Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering 

About: Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Fermentation & Medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 1615-7591. Over the lifetime, 3023 publications have been published receiving 64996 citations.

Rapid biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plant leaf extracts

Abstract: Five plant leaf extracts (Pine, Persimmon, Ginkgo, Magnolia and Platanus) were used and compared for their extracellular synthesis of metallic silver nanoparticles. Stable silver nanoparticles were formed by treating aqueous solution of AgNO(3) with the plant leaf extracts as reducing agent of Ag(+) to Ag(0). UV-visible spectroscopy was used to monitor the quantitative formation of silver nanoparticles. Magnolia leaf broth was the best reducing agent in terms of synthesis rate and conversion to silver nanoparticles. Only 11 min was required for more than 90% conversion at the reaction temperature of 95 degrees C using Magnolia leaf broth. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized with inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and particle analyzer. The average particle size ranged from 15 to 500 nm. The particle size could be controlled by changing the reaction temperature, leaf broth concentration and AgNO(3) concentration. This environmentally friendly method of biological silver nanoparticles production provides rates of synthesis faster or comparable to those of chemical methods and can potentially be used in various human contacting areas such as cosmetics, foods and medical applications.

Energy-efficient recovery of butanol from model solutions and fermentation broth by adsorption.

Abstract: This article discusses the separation of butanol from aqueous solutions and/or fermentation broth by adsorption. Butanol fermentation is also known as acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) or solvent fermentation. Adsorbents such as silicalite, resins (XAD-2, XAD-4, XAD-7, XAD-8, XAD-16), bone charcoal, activated charcoal, bonopore, and polyvinylpyridine have been studied. Use of silicalite appears to be the more attractive as it can be used to concentrate butanol from dilute solutions (5 to 790-810 g L(-1)) and results in complete desorption of butanol (or ABE). In addition, silicalite can be regenerated by heat treatment. The energy requirement for butanol recovery by adsorption-desorption processes has been calculated to be 1,948 kcal kg(-1) butanol as compared to 5,789 kcal kg(-1) butanol by steam stripping distillation. Other techniques such as gas stripping and pervaporation require 5,220 and 3,295 kcal kg(-1) butanol, respectively.

Biological synthesis of platinum nanoparticles using Diopyros kaki leaf extract

Abstract: The leaf extract of Diopyros kaki was used as a reducing agent in the ecofriendly extracellular synthesis of platinum nanoparticles from an aqueous H(2)PtCl(6).6H(2)O solution. A greater than 90% conversion of platinum ions to nanoparticles was achieved with a reaction temperature of 95 degrees C and a leaf broth concentration of >10%. A variety of methods was used to characterize the platinum nanoparticles synthesized: inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The average particle size ranged from 2 to 12 nm depending on the reaction temperature and concentrations of the leaf broth and PtCl(6) (2-). FTIR analysis suggests that platinum nanoparticle synthesis using Diopyros kaki is not an enzyme-mediated process. This is the first report of platinum nanoparticle synthesis using a plant extract.

Butanol production from wheat straw hydrolysate using Clostridium beijerinckii

Abstract: In these studies, butanol (acetone butanol ethanol or ABE) was produced from wheat straw hydrolysate (WSH) in batch cultures using Clostridium beijerinckii P260. In control fermentation 48.9 g L(-1) glucose (initial sugar 62.0 g L(-1)) was used to produce 20.1 g L(-1) ABE with a productivity and yield of 0.28 g L(-1 )h(-1) and 0.41, respectively. In a similar experiment where WSH (60.2 g L(-1) total sugars obtained from hydrolysis of 86 g L(-1) wheat straw) was used, the culture produced 25.0 g L(-1) ABE with a productivity and yield of 0.60 g L(-1 )h(-1) and 0.42, respectively. These results are superior to the control experiment and productivity was improved by 214%. When WSH was supplemented with 35 g L(-1) glucose, a reactor productivity was improved to 0.63 g L(-1 )h(-1) with a yield of 0.42. In this case, ABE concentration in the broth was 28.2 g L(-1). When WSH was supplemented with 60 g L(-1) glucose, the resultant medium containing 128.3 g L(-1) sugars was successfully fermented (due to product removal) to produce 47.6 g L(-1) ABE, and the culture utilized all the sugars (glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, and mannose). These results demonstrate that C. beijerinckii P260 has excellent capacity to convert biomass derived sugars to solvents and can produce over 28 g L(-1) (in one case 41.7 g L(-1) from glucose) ABE from WSH. Medium containing 250 g L(-1) glucose resulted in no growth and no ABE production. Mixtures containing WSH + 140 g L(-1) glucose (total sugar approximately 200 g L(-1)) showed poor growth and poor ABE production.

Green synthesis and characterization of selenium nanoparticles and its augmented cytotoxicity with doxorubicin on cancer cells

Abstract: Green synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) was achieved by a simple biological procedure using the reducing power of fenugreek seed extract. This method is capable of producing SeNPs in a size range of about 50–150 nm, under ambient conditions. The synthesized nanoparticles can be separated easily from the aqueous sols by a high-speed centrifuge. These selenium nanoparticles were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF). Nanocrystalline SeNPs were obtained without post-annealing treatment. FTIR spectrum confirms the presence of various functional groups in the plant extract, which may possibly influence the reduction process and stabilization of nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity of SeNPs was assayed against human breast-cancer cells (MCF-7). It was found that SeNPs are able to inhibit the cell growth by dose-dependent manner. In addition, combination of SeNPs and doxorubicin shows better anticancer effect than individual treatments.