Electrokinetic Behavior of Palm Oil Emulsions in Dilute Electrolyte Solutions

Chitosan based encapsulation of Valeriana officinalis essential oil as edible coating for inhibition of fungi and aflatoxin B1 contamination, nutritional quality improvement, and shelf life extension of Citrus sinensis fruits

In this study, a novel chitosan nanoemulsion coating embedded with Valeriana officinalis essential oil (Ne-VOEO) was synthesized in order to improve the postharvest quality of Citrus sinensis fruits against infesting fungi, and aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) mediated nutritional deterioration. The developed nanoemulsion was characterized through SEM, FTIR, XRD, and DLS analyses. The nanoemulsion showed controlled delivery of VOEO responsible for effective inhibition of Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. versicolor, Penicillium italicum, and Fusarium oxysporum growth at 6.5, 5.0, 4.0, 5.5, and 3.5 μL/mL, respectively and AFB₁ production at 5.0 μL/mL. The biochemical and molecular mechanism of aflatoxigenic A. flavus inhibition, and AFB₁ diminution was associated with impairment in ergosterol biosynthesis, methylglyoxal production, and stereo-spatial binding of valerianol in the cavity of Ver-1 protein. During in vivo investigation, Ne-VOEO coating potentially restrained the weight loss, and respiratory rate of C. sinensis fruits with delayed degradation of soluble solids, titrable acidity, pH, and phenolic contents along with maintenance of SOD, CAT, APX activities (p < 0.05) and sensory attributes under specific storage conditions. Based on overall findings, Ne-VOEO nanoemulsion could be recommended as green, and smart antifungal coating agent in prolonging the shelf-life of stored fruits with enhanced AFB₁ mitigation.

Treatment of wastewater containing oil and grease by biological method- a review

One of the complex environmental problems that triggers at present is oily wastewater contamination arising out of the activities related to engineering vehicular (automobile) workshop or garage, kitchens in houses and restaurants, gas stations, metal finishing house, petrochemical industry, edible oil production unit etc. Oily wastewater discharge is a major issue of environmental pollution in the present decade as some of its constituents are hazardous in nature. Hence, appropriate treatment technology for oily wastewater needs to be addressed. Biological treatment (BT) technique would be the best option in this regard, because it has multiple advantages over various other techniques as available today. BT degrades effectively the harmful constituents of oily wastewater into innocuous products that are environment friendly and it is considered to be the economical method. The resulting effluent of pretreatment followed by biological treatment of oily wastewater can be reused after conforming discharge limits. Again, numerous research works in these days have optimized the function and result of existing laboratory and pilot scale treatment technologies. This review paper describes a comprehensive understanding of the origin and characteristics, existing techniques in laboratory and pilot scale, screening of different methods, justification for advocating biological methods for treatment of oily wastewater.

Formulation development and optimization of a novel Cremophore EL-based nanoemulsion using ultrasound cavitation

In the present study, response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was employed to investigate the influence of main emulsion composition variables, namely drug loading, oil content, emulsifier content as well as the effect of the ultrasonic operating parameters such as pre-mixing time, ultrasonic amplitude, and irradiation time on the properties of aspirin-loaded nanoemulsions. The two main emulsion properties studied as response variables were: mean droplet size and polydispersity index. The ultimate goal of the present work was to determine the optimum level of the six independent variables in which an optimal aspirin nanoemulsion with desirable properties could be produced. The response surface analysis results clearly showed that the variability of two responses could be depicted as a linear function of the content of main emulsion compositions and ultrasonic processing variables. In the present investigation, it is evidently shown that ultrasound cavitation is a powerful yet promising approach in the controlled production of aspirin nanoemulsions with smaller average droplet size in a range of 200-300 nm and with a polydispersity index (PDI) of about 0.30. This study proved that the use of low frequency ultrasound is of considerable importance in the controlled production of pharmaceutical nanoemulsions in the drug delivery system.

