Mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) was extracted and characterized by its composition and molecular weight distribution. Mucilage film-forming dispersions were prepared under different pHs (3, 4, 5.6, 7, and 8) and calcium concentration (0% and 30% of CaCl(2), with respect to mucilage's weight), and their particle size determined. Mucilage films with and without calcium (MFCa and MF, respec...

Preparation of dense alumina (Al₂O₃) thin film through atomic layer deposition (ALD) provides a pathway to achieve the encapsulation of organic light emitting devices (OLED). Unlike traditional ALD which is usually executed at higher reaction n temperatures that may affect the performance of OLED, this application discusses the development on preparation of ALD thin film at a low temperature. O...

Vapor-dominated geothermal systems, including The Geysers and Larderello, have experienced significant increases in noncondensible gas during their productive histories. A depletion model has been developed to explain these increases. In the model, the low permeability of the reservoir rock matrix initially retards the flow of vapor through the matrix to fractures due to the plugging effect of ...

Bitter vetch protein films containing positively charged spermidine, alone or with low amounts of glycerol, showed high tensile strength that progressively decreased by increasing the plasticizer concentration. Accordingly, lower film elongation at break and higher Young's module values were detected in the presence of the polyamine without or with small amounts of glycerol. These data suggest ...

Alginate films with different degrees of crosslinking obtained by internal and external gelation method and alginate films incorporated with oregano essential oil were prepared. The effect of mechanism of gelation and the incorporation of oregano essential oil on their optical, mechanical, antibacterial, microstructural and water vapor barrier properties were evaluated. The films subjected to e...

Whey protein isolate (WPI)-based cast films are very brittle, due to several chain interactions caused by a large amount of different functional groups. In order to overcome film brittleness, plasticizers, like glycerol, are commonly used. As a result of adding plasticizers, the free volume between the polymer chains increases, leading to higher permeability values. The objective of this study ...

Hydrophobins are a class of small proteins that fulfill a wide spectrum of functions in fungal growth and development. They do so by self-assembling into an amphipathic membrane at hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces. The SC3 hydrophobin of Schizophyllum commune is the best-studied hydrophobin. It assembles at the air-water interface into a membrane consisting of functional amyloid fibrils that ...

Utilization of hemicelluloses from biomass energy is an important approach to explore renewable resources. A convenient, quick, and inexpensive method for the preparation of blended films from quaternized hemicelluloses (QH) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was introduced into this study. QH and CMC solution were first mixed to form homogeneous suspension, and then were dried under vacuum to f...

Modified by the pretreated model with collagen under the crosslinking effect of glutaraldehyde, the moisture absorption of modified samples increased by 26.34% and 42.6%. The test results of SEM, AFM and DSC show that there was coating on the fibers modified with collagen, and the relative average roughness of the modified fabric decreased. Modification with collagen also affected the thermal p...

Procedures were developed to produce edible wheat, gluten-based films. A film was produced as a standard. Five additional films were then produced by modifying the initial film-forming solution. Modifications included changing the plasticizer, partially substituting wheat gluten with soy protein isolate and corn zein, and incorporating two acetylated monoglyceride products. All films were chara...