Bio‐Nanotechnology in High‐Performance Supercapacitors

The use of bio‐nanotechnology for the fabrication of diverse functional nanomaterials with precisely controlled morphologies and microstructures is attracting considerable attention due to its sustainability and renewability. As one of the key energy storage devices, supercapacitor (SC) requires the active electrode material to have high specific surface area, interconnected porous structure, excellent electronic conductivity, and appropriate heteroatom doping for promoting the transfer of electrons and electrolyte ions. The combination of bio‐technology and SC will open up a new avenue for the large‐scale fabrication of high performance functional energy storage devices. In this review, the most state‐of‐the‐art research progress in bio‐nanotechnological fabrication of different nanomaterials, including carbon materials, metal oxides, conducting polymers, and their corresponding composites are reviewed with the following three bio‐nanotechnical approaches covered: (1) biomass carbonization technologies; (2) bio‐template methods; and (3) bio‐complex technologies, while also highlighting their applications as functional SC electrodes.     

Bio‐ und Geotop Einhornhöhle

The “Unicorn Cave” Between the towns of Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg exists an important area of Permian dolomite formations with caves and special cliffs of dolomite rock with the particular location Unicorn Cave in the centre. Even the name of this cave sounds mysterious. For hundreds of years, digging for the bones of the unicorn had been the foremost interest. The cave – home of thousands of cave‐bears – has been famous and well known even far beyond the Harz‐mountains.     

Bio‐palladium: from metal recovery to catalytic applications

While precious metals are available to a very limited extent, there is an increasing demand to use them as catalyst. This is also true for palladium (Pd) catalysts and their sustainable recycling and production are required. Since Pd catalysts exist nowadays mostly under the form of nanoparticles, these particles need to be produced in an environment‐friendly way. Biological synthesis of Pd nanoparticles (‘bio‐Pd’) is an innovative method for both metal recovery and nanocatalyst synthesis. This review will discuss the different bio‐Pd precipitating microorganisms, the applications of the catalyst (both for environmental purposes and in organic chemistry) and the state of the art of the reactors based on the bio‐Pd concept. In addition, some main challenges are discussed, which need to be overcome in order to create a sustainable nanocatalyst. Finally, some outlooks for bio‐Pd in environmental technology are presented.     

Bio‐based extraction and stabilization of anthocyanins

This work reports a novel method of recovering anthocyanin compounds from highly‐pigmented grapes via a fermentation based approach. It was hypothesized that batch growth of Zymomonas mobilis on simple medium would produce both ethanol and enzymes/biomass‐acting materials, the combination of which will provide a superior extraction when compared to simple alcohol extraction. To examine this hypothesis, Z. mobilis was fermented in a batch consisting of mashed Vitis vinifera and glucose, and the recovered anthocyanin pool was compared to that recovered via extraction with ethanol. Data indicated higher amounts of anthocyanins were recovered when compared to simple solvent addition. Additionally, the percent polymeric form of the anthocyanins could be manipulated by the level of aeration maintained in the fermentation. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:601–605, 2016     

Bio‐electrospraying: A potentially safe technique for delivering progenitor cells

Bio‐electrospraying is fast becoming an attractive tool for in situ cell delivery into scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, with several cell types been successfully electrosprayed. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal progenitor/stem cells (BMSC), which are an important cell source for tissue engineering, have not been explored in detail and the effect of electrospraying on their “stemness” is not known. This study therefore investigates the effects of electrospraying on BMSC viability, proliferation, and multilineage differentiation potential. Electrospraying a BMSC suspension at flow rate of 6 mL/h and voltages of 7.5–15 kV could successfully generate a continuous, stable and linearly directed electrospray of cells. Morphological observation, trypan blue tests and alamar blue based metabolic assays revealed about 88% of these electrosprayed cells were viable, and proliferated at rates similar to native BMSCs. However, at higher voltages, electrospraying became unstable and reduced cell viability, possibly due to electrical or thermal damage to the cells. BMSCs electrosprayed at 7.5 kV also retained their multipotency and could be successfully differentiated into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages, demonstrating similar morphology and gene expression levels as induced native BMSCs. These results indicate that bio‐electrospraying could be safely used as a progenitor/stem cell delivery technique for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;106: 690–698. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bio‐ORACLE: a global environmental dataset for marine species distribution modelling

