Corncob Materials Research Articles

Research on the Performance of New Microbial Fuel Cell Anodes

In recent years, with the vigorous development of the maritime transportation industry, the resulting problem of ship oil pollution has become increasingly prominent. Efficient and thorough treatment of oily wastewater is the key to solving such problems. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising biological treatment method due to its good degradation effect, no secondary pollution, and energy recovery. In this paper, the discarded corn cob materials in nature were selected for high-temperature carbonization at 350°C, and NaOH was used to modify the modified biochar. Then, the coating technology of Ti3C2 MXene, NbC, WC, TaC and other materials was used to modify the surface of biochar, and the biochar anode material was obtained to construct a double-chamber microbial fuel cell device. The properties of the modified anode biochar materials were studied.

A study of thermal performance enhancement of building envelopes by using corncob as construction material

The energy-saving design of buildings effectively reduces heating energy consumption, improves indoor environmental problems in traditional houses, and plays an essential role in alleviating the increasingly severe environmental and energy problems. This study reviews the status of research on building energy-saving renovation and environmental improvement in various countries and summarizes their relevant research experiences. It described the theories and methods of survey, experiment, and numerical simulation to provide a theoretical basis for energy-saving renovation and environmental improvement of residential houses. Furthermore, it introduces corncob concrete material to provide new materials for the renovation of an old building. This research is based on the coastal Liyuan houses in Qingdao, and the problems of Liyuan houses are identified through in-field investigation. Then, through experimental simulations, the application and efficiency of corncob materials in the thermal performance improvement of the envelope are explored. The renovation of old residential houses in terms of energy-saving and environmental improvement is proposed from envelope renovation.

Exploration of Twisting Technique on Corn Cob Material

This research is an exploration of the form of corn cobs using the twisting technique. This technique involves applying pressure to the two ends of the corn cob module in opposite directions. The research also includes experiments to multiply the twisted modules using a mold. This study is a development of previous research that utilized bending on corn cob materials by first making the corn cobs soft. The aim of this research is to discover new forms, as previous research tends to utilize cylindrical modules and geometric shapes resulting from lamination techniques and bending techniques. At the end of the research, a composition of corn cob modules using the twisting technique is created, aiming to find the appropriate composition to serve as the basis for product design. This research is conducted through a direct experimental approach on corn cob materials at the corn cob processing industry in PT Matahati Kreasi Nusantara, Bandung.

Bioremediation efficiency of free and immobilized form of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tubigenesis biomass on tannery effluent

Untreated tannery effluent discharge, which causes severe environmental pollution. This research was performed to assess the bioremediation (multi-pollutant adsorption) potential of pre-identified and multi metal tolerant Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tubigenesis through a stirred tank bioreactor in free and immobilized form. Physicochemical property analysis results showed that most of the tannery effluent properties were beyond the permissible limits. These A. niger and A. tubigenesis effectively immobilized on corncob and coir solid support material. The stirred tank bioreactor based bioremediation study revealed that the fungal biomass (Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tubigenesis) immobilized coir and corncob material demonstrated remarkable multi-pollutant (TSS: 22.5% & 13.5%, TS: 29% & 22%, BOD: 21% & 10%, TDS: 28% & 19%, COD: 30% & 22%, Cr: 27% & 19%, Cu: 28% & 12%, and Pb: 48% & 29% respectively) adsorption potential in a week of treatment. Moreover, it reduced the toxicity of tannery effluent and promotes the sprouting of Oriza sativa seeds, as demonstrated by petri plate bioassay. These finding suggest that the metal-tolerant fungal isolates A. niger and A. tubigenesis demonstrated impressive bioremediation proficiencies in an immobilized state. A field investigation is required to assess the feasibility of this strategy on tannery effluent.

Designing a Corncob Coffee Table By Utilizing the Physical Characteristics of Corncobs

This research is about coffee table product design with corncob material that compromises the value of novelty offered with production factors in order to obtain real cost as a basis for considering the selling price. The coffee table production process is designed using the laminate technique. The processing technique chosen is the bending technique. This research was conducted at Craftindo Kreasi Bandung, precisely located in JI. Ciliwung canal no. 10, and is a continuation of research activities in the 2021 kedaireka matching fund platform program. In the previous study, a coffee table was produced with corncob material but did not use the bending technique. This design is based on opportunities based on previous research, namely (1) the industry has produced various kinds of commodities, but no one has ever tried to make coffee table products. (2) Sources of corn cob material can be obtained in various areas of West Java and can be available every 4 months. (3) In previous research, a coffee table with corncob material has been produced which needs to be developed by taking advantage of the opportunities for corncob characteristics that have been studied in material studies in previous studies, namely the comparative technique. The method used in this design is design iteration. At the end of the research, the output is in the form of a coffee table product prototype with a bending technique. The novelty of this research is the use of corn cobs as the main material and the use of bending techniques during production

Evaluation of Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Corn Cob-Reinforced Epoxy-Based Composites-Theoretical and Experimental Study.

