Speed Of Decomposition Research Articles

Biocomposite Material Using Sugarcane Bagasse and Modified Starch for Potential Packaging in Agroindustry

The widespread use of petroleum-based plastics in packaging has raised significant environmental concerns due to their non-biodegradability and detrimental ecological impacts. This study explores the development of an eco-friendly biocomposite material using sugarcane bagasse and cassava starch as potential alternatives for agro-industry packaging. The research objectives include characterizing the morphological properties of modified and unmodified sugarcane bagasse, analysing the thermal and physical properties of the resultant biocomposite, and evaluating its potential as a sustainable packaging material. A set of samples experiment were investigated using a constant ratio of distilled water to cassava starch which is 3:1 and 5 different ratios of acetic acid to bagasse. The morphological properties of biocomposite material which are sugarcane bagasse and cassava starch were examined using a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope and Fourier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Tensile strength were used to analyse thermal and physical property. Subsequently, the assessment of environmental friendliness was conducted by biodegradability testing. The results indicate that the most optimal biofilm, in terms of flexibility, thermal stability, and decomposition speed, was achieved with a ratio of (2:1) and (3:1) of acetic acid to bagasse. The results obtained suggest that sugarcane bagasse, when combined with cassava starch, can serve as an effective, biodegradable packaging material, potentially mitigating the environmental impact of conventional plastics in the agro-industry.

In Situ Analysis of Interfacial Morphological and Chemical Evolution in All-Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries.

In situ analysis of Li plating/stripping processes and evolution of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are critical for optimizing all-solid-state Li metal batteries (ASSLMB). However, the buried solid-solid interfaces present a challenge for detection which preclude the employment of multiple analysis techniques. Herein, by employing complementary in situ characterizations, morphological/chemical evolution, Li plating/stripping dynamics and SEI dynamics were directly detected. As a mixed ionic-electronic conducting interface, Li|Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) performed distinct interfacial morphological/chemical evolution and dynamics from ionic-conducting/electronic-isolating interface like Li|Li3PS4 (LPS), which were revealed by combination of in situ atomic force microscopy and in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Though Li plating speed in LGPS was higher than LPS, speed of SSE decomposition was similar and ~85 % interfacial SSE turned into SEI during plating and remained unchanged in stripping. To leverage strengths of different SSEs, an LPS-LGPS-LPS sandwich electrolyte was developed, demonstrating enhanced ionic conductivity and improved interfacial stability with less SSE decomposition (25 %). Using in situ Kelvin probe force microscopy, Li-ion behavior at interface between different SSEs was effectively visualized, uncovering distribution of Li ions at LGPS|LPS interface under different potentials.

In Situ Analysis of Interfacial Morphological and Chemical Evolution in All‐Solid‐State Lithium‐Metal Batteries

AbstractIn situ analysis of Li plating/stripping processes and evolution of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are critical for optimizing all‐solid‐state Li metal batteries (ASSLMB). However, the buried solid‐solid interfaces present a challenge for detection which preclude the employment of multiple analysis techniques. Herein, by employing complementary in situ characterizations, morphological/chemical evolution, Li plating/stripping dynamics and SEI dynamics were directly detected. As a mixed ionic‐electronic conducting interface, Li|Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) performed distinct interfacial morphological/chemical evolution and dynamics from ionic‐conducting/electronic‐isolating interface like Li|Li3PS4 (LPS), which were revealed by combination of in situ atomic force microscopy and in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Though Li plating speed in LGPS was higher than LPS, speed of SSE decomposition was similar and ~85 % interfacial SSE turned into SEI during plating and remained unchanged in stripping. To leverage strengths of different SSEs, an LPS‐LGPS‐LPS sandwich electrolyte was developed, demonstrating enhanced ionic conductivity and improved interfacial stability with less SSE decomposition (25 %). Using in situ Kelvin probe force microscopy, Li‐ion behavior at interface between different SSEs was effectively visualized, uncovering distribution of Li ions at LGPS|LPS interface under different potentials.

