Swelling Factor Research Articles

Physiochemical, Pasting, and Morphological Properties of Native Oat Starch and Citrate‐Modified Oat Starch

AbstractStarch is widely utilized in the food industry, but its native form may have limitations in terms of functionality and nutrition. This study examines the characteristics of native oat starch and explores its potential for chemical modification by cross‐linking, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of its functionality. Citrate‐modified oat starch (COS) is generated by cross‐linking native oat starch (NOS) with citric acid. Chemical analysis reveals distinctions between NOS and COS, notably in terms of resistant starch content, which is elevated in COS. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal that NOS exhibits crystalline peaks characteristic of A‐type starch, distinguishing it from COS. In contrast, COS displays absent crystalline peaks, attributed to cross‐linking. Swelling factor, solubility, and paste clarity along with most of the pasting properties are found to be significantly lower for COS compared to NOS. The scanning electron microscopic images show how cross‐linking can alter the morphology of the NOS. The findings from this investigation highlight significant distinctions between NOS and COS. The cross‐linking process successfully enhances the resistant starch content and imparted distinctive properties absent in native oat starch. Consequently, there is potential for incorporating modified oat starch as a food ingredient.

Pharmacodynamics of Sishen decoction in relieving rheumatoid arthritis: Chemical composition, regulatory pathway and online prediction simulation

As a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine formula for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sishen Decoction (SSD) has anti-inflammatory, analgesic and swelling relief effects. However, at present, the pharmacodynamic basis of SSD and its mechanism of treating RA have not been clarified, and further research is needed. Analyzing the pharmacological basis of SSD was the aim of our study and further elucidate its therapeutic mechanism and potential targets for treating RA. LC‒MS was used to identify the high content and characteristic chemical components of SSD. On this basis, a network of pharmacological analysis was established between the chemical structure and RA. According to the predicted possible pathways and targets, in vivo pharmacodynamic experiments and related pathway analysis were conducted. Finally, the possible targets and mechanisms of SSD in treating RA were analyzed. Identified 78 compounds from SSD by LC-MS, including 23 flavonoids, 19 phenolic acids, 9 monoterpenoids and 26 other compounds. Network pharmacological analysis based on pharmacodynamic substances revealed that the most likely interaction pathway between SSD and RA was the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Foot swelling and inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, TGF, TNF-α, VEGF) in model mice were shown to be significantly improved in vivo. WB and qPCR experiments proved that SSD could significantly regulate the pathway of PI3K/AKT/mTOR. The interaction between SSD and AKT target was further analyzed by multispectroscopy. This study revealed that SSD alleviates RA by regulating the pathway of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and preliminarily revealed the pharmacodynamic mechanism of SSD for the first time.

Influence of glycol ether additive with low molecular weight on the interactions between CO2 and oil: Applications for enhanced shale oil recovery

The high-efficient development of shale oil is one of the urgent problems in the petroleum industry. The technology of CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has shown significant effects in developing shale oil. The effects of several glycol ether additives with low molecular weight on the interactions between CO2 and oil were investigated here. The solubility of glycol ether additive in CO2 was firstly characterized. Then, the effects of glycol ether additives on the interfacial tension (IFT) between CO2 and hexadecane and the volume expansion and extraction performance between CO2 and hexadecane under different pressures was investigated. The experimental results show that diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DEG), triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEG), and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TTEG) all have low cloud point pressure and high affinity with CO2. Under the same mass fraction, DGE has the best effect to reduce the IFT between hexadecane and CO2 by more than 30.0%, while an overall reduction of 20.0%–30.0% for TEG and 10.0%–20.0% for TTEG. A new method to measure the extraction and expansion rates has been established and can calculate the swelling factor accurately. After adding 1.0% DEG, the expansion and extraction amounts of CO2 for hexadecane are respectively increased to 1.75 times and 2.25 times. The results show that glycol ether additives assisted CO2 have potential application for EOR. This study can provide theoretical guidance for the optimization of CO2 composite systems for oil displacement.

Evaluation of Various Types of Alginate Inks for Light-Mediated Extrusion 3D Printing.

