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Due to the insufficiency of freshwater resources and to supply the drinking water populations, many desalination processes such as reverse osmosis, electrodialysis and distillation are widely used. However, these processes are of large-scale consumers of energy and confronted with various problems such as corrosion and scale formation. In most cases, scales are made of calcium carbonate CaCO3. In the present chapter, an overview on the effect of operating parameters such as temperature, pH and supersaturation on the precipitation kinetics, microstructure, and polymorphism of CaCO3 is given. Additionally, I put special emphasis on the effect of foreign ions such as magnesium, sulphate, and iron ions on CaCO3 precipitation since they are present at significant concentrations in natural waters. Also, the mechanisms by which these ions affect the crystal growth of CaCO3 were pointed out. Knowledge about these operating parameters as well as the effects of foreign ions allow elucidating the polymorphs growth during water treatment. The control of these operating parameters allows reducing scale formation during drinking water and wastewater treatment. The economic impact is of greatest importance since this favorably affects the treatment costs, increases the equipment life, and allows enhanced product water recovery.

This Chapter describes the approach and impacts of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Program. TAAT is an operational framework based upon collaboration between the African Development Bank, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and many other partners. This Program is designed to deliver modernizing agricultural technologies as a means of achieving food and nutritional security, and to boost employment and agricultural exports across Africa. TAAT consists of nine Commodity Compacts that have assembled technology toolkits for use in development programs and six specialized Enablers that help them to do so. These commodities are rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet potato, common beans, fish, and small livestock. The Enablers provide policy support, youth empowerment, capacity development, irrigation and soil fertility expertise, and control of invasive pests. Together these Compacts and Enablers design and conduct collaborative agricultural development projects in partnership with national counterparts. To date, TAAT has staged 88 interventions in 31 African countries, including the incorporation of customized technology toolkits within country loan projects of major development banks. Over three years, these efforts have reached about 10.6 million adopter households and increased food supply by 12 million tons worth over US $763 million, resulting in substantial improvements in smallholder farmer’s food supply (0.75 MT yr.−1) or income ($128 yr.−1). Environmental gains in terms of carbon offset average 0.74 MT CO2e yr.−1 per adopter household, an outcome indicative of positive combined rural development and climate actions. This Chapter describes how these technology toolkits are designed, deployed and evaluated, and how TAAT is becoming a leading mechanism for agricultural innovation delivery across Africa. This evaluation is limited to eight critical field crops and does not consider animal enterprises or the strategic roles of TAAT Enablers, two other important activities within the larger Program.

While sample preparation techniques for the chemical and biochemical analysis of tissues are fairly well advanced, the preparation of complex, heterogenous samples for single-cell analysis can be difficult and challenging. Nevertheless, there is growing interest in preparing complex cellular samples, particularly tissues, for analysis via single-cell resolution techniques such as single-cell sequencing or flow cytometry. Recent microfluidic tissue dissociation approaches have helped to expedite the preparation of single cells from tissues through the use of optimized, controlled mechanical forces. Cell sorting and selective cellular recovery from heterogenous samples have also gained traction in biosensors, microfluidic systems, and other diagnostic devices. Together, these recent developments in tissue disaggregation and targeted cellular retrieval have contributed to the development of increasingly streamlined sample preparation workflows for single-cell analysis technologies, which minimize equipment requirements, enable lower processing times and costs, and pave the way for high-throughput, automated technologies. In this chapter, we survey recent developments and emerging trends in this field.

With the rising emphasis on efficient and highly selective chemical transformations, the field of ruthenium-catalysed hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions has grown tremendously over recent years. The advances are triggered by the detailed understanding of the catalytic pathways that have enabled researchers to improve known transformations and realise new transformations in biomass conversion. Starting with the properties of ruthenium, this chapter introduces the concept of the catalytic function as a basis for rational design of ruthenium catalysts. Emphasis is placed on discussing the principles of dissociative adsorption of hydrogen. The principles are then applied to the conversion of typical biomolecules such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Characteristic features make ruthenium catalysis one of the most outstanding tools for implementing sustainable chemical transformations.

Defensins are naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides secreted in the human body. Mammalian defensins are small, cysteine-rich, cationic peptides, generally consisting of 18–45 amino acids. The antimicrobial activity of defensins arises from their unique amino acid sequence, showing activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi and enveloped viruses. The use of antimicrobial peptides is rising due to their potential to control biofilm formation and kill microorganisms that are highly tolerant to antibiotics. In free-form, defensins are capable of destroying such microorganisms through numerous mechanisms mainly the carpet, the toroidal and the Barrel-Stave models. However, immobilization of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) on surfaces with the help of coupling agents and spacers can improve the AMPs’ lifespan and stability in the physiological environment leading to applications for medical devices and implants. Fundamental understanding of both free-form and surface-immobilized defensins is important to design more effective antimicrobial peptides and improve their performance in future developments.

A wide range of spices are used in most dishes as seasoning, colouring, texture developer, palatability or preserving food and beverages worldwide. However, the spices are produced mainly in developing countries where tropical and/or subtropical climate such as high temperature, heavy rainfall and humidity encourage fungal growth leading to increased occurrence of aflatoxins (AFs) in spices. Moreover, the inadequate implementation of good agricultural practice, good manufacturing practice and good hygienic practice in these countries are great alarming situation. AFs are considered as a carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and immunosuppressive to humans and are classified as hazardous food toxins. This chapter provides the worldwide production and regulations of spices, suitable conditions for the AFs production, worldwide occurrence of AFs, detection techniques and some aspect for the reduction of AFs in spices.