Preparation of MWCNT/CoMn2O4 nanocomposite for effectual degradation of picric acid via peroxymonosulfate activation

In recent years, using nanomaterials based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) through the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) has attracted more attention to the degradation of organic pollutants. This research presented a new route for the synthesis of MWCNT/CoMn2O4 nanocomposite for the degradation of picric acid using advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Firstly, CoMn2O4 nanoparticles were prepared and then loaded on MWCNT using ultrasonic waves. The results of various analyzes confirmed the successful loading of nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. As the degradation process proceeds through oxidation processes, the high electronic conductivity of MWCNT and the active sites of Mn and Co in the nanocomposite play an essential role in activating PMS to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). An investigation of the reaction mechanism in different conditions showed that the highest speed of picric acid decomposition in the presence of nanocomposite (98%) was in 47 min. However, the scavenger test showed that HO· and SO4·− radicals are more important in the degradation process. Meanwhile, the results showed that removing picric acid using MWCNT/CoMn2O4 was more effective than CoMn2O4 alone and confirmed the interaction effect of MWCNT nanotubes with AB2O4 nanocatalyst.

Influence of tree cover on carcass detection and consumption by facultative vertebrate scavengers.

Scavenging mammals and vultures can exploit and deplete carcasses much faster than other birds and invertebrates. Vultures are strongly influenced by habitat type, e.g. tree cover, since they rely on their eyesight to detect carcasses. It remains unclear whether and how facultative scavengers - both other birds and mammals - are influenced by tree cover and how that affect carcass decomposition time, which in turn affects biodiversity and ecological processes, including the cycle of energy and nutrients. We studied whether the carcass detection and consumption, hence carcass decomposition speed, by facultative avian and mammalian scavengers varies with tree cover in areas without vultures. Fresh mammal carcasses were placed in different landscapes across the Netherlands at locations that widely varied in tree cover. Camera traps were used to record carcass exploitation by facultative avian and mammalian scavengers and to estimate carcass decomposition time. We found that carcass detection and consumption by birds, wild boar, and other mammals varied between locations. Carcass decomposition speed indeed increased with carcass detection and exploitation by mammals, especially by wild boar. However, this variation was not related to tree cover. We conclude that tree cover is not a major determinant of carcass exploitation by facultative scavengers in areas without obligate scavengers and large carnivores.

Bacteria Pseudomonas taiwanensis as a decomposing agent of peat fiber

Efforts are needed to accelerate the decomposition of peat fiber to reduce the fiber content through bioaugmentation using Pseudomonas taiwanensis bacteria so that it can reduce the high-water content of peat fiber. The research aimed to determine the effect of adding Pseudomonas taiwanensis bacteria on the decomposition of peat fiber. This research is a laboratory experimental research. The research sampling location was in Bereng Bengkel Village, Palangkaraya. The parameters observed included fiber content, fiber size distribution, and peat fiber decomposition speed following the Peat Testing Manual. The research instrument was an observation sheet for fiber content, size distribution, and peat fiber decomposition speed. Research data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. The results showed that adding 15% Pseudomonas taiwanensis bacteria with a curing period of 28 days in fibrous peat resulted in the highest reduction in fiber content, from the initial condition of 61.14% to 12.33%. This variation also shows a decrease in coarse and medium fiber content and a significant increase in fine fiber content. The decomposition rate for this variation shows good consistency. The conclusion was that adding 15% Pseudomonas taiwanensis bacteria with a curing period of 28 days showed optimal results in accelerating the decomposition of peat fiber through the bioaugmentation method.

Bidimensional local characteristic-scale decomposition and its application in gear surface defect detection

Visual image-based inspection methods can directly reflect the type of defects on the surface of gears. However, these methods have many problems: firstly, as a two-dimensional signal, the data volume of images is large and the processing is relatively time-consuming. Although some existing image signal processing methods (e.g. bidimensional empirical mode decomposition (BEMD)) have good decomposition results, their decomposition speed is slow. The bidimensional local characteristic-scale decomposition (BLCD) method is proposed in this paper, which adaptively decomposes an image from high to low frequencies into several bidimensional intrinsic scale components. It is demonstrated that the BLCD method maintains the advantages of the BEMD method in terms of good decomposition ability and adaptive capability while significantly reducing the processing time and improving the computational efficiency. Secondly, in the running state of the gears, the obtained images sometimes contain noise, which is not convenient for detecting surface defect types. A gear surface defect detection method based on BLCD image denoising is proposed in this paper. Firstly, it uses the BLCD denoising module for preprocessing to provide high signal-to-noise ratio images for the subsequent detection module, and then uses the detection module for defect identification and classification. Experiments prove that the BLCD denoising module has excellent performance and it is well coupled with the detection module, giving the whole method higher accuracy and stability than other classification methods.

