Ultrathin Water-Cast Polymer Membranes for Hydrogen Purification.

Among various H2 purification technologies, the use of membrane technology has been considered an ecofriendly approach for addressing the increasing hydrogen demand. Although many H2-selective membrane materials have been reported, processing them into hollow fibers or thin-film composites (TFCs) via traditional methods either affects the performance of the materials or renders their further processing into applicable membrane forms infeasible. Herein, we propose a water-casting method for fabricating TFC membranes for hydrogen purification with high permselectivity. The film integrity and thickness were manipulated by controlling the spreadability of the casting solution, and the resultant water-cast TFC membrane that comprised an ∼30 nm selective layer demonstrated high H2 permeance and H2/CH4 selectivity of approximately 190 GPU and 100, respectively, under optimized conditions. We performed a mixed-gas permeation test using a simulated off-gas of steam-methane reforming from natural gas in a single-stage system and obtained hydrogen gas of >99 mol % purity. This indicates not only the suitability of the water-cast membranes for satisfying the demand for pure hydrogen as a fuel and chemical reagent but also the great potential of the water-casting method for high-performance membranes in various industrial and environmental applications.

Changes in hepatic gene expression and serum metabolites after oral administration of overdosed vitamin-E-loaded nanoemulsion in rats.

Vitamin-E-loaded nanoemulsion (Vit E-NE) was produced, and the effects of repeated oral administration of Vit E-NE (2 g/kg/day) for five days on hepatic gene expression and serum metabolites were investigated in rats. The mean particle diameter and zeta potential of Vit E-NE was 112 nm and 56 mV, respectively. Vit E-NE administered rats showed significantly higher triglyceride content than of standard diet (control) or Vit E control emulsion (Vit E-CE) group but no toxicity symptoms were found in blood biochemical analysis. Next generation sequencing analysis of rat liver revealed that several genes related to energy and xenobiotic metabolism (CYP1A1 and glutathione S-transferase) were significantly altered. Serum metabolites (B-hydroxybutyrate and palmitoleic acid) indicating ketone body production and activation of stearoyl-CoAdesaturase were significantly increased by administration of Vit E-NE. The results of this study suggest that excessive consumption of edible nano-sized food ingredients can possibly cause adverse effects.

Enzyme and high pressure assisted extraction of tricin from rice hull and biological activities of rice hull extract.

Enzymatic hydrolysis was performed in conjunction with high hydrostatic pressure (HPP) treatment to extract tricin from rice hull. Enzymatic hydrolysis performed with Celluclast (0.5%, w/w) prior to HPP (500 MPa) treatment yielded maximum tricin content (32.9 mg/kg rice hull). The tricin content obtained by conventional solvent extraction and HPP treatment alone were 14.7 and 19.7 mg/kg rice hull, respectively. The rice hull extract containing tricin displayed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiadipogenic activities. The efficacy of rice hull extract obtained by either HPP or combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and HPP treatments was significantly greater than that of extract prepared by traditional solvent extraction.