Naturally derived biopolymers modifying or combining with other components are excellent candidates to promote the full potential of additive manufacturing in biomedicine, cosmetics, and the food industry. This work aims to develop new photo-cross-linkable alginate-based inks for extrusion 3D printing. Specifically, this work is focused on the effect of the addition of cross-linkers with different chemical structures (polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (NMBA), and acrylic acid (AA)) in the potential printability and physical properties of methacrylated alginate (AlgMe) hydrogels. Although all inks showed maximum photo-curing conversions and gelation times less than 2 min, only those structures printed with the inks incorporating cross-linking agents with flexible and long chain structure (PEGDA and AA) displayed acceptable size accuracy (~0.4-0.5) and printing index (Pr ~1.00). The addition of these cross-linking agents leads to higher Young's moduli (from 1.6 to 2.0-2.6 KPa) in the hydrogels, and their different chemical structures results in variations in their mechanical and rheological properties. However, similar swelling ability (~15 swelling factor), degradability (~45 days 100% weight loss), and cytocompatibility (~100%) were assessed in all the systems, which is of great importance for the final applicability of these hydrogels.

Influence of solvent quality on the swelling and shear modulus of polymer gels chemically cross-linked in solution

The effect of temperature (T) is studied on the swelling of model poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) gels in isopropyl alcohol. The theta temperature Θ of these gels, at which the second osmotic virial coefficient A2 vanishes, is close to that of the corresponding high molecular mass polymer solution without cross-links so that solvent quality may be defined in the same way as the corresponding precursor polymer solution. We quantified the swelling and deswelling of PVAc gels relative to their size at the theta temperature, and also determined the effect of T on the shear modulus of these gels. It was found that both swelling and deswelling data could be reduced to a universal scaling equation of the same general form as derived from renormalization group (RG) theory for flexible linear polymer chains in solutions.Graphical abstractVariaton of the volumetric swelling factor as a function of the reduced temperature for PVAc gels swollen in isopropyl alcohol.

Bioactive Hydrogel Based on Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid Enriched with Freeze-Dried Sheep Placenta for Wound Healing Support.

In an increasingly aging society, there is a growing demand for the development of technology related to tissue regeneration. It involves the development of the appropriate biomaterials whose properties will allow the desired biological response to be obtained. Bioactivity is strongly affected by the proper selection of active ingredients. The aim of this study was to produce bioactive hydrogel materials based on hyaluronic acid and collagen modified by the addition of placenta. These materials were intended for use as dressings, and their physicochemical properties were investigated under simulated biological environmental conditions. The materials were incubated in vitro in different fluids simulating the environment of the human body (e.g., simulated body fluid) and then stored at a temperature close to body temperature. Using an FT-IR spectrophotometer, the functional groups present in the composites were identified. The materials with the added placenta showed an increase in the swelling factor of more than 300%. The results obtained confirmed the potential of using this material as an absorbent dressing. This was indicated by pH and conductometric measurements, sorption, degradation, and surface analysis under an optical microscope. The results of the in vitro biological evaluation confirmed the cytosafety of the tested biomaterials. The tested composites activate monocytes, which may indicate their beneficial properties in the first phases of wound healing. The material proved to be nontoxic and has potential for medical use.

SUBCUTANEOUS FILLING OF TEAR DROP IN THE LOWER EYELID

The tear drip, medial portion of the lower part of the orbital cavity, presents a deformity of multifactorial origin, not only affecting patients in the facial aging process. One treatment possibility is to use fillers with specific flexibility characteristics for this region. When applying this technique, we deposit microdots in the subcutaneous tissue throughout the peri-orbicularis oculi region from the medial canthal ligament to the lateral canthal ligament. Approximately 0.4 ml was used on each side (right and left) distributed in application micropoints using the smart click syringe system throughout the lower eyelid in superficial and deeper points of the same subcutaneous layer so as not to concentrate the product under the skin. We chose not to perform overcorrection, since the product used by your Swelling Factor could, over the days, after absorbing water, form pockets in the treated region. The present descriptive observational study aimed to highlight the results of subcutaneous filling with Vital Light Skinboosters in the treatment of tear leakage.