Thermodynamic Analysis and Pyrolysis Mechanism of 4,4'-Azobis-1,2,4-triazole.

The nonisothermal thermal decomposition kinetics of 4,4'-azobis-1,2,4-triazole (ATRZ) at different heating rates (5, 10, 15, and 20 °C·min-1) were investigated by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies. The thermal decomposition kinetic parameters such as apparent activation energy (E) and pre-exponential factor (A) were calculated by the Kissinger, Ozawa, and Šatava-Šestak methods. The E and A values calculated by the above three methods are very close, which are 391.1 kJ·mol-1/1034.92 s-1, 381.1 kJ·mol-1/1034.30 s-1, and 393.4 kJ·mol-1/1035.76 s-1, respectively. Then, the decomposition mechanism function of ATRZ is analyzed by the calculated results. The results show that the decomposition temperature of ATRZ is about 300 °C and the exothermic decomposition speed is fast. The decomposition pathway of ATRZ was analyzed by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PY-GC-MS). The thermal decomposition kinetic equation of the ATRZ was deduced.

GPUTucker: Large-Scale GPU-Based Tucker Decomposition Using Tensor Partitioning

Tucker decomposition is used extensively for modeling multi-dimensional data represented as tensors. Owing to the increasing magnitude of nonzero values in real-world tensors, a growing demand has emerged for expeditious and scalable Tucker decomposition techniques. Several graphics processing unit(GPU)-accelerated techniques have been proposed for Tucker decomposition to decrease the decomposition speed. However, these approaches often encounter difficulties in handling extensive tensors owing to their huge memory demands, which exceed the available capacity of GPU memory. This study presents an expandable GPU-based technique for Tucker decomposition called GPUTucker. The proposed method meticulously partitions sizable tensors into smaller sub-tensors, which are referred to as tensor blocks, and effectively implements the GPU-based data pipeline by handling these tensor blocks asynchronously. Extensive experiments demonstrate that GPUTucker outperforms state-of-the-art Tucker decomposition methods in terms of the decomposition speed and scalability.

Reactive molecular dynamics simulations on the decomposition process of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine crystal under high temperatures and pressure.

Reactive molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the decomposition processes of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) crystal under high temperatures (2100, 2400, 2700, and 3000 K) and detonation pressure (34.5 GPa) and 0 GPa. It is found that the initial decomposition paths of RDX under different temperatures coupled with detonation pressure are similar, which is due to the N-NO2 bond breakage to release NO2. The formation rates of N2 and H2O are significantly affected by temperature, while those of CO2 are less influenced. The C atoms finally formed C clusters. As the temperature rises, the decomposition speeds up, indicating that the high temperature accelerates the decomposition. Applying pressure can reduce the reaction energy barrier and accelerate the decomposition. The RDX model was constructed using the Materials Studio 7.0 package. All MD simulations were performed based on the ReaxFF force field in the LAMMPS software package, and the crystals were visualized using the OVITO software package. The time step was 0.1 fs, and the total MD simulation time was 200 ps. DFT calculations were carried out at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level using the Gaussian 09 package.

Research on Sparse Decomposition Processing of Ultrasonic Signals of Heat Exchanger Fouling

Ultrasonic time-domain reflectometry has the advantages of real-time and accurate detection of fouling in heat exchange tubes, but owing to the complex detection environment, the received ultrasonic is noisy, and there are problems such as mutual interference between echoes. This article presents a new method for sparse decomposition based on selecting the atomic dictionary with a high degree of matching. The imperialist competitive algorithm is used to optimize the atomic search process of the matching pursuit. Additionally, the global optimization ability of the imperialist competitive algorithm is improved by improving the moving mode and adding the update strategy. This way, problems such as low matching accuracy and slow searching speed of sparse decomposition are improved. This article reports on the characteristic reconstruction experiment run on the ultrasonic detection signal for heat transfer fouling to test the signal processing effect of the improved sparse decomposition method.

