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•Rapid curing hybrid lacquer coating in a mild condition.•High adhesion, good flexibility and high hardness.•Non-leaching, self-stratifying amphiphilic telomers.•Excellent antifouling ...and anticorrosive performance.
Natural lacquers have long been used as environment-friendly and renewable coatings. Generally, they dry slowly and do not have fouling resistance limiting their applications. Herein, we report a rapid curing, self-stratifying amphiphilic hybrid lacquer coating with excellent antifouling and anticorrosive properties. The coating was prepared by using a natural lacquer coupled with hyperbranched polysiloxane terminated by multi-amine (HPSi) and silane-terminated amphiphilic telomer (S-FP) through a facile sol–gel process. The introduction of HPSi greatly shortened the drying time and improved the mechanical properties of the natural lacquer coating. As HPSi content increased, the drying speed and surface hardness of the coating increased. Particularly, the incorporation of a non-leaching, self-enriched amphiphilic telomer into the hybrid lacquer conferred it an excellent antifouling performance but preserved its anticorrosive and mechanical properties. The flexibility and bacteria-resistant ability of the coating were significantly improved with S-FP content. The study provides a new strategy for modification of natural lacquer, and the hybrid lacquers are expected to be used in development of coatings with both antifouling and anticorrosive performance.
The consumption of dried bananas has increased because they contain essential nutrients. In order to preserve bananas for a longer period, a drying process is carried out, which makes them a light ...snack that does not spoil quickly. On the other hand, machine learning algorithms can be used to predict the sweetness of dried bananas. These applications can help improve the quality, safety, and nutritional value of dried bananas. The article aimed to study the effect of different drying times (6, 8, and 10 hours) using an air dryer on some physical and chemical characteristics of bananas, including CIE-L*a*b, water content, carbohydrates, and sweetness. Also predicting the sweetness of dried bananas based on the CIE-L*a*b ratios using machine learning algorithms RF, SVM, LDA, KNN, and CART. The results showed that increasing the drying time led to an increase in carbohydrates, sweetness, and CIE-L*a*b levels, while it led to a decrease in the moisture content in dried banana slices. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between CIE-L*a*b levels and sweetness. On the other hand, the RF and SVM algorithms gave the highest prediction accuracy of 86% and 0.8 on the Kappa measure. While the other algorithms (CART, LDA, KNN) gave a prediction accuracy of 80% and 0.7 on the Kappa measure. In terms of testing statistical significance, the null hypothesis (H0) was accepted because there is no relationship between the metric distributions of the algorithms used.
Microwave convective drying (MCD) is gaining increasing interest due to its unique volumetric heating capability and ability to significantly reduce drying time and improve food quality. The main ...objective of this paper is to discuss, critically analyze and evaluate the recent advances in MCD and suggest the future directions in this field. The main focus of this paper is the mathematical modeling and experimental investigations in microwave convective drying of food materials. Recent developments in mathematical modeling of MCD is discussed and existing experimental setup and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed and analysed. Long drying time is a concern in food industries. Reductions in drying time by applying MCD compared to convection drying are calculated and discussed. It was apparent that the proper integration of mathematical modeling and experimental technique is the best way to maximize the advantages of this drying method. Although a plethora of research is being carried out on this topic, there is still need for research to develop fundamental modeling to optimize the process parameters and scale up this technology for the industrial application. Overall, the review provides an in-depth insight into the latest development of MCD and its mathematical modeling approaches and will hopefully serve to inspire future work in the field.
This study aimed to determine the Effect of using stevia leaves as a natural sweetener on dried sweets of Padang Sidempuan's snake fruit. The method used in this study was the factorial Complete ...Randomized Design (CRD) method with two factors, namely the amount of stevia leaf powder (0,20%: 0,25%; 0,30%; 0,35%) and drying time (4, 6, 8 and 10 hours). The tests carried out were moisture content, ash content, total sugar, total dissolved solids, total microbes, acidity (pH), and organoleptic tests of colour, flavour, taste, and texture. This study's results showed a highly significant effect exerted by the amount of stevia leaf powder on moisture content, ash content, total dissolved solids, total sugar, total microbes, acidity (pH), and an organoleptic test of colour, flavour, and taste. Drying time significantly affected moisture content, ash content, total sugar, total microbes, total dissolved solids, and texture organoleptic test. The interaction between the amount of stevia leaf powder and the drying time had a highly significant effect on moisture content and a significantly different effect on total microbes and organoleptic colour. The amount of stevia leaf powder is 0,35%, and the drying time of 8 hours results in the best treatment on dried sweets of Padang Sidempuan's snake fruit.
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•Mediterranean olives were used as a natural dye sensitizer for the fabrication of Natural Dye-sensitized Solar Cells (NDSSCs).•Effects of two different drying conditions of dye ...extraction on photocurrent conversion efficiency (PCE) were investigated.•Different conductive substrates (FTO and ITO) were used to see the effect on photocurrent conversion efficiency and charge transfer resistance.•The surface morphology, composition, optical, electrochemical, and current–voltage properties of the fabricated NDSSCs were investigated.•The fabricated NDSSC based on FTO with olive dye extracted using the longer drying time shows a high fill factor (FF) of 0.73 and overall PCE of 0.31%.
