Faculty of Applied Sciences
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Item Enzymatic saccharification of acid/alkali pre-treated, millrun, and depithed sugarcane bagasse(Open Journal Systems, 2016) Mkhize, Thandeka, Y.; Mthembu, Lethiwe Debra; Gupta, Rishi; Kaur, Amandeep; Kuhad, Ramesh Chander; Reddy, Prashant; Deenadayalu, NirmalaIn South Africa, approximately 3 × 106 tons of sugarcane bagasse is produced annually by 14 factories located on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. It is one of the most readily available lignocellulosic materials for ethanol production through enzymatic saccharification and hydrolysis. Pre-treatment enables disruption of the naturally resistant structure of lignocellulosic biomass to make the cellulose accessible to hydrolysis for conversion to biofuels. In this study, pre-treatment of depithed bagasse and mill-run bagasse was done using acid (3% H2SO4 v/v) followed by alkali (4% NaOH w/v), and the pre-treated solid was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. The effects of different conditions for enzymatic saccharification such as enzyme dose, reaction time, and amount of surfactant were studied in detail. The pre-treated substrate (10% w/v) when hydrolysed using 30 FPU/gds/40 FPU/g dry substrate (gds) with 0.4% (v/v) Tween® 80 for 20 h resulted in 608 mg/gds (depithed bagasse) and 604 mg/gds (mill-run bagasse) total reducing sugars.Item The influence of various alkylammonium-based ionic liquids on the hydration state of temperature-responsive polymer(Elsevier, 2016-11-19) Umapathi, Reddicherla; Mhkize, Thandeka Yvonne; Venkatesu, Pannuru; Deenadayalu, NirmalaThe influence of different alkylammonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) on the temperature-dependent aqueous poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) solution is explored by the comprehensive experimental analysis. The co-solvents investigated in the present study included a series of ILs with a fixed (trifluromethylsulfonyl)imide [NTf2]− anion and variable ammonium cations such as butyltrimethylammonium (IL-1), methyl-trioctylammonium (IL-2), diethylmethyl(2-methoxyethyl)ammonium (IL-3) and ethyldimethylpropyla mmonium (IL-4). The thermal phase transitions of aqueous solution of thermo-responsive polymer (TRP) in ammonium-based ILs were studied by various experimental techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy, dy-namic light scattering (DLS) and viscosity (η). We further employed field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) to reveal the distinct morphological changes of various self-assembled morphologies. Our results reveal that the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the TRP can be significantly altered by the ILs. The phase transition state of aqueous TRP decreases as the concentration of IL increased. We find that IL-4 lowers the LCST of TRP significantly more as compared to the other ILs. Our experimental results reveal that the hydrophobic interactions are predominant between the monomers of PNIPAM and ions of the ILs. This research work high-lights new opportunities for the wide applications in engineering of the bio-responsive smart PNIPAM-based de-vices and appropriate selection of ILs, which should allow for increasing the usage of thermo-responsive phase behaviour of polymers.Item Volumetric, acoustic and refractive index for the binary system (Butyric acid + Hexanoic acid) at different temperatures(Springer, 2014-04-12) Bahadur, Indra; Deenadayalu, Nirmala; Naidoo, Paramespri; Ramjugernath, DereshIn this paper density, sound velocity, and refractive index for the binary system (butyric acid ? hexanoic acid) were measured over the entire composition range and at 5 K intervals in the temperature range 293.15–313.15 K. The excess molar volumes, isentropic compressibilities, excess isentropic compressibilities, deviation in refractive indices, molar refractions, and deviation in molar refractions were calculated by using the experimental densities, sound velocities, and refractive indices, respectively. The Redlich–Kister equation was used to fit the excess molar volume, excess isentropic compressibility, deviation in refractive index and deviation in molar refraction data. The Lorentz–Lorenz approximation was used to correlate the excess molar volume from the deviation in refractive index and also to predict the density from refractive index or the refractive index from density of the binary mixtures. Four sound velocity mixing rules were tested and the best model for the systems studied in this work was the Berryman mixing rule. The thermodynamic properties are discussed in terms of intermolecular interactions between the components of the mixtures.Item Effect of temperature on density, sound velocity, refractive index and their derived properties for the binary systems (heptanoic acid + propanoic or butanoic acids)(Elsevier, 2014-06-14) Bahadur, Indra; Naidoo, Paramespri; Singh, Sangeeta; Ramjugernath, Deresh; Deenadayalu, NirmalaIn this work, the effect of temperature on density (q), sound velocity (u), refractive index (n) and their derived properties for carboxylic acid mixtures was studied. The thermophysical properties: density, sound velocity and refractive index were measured over the entire composition range at T = (293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15 and 313.15) K and at p = 0.1 MPa for the binary systems (heptanoic acid + propa-noic or butanoic acids). The mass fraction of water was found to be unusually large and could not be reduced further. The Lorentz–Lorenz approximation was used to predict the density from refractive index or the refractive index from density of the binary mixtures. Sound velocity mixing rules were applied to the experimental sound velocity data. Excess molar volumes, VEm; isentropic compressibilities, js, excess isentropic compressibilities, jsE, and deviation in refractive indices, Dn, were also calculated from the experimental data. The Redlich–Kister polynomial equation was fitted to the excess properties and the deviation in refractive index data. Thermophysical properties are useful in understanding the intermolecular interactions between the components of mixtures.Item Influence of alkyl group and temperature on thermophysical properties of carboxylic acid and their binary mixtures(Elsevier B.V., 2014-06-30) Bahadur, Indra; Deenadayalu, Nirmala; Naidoo, Paramespri; Ramjugernath, Deresh; Singh, Sangeetan this work, volumetric, acoustic and refractive index methods have been used to study the interactions between carboxylic acids mixtures as a function of temperature and concentration. The density (r), sound velocity (u), refractive index (n) of butanoic acid, pentanoic acid and heptanoic acid and their binary systems (butanoic or heptanoic acid + pentanoic acid) have been measured at 293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15 and 313.15 K and at p = 0.1 MPa. The Lorentz–Lorenz approximation and sound velocity mixing rules were used to test the accuracy of the experimental data. The derived properties such as excess molar volumes, VEm, isentropic compressibilities, ks, excess isentropic compressibilities, ksE, and deviation in refractive indices, Dn, were also calculated. The Redlich–Kister polynomial equation was used to fit the excess/deviation properties. These results are useful for describing the intermolecular interactions that exist between the components in mixtures. This work also tests various sound velocity mixing rules to calculate the sound velocity of the binary mixture from pure component data, as well as examine the use of the Lorentz–Lorenz approximation to predict density from refractive index and vice versa.Item Densities and excess molar volume for the ternary systems (1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulphate + Nitromethane + Methanol or Ethanol or 1-Propanol) at T = (303.15 and 313.15) K(SA Epublications, 2013) Bahadur, Indra; Deenadayalu, NirmalaThe densities of the ternary systems containing the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulphate ([BMIM]+[MeSO4]–) were determined. The ternary systems studied were ([BMIM]+[MeSO4]– + nitromethane + methanol or ethanol or 1-propanol) at the temperatures (303.15 and 313.15) K. The ternary excess molar volumes were calculated from the experimental densities at each temperature, being negative for all mole fractions of the ionic liquid. The minimum ternary excess molar volumes increase with an increase in temperature for the systems ([BMIM]+[MeSO4]– + nitromethane + methanol or ethanol), and decrease for the system ([BMIM]+ [MeSO4]–+ nitromethane + 1-propanol). The results are interpreted in terms of the alcohol chain length and the intermolecular interactions.