Theories of cyclic voltammetry, AC-impedance techniques, and the double-layer capacitive currents are described concisely to touch their principles. Applications of the theory to experimental data do not always lead to reasonable interpretation consistent with other techniques. Several tips are presented not only in the experimental viewpoint but also in a perspective of the data analysis. Most of them are devoted to cyclic voltammetry. They include shape of voltammograms, information from peak currents and peak potentials, criteria of diffusion and adsorption controls, the static and the dynamic numbers of electrons, handling of reference and counter electrodes, usage of AC impedance, concepts of heterogeneous charge-transfer rates, and combination with data by scanning probe microscope. They belong partially to recommendation and prohibition.

A new scientific hypothesis states that biosurfactants from cloud microorganism origin could change the surface tension of aerosols and thus the mode of precipitations. In order to check this hypothesis, our team has screened a collection of 480 microbial strains isolated from cloud waters for the production of biosurfactants and showed that 42% of these strains were producing such molecules. In the present work, we isolated and identified by LC-MS-MS lipopeptides produced from three strains issued from this screening. Viscosin and massetolide E (cyclic lipopeptides) were produced by Pseudomonas sp. PDD-14b-2, and syringafactins (linear lipopeptides) were produced by Xanthomonas campestris PDD-32b-52 and Pseudomonas syringae PDD-32b-74. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of these biosurfactants was determined using the pendant drop method. Finally, two approaches of molecular dynamics were used to model the conformation of viscosin and syringafactin A at the water-air interface: one is based on all-atoms simulation (CHARMM force field), while the other one on coarse-grain (CG) simulation (MARTINI force field). To conclude, this work shows how the biodiversity of the cloud microbiota can be explored to search and produce biosurfactants of interest both for atmospheric sciences and also for biotechnological applications.

This paper addresses the issue of connectivity and its relationship to the architecture of spaces. The internet of things and wifi technology is coming into the forefront of lifestyles in present times. We tend to spend much of our life activities using devices that need internet connectivity, wifi coverage, both indoors and outdoors. The technology behind it is also in the process of shifting gears, from 3G to 4G to 5G soon. However questions arise: How suitable are existing buildings for the sorts of internet technology that are predicted for the future? And how can the coverage and connectivity issue be addressed to give greater efficiency to new buildings? Will we require greater open layouts that give more visual connectivity within interior spaces to permit efficient connectivity between routers, boosters and appliances? The expertise of both Architects who design spaces, as well as RF Engineers who are responsible for setting up the internet systems within the spaces are involved in efficiently handling these queries. The paper incorporates recent studies have revealed that certain building materials may be more suited to Wifi penetration, while others act in a more opaque way. Architects are the main decision-makers regarding the final choice of such questions, but they have very little grounding in the technicalities involved related to connectivity issues. It is important to have them focus on these questions and seek answers through multi-disciplinary forums, thus also to deepen collaboration between the related professionals, in order to create more Wifi connectivity in building interiors. From the user perspective, this is a vital need, as the user of today spends enormous amounts of time at these electronic, computing devices that require uninterrupted and quality connectivity. It thus also becomes a question of sustainability.

This chapter refers to tropane alkaloid compounds best known for their occurrence, biosynthesis, and pharmacological properties in a subsection of the plant family Solanaceae including the Atropa, Duboisia, Hyoscyamus, and Scopolia species, together with their semisynthetic derivatives. Tropane alkaloids are useful as parasympatholytics that competitively antagonize acetylcholine. The bicyclic ring of tropane moiety forms the base of these alkaloids, and the largest number of tropane alkaloids is substituted on the atom C-3 of the tropane ring in the form of ester derivatives. Also, this chapter provides routes to previous methods for synthesizing tropane-2-yl derivatives as well as new routes to synthesize 2-(p-toluenesulphonyl) tropane-2-ene (anhydroecgonine). The new strategy for synthesizing anhydroecgonine might be helpful to adopt the best method of synthesizing tropane-2-yl derivatives.

This chapter considers the application of alkaline (NaOH) based catalyzed methanolysis of seed oil from Chrysophyllum albidum (African star apple) as a viable route for synthesis of methyl esters (biodiesel). Specific consideration was given to the chemical kinetics and thermodynamics of the irreversible consecutive mechanism of the process on the basis of higher application of methanol/molar ratio (>3:1) as a feasible approach for generating required data for commercial scale-up of the process. The application of power rate law revealed that second order model was the best fitted model on the 328 K, 333 K and 338 K temperature and 0–100 min ranges studied. Rate constants of the glyceride hydrolysis were 0.00710, 0.00870 and 0.00910 wt% min−1 for the triglyceride (TG), 0.02390, 0.03040 and 0.03210 wt% min−1 for the diglycerides (DG) and 0.01600, 0.03710 and 0.04090 wt% min−1 for the monoglycerides (MG) at the above respective temperatures. The activation energies were 2.707, 7.30 and 23.33 kcal/mol respectively. TG hydrolysis to DG was the rate determining step. Rates of reactions were found to increase with increase temperature and mixing rate (200, 400 and 800 rpm). No optimal mixing rate was detected and the highest mixing rate of 800 rpm was the most favorable in the mixing range under investigation. The possible reason for the absence of lag period is formation of methyl esters, which acted as a solvent for the reactants, and consequently, made the reaction mixture a homogeneous single phase. The quality of the produced methyl esters were found to compare with international standards. All the results lead to more diverse and novel applications of the seed oil in biodiesel productions.

World is passing through the energy crises due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuels. To address this crisis and to fulfill the energy demands worldwide, development of energy storage devices have increased rapidly. Also, renewable energy resources are intermittent, and therefore nevertheless, this energy resources are not always available. In that context, rechargeable lithium batteries are most promising energy storage devices owing to high energy and power density. Although, the development of the component of rechargeable battery such as anode, cathode and electrolyte are in progress as they play major role in enhancing the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion battery. Among them, electrolyte plays crucial role as it provides the path for diffusion of Li+ ions between the electrodes. In that context, ionic liquid-based electrolytes are widely used as it acts as plasticizer and thus increases the conductivity of electrolyte considerably. In this chapter, we have discussed basics of ionic liquids and its application in electrolyte system. Also, in this chapter, we have discussed various properties of ionic liquid-based electrolytes and their application in rechargeable lithium battery.