Epoxy is considered to be the most popular polymer and is widely used in various engineering applications. However, environmental considerations require natural materials-based epoxy. This necessity results in further utilization of natural materials as a natural reinforcement for different types of composites. Corn cob is an example of a natural material that can be considered as an agricultural waste. The objective of the present work is to improve the economic feasibility of corn cob by converting the original corn cob material into powder to be utilized in reinforcing epoxy-based composites. In the experiment, the corn cob was crushed and ground using a grain miller before it was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corn cob powder was added to the epoxy with different weight fractions (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 wt%). In order to prevent corn cob powder agglomeration and ensure homogeneous distribution of the reinforcement inside the epoxy, the ultrasonic technique and a mechanical stirrer were used. Then, the composite’s chemical compositions were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mechanical experiments showed an improvement in the Young’s modulus and compressive yield strength of the epoxy composites, increasing corn cob up to 8 wt% by 21.26% and 22.22%, respectively. Furthermore, tribological tests revealed that reinforcing epoxy with 8 wt% corn cob can decrease the coefficient of friction by 35% and increase wear resistance by 4.8%. A finite element model for the frictional process was constructed to identify different contact stresses and evaluate the load-carrying capacity of the epoxy composites. The finite element model showed agreement with the experimental results. An epoxy containing 8 wt% corn cob demonstrated the optimal mechanical and tribological properties. The rubbed surfaces were investigated by SEM to identify the wear mechanism of different composites.

Chemical composition and monolignin in alkali and acid treated corncob affect sugar release

In order to understand how do chemical composition and monolignin in corncob material affect biomass digestion, the effect of alkali(NaOH), acid(H2SO4) pretreatment condition and the combined severity factors (CSF) on the chemical composition and monolignin content in corncob, and the effect of chemical composition and lignin monomers content in the pretreated corncob on sugar release were comparably investigated. In NaOH and H2SO4 system, lignin and hemicellulose content decreased to almost zero at combined severity factor (CSF) 9.5 and 10.5, respectively. 5 mol/L NaOH followed by enzymatic hydrolysis for 72 h could give rise to 84.62% reducing sugar yield, which was 2.02 times higher than that treated by H2SO4. A negative correlation was found between lignin, hemicellulose and sugar release upon alkali and acid pretreatment, respectively. Evaluation of monolignin in corncob samples suggested that higher S/G ratio or removal of H-monomer was favorable to sugar release in both alkali and acid system. Thus, corncob substrates with lower lignin and hemicellulose content and higher S/G ratio may be conducive to enzymatic digestibility of biomass.

Effect of variations in milling speed with high energy milling treatment on surface area of biochar material

Biochar is a renewable and abundant carbon source and is useful for increasing food security and plant diversity in areas with poor soil conditions, lack of organic matter, lack of water availability and chemical fertilizers. Biochar micro porous structure can be produced from corncob material which inherits the architecture of raw materials. To increase the surface area of the biochar material, high energy milling treatment was carried out in this study by varying the speed of milling in the same milling time. Milling time is carried out at 3 hours with milling speeds varying of 300, 500 and 700 rpm. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), particle size analyser (PSA), and surface area analysis - Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (SAA-BET). The test results show that at speed of 300, 500 and 700 rpm it has produced biochar with a particle size of 947,9; 868,5 and 799,2 nm, respectively. While the SAA-BET test has produced a surface area of 10.115; 15.889 and 18.303 m2/g. This study describes an increase of surface area when compared without milling treatment which has a surface area of 7917 m2/g.

UJI KUAT TEKAN DAYA SERAP AIR DAN MASSA JENIS BATU BATA MERAH BERBAHAN TAMBAHAN ABU KULIT DAN JANGGEL JAGUNG DI WULUHAN JEMBER

The increase in Indonesia's development activities increases people's consumption of more quality construction materials and is easy to reach in terms of price. Building materials with good quality can improve the quality of building construction. The increasing need of the community for building materials triggered the development of the brick-making industry. Redbrick is an element of building used in building construction made from clay base material with or without other mixed materials. This research is a type of experimental research. The purpose of this study is to know and analyze the composition of the addition of corn bark ash and ash corn cob appropriately to produce the quality of bricks with high compressive strength, low water absorption, and large density. Additional materials in this study in the form of corn bark ash and ash corn cob. The quality of red bricks is seen from three aspects, namely compressive strength, water absorption, and density. The largest compressive strength was obtained in the addition of ash corn cob by 2.5% by 37.2 Kg/Cm2 and the compressive strength of 49.5 Kg/Cm2 on the addition of corn skin ash by 2.5%. Water absorption measurement of all types of red bricks the results of the study showed all the results of water absorption is not eligible sni. The highest density was obtained from a mixture of 2.5% ash corn cob material of 17.5 gr/Cm3. the best composition to produce bricks with strong compressive value and high density and have low water absorption is 2.5% addition of ash corn cob and the addition of 2.5% corn skin ash.
 Keywords: Red bricks, strong press, water absorption, density.

