper mill sludge (PMS) is a cellulosic by-product typically used on animal bedding and land spreading. The material has been dissolved in an ionic liquid - 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate - with the aid of a co-solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) - and spun into continuous filaments for textile production. The mechanical properties of paper sludge filaments are found to be competitive with commercial viscose, which is promising for their drop-in replacement. It is also demonstrated that by increasing the concentration of the PMS from 9% to 12.4%, an improvement of the filament properties can be achieved; an increase in modulus from ∼19 GPa to ∼26 GPa and strength from ∼223 MPa to ∼282 MPa. These values are shown to be competitive with other commercial, less sustainable, regenerated cellulose fibres.

We have studied the surface structure of tamper-proof paper with positive and negative watermarks at different scales ‒ from a micrometer to a nanometer level, by using the methods of contact profilometry and atomic force microscopy. Experimental research has confirmed that the structural parameters of the tamper-proof paper's surface differ at regions with and without watermarks. The results of measurements by a contact profilometer have made it possible to trace a correlation between values of the profile's mean arithmetic deviation and the presence of watermarks. It was determined that the value for the profile's largest height does not depend on a measurement region, which could be related to the chaotic arrangement of fibers and particles of the filler in the paper bulk that protrude above the profile's line. By analyzing the value of the profile's mean arithmetic deviation obtained by using a method of atomic-force microscopy, it was found that for regions with negative watermarks it is larger than that for regions with positive watermarks. The dependence of the profile's largest height on measurement region is not clearly observed. This may be due to that the size of the examined region (3,000×3,000 nm) covers only part of the pulp fibers. Thus, the results of our analysis allow us to argue that both methods are suitable for estimating the characteristics of paper's surface, and determine the character of interaction between a given type of paper and printing inks during printing process. In particular, it has been established that the method of profilometry makes it possible to determine parameters of the paper's surface profile, formed in a certain way, while the atomic force microscopy method allows analysis of the morphology of its components, located at the surface (fibers, filler's particles, etc.). The availability of information on the structural properties of paper makes it possible to predict the quality of printing reproduction, specifically clearness of reproduction of thin guilloche lines on watermarks, which is relevant because it prevents flaws in printing products for special purposes.

International audience; This paper focuses on the problem of the hierarchical multi‐label classification of research papers, which is the task of assigning the set of relevant labels for a paper from a hierarchy, using reduced amounts of labelled training data. Specifically, we study leveraging unlabelled data, which are usually plentiful and easy to collect, in addition to the few available labelled ones in a semi‐supervised learning framework for achieving better performance results. Thus, in this paper, we propose a semi‐supervised approach for the hierarchical multi‐label classification task of research papers based on the well‐known Co‐training algorithm, which exploit content and bibliographic coupling information as two distinct papers' views. In our approach, two hierarchical multi‐label classifiers, are learnt on different views of the labelled data, and iteratively select their most confident unlabelled samples, which are further added to the labelled set. The success of our suggested Co‐training‐based approach lies in two main components. The first is the use of two suggested selection criteria (i.e., Maximum Agreement and Labels Cardinality Consistency) that enforce selecting confident unlabelled samples. The second is the appliance of an oversampling method that rebalances the labels distribution of the initial labelled set, which reduces the reinforcement of the label imbalance issue during the Co‐training learning. The proposed approach is evaluated using a collection of scientific papers extracted from the ACM digital library. Performed experiments show the effectiveness of our approach with regards to several baseline methods.

1/f noise represents the dominant source of noise in the low-frequency range in several physical systems, including field-effect transistors. Its investigation can provide very important information on the fabrication process, highlighting the steps that are more prone to the introduction of defects. Here, 1/f noise in bilayer MoS2 transistors on paper with inkjet-printed Ag contacts and hBN die- lectric is investigated. These devices are promising building blocks for future low-cost, flexible, and easily recyclable disposable electronics. The analysis of 1/f noise, performed following Hooge’s empirical approach, results in a Hooge parameter ≈1–10, which is comparable to those reported for bilayer MoS2 transistors on SiO2. The present results indicate that the noise properties of the investigated devices are stable against substrate bending and are mainly determined by the printing of the dielectric, while not being sensibly affected by the use of the paper substrate. These results are promising for the further development of low noise 2D material-based flexible electronics on paper.

To explore whether the brain contains pattern differences in the rock–paper–scissors (RPS) imagery task, this paper attempts to classify this task using fNIRS and deep learning. In this study, we designed an RPS task with a total duration of 25 min and 40 s, and recruited 22 volunteers for the experiment. We used the fNIRS acquisition device (FOIRE-3000) to record the cerebral neural activities of these participants in the RPS task. The time series classification (TSC) algorithm was introduced into the time-domain fNIRS signal classification. Experiments show that CNN-based TSC methods can achieve 97% accuracy in RPS classification. CNN-based TSC method is suitable for the classification of fNIRS signals in RPS motor imagery tasks, and may find new application directions for the development of brain–computer interfaces (BCI).

Paper waste in the mockups design with regular, irregular, and amorphous patterns is a critical problem in digital printing presses. Paper waste reduction directly impacts production costs, generating business and environmental benefits. This problem can be mapped to the two-dimensional irregular bin-packing problem. In this paper, an iterated local search algorithm using a novel neighborhood structure to detect overlaps between amorphous shapes is introduced. This algorithm is used to solve the paper waste problem, modeled as one 2D irregular bin-packing problem. The experimental results show that this approach works efficiently and effectively to detect and correct the overlaps between regular, irregular, and amorphous figures.