Fluorescence sensing plays an important role in high sensitivity, selectivity, and real-time monitoring of biological and environmentally relevant species. Several classes of fluorescent dyes (fluorophores) including rhodamine, BODIPY, 1,8-naphthalimide, and coumarin-among others‚àíwhen conveniently functionalized with reactive pyridyl receptors, have emerged as effective sensors to detect and quantify chemical species with high accuracy through fluorescent imaging and spectroscopy. Among the sensing targets, monitoring of harmful chemical species, e.g., metal ions (zinc, copper, iron, mercury, cadmium, lead, etc.) and anions (chloride, fluoride, sulfide, thiocyanate, etc.) can be used to understand their physiological and pathological role in live-cells and tissues, as well as to protect human health. This chapter focuses on recent advances in the molecular design of pyridyl-substituted fluorophores, their photophysical properties, and sensing applications.

UV-visible spectroscopy is an interpretive skill that amplitude the variety of different wavelengths of UV or visible light, which are captivated by or transferred via a pattern new assessment to an implication or blank constituent. This asset is encouraged by way of the pattern combination, doubtlessly subject to network on what is within the representative and at what attention. Because this spectroscopy execution confides on the control of mild. Therefore, illuminate can be described by its wavelength, which can be useful in UV-visible spectroscopy to analyse or identify different substances.

Currently, organometallic complexes involving ligand oxazolines are typically obtained in two sequential steps, where the free ligand is given firstly from a functionalized nitrile by condensation reaction with an amino alcohol in the presence of a Lewis or Bronsted acid catalyst, followed by a further coordination with metal salts to obtain the corresponding oxazolinyl metal complexes. Usually, the yield of the two-step procedure is relatively low; considering that metal oxazoline complexes often contain Lewis acidic metals, it is possible that the two steps may be telescoped. A series of novel chiral organometallic complexes (1–23) were assembled in a single step from nitriles, chiral D/L amino alcohols, and a stoichiometric amount of metal salts (MCl2·nH2O/M(OAc)2·nH2O), with moderate to high yields (20–95%). All the crystalline compounds were fully characterized by NMR, IR, MS, and X-ray analyses.

Biomineralization is a process of creating crystalline structures under biological control. The process takes place in hard tissues, such as bones, cartilages, and teeth. Biominerals are a combination of a crystal phase deposited onto an organic matrix. Inorganic components are mainly responsible for the biomineral hardness, while the organic matrix controls the shape, size, and polymorph of the crystals. Within the organic matrix, proteins exhibit a special biomineralization activity. Among them, one can distinguish insoluble collagen and soluble noncollagenous proteins. It is particularly noteworthy that noncollagenous proteins are intrinsically disordered proteins. High flexibility, acidic nature, and susceptibility to modifications make them especially adapted to the biomineralization control. This review paper is dedicated to the proteins which are involved in biomineralization of bones and teeth.

Authentication of food products and food fraud detection are of great importance in the modern society. The application of sophisticated instrumentation, such as gas chromatography (GC), with this aim helps to improve the protection of consumers. Gas chromatography mostly combined with the most powerful detector, a mass spectrometer (MS), and various multivariate data processing tools is in the last few decades being increasingly applied in authenticity and traceability of a wide spectra of food products. These include animal and plant products, beverages and honey. This chapter gives an overview of the most recent applications of gas chromatography technique in determining food authenticity, described in scientific literature.

The role of various carbon forms, i.e., activated carbon and carbon nanotubes/nanofibers as support for TiO2 in drinking water treatment, is discussed. Also, TiO2 supported onto zeolite that acts bifunctionally as a sorbent/photocatalyst for drinking water treatment is presented. The main contaminants of natural organic matter (NOM), arsenic species, and nitrogen compounds from drinking water sources by the type of groundwater and surface water can be removed/degraded by sorption/photocatalysis using TiO2 supported onto carbon and/or zeolite. TiO2 supported on powdered activated carbon (PAC-TiO2), granular activated carbon (GAC-TiO2), and zeolite (Z-TiO2), namely, supported TiO2, was synthesized through the sol-gel method, and TiO2 and multiwall carbon nanotubes/carbon nanofibers dispersed within epoxy matrix (CNT-TiO2-Epoxy, CNF-TiO2-Epoxy), namely, TiO2 composite, were obtained through the two-roll mill method. Kinetic study results through specific mathematic models allowed to elucidate some mechanistic aspects for sorption and photocatalysis for the application in drinking water. The intercalation of the carbon- and zeolite-supported TiO2 layers into a filtering system allows to develop a self-cleaning filtering system in drinking water.

Aflatoxins gained increased recognition in Mozambique due to their negative impact on health, food security, and trade. Most contamination occurs in peanuts, maize, and their products. Nevertheless, there is little awareness, probably because the press and mass media do not disseminate enough information. This study analyzed the quantity and quality of information on aflatoxins in Mozambique’s leading online newspapers between 2009 and 2018. After analyzing articles using Atlas.ti, the information was synthesized and compared to scholarly sources. Mozambique requires more press and media coverage of aflatoxin research and development activities. Awareness campaigns should be reinforced, distribute information to multiple organizations, and use multiple means, including online mainstream press, spreading information to reach a broad range of people, given the diversity of cultures and villages’ remoteness. Organizations providing information, including universities, need to translate the highly technical information published in scientific journals to help reporters understand the research’s implications. Furthermore, there is a need to identify groups that do not receive messages from current campaigns and appropriate methods for reaching those populations.