Dissolved organic matter evolution and straw decomposition rate characterization under different water and fertilizer conditions based on three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum and deep learning

Straw returning is a sustainable way to utilize agricultural solid waste resources. However, incomplete decomposition of straw will cause harm to crop growth and soil quality. Currently, there is a lack of technology to timely monitor the rate of straw decomposition. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the most active organic matter in soil and straw is mainly immersed in the soil in the form of DOM. In order to formulate reasonable straw returning management measures , a timely monitoring method of straw decomposition rate was developed in the study. Three water treatment (60%–65%, 70%–75% and 80%–85% maximum field capacity) and two fertilizer (organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer) were set up in the management of straw returning to the field. Litterbag method was used to monitor the weight loss rate of straw decomposition under different water and fertilizer conditions in strawberry growth stage. The changes of DOM components were determined by three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy (3D-EEM). From the faster decomposition period to the slower decomposition period, the main components of DOM changed from protein-like components to humus-like components. At the end of the experiment, the relative content of humus-like components under the treatment of organic fertilizer and moderate water was the highest. Convolutional neural network (CNN) combined with 3D-EEM was used to identify the decomposition speed of straw. The classification precision of neural network validation set and test are 85.7% and 81.2%, respectively. In order to predict the decomposition rate of straw under different water and fertilizer conditions, 3D-EEM data of DOM were used as the input of CNN, parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and fluorescence region integral (FRI), and dissolved organic carbon data were used as the input of dissolved organic carbon linear prediction. The prediction model based on CNN had the best effect (R2 = 0.987). The results show that this method can effectively identify the spectral characteristics and predict the decomposition rate of straw under different conditions of water and fertilizer, which is helpful to promote the efficient decomposition of straw.

Predicted changes to the rate of human decomposition due to climate change during the 21st century

Estimating the post mortem interval is an important aspect of the work of forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists. Whilst temperature is generally agreed as the most important variable affecting decomposition, some formulae also incorporate relative humidity for a more detailed estimate. Both these variables are impacted by anthropogenic climate change. This study aims to provide a first overview of the likely extent to which anthropogenic climate change will affect future rates of decomposition. The post mortem interval from death until skeletonization (PMIDS) was calculated using the formula by Vass [1], as well as temperature and humidity predictions from two different climate models, to predict changes in the speed of decomposition between the decades 2020–2029 and 2090–2099. The changes are calculated for different climate zones, and a global average, as well as different climate change scenarios, and for decomposition starting in January and July. The estimated PMIDS is significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in most scenarios, with the largest global decrease of 33.5% in the SSP5–8.5 scenario, with decomposition starting in July, and the smallest decrease of 2.6% in the SSP1–2.6 scenario, with decomposition starting in January. The significantly accelerated decomposition in the SSP5- 8.5 scenario will increase the workload of forensic anthropologists, by decreasing the time until skeletonization, after which the expertise of a forensic anthropologist is more likely to be needed. However, climate change is also predicted to decrease the accuracy of the formulae used for PMI estimation, even in regions where levels of precision are currently good. The present authors therefore argue, that the impacts of climate change will warrant increasing attention in the field of forensic anthropology, and that more research into PMI estimation will be needed particularly in warmer and drier regions.

Investigation of the production and dietary features of oyster mushrooms for a planned lunar farm

In our previous work, we organized a project mainly to design a lunar mushroom farm. In this work, we proceeded to study the features of the production and consumption of oyster mushrooms in that project. Oyster mushrooms were grown in cultivation vessels containing a sterilized substrate. The fruit yield and mass of the spent substrate in the cultivation vessels were measured. A three-factor experiment was carried out with the subsequent application of the steep ascent method and correlation analysis in the R program. These factors included the density of the substrate in the cultivation vessel, its volume, and the number of harvesting flushes. The data obtained was used to calculate the process parameters: productivity, speed and degree of substrate decomposition, and biological efficiency. The consumption and dietary features of oyster mushrooms were modeled in Excel using the Solver Add-in. In the three-factor experiment, the highest productivity amounting to 272 g of fresh fruiting bodies/(m3*day) was obtained with a substrate density of 500 g/L, a cultivation vessel volume of 3 L, and two harvest flushes. The application of the method of steep ascent showed that it is possible to increase the productivity by increasing the substrate density and reducing the volume of the cultivation vessel. In production, there is a need to tally the substrate decomposition speed with the substrate decomposition degree and the biological efficiency of growing oyster mushrooms, since these process parameters have a negative correlation. Most of the nitrogen and phosphorus passed from the substrate into the fruiting bodies. These biogenic elements could limit the yield of oyster mushrooms. It is safe to set the daily intake of oyster mushrooms at 100–200 g while maintaining the antioxidant capacity of the food set.