Ample interest for more efficient utilization of bio-based residues has emerged in the Nordic pulp and paper (P&P) industry, which uses virgin wood as feedstock. Although different bioenergy retrofit technologies for production of liquid, solid, and gaseous bioenergy products have been applied in the existing P&P mills, the number of installations remains small. The lack of profound knowledge of existing bioenergy retrofits hinders the replication and market uptake of potential technologies. This review synthesises the existing knowledge of European installations and identifies the key drivers and barriers for implementation to foster the market uptake of potential technologies. The bioenergy retrofits were reviewed in terms of technical maturity, drivers, barriers and market potential. Based on this evaluation, common drivers and barriers towards wider market uptake were outlined from political, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal perspective. Technologies already commercially applied include anaerobic fermentation of sludge, bark gasification, tall oil diesel and bioethanol production, whereas lignin extraction, biomethanol production, hydrothermal liquefaction and hydrothermal carbonization are being demonstrated or first applications are under construction. The findings of this review show that a stable flow of residues at P&P mills creates a solid base for retrofitting. New innovative bio-based products would allow widening the companies' product portfolios and creating new businesses. Also, European Union's (EU) legislation drives towards advanced biofuels production. Wider uptake of the retrofitting technologies requires overcoming the barriers related to uncertainty of economic feasibility and unestablished markets for new products rather than technical immaturity.

Despite the potential in fabrication of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) for point-of-care testing (POCT) kits, the development of simple, accurate, and rapid devices with higher sensitivity remains challenging. Here, we report a novel method for 3D-μPAD fabrication with enclosed channels using vat photopolymerization to avoid fluid evaporation. In detail, height of the enclosed channels was adjusted from 0.3 to 0.17 mm by varying the UV exposure time from 1 to 4 s for the top barrier, whereas the exposure time for the bottom and side barriers was fixed. As a result, sample flow in the enclosed channels of 3D-μPADs showed lesser wicking speed with very scant evaporation compared to that in the hemi channels in the 3D-μPADs. The stoppage of evaporation in the enclosed channels significantly improved the gray intensity and uniformity in the detection zone of the 3D-μPADs, resulting in as low as 0.3 mM glucose detection. Thus 3D-μPADs with enclosed channels showed enhanced sensitivity compared to the 3D-μPADs with hemi channels when dealing with a small volume sample. Our work provides a new insight into 3D-μPAD design with enclosed channels, which redefines the methodology in 3D printing.

This review summarizes the state of the art of paper-based biosensors (PBBs) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) detection. Three categories of PBB are currently being been used for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostics, namely for viral gene, viral antigen and antibody detection. The characteristics, the analytical performance, the advantages and drawbacks of each type of biosensor are highlighted and compared with traditional methods. It is hoped that this review will be useful for scientists for the development of novel PBB platforms with enhanced performance for helping to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, by allowing early diagnosis at the point of care (POC).

This work reports on fully integrated “sample‐in‐signal‐out” microfluidic paper‐based analytical devices (μPADs) relying on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) switches for analyte recognition and colorimetric signal generation. The devices use BRET‐based antibody sensing proteins integrated into vertically assembled layers of functionalized paper, and their design enables sample volume‐independent and fully reagent‐free operation, including on‐device blood plasma separation. User operation is limited to the application of a single drop (20–30 μL) of sample (serum, whole blood) and the acquisition of a photograph 20 min after sample introduction, with no requirement for precise pipetting, liquid handling, or analytical equipment except for a camera. Simultaneous detection of three different antibodies (anti‐HIV1, anti‐HA, and anti‐DEN1) in whole blood was achieved. Given its simplicity, this type of device is ideally suited for user‐friendly point‐of‐care testing in low‐resource environments.