The major drawbacks on the limited H2 and O2 evolution activities of one-step photocatalytic water splitting systems are given here with the emphasis on charge recombination, back-oxidation reactions, and mass transfer limitations. Suppression of these unwanted phenomena is shown to be possible with the usage of small crystal-sized photocatalysts with low defect concentrations, presence of phase junctions, selection of co-catalyst that would be active for H2 evolution but inactive for O2 reduction, coating of the co-catalyst or the whole photocatalyst with selectively permeable nanolayers, and usage of photocatalytic systems with high solid–liquid and liquid–gas surface areas. The mass transfer limitations are shown to be important especially in the liquid–gas interfaces for agitated and suspended systems with estimated H2 transfer rates in the range of ∼200–8000 μmol/h.

A single type of thermoplastic polymer is easily recycled through a mechanical process, but this way can’t be followed in the presence of mixed or contaminated plastic. In this case, one of the main followed solutions is a thermochemical process and among them, microwave-assisted pyrolysis is one of the emerging technologies. This chapter offers an update of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis of mixed or contaminated waste plastic as a very promising example of chemical recycling. Furthermore, some unpublished results in this field will be reported such as the pyrolysis of waste lead containing polyethylene coming from end cycle batteries or the pyrolysis of waste polypropylene from facemasks used for covid protection. Finally, some examples of pilot plants will be described and commented as well as several industrial cooperations.

Alkaloids are distributed in plant kingdom and play important role in protection, germination as well as plant growth stimulants. Most of them are chiral compounds and are clinically administered as the racemic mixture, even though its enantiomers have been known to exert different pharmacological activity. Liquid chromatography using chiral stationary phases (CSP) proved to be an essential tool with a wide range of applications, including analysis of the stereochemistry of natural compounds. This review gives an overview of chiral separation alkaloids that were used in theoretical studies and/or applications in recent years. It shows the possibilities of polysaccharide CSPs have now also been established as the first-choice of chiral phases for enantiomer separation.

Colouration of textiles as well as food products with natural colorants is an interesting subject with respect to the growing eco-concern among the consumers. Several colorants are available in nature for textile colouration and are renewable, biodegradable, and eco-friendly. Being safe for human consumption, they can serve the dual purpose of also coloring food. Several such natural dyes are available. This review chapter deals with the chemistry, extraction, application, and colorimetric analysis of colorants derived from turmeric (root), annatto (seeds), and cochineal (insect) for use on both textiles and food products.

Benzimidazole derivatives are well-known biologically active substances, and therefore, they are mostly synthesised for therapeutic purposes. However, such heteroaromatic molecular systems own structure-related properties that enable a variety of applications, especially in optical science. Multifunctionality of the benzimidazole unit, such as electron accepting ability, π-bridging, chromogenic pH sensitivity/switching and metal-ion chelating properties, makes it an exceptional structural candidate for the design of optical chemical sensors and functional materials. Development of smart molecular sensors and novel (nano)materials is the emerging trend observed in materials and optical sensing science in general, in which the benzimidazole molecular systems strongly contribute and participate. In this chapter, we summarised recent advances in optical sensing (nano)materials that incorporate the benzimidazole structural moiety. Solid-state optical sensing systems, including self-assembled molecular materials based on benzimidazoles, are reviewed and discussed. In addition, immobilisation of benzimidazole derivatives onto or into various substrates and matrices, such as organic and inorganic polymers, bulk membranes and nanoparticles, utilising different chemical and physical methods, is presented and analysed.

Zinc oxide has been used for many applications, for example optoelectronic devices, ceramics, catalysts, pigments, varistors and many other important applications. In this study, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by mixture of fuel approach in solution combustion method. Mixtures of urea, glycine and citric acid were mixed at room temperature with Zinc nitrates as fuels resulting in spontaneous ignition resulting in production of ZnO nanopowder. The crystal structure and size of the synthesized powder were determined by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), which revealed that the synthesized ZnO nanopowder has the pure wurtzite structure having crystallite size 26–40 nm. Optical studies of nanomaterial were examined by FTIR and UV-Visible absorption spectrum. The luminescence studies also investigated in the visible region 360–800 nm with excitation 325 nm laser. These nanomaterials may be used in solid-state lightening devices.

Cyclodextrins are one of the most interesting pharmaceutical excipients with substantial theoretical and applied impacts in pharmaceutical industry. Even though the chemical foundation of these macrocyclic molecules was laid more than 100 years ago by Villiers and Schardinger, it was not until recently that cyclodextrins have been regarded as a subject of numerous potential pharmaceutical applications including inclusion complexation. This particular chapter discusses the fundamental concepts of cyclodextrin chemistry, structure, properties, and host-guest interaction with a special focus on molecular dynamics. Further in this regard, applications of cyclodextrins and numerous drug delivery approaches including novel lipid-based nanosystems are also highlighted.

The present chapter describe a series of synthetic organoselenium compounds such as ebselen analogues, diaryl selenides, spirodioxyselenurane, spirodiazaselenuranes and its Glutathione peroxidise (GPx) catalytic activity. These ebselen related compounds either by modifying the basic structure of ebselen or incorporating some structural features of the native enzyme, a number of small-molecules of selenium compounds as functional mimics of GPx are discussed. In addition to this, spirodioxyselenuranes and spirodiazaselenuranes are important class of hypervalent selenium compounds, whose stability highly depends on the nature of the substituents attached to the nitrogen atom. The glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimetic activity of all the selenium compounds showed significantly by facilitating the oxidation of the selenium centre. In contrast to this, ebselen analogue shows significant antioxidant activity compared with spirodiazaselenuranes and its derivatives.