Risk factors of prognosis in older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention

BackgroundOlder patients (aged ≥ 60 years) with severe brain injury have a high mortality and disability rate. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the clinical risk factors of prognosis in older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention and to analyze the prognosis of the surviving group of patients 1 year after discharge.MethodsClinical data of older patients with severe brain injury who were admitted to two neurosurgical centers between January 2010 and December 2020 were collected. Patient age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at admission, underlying disease, mechanisms of injury, abnormal pupillary reflex, head computed tomography imaging findings (such as hematoma type),intraoperative brain swelling and other factors were reviewed. All the patients were categorized into a good prognosis (survival) group and a poor prognosis (death) group by the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS); also, the related factors affecting the prognosis were screened and the independent risk factors were identified by the Binary logistic regression analysis. GOS was used to evaluate the prognosis of the surviving group of patients 1 year after discharge.ResultsOut of 269 patients, 171 (63.6%) survived, and 98 (36.4%) died during hospitalization. Univariate analysis showed that age, GCS score at admission, underlying diseases, abnormal pupillary reflex, the disappearance of ambient cistern, the midline structure shift, intraoperative brain swelling, oxygen saturation < 90%, and cerebral hernia were risk factors for the prognosis of older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention. Multivariate analysis showed that age, underlying diseases, disappearance of ambient cistern, Oxygen saturation < 90% and intraoperative brain swelling were independent risk factors of the prognosis in the population. The effect of surgical intervention differed among various age groups at 1-year follow-up after surgery.ConclusionsThe results of this retrospective study confirmed that age, underlying diseases, disappearance of ambient cistern, intraoperative brain swelling, and oxygen saturation < 90% are associated with poor prognosis in older postoperative patients with severe brain injury. Surgical intervention may improve prognosis and reduce mortality in older patients (age < 75 years). But for those patients (age ≥ 75 years), the prognosis was poor after surgical intervention.

Investigation of the Mechanism of Action of Periploca forrestii Schltr. Extract on Adjuvant Collagen Rats Based on UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS Non-Targeted Lipidomics.

Periploca forrestii Schltr. (P. forrestii) is a classical medicinal plant and is commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, soft tissue injuries, and traumatic injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-arthritic effects of three fractions of P. forrestii alcoholic extracts (PAE), P. forrestii water extracts (PWE), and total flavonoids from P. forrestii (PTF) on Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA)-induced arthritis in rats, and to use a non-targeted lipidomic method to investigate the mechanism of action of the three fractions of P. forrestii in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. To assess the effectiveness of anti-rheumatoid arthritis, various indicators were measured, including joint swelling, histopathological changes in the joints, serum cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6)), and the joint inflammatory substance prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Finally, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-orbitrap-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS) was used to determine the non-targeted lipid histology of the collected rat serum and urine samples to investigate the possible mechanism of action. PWE, PAE, and PTF were all effective in treating FCA-induced rheumatoid arthritis. The administered groups all reduced joint swelling and lowered serum inflammatory factor levels in rats. In the screening of lipid metabolite differences between serum and urine of the rat model group and the normal group, a total of 52 different metabolites were screened, and the levels of lipid metabolites in PWE, PAE, and PTF were significantly higher than those in the normal group after administration. In addition, PWE, PAE, and PTF may have significant therapeutic effects on FCA-induced arthritis by modulating nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and histidine metabolic pathways.

Effects of Starch Molecular Structure and Physicochemical Properties on Eating Quality of Indica Rice with Similar Apparent Amylose and Protein Contents.

It is important to clarify the effects of starch fine structure and protein components on the eating quality of indica rice. In this study, seven indica rice varieties with similar apparent amylose content (AAC) and protein content (PC) but different sensory taste values were selected and compared systematically. It was found that except for AAC and PC, these varieties showed significant differences in starch molecular structure and protein components. Compared with rice varieties with a low sensory taste value, varieties with a higher sensory taste value showed significantly lower amylose and higher amylopectin short chains (degree of polymerization 6-12) content; the protein component showed that the varieties with good taste value had higher albumin and lower globulin and glutelin content (p < 0.05). Rice varieties with lower AC, globulin, and glutelin content, as well as a higher content of albumin and amylopectin short chains, resulted in a higher swelling factor, peak viscosity, breakdown value, and ratio of hardness to stickiness, in which condition cooked rice showed a higher sensory taste value. Moreover, this study indicated that rice varieties with a higher content of albumin and amylopectin short chains were conducive to the good appearance of cooked rice. This study lays the foundation for the taste evaluation of good-tasting indica rice.