Acúmulo e decomposição dos resíduos culturais de cupuaçu, guaraná, urucum e floresta na região sul do Amazonas

The litter deposited on the soil surface at various stages of decomposition is important for primary productivity that impacts the microbial communities and soil carbon storage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accumulation and decomposition of cultural residues of Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex. Spreng) Schum, Paullinia cupana (Mart.) Ducke, Bixa orellana L., and forest in the Amazon region. The study was carried out in the São Francisco settlement, Canutama in the south of Amazonas, in a randomized block experimental design, and the treatments consisted of four areas with different crops: 1 - P. cupana; 2 - T. grandiflorum; 3 - B. orellana; 4 - Native woodland area (forest), in time subdivided plots: 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, and 330 days after the distribution of the bags in the field, all with four repetitions. To evaluate the contribution and fractions of litter, conical collectors were used in each area, and collections were performed monthly in the period from March 2020 to February 2021. The estimate of the decomposition rate of the litter was done by quantifying the loss of mass, using litter bags, which allow for a direct analysis of the rate of decay over time. The forest and P. cupana environments presented the highest litter production, and greater deposition when compared to environments cultivated with T. grandiflorum and B. orellana. The forest and B. orellana areas showed the highest speed of decomposition, while the opposite situation occurred under T. grandiflorum and P. cupana cultivation.

Study on improving gas storage capacity of fixed bed filled with wet activated carbon

Gas hydrate technology is a new gas storage method developed in recent years and has great application potential. Due to the slow formation kinetics of hydrate and the low actual gas storage density, it is a promising method to prepare the fixed bed filled with wet porous materials to inducing adsorption-hydration coupling effect, so as to improve the gas storage efficiency. In this study, various additives including THF, TBAB and diesel oil were added to the water-bearing activated carbon fixed bed to improve its gas storage capacity. Our experimental results show that the addition of THF or TBAB can significantly promote the gas storage performance of the bed. At the optimum concentration of THF (7.5 wt%), the gas storage density of bed (Sb) and gas storage capacity of hydrate (Sw) were 128.66 V/Vb and 194.26 V/Vw, which are 2.89 times and 3.07 times higher than those of wet activated carbon fixed bed without additives, respectively. When 5 wt% TBAB was added, the Sb and Sw were increased by 1.86 times and 1.87 times, respectively. Moreover, using diesel to establish gas channels in the fixed bed to improve the gas mass transfer between the bulk gas phase and the fixed bed can also significantly improve the gas storage performance of the bed. When the oil-carbon ratio (Ro) is 0.5, the Sb and Sw are 97.97 V/Vb and 172.77 V/Vw, respectively. However, further increasing the amount of diesel oil will not significantly improve the gas storage density of the bed due to the volume increase of the bed caused by the addition of diesel. When both diesel oil and THF are added to the water-containing fixed bed, the effect will be not significantly better than that of the bed with diesel oil or THF alone because the two accelerators compete with each other. Finally, the gas release and decomposition speed of the water-bearing fixed bed with / without 7.5 wt%THF are investigated. The results show that the final gas recovery of the bed with 7.5 wt% THF could reach 95.01 %, indicating a good application prospect.

Intercation Between Some Micro-Elements And Humic Substances in Some Forest Soils Northern Iraq

Four pedons were selected for different soils in the forest cover, two in each of Mankeesh and Atrush areas in Dohuk governorate, under pine and oak trees, in order to study the distribution of the main groups of humic compounds (humic and fulvic acids) and their association with iron and manganese ions. The results showed that the variation in the nature of the forest cover and the speed of decomposition of its remains led to a difference in the distribution of the content of organic matter, the ratios of Humic acid / fulvic acid (FA / HA) and the amount of humic substances produced in each soil, regarding the optical density of the extracted humic compounds, which is expressed as E4/E6, this ratio depends on the chemical composition of these Humic compounds. It is noted from the results that this ratio between E4: E6 ranged between (0.43 - 1.79), low values reflect the presence of aromatic Humic compounds with relatively low molecular weights, while high values indicate the presence of aliphatic humic compounds, the study also showed a difference in the values of iron and manganese associated with humic and fulvic acid as organic complexes, which is consistent with the difference in the degree of decomposition of forest tree residues and plant residues, and in turn is reflected on the quantity and type of humic compounds resulting from the decomposition. The Atrush soil under pine forests excelled in its composition of chelated iron with fulvic acid, Humic acid and manganese chelated with fulvic acid, while the Atrush soil under oak forests excelled in the composition of chelated manganese with humic acid on the rest of the studied soils.