Thermal behavior of chalcogen additive materials synthesized via melt quench method can be studied by reheating the bulk samples in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) or differential thermal analyzer (DTA) experiment. It involves kinetics of structural transformations as three basic characteristic phenomena correspond to glass transition, crystallization and melting are involved. Thermal stability and glass forming ability are important factors from technological point of view in various applications. Thermal stability of glasses can be ascertained based on calorimetric measurements. In the glass transition region (first region in reheating experiment), structural relaxation takes place. The temperature in glass transition region, its heating rate dependence and empirical approaches for estimation of apparent activation energy are useful to determine utility of these materials in various applications.

Water vapor plays an important role in both climate change processes and atmospheric chemistry and photochemistry. Global water vapor vertical profile can be derived from satellite infrared and microwave sounders. However, no single remote sensing technique is capable of completely fulfilling the needs for numerical weather prediction, chemistry, and climate studies in terms of vertical resolution, spatial and temporal coverage, and accuracy. In addition to the passive infrared and microwave sounder observations, the active global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation (RO) technique can also provide all-weather temperature and moisture profiles. In this chapter, we describe the current developments of global water vapor vertical profile and total precipitable water derived from active GPS RO measurements. In addition, we also demonstrate the potential improvement of global water vapor estimates using combined active GPS RO and passive IR/MW particularly from Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) and Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) measurements. Results show that because RO data are very sensitive to water vapor variation in the moisture rich troposphere, the RO data are able to provide extra water vapor information for the combined AIRS/ATMS and RO retrievals in the lower troposphere.

After the centrifugation stage, refined salt particles have rather high moisture content; therefore, the moist salt particles in contact with each other will stick together in a short time. In particular, the moist salt particles will stick together faster and tighter and form a larger unit when they are exposed to drying hot air. For this reason, the refined salt was dried by rotary drum dryers with vibrating balls distributed along the drum or a vibrating fluidized bed dryers. These drying methods make poor product sensory quality, low product recovery efficiency, while also lead to an increase of heat and electricity energy consumption. In order to increase the efficiency of refined salt drying technology by conventional continuous fluidized bed dryers, the chapter focuses on the study of aerodynamic properties of refined salt grains in the continuous fluidized particle layer. The content of the chapter presents theoretical and empirical methods to determine fluidization velocity types in designing a continuous fluidized bed dryer.

Environmental sustainability demands the advancement in water treatment and the use of lighting natural resources. Brazil has one of the most stable and intense solar irradiation in the world. It has to be used not only for energy generation purposes but also and mostly for water treatment, water quality polishment, and furthermore water disinfection. The chapter performs a comparison of different green technologies for water treatment as natural solar irradiation, simulated solar photolysis, solar photo-Fenton with and without hydrogen peroxide addition (solar/Fe), solar photo-Fenton with and without peroxide (solar/Fe/H2O2), titanium oxide-mediated photocatalysis (UV/TiO2), photolysis under UV irradiation, and UV treatment with hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2). The chapter describes the solar photodecomposition calculations for pharmaceuticals and the emerging pollutants mostly found in polluted waters, including the decomposition route, kinetics, and process parameters. Many published works to point out the important properties to evaluate catalyzer and semiconductor materials after their use in photodecomposition processes. The essay includes the solar photodecomposition of dyes, carbamazepine, hormones, acetaminophen, antipyrine, bisphenol A, antibiotics, and the photodecomposition by-products. Finally, the chapter presents the synergistic effect between them with the probable mechanism and mineralization degree.

With the increasing global population and its associated high demand for fish protein, engineers are under pressure to develop systems that can maximise and intensify production of fish in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. This demand is escalated in the face of pandemics like the novel Covid-19, which have had serious toll on global food production and availability. The increasing fish demand over the years has caused the emergence of new aquaculture technologies such as the recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). These fishponds are constructed in a way to ensure the efficient use of water. A technology extensively researched and developed by Brazilian researchers; the RAS technology has now been widely adapted to some developing countries in the sub-Saharan African sub region. Learning from the Brazilian and Ghanaian experiences, this chapter provides valuable information on these aquaculture production technologies and offers useful guidelines on their operation and management. The chapter also gives some highlight on available opportunities to better harness the RAS technology to promote sustainable food and nutritional security whiles improving on the general livelihood of adopters.

FTIR spectroscopy has been widely used to quantitatively study the parameters of the chitin deacetylation. A new research on a Canadian chitin has shown that a degree of deacetylation (DD) of 90% has been reached with a base concentration of 12.5 M, a reaction time of 120 min, and a temperature of 110°C. In parallel, our study on Moroccan chitin allowed to reach 75%. A degree of deacetylation of 75% was obtained at T = 120°C and at CNaOH = 12 N in a single step for 6 hours. Another study followed by IR prepared the chitosan under pressure or under irradiation. Firstly, the compression method was used for preparing 100% deacetylated chitosan with less environmental pollution. The 100% fully deacetylated chitosan is produced in low-concentration alkali and high-pressure conditions under 0.11–0.12 MPa for 120 min. Secondly, microwave deacetylation showed that a degree of deacetylation of 95.19% was achieved after irradiating chitin at 60 meshes with 50% NaOH solution in a microwave for 10 min at 1400-W power. To find these results, the authors used different formulas to calculate DD by FTIRM, but the most used and reliable formula is that which calculates DD of chitosan by the report of absorbance of amide at 1655 cm−1 that measures the acetyl group and absorbance at 3430 cm−1 relating to the hydroxyl group.

