Specific microorganisms can produce bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), with acetic acid bacteria (AAB) being the most active producer. The family Acetobacteraceae includes the obligate aerobic, motile acetic acid bacteria. The BNC has attracted a lot of interest across a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, due to its flexible characteristics, properties, and advantages. The present study was conducted to purify and characterize BNC produced from AAB isolated from apple vinegar. Bacterial nanocellulose was synthesized using a natural date palm liquid medium at pH 6 at 30°C for 8–10 days. The bacterial cellulose produced was then purified using a technique involving 0.1 M sodium hydroxide. To ascertain the surface morphology, size, and form of the BNC membrane, three techniques were used for characterization: X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of the XRD analysis confirmed that the BNC particle size ranged between approximately 17.10 and 70.33 nm, while the AFM analysis revealed that the mean diameter of these nanofibers was 26.58 nm. The TEM images clearly showed that the diameters of the BNC fibers ranged between approximately 26-66 nm. The findings of this study reveal that the characterization of the purified BNC using the XRD, AFM, and TEM analyses showed the presence of fibers with varying nanoscale diameters.
In the present work, the pollutants of the municipal wastewater are reduced using Chlorella vulgaris microalgae. The pollutants that were treated are: Total organic carbon (TOC), Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Nitrate (NO3), and Phosphate (PO4). Firstly, the treatment was achieved at atmospheric conditions (Temperature = 25oC), pH 7 with time (1 – 48 h). To study the effect of other microorganisms on the reduction of pollutants, sterilized wastewater and unsterilized wastewater were used for two types of packing (cylindrical plastic and cubic polystyrene) as well as algae's broth (without packing), where the microalgae are grown on the packing then transported to the wastewater for treatment. Th
... Show MoreThis work studies the performance of zeolite permeable reactive barrier in removing cadmium from a contaminated shallow aquifer. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the zeolite in cadmium-containing aqueous solutions. A 1D numerical finite difference model has been developed to describe pollutant transport within groundwater taking pollutant sorption on the permeable reactive barrier (PRB), which is performed by Langmuir equation, into account. Numerical results show that the PRB starts to saturate after a period of time (~120 h) due to reduction of the retardation factor, indicating a decrease in the percentage of zeolite functionality. However, a reasonable agreement between model predict
... Show MoreStaphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen associated with eye·s
infections. S. aureus is capable of biofilm fonnation, which increases its persistence and boots its levels of antimicrobial resistance . A total of 50
- aureus isolated from eyes <>f patientwith eye's infection : 41( 82%)
isolates were positive - alpha tox in production and 37 (74 %) isolates were posilive - biofilm formation .Where as 32 (64%) isolates were positive - alpha toxin production .and biotilm formation, 11 (22%) Lsolatcs were negative- alpha toxin production and biofilm formation and 7(14%) isolates were showed &nbs
... Show MoreThis study investigated a novel application of forward osmosis using different types of draw solutions for oilfield produced water treatment from the East Baghdad oilfield affiliated to the Midland Oil Company (Iraq). Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) were used as draw solutions in forward osmosis process to evaluate their effectiveness. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory scale forward osmosis system with cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane. In this work, sodium chloride solution was used as a feed solution with a concentration of 76 g/L (same concentration as the East Baghdad oilfield produced water) and the applied external pressure on the feed solution side was 2 bar. The impact of draw solution (DS)
... Show MoreFabrication of porous clay refractory insulating specimens from Iraqi kaolin with different percentage of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) waste crumbs additions were investigated. After mixing and forming by hand molding, the specimens was dried and fired at 1300 oC. The structural, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the refractory insulating products were measured. Maximum addition of EPS (1.25 wt%) lead to reduce the linear shrinkage to less than 1.7% and increased apparent porosity up to 50 %. As well as, the density, Modulus of rupture and thermal conductivity were reduced to 1.39 g/cm3, 4.1 MPa and 0.21 W/m.K, respectively. The final outcome, addition of EPS showed good results in the formation of pores without distorting the
... Show MoreSaccharomyces Cerevisiae cells were immobilized in calcium alginate beads and activated charcoal for use in the
production of ethanol from batch fermentation of sugar beet waste. Treatment of the waste with NaOH to increase the
ability of lignocellulose material to hydrolysis by acid (2N H2SO4) to monosaccharide and disaccharide (mainly glucos).
The high reducing sugar concentration obtained was equal to 9.2gm/100ml (10Brix) after treatment. Fermentation
parameters, are (pH, glucose concentration (2.5-25 gm/100ml), immobilized agent concentration (2.5-25 gm/100ml)
were studied to find the optimum physiological condition. And the highest ethanol concentration obtained from the
fermentation in the presence of 20%(wt/v) ca
The main objectives of this research is to extract essential oil from: orange ( citrus sinensis), lemon( citrus limon) and mandarin( citrus reticulata) peels by two methods: steam distillation (SD) and microwave assisted steam distillation (MASD), study the effect of extraction conditions (weight of the sample, extraction time, and microwave power, citrus peel type) on oil yield and compare the results of the two methods, the resulting essential oil was analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC).
Essential oils are highly concentrated substances used for their flavor and therapeutic or odoriferous properties, in a wide selection of products such as foods, medicines and cosmetics. Extracti
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