0
selected
-
1.
Moisture Absorption Effects on the Mechanical Properties of Sandwich Biocomposites with Cork Core and Flax/PLA Face Sheets.
Dhakal, HN, Jiang, C, Sit, M, Zhang, Z, Khalfallah, M, Grossmann, E
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2021;(23)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the moisture absorption behaviour and its influence on the mechanical properties of newly developed sandwich biocomposites with flax fibre-reinforced poly-lactic acid (PLA) face sheets and soft cork as the core material. Three different types of sandwich biocomposite laminates comprised of different layup configurations, namely, non-woven flax/PLA (Sample A), non-woven flax/PLA and cork as core (Sample B) and non-woven flax/paper backing/PLA, cork as core (Sample C), were fabricated. In order to evaluate the influence of moisture ingress on the mechanical properties, the biocomposites were immersed in seawater for a period of 1200 h. The biocomposites (both dry and water immersed) were then subjected to tensile, flexural and low-velocity falling weight impact tests. It was observed from the experimental results that the moisture uptake significantly influenced the mechanical properties of the biocomposites. The presence of the cork and paper in sample C made it more susceptible to water absorption, reaching a value of 34.33%. The presence of cork in the core also has a considerable effect on the mechanical, as well as energy dissipation, behaviours. The results of sample A exhibited improved mechanical performance in both dry and wet conditions compared to samples B and C. Sample A exhibits 32.6% more tensile strength and 81.4% more flexural strength in dry conditions than that in sample C. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-CT images revealed that the failure modes observed are a combination of matrix cracking, core crushing and face core debonding. The results from this study suggest that flax/PLA sandwich biocomposites can be used in various lightweight applications with improved environmental benefits.
-
2.
Topical application of highly concentrated water-in-oil emulsions: Physiological skin parameters and skin penetration in vivo - A pilot study.
Binder, L, Klang, V, Sheikh Rezaei, S, Neuer, O, Zhang, Z, Lunter, DJ, Wolzt, M, Valenta, C
International journal of pharmaceutics. 2019;:118694
Abstract
Important aspects in the development of new dermal drug delivery systems are the formulations' physicochemical properties and stability. Moreover, their influence on skin physiology and their penetration performance in vivo are of crucial interest. We have recently developed novel concentrated water-in-oil emulsions based on a non-ionic silicone surfactant; the present study deals with the effect of these formulations on physiological skin parameters of healthy volunteers after repeated application. Variations in skin condition and barrier integrity were investigated using classical biophysical and spectroscopic techniques. After four weeks of continuous treatment, no signs of skin irritation could be observed. Both tested emulsions had a positive effect on skin properties despite their relatively high water content and low lipid content. In vivo tape stripping studies revealed penetrated amounts of the incorporated model drug fluorescein sodium of almost 50% of the applied dose, with a superior performance of emulsions with isopropyl myristate when compared to liquid paraffin. In summary, our study confirmed the suitability of the developed W/O emulsions for pharmaceutic and cosmetic applications.
-
3.
Magnetic solid phase extraction of sulfonamides based on carboxylated magnetic graphene oxide nanoparticles in environmental waters.
Gao, PS, Guo, Y, Li, X, Wang, X, Wang, J, Qian, F, Gu, H, Zhang, Z
Journal of chromatography. A. 2018;:1-10
Abstract
A magnetic nano-adsorbent material was prepared by functionalizing carboxylic group onto the granule surface of magnetic graphene oxide nanoparticles (CMGO), using in-situ co-precipitating method. The surface morphology was characterized by SEM and TEM. The CMGO was selected as the adsorbent for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of sulfonamides (SAs) from environmental water samples, and the eluted analytes were determined by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). A series of experimental parameters were optimized to improve the extraction efficiency such as amount of CMGO, extraction time, pH, ionic strength of the sample solution and desorption conditions. When the pH of water sample was 4.00, the extraction recoveries (ERs) for SAs were over 82.0% with 15.0 mg CMGO adsorption for 20 min. Under the optimized extraction conditions, linear range was obtained with coefficients of determination (R2)≥0.9983. The limits of detection for this proposed method were in the range of 0.49-1.59 ng/L, and the enrichment factors were 1320-1702 for eight SAs. The newly developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of trace SAs in real-world water samples, which provided satisfactory ERs in the range of 82.0-106.2% with RSDs less than 7.2%. Overall, it shows a great potential for the concentration of trace amine organic pollutions in complex matrices.
-
4.
[Advance in researches on the effect of forest on hydrological process].
Zhang, Z, Yu, X, Zhao, Y, Qin, Y
Ying yong sheng tai xue bao = The journal of applied ecology. 2003;(1):113-6
Abstract
According to the effects of forest on hydrological process, forest hydrology can be divided into three related aspects: experimental research on the effects of forest changing on hydrological process quantity and water quality; mechanism study on the effects of forest changing on hydrological cycle, and establishing and exploitating physical-based distributed forest hydrological model for resource management and engineering construction. Orientation experiment research can not only support the first-hand data for forest hydrological model, but also make clear the precipitation-runoff mechanisms. Research on runoff mechanisms can be valuable for the exploitation and improvement of physical based hydrological models. Moreover, the model can also improve the experimental and runoff mechanism researches. A review of above three aspects are summarized in this paper.
-
5.
Quasiequilibrium unfolding thermodynamics of a small protein studied by molecular dynamics simulation with an explicit water model.
Wang, J, Zhang, Z, Liu, H, Shi, Y
Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics. 2003;(6 Pt 1):061903
Abstract
The 124 independent molecular dynamics simulations are completed with total time of 196.8 ns. The calculated unfolding quasiequilibrium thermodynamics of G-IgG-binding domain B1 (GB1) shows the experimentally observed protein transitions: a coil to disordered globule transition, a disordered globule to molten globule transition, a molten globule to nativelike transition, and a nativelike to solidlike state transition. The first protein unfolding phase diagram has been constructed from molecular dynamics simulations with an explicit water model. The calculated melting temperature of GB1 agrees with early experiment. The results also agree with the recent experiment result in which GB1 has more than one intermediate.