The most common mycotoxins are aflatoxins (AFs), which are produced by strains of various species of molds in the genus Aspergillus (A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. nomius and A. tamarii) and can grow on many foods, mainly peanuts, maize and cottonseed. AFs are currently considered to be the most hazardous mycotoxins to health, in particular because of their hepatocellular carcinogenic potential. The main aflatoxins are B1 (AFB1), B2 (AFB2), G1 (AFG1) and G2 (AFG2) although many other derivatives have been described. In addition, animals consuming contaminated feeds are able to metabolize them by hydroxylation in a certain position, yield for example aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and aflatoxin M2 (AFM2) from AFB1 and AFB2, respectively. Nowadays, only the four main AFs and one hydroxylated metabolite (AFM1) are routinely analyzed. High resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) using Orbitrap or time-of-flight (TOF) mass analysers is a trend for AFs determination, allowing to determine AFs and their derivatives for which there are no commercial standards available, in order to carry out metabolization studies, exposure assessment or monitoring modified AFs in food. The aim of this study is to show the recent trends in analytical methods based on LC-HRMS for determination of AFs.

As biocompatible and osteo-inductive precursor to biological apatite formation, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) resorbs at the rate that closely coincides with the rate of new bone formation and is more osteo-conductive than its crystalline counterpart. In addition, in the oral environment, ACP intrinsically provides a protracted supply of the remineralizing calcium and phosphate ions needed for regeneration of mineral lost to tooth decay. These features make ACP composites a strong remineralizing tool at the site of caries attack. Our group has been on the forefront of the research on bioactive, remineralizing, polymeric ACP-based dental materials for over two decades. This entry describes methods for filler, polymer, and composite fabrication and a battery of physicochemical and biological tests involved in evaluation of ACP-based restoratives. Also presented is our most recent design of ACP remineralizing composites with added antimicrobial capability that shows promise for extended dental and, potentially, wider biomedical applications.

An overview is given of our recent work on the linear response function (LRF) χrr′ and its congener, the softness kernel srr′, the second functional derivatives of the energy E and the grand potential Ω with respect to the external potential at constant N and μ, respectively. In a first section on new insights into the LRF in the context of conceptual DFT, the mathematical and physical properties of these kernels are scrutinized through the concavity of the E=ENv and Ω=Ωμv functionals in vr resulting, for example, in the negative semidefiniteness of χ. As an example of the analogy between the CDFT functionals and thermodynamic state functions, the analogy between the stability conditions of the macroscopic Gibbs free energy function and the concavity conditions for Ω is established, yielding a relationship between the global and local softness and the softness kernel. The role of LRF and especially the softness kernel in Kohn’s nearsightedness of electronic matter (NEM) principle is highlighted. The first numerical results on the softness kernel for molecules are reported and scrutinized for their nearsightedness, reconciling the physicists’ NEM view and the chemists’ transferability paradigm. The extension of LRF in the context of spin polarized conceptual DFT is presented. Finally, two sections are devoted to ‘new horizons’ for the LRF. The role of LRF in (evaluating) alchemical derivatives is stressed, the latter playing a promising role in exploring the chemical compound space. Examples for the transmutation of N2 and the CC→BN substitution pattern in 2D and 3D carbocyclic systems illustrate the computational efficiency of the use of alchemical derivatives in exploring nearest neighbours in the chemical compound space. As a second perspective, the role of LRF in evaluating and interpreting molecular conductivity is described. Returning to its forerunner, Coulson’s atom-atom polarizability, it is shown how in conjugated π systems (and within certain approximations) a remarkable integral-integrand relationship between the atom-atom polarizability and the transmission probability between the atoms/contacts exists, leading to similar trends in both properties. A simple selection rule for transmission probability in alternating hydrocarbons is derived based on the sign of the atom-atom polarizability.

Chaetomium species for plant disease control are reported to be antagonize many plant pathogens. It is a new broad spectrum biological fungicide from Chaetomium species which firstly discovered and patented No. 6266, International Code: AO 1 N 25/12, and registered as Ketomium® mycofungicide for plant disease control in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China. Chaetoimum biofungicide and biostimulants are applied to implement integrated plant disease control. It showed protective and curative effects in controlling plant disease and promoting plant growth. It has been successfully applied to the infested soils with integrated cultural control for the long-term protection against rice blast (Magnaporte oryzae), durian and black Pepper rot (Piper nigram L.) (Phytophthora palmivora), citrus rot (Phytophthora parasitica) and strawberry rot (Fragaria spp.) caused by Phytophthora cactorum, wilt of tomato (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici), basal rot of corn (Sclerotium rolfsii) and anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp.) etc. Further research is reported on the other bioactive compounds from active strains of Chaetomium spp. We have discovered various new compounds from Ch. globosum, Ch. cupreum, Ch. elatum, Ch. cochliodes, Ch. brasiliense, Ch. lucknowense, Ch. longirostre and Ch. siamense. These new compounds are not only inhibiting human pathogens (anti-malaria, anti-tuberculosis, anti-cancer cell lines and anti-C. albicans etc) but also plant pathogens as well. These active natural products from different strains of Chaetomium spp. are further developed to be biodegradable nanoparticles from active metabolites as a new discovery of scientific investigation which used to induce plant immunity, namely microbial degradable nano-elicitors for inducing immunity through phytoalexin production in plants e.g. inducing tomato to produce alpha-tomaline against Fusarium wilt of tomato, capsidiol against chili anthracnose, sakuranitin and oryzalexin B against rice blast, scopletin and anthrocyaidin against Phytophthora or Pythium rot Durian and scoparone against Phytophthora or Pythium rot of citrus. Chaetomium biofungicide can be applied instead of toxic chemical fungicides to control plant diseases.

The manuscript attempts to understand the evolution of NOx precursors: NH3 and HCN from Pyrolysis of furfural residue (FR). The pyrolysis process was carried out in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) coupled to Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. The combination revealed insightful information on the evolution of NH3 and HCN. This could help us better understand the characteristics of FR derived from furfural production especially with regard to NH3 and HCN. Nitrogen is considered a minor component in biomass wastes; in this study nitrogen content is about 0.57%. However, the pollution potential poised by low nitrogen content is huge through both direct and indirect processes. Thus, this study presents results that were found with regard to FR pyrolysis in pure nitrogen environment. At the heating rate of 40°C/min−1, the only NOx precursor detected was HCN at 713 cm−1 as per the database provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NH3 was not detected. The particle size of FR used ranged between 0.15–0.25 mm.