In recent years, the use of microalgae as feedstock for many marketable products, such as animal/aqua feeds, bioplastics and fertilizers, has gained renewed interest due to their fast growth potential coupled with relatively high lipid, carbohydrate and nutrient content. An algal biorefinery at an industrial site has the potential to sustainably and profitably convert carbon dioxide emissions into microalgal biomass and concomitantly reduce nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewaters. Industrial wastewaters are a potential alternative to traditional media used for large-scale microalgal cultivation. Pulp and paper mills are major consumers of water resources and discharge a huge amount of water to nearby lakes or rivers. This study investigated whether pulp and paper mill waste water is suitable for microalgal cultivation with the aim of achieving significant biomass production. Six different process waters from one Canadian pulp and paper mill were tested with two freshwater green microalgae. All of these waters were unable to support growth of microalgae due to inadequate nutrient concentrations, colour, turbidity and possible toxicity issues. HIGHLIGHTS Two freshwater microalgae strains were screened for potential growth on pulp and paper effluents.; Pulp and paper wastewater effluents were unable to support growth of the microalgae.; Chemical residues from the pulping process, such as peroxide and tannin, may inhibit algal growth.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer remains the most common neoplasm diagnosed among women in China and globally. Health-related questionnaire assessments in research and clinical oncology settings have gained prominence. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network–Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI-16) is a rapid and powerful tool to help evaluate disease- or treatment-related symptoms, both physical and emotional, in patients with breast cancer for clinical and research purposes. Prevalence of individual smartphones provides a potential web-based approach to administrating the questionnaire; however, the reliability of the NFBSI-16 in electronic format has not been assessed. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the reliability of a web-based NFBSI-16 questionnaire in breast cancer patients undergoing systematic treatment with a prospective open-label randomized crossover study design. METHODS We recruited random patients with breast cancer under systematic treatment from the central hospital registry to complete both paper- and web-based versions of the questionnaires. Both versions of the questionnaires were self-assessed. Patients were randomly assigned to group A (paper-based first and web-based second) or group B (web-based first and paper-based second). A total of 354 patients were included in the analysis (group A: n=177, group B: n=177). Descriptive sociodemographic characteristics, reliability and agreement rates for single items, subscales, and total score were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. The Lin concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Spearman and Kendall τ rank correlations were used to assess test-retest reliability. RESULTS Test-retest reliability measured with CCCs was 0.94 for the total NFBSI-16 score. Significant correlations (Spearman ρ) were documented for all 4 subscales—Disease-Related Symptoms Subscale–Physical (ρ=0.93), Disease-Related Symptoms Subscale–Emotional (ρ=0.85), Treatment Side Effects Subscale (ρ=0.95), and Function and Well-Being Subscale (ρ=0.91)—and total NFBSI-16 score (ρ=0.94). Mean differences of the test and retest were all close to zero (≤0.06). The parallel test-retest reliability of subscales with the Wilcoxon test comparing individual items found GP3 (item 5) to be significantly different (P=.02). A majority of the participants in this study (255/354, 72.0%) preferred the web-based over the paper-based version. CONCLUSIONS The web-based version of the NFBSI-16 questionnaire is an excellent tool for monitoring individual breast cancer patients under treatment, with the majority of participants preferring it over the paper-based version.

This study's focus was to develop a potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost (PMSC) in brick making. Composting reduces the paper mill sludge (PMS) moisture content considerably and shredding becomes easier. The addition of PMSC leads to an increase of porosities in bricks and makes them lighter, besides delivering energy to the firing process from burning organics. Lighter construction materials help minimize construction outlay by reducing labour and transportation costs and lesser expense on foundation construction. The variability in the experimental data and the brick properties were investigated for two types of soils, typical in the brick industry of India (alluvial and laterite soil), blended with PMSC in five mix ratios (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%). The samples of oven-dried bricks were fired at two different temperatures (850 and 900 °C) in an electrically operated muffle furnace representing typical conditions of a brick kiln. Various properties of bricks were analyzed which included linear shrinkage, bulk density, water absorption and compressive strength. Conclusions were drawn based on these properties. It was found that the addition of PMSC to the alluvial and laterite soil by up to 10% weight yield mechanical properties of fired bricks compliant with the relevant Indian and ASTM codes. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests showed that PMSC incorporated fired bricks are safe to use in regular applications as non-load-bearing and infill walls. This study is timely in light of the European Green Deal putting focus on circular economy. Besides, it fulfills the objective of UN sustainable development goals (SDG). © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.The present paper reports the pyrolysis behavior, kinetic, and thermodynamic parameters of paper mill sludge (PMS), which is a paper manufacturing residue and cannot be re-evaluated, at three heating rates (5, 10, and 20 °C min−1) under non-isothermal conditions. Ultimate and proximate analyses of the paper mill sludge were carried out. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were calculated using four model-free methods; Flynn-Wall Ozawa (FWO), Friedman, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), and distributed activation energy model (DAEM). High R2 values revealed that all models are compatible with TGA data. The activation energy calculated (101.01 kJ mol−1) from FWO was higher than the other three methods. Pre-exponential factor values ranged from 0.56 × 103 and 14.55 × 103 s−1 for all methods. Kinetic and thermodynamic findings will be beneficial in terms of the process design of PMS pyrolysis. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Paper holds the promise to replace silicon substrates in applications like internet of things or disposable electronics that require ultra-low-cost electronic components and an environmentally friendly electronic waste management. In the last years, spurred by the abovementioned properties of paper as a substrate and the exceptional electronic, mechanical and optical properties of van der Waals (vdW) materials, many research groups have worked towards the integration of vdW materials-based devices on paper. Recently, a method to deposit a continuous film of densely packed interconnects of vdW materials on paper by simply rubbing the vdW crystals against the rough surface of paper has been presented. This method utilizes the weak interlayer vdW interactions and allows cleaving of the crystals into micro platelets through the abrasion against the paper. Here, we aim to illustrate the general character and the potential of this technique by fabricating films of 39 different vdW materials (including superconductors, semi-metals, semiconductors, and insulators) on standard copier paper. We have thoroughly characterized their optical properties showing their high optical quality: one can easily resolve the absorption band edge of semiconducting vdW materials and even the excitonic features present in some vdW materials with high exciton binding energy. We also measured the electrical resistivity for several vdW materials films on paper finding exceptionally low values, which are in some cases, orders of magnitude lower than those reported for analogous films produced by inkjet printing. We finally demonstrate the fabrication of field-effect devices with vdW materials on paper using the paper substrate as an ionic gate., Comment: 4 figures in main text, 21 figures in Supp. Info