Material extrusion of sodium polyacrylate superabsorbent polymer

Sodium polyacrylate is a superabsorbent polymer, capable of absorbing hundreds of times its own mass in water. This property, and the swelling behaviour during absorption, has seen application in diverse areas, including as anti-flood measures, water-retentive soil modifiers and recently soft actuators.However, this material is typically used in granular form or in simple cast shapes, which limits the scope of application. The ability to 3D print this material would widen its applicability, but previous demonstrations of sodium polyacrylate printing have shown a significantly reduced degree of swelling when compared to the typical material.In this work, we demonstrate material extrusion of a sodium polyacrylate-based ink, with a total swelling factor of over 200 being retained in the printed material. The rheological properties of this ink are modified with Carbopol, an acrylic acid based polymer, and are determined to show that the ink is strongly shear-thinning (with flow behaviour index under 0.14) and indicating desirable response for this type of printing. We further demonstrate the printability through a range of empirical tests.This new approach to sodium polyacrylate printing significantly widens the scope of application of this reactive hydrogel, while introducing the potential for application in novel soft actuators which harness the high degree of swelling and the shape changing/4D behaviour of the material as it swells.

Phase behaviour and physical properties of dimethyl ether (DME)/flue gas/water/heavy oil systems under reservoir conditions

The application of a mixture of dimethyl ether (DME) and flue gas (i.e., CO2 + N2) is a promising method to recover heavy oil; however, the phase behaviour and physical properties of DME/flue gas/water/heavy oil systems are not well quantified. In this study, theoretical and experimental techniques are developed to determine phase behaviour and physical properties of the aforementioned systems at pressures ranging from 2 MPa to 20 MPa and temperatures spanning from 352.15 K to 433.15 K. Experimentally, eight constant composition expansion (CCE) tests are carried out to obtain new experimental data for the DME/flue gas/water/heavy oil systems for the first time. Theoretically, a thermodynamic model that incorporates the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EOS), a modified α function, the Péneloux volume-translation strategy, and the Huron-Vidal (HV) mixing rule has been modified to reproduce the measured phase equilibria data. The tuned binary interaction parameters (BIPs) are utilized in conjunction with the thermodynamic model to accurately predict saturation pressure (Psat) and swelling factors (SFs) with a root-mean-squared relative error (RMSRE) of 3.32% and 0.57%, respectively. Furthermore, the newly proposed model demonstrates its high accuracy in forecasting the oleic/vapor (LV) two-phase boundaries for N2/heavy oil systems and DME/CO2/heavy oil systems with an RMSRE of 1.93% and 2.77%, respectively. Similarly, the accuracies of the predicted aqueous/oleic/vapor (ALV) three-phase boundaries for N2/water/heavy oil systems and DME/flue gas/water/heavy oil systems are 2.85% and 3.47%, respectively. Water is found to increase the phase boundaries for DME/CO2/heavy oil systems but decrease those of N2/heavy oil systems and DME/flue gas/heavy oil systems. Additionally, as the concentration of N2 and/or CO2 in the mixture is increased, its Psat is increased.

Microfluidic investigation on asphaltene interfaces attempts to carbon sequestration and leakage: Oil-CO2 phase interaction characteristics at ultrahigh temperature and pressure

CO2 huff-n-puff is a potential approach to improve the oil displacement efficiency in the deep reservoirs, which can achieve carbon sequestration and efficient oil production, simultaneously. However, the fundamental understanding of carbon mass transport, sequestration and leakage mechanism in deep geological reservoirs at the microscopic pore scale is still ambiguous. In this work, we innovatively designed a precise CO2 huff-n-puff microfluidic experiment under ultrahigh temperature and pressure conditions (55 MPa, 115 °C) to study the microscopic mechanism of CO2 utilization, storage and leakage (CUSL) in pore scale. Moreover, we proposed the quantitative analysis method for oil-CO2 interaction behavior to explicit dissolution and extraction characteristics, pressure threshold and interface stability by introducing Pseudo-Color algorithm and relevant parameters such as dynamic oil swelling factor, contact angle and gray value. Then, the pore-scale dynamics of the fluid interaction mechanism during the soak and puff process were quantitatively characterized, corresponding to the carbon sequestration efficiency of crude oil continuously exposed to scCO2 and the leakage risk with step-down production, respectively. The experimental results indicate that during the huff process, the oil-CO2 phase behavior characteristics at 115 °C can be divided into swelling, immiscible extraction and miscible extraction regions, which are coordinately controlled by dissolution mechanism, capillary effect and vaporization mechanism. Moreover, ultrahigh temperature oil generally requires higher pressure to start extraction and miscibility (Pext = 6.38 and 15.96 MPa, MMP = 9.71 and 23.73 MPa, T = 50 and 115 °C, respectively), while the asphaltene precipitation pressure Pasp is lower. At ultrahigh temperatures, the oil-CO2 interaction also enters the contact angle fluctuation region in advance, and the morphology of asphaltene particles is single, fine and uniform. When the soaking time is 36 min, the non-extractable oil component gradually evolves into a carbon sequestration interface. During the subsequent puff process, the more stable the carbon sequestration interface in the smaller blind end, the lower the leakage risk, corresponding to the leakage pressure difference of up to 40.93 MPa. This work has important practical significance for deep resource extraction and CUSL industrial application.