Proses pemanfaatan modul bonggol jagung berbentuk balok menjadi material utama desain lampu

The result of the exploration of corncob is a module in the form of a block at this stage of the corncob research with this form will be used as the main component of the product, this research was conducted with a material exploration approach, to explore the potential material of corncob which is expected to be a product that has novelty value. so an experiment is needed on corncobs. The experiments carried out were (1) the development of the physical treatment of the previous square module which had been explored by the industry to find the potential contained in the corncob. (2) Experiment with the corncob square module by using assembly methods and techniques in order to obtain new shapes and potentials. The research was conducted to obtain a product design with an emphasis on material aspects in order to obtain the characteristics of the corncob material. This research provides new opportunities and hopes for the community to have new creations in utilizing the corncob module.

Application of enzyme cocktails from Indonesian isolates to corncob (Zea mays) waste saccharification

High contents of cellulose and hemicellulose of corncob waste makes it suitable as a raw material for sugar saccharification that can be used as sugar source for bioethanol fermentation. However, the presence of lignin inhibits the complete sugar conversion, necessitating pretreatment of the corncob material. Therefore, our study aimed to introduce a new pretreatment method for corncob to minimize lignin contents, hydrolyze it using an enzyme cocktail, and ferment it to bioethanol. Firstly, we studied pretreatment of corncob powder to minimize lignin interference using various reagents like 2% H2SO4, 2% NaOH, 2% H2SO4 – 2% NaOH, and 15% NH4OH, which revealed that 15% NH4OH was the most efficient reagent. Then, several enzyme cocktails consisting of cellulase, xylanase, and xylose isomerase, isolated from microbes collected in Indonesia, in ratios of 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 1:2:1, and 1:1:2 were subjected to the pretreated corncob material. We found that hydrolysis with the enzyme cocktails produced significant amounts of reducing sugars, and 1:1:1 enzyme cocktail produced the highest amounts with amazing capability to ferment to bioethanol.

The conversion of biomass into carbon electrode material using FeCl3 as an activating agent for battery application

Batteries and supercapacitors are one of the energy storage devices that had been used for a practical application most electronic devices such as mobile phone. The development of these energy storage devices is faced by the poor performance of (the) electrode. Electrode commonly used for batteries and supercapacitors is derived from nonrenewable carbon resources such as graphite. However, the availability of this material is becoming a long-term problem for the development of batteries and supercapacitors. Biomass from (the) waste plant as a green source for battery electrode is one of alternative carbon which has great potential, due to the low price, easy to process and has high stability. This paper reports the study of the biomass conversion into carbon electrode material having high electrical conductivity or low electrical resistivity using carbonization and pyrolysis process. The process involved FeCl3 as an activating agent to reduce the electrical resistivity of the material as low as possible. The research was studying the effect of biomass sources and the processing method on the electrical resistivity of the electrode produced. The biomasses used in the study were corncob, water hyacinth, rice straw, and coconut husk. The material is the waste plant which is available in abundant. The morphological analysis of the carbon surface was conducted using Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX). The lowest electrical resistivity was produced from corncob material through the carbonization process at 300°C for 2 h, activated by 4 M FeCl3 solution and followed by pyrolysis process at 800°C for 6 h. The FeCl3 is suspected responsible for the decreasing of the carbon resistivity or increasing the electrical conductivity produced, this correlates with the increase of the surface area of the material. The lowest electrical resistivity (highest electrical conductivity) produced from corncob has a value of 1 Ω with the surface area of 601 m2/g. This is considered better than graphite in term of electrical resistivity in which graphite has electrical resistivity between 10 - 30 Ω. The result of SEM images shows that the carbon surface activated by FeCl3 has more pores compared to the carbon without activation.