Virgin olive oil is characterized by its unique aroma, which is synthesized when olive fruits are crushed during the industrial process used for oil production. The genetic variability of the major volatile compounds comprising the oil aroma was studied in a representative sample of olive cultivars from the World Olive Germplasm Collection (IFAPA, Cordoba, Spain). The analytical data demonstrated that a high degree of variability for the content of volatile compounds is found in the olive species and that most of the volatile compounds found in the oils were synthetized by the enzymes included in the so-called lipoxygenase pathway. The use of multivariate analysis to identify cultivars is particularly interesting in terms of volatile composition and deduced organoleptic quality. It can be used for identification of old olive cultivars that give rise to oils with a high organoleptic quality and in parent selection for olive breeding programs.

Bismuth is one of the most difficult impurities to remove in mining concentrates and low concentrations generate problems in silver and copper refineries. Therefore, financial penalties are established when concentrations exceed 0.05%. Some researchers had used arsenic to remove bismuth with results of up to 52% of extraction. Unfortunately, this mechanism is not yet fully understood. The objective of this research was to obtain the solubility parameters of amorphous mineral compounds, including bismuth-based compounds, through computational simulation using molecular dynamics. The composition of the mineral sample was determined by X-ray diffraction and the crystalline species were obtained and modeled using Materials Studio software. The nanostructures were optimized by an energy minimization methodology using the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno algorithm and were validated using the figure of merit equation and density. Simulations were performed using the Universal Force Field at constant pressure and temperature. The results of the minerals identified in the sample were compared with arsenic trioxide, indicating miscibility between As2O3 and Bi2O3, possible miscibility with 10 other minerals, and immiscibility with the rest. The results indicate that As2O3 can be successfully used for the removal of Bi2O3 without a negative effect on the recovery of other minerals of higher commercial value.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is considered as an inert and safe material and has been used in many applications for decades. TiO2 have been widely studied, due to its interesting general properties in a wide range of fields including catalysis, antibacterial agents, in civil as nano-paint (self-cleaning) and especially photocatalysis, and that affect the quality of life. Thus, the development of nanotechnologies TiO2 nanoparticles, with numerous novel and useful properties, are increasingly manufactured and used. TiO2 doped with noble metal are good candidates in the performance these applications. The fascinating physical and chemical features of TiO2 depend on the crystal phase, size and shape of particles. For example, varying phases of crystalline TiO2 have different band gaps that rutile TiO2 of 3.0 eV and anatase TiO2 of 3.2 eV, determine the photocatalytic performance of TiO2. This chapter explains basic information on TiO2 and theoretical concepts of nanostructure of TiO2 nanoparticles as a semiconductor photocatalyst.

Despite the extensive studies of poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA), the crystallization of PLLA-based materials is still not completely understood. This chapter presents recent developments of crystallization of PLLA-based blends, block copolymers and nanocomposites. The first section of the chapter discusses the acceleration of PLLA crystallization by the inclusion of biobased (solid and liquid state) additives. It was found that the solid state additives work as a nucleating agent while the liquid-state additive works as a plasticizer. Both type of the additives can significantly enhance the crystallization of PLLA, as indicated by crystallization half-time (t0.5) values. Such composites are of great interest as they are 100% based on renewable resources. The second section talks about the enhanced formation of stereocomplex (SC) crystals in the PLLA/PDLA (50/50) blends by adding 1% SFN. It was found that the loading of SFN enhances the formation of SC crystals and it suppresses the formation of HC (homocrystal). The third section deals with confined crystallization of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in a PLLA/PEG blend. The PLLA/PEG (50/50) blend specimen was heated up to 180.0°C and kept at this temperature for 5 min. Then, a two-step temperature-jump was conducted as 180.0°C → 127.0°C → 45.0°C. For this particular condition, it was found that PEG can crystallize only in the preformed spherulites of PLLA, as no crystallization of PEG was found in the matrix of the mixed PLLA/PEG amorphous phase. The last section describes the confined crystallization of PCL in the diblock and triblock copolymers of PLA-PCL. Furthermore, enantiomeric blends of PLLA-PCL and PDLA-PCL or PLLA-PCL-PLLA and PDLA-PCL-PDLA have been examined for the purpose of the improvement of the poor mechanical property of PLLA to which the SC formation of PLLA with PDLA components are relevant.

This book chapter covers principles and few case studies on colorimetric Estimation of (i) determining purity/active ingredient % of selective dyes/pigments (ii) Identification of any colorants to distinguish from other similar compound, (iii) Measurement of surface colour strength of a dyed textile, (iv) Measurement of colour differences by estimating DE, DL*, Da*, Db*, DC and DH values, (v)Computer-aided colour match prediction for any standard shades, (vi) Estimation of compatibility of two dyes/colourants to use for compound shades, (vii) Determination of rate of dyeing, dyeing isotherm and dyeing kinetics to control dyeing, (viii) Optimization of dyeing process variables, (ix) Precession grading of Colour Fastness of dyed textiles on fading under different ways/agencies and (x) Estimation of Soil Removal efficacy of different detergent used for textiles. These colorimetric measurements are found to be very useful for effective process and product control of dyed textile materials. Selected Case studies on all the above colorimetric applications with specific example or experimented data are discussed for each of the method under reference. Finally, the other applications of colorimetric analysis besides textiles industry are also mentioned in concluding remarks.