The synthesis of synthetic dyes employed in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is often associated with substantial costs and environmental concerns. As a result, there is growing interest in utilizing natural dyes as sensitizers for DSSCs. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the extraction of natural dyes from Mediterranean olive leaves using a methanol-based solution, with a particular focus on the impact of different drying times during the dye extraction process on the efficiency of fabricated solar cells. The extracted olive leaf dyes were systematically characterized, encompassing their optical properties analyzed through ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, electrochemical behavior, photovoltaic performance, crystallographic and morphological structures, as well as elemental composition. The research findings unveiled distinctive attributes of the olive leaf dyes, attributable to variations in their charge transfer processes to the band edge of the TiO2 semiconductor. These outcomes were substantiated through comprehensive analyses involving UV–Vis, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Notably, the olive leaf dye subjected to a longer drying time (referred to as OLDS1) exhibited an energy level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) closer to that of the conduction band of TiO2, facilitating efficient electron transfer. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed alterations in elemental composition upon dye adsorption onto the TiO2 surface, with a notable reduction in the intensities of the Ti 2p and O 1 s peaks. The OLDS1 dye demonstrated lower charge transfer resistance and recombination rates compared to the shorter drying time for both fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and indium-doped tin oxide (ITO)-based natural DSSCs (NDSSCs). Importantly, the choice of substrate material, specifically FTO and ITO, significantly influenced the NDSSC performance. The FTO/TiO2/OLDS1 configuration exhibited remarkable characteristics, including a high fill factor (FF) of approximately 0.73 and an efficiency of 0.31 %, accompanied by a short-circuit current density of 0.662 mA/cm2 and an open-circuit voltage of 0.642 V. These results highlight the crucial role of drying time and substrate selection in the fabrication of NDSSCs utilizing Mediterranean olive leaf extracts, with the FTO/TiO2/OLDS1 configuration emerging as the most promising and efficient combination.
Objective
To investigate the effect of extended air‐drying time on the microshear bond strength (MSBS) of universal adhesives to enamel.
Materials and Methods
The distal and mesial specimens from ...third molars were wet‐ground and randomly assigned to three groups according to adhesives tested (n = 60): Clearfil Bond Universal, Gluma Bond Universal, and G‐Premio Bond. The adhesives were applied in etch‐and‐rinse or self‐etch modes, followed by air‐drying for 5, 15, or 25 s. Composite buildups were constructed and subjected to the MSBS test after 24‐h or thermocycling. MSBS results were evaluated using a four‐way ANOVA. The thickness of the adhesive layer and the degree of solvent evaporation were further evaluated.
Results
At 24‐h, MSBS of G‐Premio Bond significantly improved with the 25 s air‐drying in both of the etching modes when compared to the 5 s air‐drying. After thermocycling, the extended air‐drying did not produce a significant difference on the MSBS, regardless of the application strategy. Extended air‐drying (25 s) evaporated almost all of the volatile part of Gluma Bond Universal and G‐Premio Bond.
Conclusions
Extended air‐drying times increased solvent evaporation but did not contribute to the bonding effectiveness of the adhesives, regardless of the etching mode.
Clinical Significance
Air‐drying applications for more than 5 s had no significant effect on enamel bonding performance of universal adhesives.
A high moisture content of waste activated sludge (WAS) associated with a low calorific value needs to be deeply dried towards self-supporting incineration. On the other hand, thermal energy with low ...temperature exchanged from treated effluent has great potential for drying sludge. Unfortunately, low-temperature drying of sludge seems to be low in efficiency and long in drying time. For this reason, some agricultural biomass was added into WAS to improve the drying efficiency. The drying performance and sludge properties were analyzed and evaluated with this study. Experimental results demonstrated that wheat straw was the best in enhancing the drying performance. With only 20 % (DS/DS) of crushed wheat straw added, the average drying rate achieved up to 0.20 g water/g DS·min, much higher than 0.13 g water/g DS·min of the raw WAS. The drying time to the targeted moisture content (63 %) (for self-supporting incineration) was shortened to only 12 min, much lower than 21 min of the raw WAS. The analysis revealed that wheat straw could reduce the specific resistance of filtration (SRF) and increase the sludge filterability (X). Also, the sludge rheology, particle size distribution and SEM images could conclude that agricultural biomass played a positive role in skeleton builders, forming a mesh-like structure in sludge flocs. These special channels could obviously improve the transfer capacities of heat and water inside the sludge matrix and thus greatly increase the drying performance of WAS.
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•Agricultural biomass was utilized to enhance the sludge drying efficiency.•Adding crushed wheat straw of 20 % was efficient enough for the purpose.•The drying time was shortened by almost a half at a 20 % adding ratio.•Sludge dewaterability, hydrophobicity and mesh-like structures were improved.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the cumulative effects of intermittent drying in function of the number of cycles and exposure time of the grains to high temperatures in the dryer and its ...correlations with the physical, physicochemical and morphological quality of rice and brown rice. For drying rice, it is important to control the intermittence time and the air-drying temperature to minimize the effects of the process on grain quality. With an increase in the drying time, ruptures in brown rice endosperm and an increase in burned and chalky grains are observed. In addition, reductions in physicochemical composition and changes in the starch structure and crystallinity are also observed. The grouping of the treatments and the correlations of the qualitative variables indicate that a longer drying time has the most significant effect on rice quality. The physicochemical quality and the morphological structure of rice and brown rice are preserved when intermittent drying is carried out for 3 h, avoiding excessive heating (>39 °C) of the grain mass and thermal damage to the grain cell tissues and the physicochemical quality of rice.
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•The intermittency minimized the drying effects on physiological quality.•The intermittent cycles in the dryer affected the starch quality of the rice.•The drying preserved the rice endosperm in up to three intermittent cycles.•The time exposure of rice in the drying altered the brown rice quality.•The protein and fat contents decreased with the increase of the rice drying time.
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