Process optimization and stability of D-limonene-in-water nanoemulsions prepared by ultrasonic emulsification using response surface methodology

D-limonene in water nanoemulsion was prepared by ultrasonic emulsification using mixed surfactants of sorbitane trioleate and polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether. Investigation using response surface methodology revealed that 10% d-limonene nanoemulsions formed at S0 ratio (D-limonene concentration to mixed surfactant concentration) 0.6-0.7 and applied power 18 W for 120 s had droplet size below 100 nm. The zeta potential of the nanoemulsion was approximately -20 mV at original pH 6.4, closed to zero around pH 4.0, and around -30 mV at pH 12.0. The main destabilization mechanism of the systems is Ostwald ripening. The ripening rate at 25 °C (0.39 m3 s(-1)×10(29)) was lower than that at 4 °C (1.44 m3 s(-1)×10(29)), which was in agreement with the Lifshitz-Slezov-Wagner (LSW) theory. Despite of Ostwald ripening, the droplet size of d-limonene nanoemulsion remained stable after 8 weeks of storage.

Zeta potential and electroosmotic mobility in microfluidic devices fabricated from hydrophobic polymers: 1. The origins of charge

This paper combines new experimental data for electrokinetic characterization of hydrophobic polymers with a detailed discussion of the putative origins of charge at water-hydrophobe interfaces. Complexities in determining the origin of charge are discussed in the context of design and modeling challenges for electrokinetic actuation in hydrophobic microfluidic devices with aqueous working fluids. Measurements of interfacial charge are complicated by slip and interfacial water structuring phenomena (see Part 2, this issue). Despite these complexities, it is shown that (i) several hydrophobic materials, such as Teflon and Zeonor, have predictable electrokinetic properties and (ii) electrokinetic data for hydrophobic microfluidic systems is most consistent with the postulate that hydroxyl ion adsorption is the origin of charge.

Formation and stability of paraffin oil-in-water nano-emulsions prepared by the emulsion inversion point method

Paraffin oil-in-water nano-emulsions stabilized by Tween 80/Span 80 were prepared using the emulsion inversion point method at different emulsification temperatures. Nano-emulsions with droplet size below 200 nm were formed above a critical surfactant-to-oil ratio of 0.20 at 50 degrees C. The main destabilization mechanism of the systems was found to be Ostwald ripening. An interesting phenomenon was that the Ostwald ripening rate declined as the surfactant concentration rose. Furthermore, flocculation was also found to contribute to the instability of the nano-emulsions, especially for those with low surfactant concentrations. Study on the electrophoretic properties of emulsion droplets revealed a negative value of the zeta potential, which was strongly dependent on the pH of the systems.

Behavior of soybean oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by nonionic surfactant

A soybean oil-in-water emulsion was prepared using nonionic Tween series surfactants. The effects of temperature, hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of the surfactant, and surfactant-to-oil ratio on the size of emulsion drops were investigated with an acoustic and electroacoustic devices. In the case of Tween 85, the influence of pH and electrolyte on the zeta potential of emulsion drops was examined. zeta potential appears to be strongly dependent on pH, varying in the case of high concentrations of NaCl from +60 to -90 mV. High concentrations of Na+ and K+ are capable of separating the oil phase from the emulsion. Divalent cations such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ lead to two points of zero charge at high concentrations, which is not observed for the case of hydrolyzable trivalent species like Al3+ and Fe3+.

Destabilisation of oil-water emulsions and separation by dissolved air flotation

The roles of aluminium and ferric sulphates as destabilising agents for oil-water emulsions that have been stabilised by a non-ionic surfactant (Span 20) are investigated in terms of oil removal. The effects of coagulant dose, pH, and the duration and intensity of both slow and fast mixing are considered. Electrokinetic measurements indicate that oil droplets have a negative zeta potential that is weakly dependent on pH. The chosen coagulants are shown to be effective in reducing the zeta potential of the oil droplets, and charge reversal was observed for aluminium sulphate. Oil removals up to 99.3% at pH 8 and 99.94% at pH 7 are seen for aluminium sulphate and ferric sulphate respectively. Rapid mixing times of around 120 s and flocculation times ranging from 15 to 20 min appear to be optimal for the DAF separation. It is concluded that relatively low average mixing speeds for coagulation and flocculation are essential for efficient operation.