Smart fluid manipulation with automatically controlled paper valves will enable automated and multi-step immunoassays on paper-based microfluidic devices. In this work, we present an integrated paper-based microfluidic platform with shape-memory polymer (SMP)-actuated fluid valves capable of automated colorimetric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). A single-layer microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) was designed to store all the reagents on the chip, and sequentially transfer reagents to a paper test zone following a specific ELISA protocol through automatic fluidic flow control by the multiple SMP-actuated valves. The actuation of a paper valve was based on the thermally responsive, duel-state shape transformation of a SMP sheet attached to the root of a paper cantilever beam for driving a hydrophilic paper bridge to connect and disconnect two paper channels. A portable colorimetric reader was developed to control the on-chip valve operations, quantify the colorimetric signal output, display the assay result, and wirelessly transmit the data to a smart phone for the application of telemedicine. Reliable operations of the paper valve and the entire μPAD were demonstrated with success rates of 97% and 93%, respectively. A detection mechanism for valve malfunction was designed and confirmed effective to identify any mal-operation of individual valves, thus rendering our platform reliable in real assays. For device calibration, we conducted direct ELISAs of rabbit IgG in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and achieved a low limit of detection (LOD) of 27 pM (comparable to that of standard and paper-based ELISAs). In order to demonstrate the clinical application of our multi-step immunoassay platform, we also conducted sandwich ELISAs to quantify the protein level of an inflammatory cytokine, namely tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, in surgically injured laryngeal tissues of rats. The protein levels of TNF-α were shown similar between the conventional and μPAD ELISAs., Microfluidics: Paper valves open doors to new designs Researchers in Canada have improved the design of paper-based analytical devices by developing paper valves which make it possible to carry out fully-automated multi-step analyses. Previous efforts to incorporate valves have been based on electromagnets or compressed sponges, making them too cumbersome or complicated for reliable use in paper-based analytical devices. To overcome this, a team led by Xinyu Liu of the University of Toronto turned to polymers that reversibly change shape in response to temperature. They combined these with a heating element to produce thermally-activated paper valves. Test devices designed to carry out a multi-step ELISA analysis produced results comparable to a standard commercial ELISA kit. The valve design can be used to create devices for other multi-step diagnostic assays which can be used in contexts where lab equipment and skilled personnel are unavailable.

With the increasing advance of computer and information technologies, numerous research papers have been published online as well as offline, and as new research fields have been continuingly created, users have a lot of trouble in finding and categorizing their interesting research papers. In order to overcome the limitations, this paper proposes a research paper classification system that can cluster research papers into the meaningful class in which papers are very likely to have similar subjects. The proposed system extracts representative keywords from the abstracts of each paper and topics by Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) scheme. Then, the K-means clustering algorithm is applied to classify the whole papers into research papers with similar subjects, based on the Term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) values of each paper.

There is a lot of investment in research on displaying texture through a stylus pen. However, little is known about the effect of a stylus pen that can provide the texture of pen and paper on user experience. This study investigated whether there is a change in user experience when using a stylus pen that can provide pen-and-paper texture compared with a typical stylus pen. Experiments involving writing and drawing tasks using three tools (a stylus pen that can provide pen-and-paper texture, a typical stylus pen, and analogue pen and paper) were conducted, and user experiences were compared. After a literature review that examined the factors affecting the experience of using a pen, the experiments were conducted to measure usability and emotions. We found little difference between the typical stylus pen and the stylus pen in providing texture in respect of completion time and amount of error. However, the stylus pen that can provide texture showed results closer to those of the analogue pen and paper, and better results than those of the typical stylus pen in respect of familiarity and overall satisfaction of the usability and emotional variables. Therefore, this study confirmed that user experience is improved when using a stylus pen that can provide the texture of pen and paper. Daar is al baie belê en nagevors in die nabootsing van die pen-op-papier gevoel van 'n elektroniese stilus. Daar is egter weinige inligting beskikbaar oor die effek wat tekstuur op gebruikers-ervaring het. Hierdie studie ondersoek of daar n verandering in gebruikerservaring is wanneer n stilus met pen-op-papier terugvoer gebruik word teenoor n tipiese stilus wat nie terugvoer aan die gebruiker lewer nie. Eksperimente wat skryf en teken-take insluit is met drie gereedskapstukke (n stilus met pen-op-papier terugvoer, n tipiese stilus, en n konvensionele pen op papier) uitgevoer. Na n literatuurstudie van stapel gestuur is, is die eksperimente uitgevoer om die bruikbaarheid en subjektiewe terugvoer van die gebruiker te bepaal. Die resultate toon min verskil tussen n tipiese stilus en een met die pen-op-papier gevoel, beide in terme van die tyd om die take te voltooi en die aantal foute begaan. Die stilus met pen-op-papier terugvoer se vertoning was nader aan die van n tradisionele pen, asook beter subjektiewe terugvoer van die gebruiker in terme van vertroudheid en algehele bevrediging. Die gevolgtrekking is dus dat n stilus met pen-op-papier terugvoer gebruikerservaring verbeter.