Accelerated optimal maintenance scheduling for generation units on a truthful platform

Maintenance of generation units is a measure to ensure the reliability of power systems. In this paper, a novel blockchain-based truthful condition-based maintenance of generation units (T-CBMGU) platform is proposed to innovate and upgrade state-of-the-art CBMGU. In addition, two valid inequalities are proposed to accelerate the convergence speed of Benders decomposition in maintenance scheduling process. The proposed valid inequalities are formulated based on technical/physical analysis and greedy-based heuristic initialization. More specifically, for data acquisition and failure rate diagnosis/prognosis processes, T-CBMGU can ensure the immutability of the collected operational data. In this way, the influence of tampered data on the diagnosis/prognosis results in state-of-the-art CBMGU can be reduced. For maintenance scheduling and bidding to change scheduled time slot processes, in state-of-the-art CBMGU, the decision makers, i.e., independent system operators (ISOs), may not be trusted. However, in T-CBMGU, the scheduling and bidding processes are implemented automatically via smart contracts rather than by the ISOs; as such, incentives to manipulate data can be avoided. Finally, regarding performance of maintenance actions, in contrast to state-of-the-art CBMGU, the implementation process can be truthfully recorded by the T-CBMGU platform, which facilitates backtracking of responsibility. Then, the T-CBMGU platform and the valid inequalities are tested for the IEEE 300-bus power system. Furthermore, cases with tampered data and distrust caused by fairness manipulation are simulated to show the importance of using T-CBMGU. Finally, the Benders decomposition algorithm with valid inequalities is compared with other solvers to demonstrate its fast convergence speed.

Nanoencapsulation of Red Bell Pepper Carotenoids: Comparison of Encapsulating Agents in an Emulsion Based System

Red bell pepper extract rich in carotenoids was (RBPE) encapsulated with four different encapsulating agents: calcium caseinate (ECC), bovine gelatin (EBG), whey proteins isolate (EWPI), and concentrate (EWPC), aiming to investigate the most effective material to coat and enable the water dispersibility of pigments. Formulations were obtained by the oil in water (O/W) emulsification technique, followed by freeze-drying. Samples were analyzed by encapsulation efficiency, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dispersion stability, and CIELab. Nanoformulations showed a carotenoid encapsulation efficiency of 54.0% (ECC), 57.6% (EWPI), 56.6 % (EWPC), 64.0 % (EBG). Recovered carotenoid profiles from nanoformulations showed similarity to the RBPE, indicating the efficiency of the encapsulation process. Average particle sizes of approximately 109 nm (ECC), 71 nm (EWPI), 64 nm (EWPC), and 173 nm (EBG) were obtained. AFM revealed that all formulations exhibited spherical forms and a heterogeneous distribution profile. Regarding TGA, formulations presented similar thermal behaviors to and lower decomposition speeds than RBPE, suggesting improved thermal stability. Powder formulations were easily dispersed in water (8 mg/mL) and presented intense color and stability to sedimentation for 48 h. Results indicated that all formulations and the chosen technique efficiently increased carotenoid dispersibility in water, indicating their potential to be applied as natural food pigments.

Decomposition of Formaldehyde Using Vanadium Oxide Nanostructures as Catalysts

The speed of formaldehyde decomposition has been studied using catalysts (vanadium nanoparticles, nano vanadium oxide with nano hydroxyapatite and vanadium oxide). The catalysts have been made with three different concentrations (100, 500 and 1000) ppm and at three different temperatures (25, 50 and 75) ° C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images were used to study the structural and engineering properties of the prepared catalysts, which were nanostructured materials. The increase in the concentration of the catalysts and the temperature led to increasing the chemical reactions rate. However, it decreased the activation energy, which was calculated using the Arrhenius equation. The catalyst NV2O5 showed a better reaction rate compared to other prepared catalysts 100.1 x 〖10〗^(-3) and 112.5 x 〖10〗^(-3) ) for the catalysts such as nano vanadium oxide and nano vanadium oxide with nano hydroxyapatite, respectively