Influence of solvent quality on the swelling and deswelling and the shear modulus of semi-dilute solution cross-linked poly(vinyl acetate) gels.

We systematically examine the influence of varying temperature (T) over a large range in model poly(vinyl acetate) gels swollen in isopropyl alcohol. The theta temperature Θ, at which the second virial coefficient A2 vanishes, is found to be equal to within numerical uncertainty to the corresponding high molecular mass polymer solution value without cross-links, and we quantify the swelling and deswelling of our model gels relative to their size at T = Θ, as customary for individual flexible polymer chains in solutions. We also quantify the "solvent quality" dependence of the shear modulus G relative to G(T = Θ) and compare to the hydrogel swelling factor, α. We find that all our network swelling and deswelling data can be reduced to a scaling equation of the same general form as derived from renormalization group theory for flexible linear polymer chains in solutions so that it is not necessary to invoke either the Flory-Huggins mean field theory or the Flory-Rehner hypothesis that the elastic and mixing contributions to the free energy of network swelling are separable to describe our data. We also find that changes of G relative to G(T = Θ) are directly related to α. At the same time, we find that classical rubber elasticity theory describes many aspects of these semi-dilute solution cross-linked networks, regardless of the solvent quality, although the prefactor clearly reflects the existence of network defects whose concentration depends on the initial polymer concentration of the polymer solution from which the networks were synthesized.

Real-time in-situ measurement of hydrogel swelling by single sided NMR

Swelling factor and swelling rate are key characteristics of hydrogels. Here, a new method is presented for accurate in-situ monitoring of hydrogel swelling in real-time using single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) profiling. The method reduces experimenter bias and uncertainty intrinsic to common weighing and caliper methods. Moreover, NMR allows monitoring of samples that may otherwise be inaccessible to other methods, for instance in opaque or sealed containers. The method is straightforward and does not require deep knowledge of NMR principles from the experimenter. This NMR profiling method estimates similar swelling factors to those using the weigh and caliper method, with precision equivalent to the weigh method and significantly better than with caliper. Unlike weigh and caliper methods, NMR profiling additionally provides dynamic swelling rates over time, without needing to touch or modify the sample.

Feasibility of CO2 Injection for Enhance Oil Recovery: A Case Study in the KMJ Layer of HKY Field

Carbondioxide (CO2) injection is a very effective and proven technology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) and oil swelling are two important factors of the CO2 gas displacement mechanism that occurs in the reservoir when CO2 injection is applied to enhance oil recovery. In this study, MMP determination between crude oil samples and CO2 gas has been conducted using three methods, i.e., empirical equation, correlations method, and laboratory experiment using slimtube. The determination of the swelling factor was conducted using a PVT cell, where recombined fluid is injected at the reservoir temperature. The MMP value from the empirical equation (2810 psig) is relatively close to the MMP value from the laboratory experiment (2807 psig), with a difference of 3 psig. The swelling test results show that the bubble point pressure and the swelling factor increase from 410 psig to 2200 psig and from 1.0 to 1.442, respectively, as the CO2 gas injection reaches 46.82% mole. Since the fracture pressure of the KMJ Layer in the HKY Field is 2200 psig and the MMP is 2807 psig, only immiscible CO2 flooding can be applied in the field because the CO2 MMP is higher than the fracture pressure.