Is Elevated Pressure Required To Achieve a High Fixed-Carbon Yield of Charcoal from Biomass? Part 1: Round-Robin Results for Three Different Corncob Materials

Elevated pressure secures the highest fixed-carbon yields of charcoal from corncob. Operating at a pressure of 0.8 MPa, a flash-carbonization reactor realizes fixed-carbon yields that range from 70 to 85% of the theoretical thermochemical equilibrium value from Waimanalo corncob. The fixed-carbon yield is reduced to a range from 68 to 75% of the theoretical value when whole Waimanalo corncobs are carbonized under nitrogen at atmospheric pressure in an electrically heated muffle furnace. The lowest fixed-carbon yields are obtained by the standard proximate analysis procedure for biomass feedstocks; this yield falls in a range from 49 to 54% of the theoretical value. A round-robin study of corncob charcoal and fixed-carbon yields involving three different thermogravimetric analyzers (TGAs) revealed the impact of vapor-phase reactions on the formation of charcoal. Deep crucibles that limit the egress of volatiles from the pyrolyzing solid greatly enhance charcoal and fixed-carbon yields. Likewise, capped crucibles with pinholes increase the charcoal and fixed-carbon yields compared to values obtained from open crucibles. Large corncob particles offer much higher yields than small particles. These findings show that secondary reactions involving vapor-phase species (or nascent vapor-phase species) are at least as influential as primary reactions in the formation of charcoal. Our results offer considerable guidance to industry for its development of efficient biomass carbonization technologies. Size reduction handling of biomass (e.g., tub grinders and chippers), which can be a necessity in the field, significantly reduces the fixed-carbon yield of charcoal. Fluidized-bed and transport reactors, which require small particles and minimize the interaction of pyrolytic volatiles with solid charcoal, cannot realize high yields of charcoal from biomass. When a high yield of corncob charcoal is desired, whole corncobs should be carbonized at elevated pressure. Under these circumstances, carbonization is both efficient and quick.

Pretreatment and hydrolysis of cellulosic agricultural wastes with a cellulase-producing Streptomyces for bioethanol production

Production of reducing sugar by hydrolysis of corncob material with Streptomyces sp. cellulase and ethanol fermentation of cellulosic hydrolysate was investigated. Cultures of Streptomyces sp. T3-1 improved reducing sugar yields with the production of CMCase, Avicelase and β-glucosidase activity of 3.8, 3.9 and 3.8 IU/ml, respectively. CMCase, Avicelase, and β-glucosidase produced by the Streptomyces sp. T3-1 favored the conversion of cellulose to glucose. It was recognized that the synergistic interaction of endoglucanase, exoglucanase and β-glucosidase resulted in efficient hydrolysis of cellulosic substrate. After 5 d of incubation, the overall reducing sugar yield reached 53.1 g/100 g dried substrate. Further fermentation of cellulosic hydrolysate containing 40.5 g/l glucose was performed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae BCRC 21812, 14.6 g/l biomass and 24.6 g/l ethanol was obtained within 3 d. The results have significant implications and future applications regarding to production of fuel ethanol from agricultural cellulosic waste.

DETERMINATION OF POINTS OF ZERO CHARGE OF NATURAL AND TREATED ADSORBENTS

Although particle size and its measurement are intuitively familiar to particle technologists, the concept of point of zero charge (pzc) is less widely understood and applied. This is unfortunate since it is at least as fundamentally important as particle size in determining the behavior of particulate materials, especially those with sizes in the colloidal range below a micrometer. pzc is related to the charge on the surface of the particle and strongly depends on the pH of the material; so it influences a wide range of properties of colloidal materials, such as their stability, interaction with electrolytes, suspension rheology, and ion exchange capacity. The pH dependence of surface charges was quantified for four different adsorbent–aqueous solution interfaces. The points of zero charge were determined for activated charcoal, granite sand, lakhra coal, and ground corn cob materials using three methods: (1) the pH drift method, measuring pH where the adsorbent behaves as a neutral specie; (2) potentiometric titration, measuring the adsorption of H + and OH - on surfaces in solutions of varying ionic strengths; (3) direct assessment of the surface charge via nonspecific ion adsorption as a function of pH. The intrinsic acidity constants for acid and base equilibria, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], were also calculated. Lakhra coal was found to have the lowest pzc value among all other adsorbents studied owing to the presence of a large amount of humus material. The results were used to explain general connections among points of zero charges, cation exchange capacity, and base saturation % of adsorbents.

Gel extenders in larval diet of Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Larvae of the screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), were reared on meridic diets containing ground corncob material (grit) in test 1 and the cob grit or sawdust in test 2 to reduce or replace the amount of an expensive synthetic copolymer gelling agent. Biological parameters for the tests included pupal yield (total number), pupal weight (size), pupal malformation, adult emergence, adult malformation, egg weight, and egg hatch to assess for any significant differences. In the first test, larval propagation was successful for five consecutive generations on 24 of an original 37 formulations. Results indicate that a minimum concentration of 4% of the cob grit is needed to reduce the gel by 50%; at least 8% concentration is needed to reduce the gel by 80%; and at least 12% concentration is needed to replace the gel completely. In the second test, the larvae were successfully propagated for five consecutive generations when the copolymer gel was reduced by 50 or 75% in the diet by using either sawdust or the no. 60 cob grit size. The cost savings and applications of use of sawdust or the cob grit incorporated into the larval diet can be beneficial to a mass-production screwworm program.