This paper shows how chemical sludge (CS) generated during wastewater treatment at a paperboard mill can be quickly dried at low-temperature and employed in bark-fired boilers to reduce slagging and corrosion problems. By using a cyclone-dryer operated at an inlet-air velocity of 110 m/s and a temperature of 90 °C, the dry-matter content of CS was increased from approximately 19 to 82%. The residence time of CS inside the cyclone was approximately 2 s when using the inlet-air velocity mentioned above. Disaggregation of the feedstock caused by collisions with the cyclone wall and between particles played a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of heat and mass transfer. Three co-pelletized mixtures of Scots pine bark (SPB) and dried-CS were combusted in a 40 kW fixed-bed burner. Flue gas analysis was performed with a gas analyser. Coarse and fine ash were analysed by SEM-EDS and XRD. NOx and SO2 emissions increased with increasing amount of CS in the mixtures. Mono-combustion of SPB resulted in a large quantity of slag (i.e., molten ash) with a high degree of sintering (i.e., hardness of the slag), and ash deposits formed on heat transfer surfaces were rich in K2SO4 and KCl. Mixtures of SPB and CS were less prone to slagging, and the amount of alkali chloride in the deposits was reduced in favour of alkali sulphate formation.

We propose a paper solar cell based on carbon nanotube (CNT)-composite papers. To fabricate this cell, we use dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) for generating power through the redox reaction of dyes in conjunction with CNT-composite papers, which are composite materials containing CNTs and pulp (raw paper material) that can be fabricated easily by using a method based on the Japanese washi papermaking technique. The demand for CNT applications is expected to increase due to their high conductivity and metallic or semiconducting characteristics. This CNT-composite paper can also have metallic or semiconducting characteristics based on the contained CNTs in the composite paper. We previously fabricated a DSC that generates electricity by using CNT-composite papers stacked in a typical DSC structure. However, the conversion efficiency of this DSC was just 0.188%, which is not practical. To overcome this low power generation issue, we tried improving the DSC structure by applying electrodes to the CNT-composite papers in grid patterns for efficient current collection and applying an optimally mixed dye for efficient electron excitation. Results showed that the conversion efficiency improved to 0.58%. Moreover, we demonstrated that using a mixed dye can improve the conversion efficiency of the paper DSC. We expect these types of CNT-composite papers to be used as material for new DSCs.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Detection of cytokine storm biomarkers with mobile biosensors. • Immunosensors are made solely of cellulose modified with antibody-decorated nanoparticles. • Turnaround time under 10 min. • Detection of biomarkers in respiratory samples allows monitoring local inflammation. • Compatible with decentralized health care schemes., Decentralizing COVID-19 care reduces contagions and affords a better use of hospital resources. We introduce biosensors aimed at detecting severe cases of COVID-19 in decentralized healthcare settings. They consist of a paper immunosensor interfaced with a smartphone. The immunosensors have been designed to generate intense colorimetric signals when the sample contains ultralow concentrations of IL-6, which has been proposed as a prognosis biomarker of COVID-19. This is achieved by combining a paper-based signal amplification mechanism with polymer-filled reservoirs for dispensing antibody-decorated nanoparticles and a bespoken app for color quantification. With this design we achieved a low limit of detection (LOD) of 10−3 pg mL-1 and semi-quantitative measurements in a wide dynamic range between 10−3 and 102 pg mL-1 in PBS. The assay time is under 10 min. The low LOD allowed us to dilute blood samples and detect IL-6 with an LOD of 1.3 pg mL-1 and a dynamic range up to 102 pg mL-1. Following this protocol, we were able to stratify COVID-19 patients according to different blood levels of IL-6. We also report on the detection of IL-6 in respiratory samples (bronchial aspirate, BAS) from COVID-19 patients. The test could be easily adapted to detect other cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-8 by changing the antibodies decorating the nanoparticles accordingly. The ability of detecting cytokines in blood and respiratory samples paves the way for monitoring local inflammation in the lungs as well as systemic inflammation levels in the body.

The pulp and paper (P&P) sector is a dynamic manufacturing industry and plays an essential role in the Austrian economy. However, the sector, which consumes about 20 TWh of final energy, is responsible for 7% of Austria’s industrial CO2 emissions. This study, intending to assess the potential for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions in the Austrian context in the P&P sector, uses a bottom-up approach model. The model is applied to analyze the energy consumption (heat and electricity) and CO2 emissions in the main processes, related to the P&P production from virgin or recycled fibers. Afterward, technological options to reduce energy consumption and fossil CO2 emissions for P&P production are investigated, and various low-carbon technologies are applied to the model. For each of the selected technologies, the potential of emission reduction and energy savings up to 2050 is estimated. Finally, a series of low-carbon technology-based scenarios are developed and evaluated. These scenarios’ content is based on the improvement potential associated with the various processes of different paper grades. The results reveal that the investigated technologies applied in the production process (chemical pulping and paper drying) have a minor impact on CO2 emission reduction (maximum 10% due to applying an impulse dryer). In contrast, steam supply electrification, by replacing fossil fuel boilers with direct heat supply (such as commercial electric boilers or heat pumps), enables reducing emissions by up to 75%. This means that the goal of 100% CO2 emission reduction by 2050 cannot be reached with one method alone. Consequently, a combination of technologies, particularly with the electrification of the steam supply, along with the use of carbon-free electricity generated by renewable energy, appears to be essential.