Measurements of the molecular diffusion coefficient of dimethyl ether (DME) in n-decane and DME-saturated liquid viscosity at T= (293.15 – 393.15) K and P= (0.345 – 2.76) MPa

We report a new data set on the molecular diffusion coefficient of dimethyl ether (DME) in n-decane and DME-saturated liquid viscosity at T = (293.15–393.15) K and P = (0.345–2.76) MPa. The viscosity measurements are modeled using the Pedersen correlation with an Absolute average relative deviation (AARD) of 4.7%. The molecular diffusion coefficient of DME in n-decane is measured using a constant pressure technique. The measured diffusion coefficient data are in the range of (1.5–8.9) × 10−9 m2/s. Diffusion coefficient data shows a non-monotonic behavior with respect to pressure. The diffusion coefficient measurements at different pressures are modeled with Arrhenius-type kinetics, and the activation energy and pre-exponential factor are estimated with an overall AARD of 3.38%. The activation energy and the pre-exponential factor showed non-monotonic behavior with respect to pressure. The diffusion data are also correlated with Siddiqi−Lucas and Hayduk-Minhas’ empirical correlations with AARDs of 7% and 6.2%, respectively. The swelling factor is also calculated for the diffusion process of the DME/ n-decane binary system.

Intensity of focused waves near turning points.

A wave near an isolated turning point is typically assumed to have an Airy function profile with respect to the separation distance. This description is incomplete, however, and is insufficient to describe the behavior of more realistic wave fields that are not simple plane waves. Asymptotic matching to a prescribed incoming wave field generically introduces a phase front curvature term that changes the characteristic wave behavior from the Airy function to that of the hyperbolic umbilic function. This function, which is one of the seven classic "elementary" functions from catastrophe theory along with the Airy function, can be understood intuitively as the solution for a linearly focused Gaussian beam propagating in a linearly varying density profile, as we show. The morphology of the caustic lines that govern the intensity maxima of the diffraction pattern as one alters the density length scale of the plasma, the focal length of the incident beam, and also the injection angle of the incident beam are presented in detail. This morphology includes a Goos-Hänchen shift and focal shift at oblique incidence that do not appear in a reduced ray-based description of the caustic. The enhancement of the intensity swelling factor for a focused wave compared to the typical Airy solution is highlighted, and the impact of a finite lens aperture is discussed. Collisional damping and finite beam waist are included in the model and appear as complex components to the arguments of the hyperbolic umbilic function. The observations presented here on the behavior of waves near turning points should aid the development of improved reduced wave models to be used, for example, in designing modern nuclear fusion experiments.

Morphological and Physicochemical Properties of Pine Seed Starch Nanoparticles

AbstractThis study aims to characterize pine starch (PS) and pine starch nanoparticles (PSNPs) produced by anti‐solvent precipitation (ASP). PS and PSNPs are characterized by particle size, surface charge, morphology, crystalline structure, chemical bonds, thermal properties, moisture content (MC), water activity, solubility in water (SW), swelling factor (SF), water and oil absorption, and stability in water. PS shows typical starch particle size distribution, while PSNPs display a size distribution varying between 230 and 1300 nm. The crystalline structure is modified from A‐type structure (native starch) to V6h structure (PSNPs) after ASP. PSNPs SW at 25 and 90 °C, as well as oil and water absorption capacities are greatly improved when compared with PS. Furthermore, PSNPs have high stability in water at 25 °C, forming homogeneous dispersions. This research provides information about the valorization of pine seed as a possible starch source to produce nanoparticles

Diffusion coefficient and the volume swelling of CO2/light oil systems: Insights from dynamic volume analysis and molecular dynamics simulation

The oil volume expansion and CO2 diffusion are one of the main mechanism of CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR). This paper established a series of experiments, numerical simulations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to describe mass transfer behaviors between oil–gas phases. Expressly, the CO2 diffusion coefficient and light oil swelling factor are signification parameters to quantify and analyze these behaviors. In detail, the CO2 diffusion coefficient and the oil swelling factor were obtained from the traditional pressure decay method and the advanced MD simulation. Synthetically, the pressure decay method and MD simulation results were mutually verified. The results showed that the equilibrium pressure was proportional to the mole fraction of CO2 and inversely proportional to the mole fraction of light oil. The equilibrium time was proportional to the mole fraction of CO2 and light oil. At the temperature of 333.15 K and the initial pressure of 7.5 MPa, the CO2 diffusion coefficient in light oil was positively correlated with the relative molar proportion of CO2, while the light oil swelling factor was vice versa. In addition, the closer to the CO2-light oil interface, the greater the light oil's potential energy and self-diffusion coefficient, and the stronger the transport ability.