Extensive density functional theory (DFT) studies have been compiled and additional investigation has been performed for several energetically favorable conformers of hydrogen bonded water clusters. The focus here is not to merely reviewing the literature on DFT investigations on water clusters but to understand the basic building blocks, structural patterns and trends in the energetics of the clusters during the cluster growth. The successive addition of water molecules to these clusters alters the hydrogen bonding pattern, that leads to modification in overall cluster geometry which is also reflected in the vibrational frequency shifts in simulated vibrational infra-red (IR) spectra.

The review is in general try to see some of the major microorganism involved in bioleaching process and studied by different scholars, identify the mechanics and techniques employed to bioleach minerals and factor that enhance or to inhibit the leaching process of microorganism with major reaction taking while bioleaching. Here the methodology and different leaching technique presented with their respected pros and cons, which are commonly employed and reasons behind with justifiable evidences were presented. The values and bioleaching sulfide mineral (copper), precious metal (gold) and radioactive element (uranium) were discussed with some the known producers in the world and finally some highlight given on industrial application of bioleaching.

The serious threat that human beings face in near future will be shortage of fossil fuel reserves and abrupt changes in global climate. To prepare for these serious concerns, raised due to climate change and shortage of fuels, conversion of excessive atmospheric CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels and production of hydrogen from water splitting is seen most promising solutions to combat the rising CO2 levels and energy crises. Amoung the various techniques that have been employed electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into fuels and hydrogen production from water has gained tremendous interest. Hydrogen is a zero carbon-emitting fuel, can be an alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Therefore, researchers working in these areas are constantly trying to find new electrocatalysts that can be applied on a real scale to deal with environmental issues. Recently, colloidal nanocrystals (C-NCs)-based electrocatalysts have gained tremendous attention due to their superior catalytic selectivity/activity and durability compared to existing bulk electrodes. In this chapter, the authors discuss the colloidal synthesis of NCs and the effect of their physiochemical properties such as shape, size and chemical composition on the electrocatalytic performance and durability towards electrocatalytic H2 evolution reaction (EH2ER) and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reactions (ECO2RR). The last portion of this chapter presents a brief perspective of the challenges ahead.

The treatment of shale oil & gas produced water is a complicated process since it contains various organic compounds and inorganic impurities. Traditional membrane processes such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are challenged when produced water has high salinity. Forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation as two emerging membrane technologies are promising for produced water treatment. This chapter will focus on reviewing FO membranes, draw solute, and hybrid processes with other membrane filtration applied to produced water treatment. The barriers to the FO processes caused by membrane fouling and reverse draw solute flux are discussed fully by comparing some FO fabrication technologies, membrane performances, and draw solute selections. The future of the FO processes for produced water treatment is by summarizing life cycle assessment and economic analyses for produced water treatment in the last decade.

This chapter gives a general overview of synthesis and recent development of nickel oxide as a nonstoichiometric compound. We establish the synthesis chemistry of nickel oxide as a nonstoichiometric material, and hence successively introduce definitions and classifications of nonstoichiometric compounds as well as their point defects. The samples of nonstoichiometric nickel oxide are synthesized by thermal decomposition method. The nonstoichiometry of samples was then studied chemically by iodometric titration, and the results are further corroborated by excess oxygen obtained from the thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) techniques are used to analyze structural phase of nonstoichiometric nickel oxide. The change in oxidation state of nickel was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The shift in antiferromagnetic ordering and transition temperature due to nonstoichiometry is studied by magnetic and specific heat capacity analysis.

With the increased attention on sustainable energy, a novel interest has been generated towards construction of energy storage materials and energy conversion devices at minimum environmental impact. Apart from the various potential applications of titanium dioxide (TiO2), a variety of TiO2 nanostructure (nanoparticles, nanorods, nanoneedles, nanowires, and nanotubes) are being studied as a promising materials in durable active battery materials. The specific features such as high safety, low cost, thermal and chemical stability, and moderate capacity of TiO2 nanomaterial made itself as a most interesting candidate for fulfilling the current demand and understanding the related challenges towards the preparation of effective energy storage system. Many more synthetic approaches have been adapted to design different nanostructures for improving the electronic conductivity of TiO2 by combining with other materials such as carbonaceous materials, conducting polymers, metal oxides etc. The combination can be done through incorporating and doping methods to synthesize TiO2-based anodic materials having more open channels and active sites for lithium and/or sodium ion transportation. The present chapter contained a broad literature and discussion on the synthetic approaches for TiO2-based anodic materials for enhancing the lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium ion batteries (SIBs) performance. Based on lithium storage mechanism and role of anodic material, we could conclude on future exploitation development of titania and titania based materials as energy storage materials.

As on today the main power sources of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) research developments gradually approach their theoretical limits in terms of energy density. Therefore, an alternative next-generation of power sources is required with high-energy densities, low cost, and environmental safety. Alternatively, the chalcogen materials such as sulfur, selenium, and tellurium (SSTs) are used due to their excellent theoretical capacities, low cost, and no toxicity. However, there will be some challenges to overcome such as sluggish reaction of kinetics, inferior cycling stability, poor conductivity of S, and “shuttle effect” of lithium polysulfides in the Li-S batteries. Hence, several strategies have been discussed in this chapter. First, the Al-SSTs systems with more advanced techniques are systematically investigated. An advanced separators or electrolytes are prepared with the nano-metal sulfide materials to reduce the resistance in interfaces. Layered structured cathodes made with chalcogen ligand (sulfur), polysulfide species, selenium- and tellurium-substituted polysulfides, Se1-xSx uniformly dispersed in 3D porous carbon matrix were discussed. The construction of nanoreactors for high-energy density batteries are discussed. Finally, the detailed classification of flexible sulfur, selenium, and tellurium cathodes based on carbonaceous (e.g., carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carbonized polymers) and their composite (polymers and inorganics) materials are explained.