An origami three-dimensional design of a paper-based potentiometric sensor is described. In its simplest form, this electrochemical paper-based analytical device (ePAD) is made from three small parts of the paper. Paper layers are folded on each other for the integration of a solid contact ion selective electrode (here a carbon-paste composite electrode) and a solid-state pseudo-reference electrode (here writing pencil 6B on the paper), which are in contact with a hydrophilic channel fabricated on the middle part (third part) of the paper. In this case, the pseudo-reference and working electrodes are connected to the two sides of the hydrophilic channel and hence the distance between them is as low as the width of paper. The unmodified carbon paste electrode (UCPE) and modification with the crown ether benzo15-crown-5 (B15C5) represented a very high sensitivity to Cu (II) and Cd2+ ions, respectively. The sensor responded to H2O2 using MnO2-doped carbon paste electrode (CPE). Furthermore, a biosensor was achieved by the addition of glucose oxidase to the MnO2-doped CPE and hence made it selective to glucose with ultra-sensitivity. In addition to very high sensitivity, our device benefits from consuming a very low volume of sample (10.0 µL) and automatic sampling without need for sampling devices.

A new process for the production of bioethanol from paper mill sludge (PMS) is described in this work. PMS biomass feedstock was processed via the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with and without accelerants. The enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation were first evaluated, and the energy demand was 2.2 MJ/L of produced ethanol. When the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation were combined, the energy demand was reduced to 1.0 MJ/L ethanol, the sugars production increased, and the overall capital cost of the process decreased. The sugar yield was improved by adding accelerant and selecting the optimal fiber recovery method. The accelerant improved the enzymatic hydrolysis via a pathing/bridging mechanism. The SSF with the chemical fiber recovery method coupled with accelerant addition would be the best process configuration. Upon this combination, the glucose profile was enhanced from 9.8 g/L to 17.0 g/L. The sludge fiber conversion by SSF was improved by selecting an efficient fiber recovery method combined with the accelerant addition. SSF in chemical fiber recovery with accelerant addition was the best process by a 10% improvement of ethanol yield. The proposed process configuration offers a lower cost and sustainable process and contributes to the circular economy of zero waste discharges.

The main aim of the study was to assess the environmental performance, through the application of the life cycle assessment, of a recycled paper production process focusing on the energy aspect. The production process occurred in a paper mill that produces packaging paper using paper and cardboard from source separation of municipal solid waste as raw materials. Two scenarios (S1 and S2) were defined by their energy supply sources. A cogeneration (CHP) system using natural gas for the combined production of thermal and electric energy was the source in S1. The Italian electricity grid (using the Italian country mix) and a natural gas boiler were the separate sources for electric and thermal energy, respectively, in S2. Finally, in order to evaluate the environmental effects on the results of the study about the variation in the natural gas supply source, four alternative Italian import mixes (M1, M2, M3, and M4) were defined by varying the contribution of the supplier countries. The environmental impacts were evaluated with ReCiPe 2016 (H) using both midpoint and endpoint approaches. The results showed that for both the scenarios, the energy consumption was the main cause of impacts mainly because of the natural gas contribution. The presence of the cogeneration (CHP) system generated significant environmental benefits compared with the use of energy provided by more conventional sources. The production and use of chemicals as well as the disposal of waste produced during the paper production were other environmental hotspots. The variation in the composition of the Italian import mix of natural gas, in terms of the supplier country’s contribution, had a significant influence on the results. The import of natural gas from Russia was the most impactful option. Since Russia is the country that contributes to the Italian import mix the most, in the next years, the use of natural gas in Italy could become increasingly impactful. Therefore, the replacement of natural gas with renewable sources is an urgent priority.

A novel miniaturized and sustainable platform exploiting two merged paper-based substrates has been applied for the programmable pre-concentration of analytes of interest and electrochemical detection of mercury traces in drinking water using printable sensor strips. This strategy represents a novel versatile possibility in merging humble materials maximizing their impacts on analytical and remediation challenges.

PurposeThis position paper urges a drive towards clarity in the key definitions, terminologies and habits of speech associated with digital engineering and building information modelling (BIM). The ultimate goal of the paper is to facilitate the move towards arriving at an ideal definition for both concepts.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes the “explanation building” review approach in providing prescriptive guidelines to researchers and industry practitioners. The aim of the review is to draw upon existing studies to identify, describe and find application of principles in a real-world context.FindingsThe paper highlights the definitional challenges surrounding digital engineering and BIM in Australia, to evoke a debate on BIM and digital engineering boundaries, how and why these two concepts may be linked, and how they relate to emerging concepts.Originality/valueThis is the first scholarly attempt to clarify the definition of digital engineering and address the confusion between the concepts of BIM and digital engineering.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is emerging as a global pandemic outbreak. To date, approximately one million deaths and over 32 million cases have been reported. This ongoing pandemic urgently requires an accurate testing device that can be used in the field in a fast manner. Serological assays to detect antibodies have been proven to be a great complement to the standard method of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), particularly after the second week of infection. We have developed a specific and sensitive immunosensor for immunoglobulin detection produced against SARS-CoV-2. Unlike other lateral flow-based assays (LFAs) involving the utilization of multiple antibodies, we have reported a label-free paper-based electrochemical platform targeting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies without the specific requirement of an antibody. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies will interrupt the redox conversion of the redox indicator, resulting in a decreased current response. This electrochemical sensor was proven effective in real clinical sera from patients with satisfactory results. In addition, the proposed format was also extended to antigen detection (the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2), which presents new possibilities for diagnosing COVID-19., Highlights • Electrochemical sensor for COVID-19 diagnostic. • Serological assay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was demonstrated. • Sensitivity enhancement compared to the traditional LFA devices. • Applicable to real clinical sera with satisfactory results.

This study develops a framework of internal and external factors that influence the adoption of eco-innovation. We studied 80 adoption processes in the Dutch brewing industry and the Dutch paper industry and analysed the relative importance of different factors. We find that internal factors were more important than external factors. The analysis also shows differences between the industries. The financial advantage was important for both industries, but especially for the paper industry. For the brewing industry, ethical responsibility and stakeholders played a more important role in the adoption. The analysis also revealed differences for small and large firms. Ethical responsibility and stakeholders are relatively more often mentioned by small firms, whereas clear objectives and regulations were mentioned more by large firms. Our study highlights that the adoption of eco-innovation is a complex process and the position in the supply chain as well as the size of a firm influence what is important in the adoption of eco-innovation.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with the polymer anion poly(styrenesulfonate), PEDOT:PSS, is a common electrochromic material used in the preparation of electrochromic devices (ECDs). In this paper, the PEDOT:PSS doped with a solvent was used both as the electrode and the electrochromic functional layer for fabrication of ECDs on absorptive paper surfaces. The doped PEDOT:PSS dispersion was assessed for the film-forming evenness, sheet resistance and conductivity, and the performance of prepared ECDs for their color contrast and switching dynamics. The ECD performance is discussed in relation to the absorptive characteristics of the substrates. The results indicate that it is feasible to prepare ECDs onto absorptive substrates, despite the partial polymer material imbibition into them. The extent of polymer absorption influences the ECD performance: an increased absorption reduces the color contrast but speeds up the color switching. The electrochemical properties of the used solid electrolyte were found to be crucial for functioning of the ECDs. Insufficient ion transport and associated high resistance led to failure of the devices.

Paper-based microfluidic devices are an attractive platform for developing low-cost, point-of-care diagnostic tools. As paper-based devices&rsquo, detection chemistries become more complex, more complicated devices are required, often entailing the sequential delivery of different liquids or reagents to reaction zones. Most research into flow control has been focused on introducing delays. However, delaying the flow can be problematic due to increased evaporation leading to sample loss. We report the use of a CO2 laser to uniformly etch the surface of the paper to modify wicking speeds in paper-based microfluidic devices. This technique can produce both wicking speed increases of up to 1.1&times, faster and decreases of up to 0.9&times, slower. Wicking speeds can be further enhanced by etching both sides of the paper, resulting in wicking 1.3&times, faster than unetched channels. Channels with lengthwise laser-etched grooves were also compared to uniformly etched channels, with the most heavily grooved channels wicking 1.9&times, faster than the fastest double-sided etched channels. Furthermore, sealing both sides of the channel in packing tape results in the most heavily etched channels, single-sided, double-sided, and grooved, wicking over 13&times, faster than unetched channels. By selectively etching individual channels, different combinations of sequential fluid delivery can be obtained without altering any channel geometry. Laser etching is a simple process that can be integrated into the patterning of the device and requires no additional materials or chemicals, enabling greater flow control for paper-based microfluidic devices.

Madagascar undergoes, like all countries in the world, the effects of climate change. in fact, since the last 5 years, in the coastal regions and the basins, the temperature has raised from 2 to 2.5 ° and varies between 34 to 36 ° in the shadow during the rainy season and on the high hills, the temperature diminishes from 2 to 2.5 ° during the dry period and varies from 4 ° to 8 °. However, the structure of lodging of 60% of the people are not adapted to this temperature change. Particularly, in the coastal regions, the walls of the houses are made of sheet iron. The inside of these houses is very hot when the weather is hot and very cold when it is cold. The inhabitants can’t afford the houses made in bricks or breeze block and the natural sources of aggregates are in the process of exhaustion. In the other part, we have seen that tons of paper are ready to be burned at the administrative services (public treasury, public financing, universities, ...) and the newspaper publishers. So, it becomes a must to find another way to the construction materials, justifying in that case our research axis. This study aims at the developing of construction material based on recycled paper, binder and aggregate. It deals of picking up or gathering all waste of papers and outdates newspapers and transforming them into brick for building constructions. What’s more, papers have prominent thermal insulating properties. Our work is focused on the study of variants on the different manufacturing processes, the choice of binder, the preparation of the specimens with different binders and different dosages, the mechanical compression tests for different binders, the evaluation of thermal conductivity for different binders and the numerical simulation of the thermo mechanical behavior of samples. The result is a lightweight brick with good thermal insulation. Tests have also made it possible to declare that the material has acceptable mechanical properties : the compressive strength is 1.56 [N/mm2], higher than the value prescribed by the standard for lightweight concrete blocks for construction of 1.1 [N/mm2], the value of thermal conductivity is 0.114 [W/mK], ten times less conductive heat than concrete and it can replace glass wool for a double its thickness. The specific weight is 57.5 [kg/m2].The practical results were confirmed by finite element simulations.

At the end of the 20th century, the future of the paper was not very optimistic due to the development of numerical technologies. Even if some paper grades have suffered, others like packaging boards, tissue papers and speciality papers have good economic trends. Furthermore, the environmental policies contribute to the development of natural fibre based materials and also to reuse a maximum of materials. Another important point to take into account is the climate warming, the fossil resources depletion and the trade globalization. All of that leads to new potential resources in order to produce greener paper and board. This chapter highlights the origin of natural fibres which could be used in the pulp and paper business, describes briefly the pulping and papermaking processes including some aspects about the specificity of the use of annual plants and to presents some new challenges for papermakers.

Reject fines, a waste stream of short lignocellulosic fibers produced from paper linerboard recycling, are a cellulose-rich paper mill byproduct that can be hydrolyzed enzymatically into fermentable sugars. In this study, the use of hydrolyzed reject fines as a carbon source for bacterial biosynthesis of poly(R-3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) and poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGA) was investigated. Recombinant Escherichia coli harboring PHA biosynthesis genes were cultivated with purified sugars or crude hydrolysate to produce both poly(R-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) homopolymer and medium chain length-containing copolymer (PHB-co-MCL). Wild-type Bacillus licheniformis WX-02 were cultivated with crude hydrolysate to produce PGA. Both PHB and short chain-length-co-medium chain-length (SCL-co-MCL) PHA yields from crude hydrolysate were a 2-fold improvement over purified sugars, and the MCL monomer fraction was decreased slightly in copolymers produced from crude hydrolysate. PGA yield from crude hydrolysate was similarly increased 2-fold. The results suggest that sugars from hydrolyzed reject fines are a viable carbon source for PHA and PGA biosynthesis. The use of crude hydrolysate is not only possible but beneficial for biopolymer production, eliminating the need for costly separation and purification techniques. This study demonstrates the potential to divert a lignocellulosic waste stream into valuable biomaterials, mitigating the environmental impacts of solid waste disposal.

Current product composition and quality test methods for the paper and pulp industries are rooted in wet-bench chemistry techniques which cannot be used to distinguish between virgin and secondary fibers. We have recently demonstrated the application of an in situ and nondestructive assessment method based on dielectric spectroscopy (DS), which can address this deficiency in the testing of paper. The DS technique, which employs a resonant microwave cavity, could be applicable to quality assurance techniques such as gauge capability studies and real-time statistical process control (SPC), and may have inherent forensic capabilities. In this paper, we show how this DS technique can be used to distinguish between office copier paper products which may contain recycled fibers. We show a reasonable correlation between the dielectric characteristics (e.g., dielectric loss) and the atomistic level chemical changes that result from the paper recycling process.

The effectiveness of ClO2 bleaching as a replacement for conventional Cl2 bleaching, which is intensively practiced in developing countries, to reduce polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in non-wood pulp and paper mills has not been field tested. The first field study was performed to investigate PCDD/F variations when ClO2 bleaching was used as a substitute for conventional Cl2 bleaching in a non-wood pulp and paper mill. It was found that the PCDD/F toxic equivalents (TEQs) in solid and effluent samples were approximately 1.3–14.9 times lower when ClO2 bleaching was used instead of the conventional Cl2 bleaching. 2,3,7,8-Substituted tetrachlorinated dibenzofurans (2,3,7,8-TCDF) were the dominant contributors to total PCDD/F TEQs in samples from the investigated mill when using conventional Cl2 bleaching. The formation amounts of 2,3,7,8-TCDF were reduced from 1.56–2.76 pg TEQ/g to 0.02–0.32 pg TEQ/g in solid samples when ClO2 bleaching was used instead of the conventional Cl2 bleaching. The replacement of Cl2 with ClO2 might decrease the chlorination reactions of dibenzofuran as potential precursors, and thus reduce the formation amounts of 2,3,7,8-TCDF. The results could provide important knowledge for suggesting the best available technique for PCDD/F reduction for non-wood pulp and paper mills in developing countries. Keywords: PCDD/Fs, Pulp and paper mill, ClO2 bleaching, Cl2 bleaching, Persistent organic pollutants

Halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are promising materials for diverse applications including displays, light‐emitting diodes, and solar cells due to their intriguing properties such as tunable bandgap, high photoluminescence quantum yield, high absorbance, and narrow emission peaks. Despite the prosperous achievements over the past several years, PQDs face severe challenges in terms of stability under different circumstances. Currently, researchers have overcome part of the stability problem, making PQDs sustainable in water, oxygen, and polar solvents for long‐term use. However, halide PQDs are easily degraded under continuous irradiation, which significantly limits their potential for conventional applications. In this study, an oleic acid/oleylamine (traditional surface ligands)‐free method to fabricate perovskite quantum dot papers (PQDP) is developed by adding cellulose nanocrystals as long‐chain binding ligands that stabilize the PQD structure. As a result, the relative photoluminescence intensity of PQDP remains over ≈90% under continuous ultraviolet (UV, 16 W) irradiation for 2 months, showing negligible photodegradation. This proposed method paves the way for the fabrication of ultrastable PQDs and the future development of related applications., Solid‐state perovskite quantum dot papers are fabricated using a unique vacuum filtration growth method without a purification process. The bonding between cellulose nanocrystals and perovskite quantum dots makes the hybrid structure stable, and record high UV stability and thermal stability are achieved for perovskite quantum dot papers.