Aim The oceans harbour a great diversity of organisms whose distribution and ecological preferences are often poorly understood. Species distribution modelling (SDM) could improve our knowledge and inform marine ecosystem management and conservation. Although marine environmental data are available from various sources, there are currently no user‐friendly, high‐resolution global datasets designed for SDM applications. This study aims to fill this gap by assembling a comprehensive, uniform, high‐resolution and readily usable package of global environmental rasters. Location Global, marine. Methods We compiled global coverage data, e.g. satellite‐based and in situ measured data, representing various aspects of the marine environment relevant for species distributions. Rasters were assembled at a resolution of 5 arcmin (c. 9.2 km) and a uniform landmask was applied. The utility of the dataset was evaluated by maximum entropy SDM of the invasive seaweed Codium fragile ssp. fragile. Results We present Bio‐ORACLE (ocean rasters for analysis of climate and environment), a global dataset consisting of 23 geophysical, biotic and climate rasters. This user‐friendly data package for marine species distribution modelling is available for download at http://www.bio‐oracle.ugent.be . The high predictive power of the distribution model of C. fragile ssp. fragile clearly illustrates the potential of the data package for SDM of shallow‐water marine organisms. Main conclusions The availability of this global environmental data package has the potential to stimulate marine SDM. The high predictive success of the presence‐only model of a notorious invasive seaweed shows that the information contained in Bio‐ORACLE can be informative about marine distributions and permits building highly accurate species distribution models.     

Bio‐mitigation of carbon following afforestation of abandoned salinized farmland

As the global demand for food continues to increase, the displacement of food production by using agricultural land for carbon mitigation, via either carbon sequestration, bioenergy or biofuel is a concern. An alternative approach is to target abandoned salinized farmland for mitigation purposes. Australia, for example, has 17 million ha of farmland that is already or could become saline. At a representative, salinized, low rainfall (350 mm yr^?1) site at Wickepin, Western Australia, we demonstrate that afforestation can mitigate carbon emissions through either providing a feedstock for bioenergy or second generation biofuel production and produce salt‐tolerant fodder for livestock. A range of factors markedly affect this mitigation. These include hydrological conditions such as salinity, site factors such as slope position and soil properties and a range of silvicultural factors such as species, planting density and age of the planting. High density (2000 stems ha^?1) plantings of Eucalyptus occidentalis Endl. produced a mean total biomass of 4.6 t ha^?1 yr^?1 (8.5 t CO₂‐e ha^?1 yr^?1) averaged over 8 years. Atriplex nummularia Lindl. produced a mean total biomass of 3.8 t ha^?1 yr^?1 (6.9 t CO₂‐e ha^?1 yr^?1) averaged over 4 years and approximately 1.9 t ha^?1 yr^?1 of edible dry matter annually to 8 years of age. With differences in salt tolerance between E. occidentalis and A. nummularia, we propose an integrated approach to treating salinized sites that takes salinity gradients into account, replicates natural wetland ecosystems and produces both fodder and biomass. Continued mitigation is expected as the stands mature, assuming that growth is not affected by the accumulation of salt in the soil profile. Such carbon mitigation could potentially be applied to salinized farmland globally, and this could thus represent a major contribution to global carbon mitigation without competing with food production.     

Virtuelle Fachbibliothek schafft Übersicht. Bio‐Datenbanken und mehr in “vifabio”

The Virtual Library of Biology – short name: vifabio, URL: www.vifabio.de – supports biologists in finding and using biological databases. This service comprises three components: the Database Guide which helps to find the “right” database for one's own research problems; the concept for making available important bibliographic databases via national licences; special access points for users not affiliated with an academic institution.     

Microfluidics and photonics for Bio‐System‐on‐a‐Chip: A review of advancements in technology towards a microfluidic flow cytometry chip

Microfluidics and photonics come together to form a field commonly referred to as ‘optofluidics’. Flow cytometry provides the field with a technology base from which both microfluidic and photonic components be developed and integrated into a useful device. This article reviews some of the more recent developments to familiarize a reader with the current state of the technologies and also highlights the requirements of the device and how researchers are working to meet these needs. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bio‐priming seeds with cyanobacteria: effects on native plant growth and soil properties

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria that form a fundamental part of soil biocrusts, enhance soil function and structure, and can promote plant growth. We assessed the potential of cyanobacteria as a seed bio‐primer for mine‐site restoration in an arid region in Western Australia, examining its effects on native plant growth and the characteristics of mine soil substrates used in dryland restoration. Cyanobacteria strains indigenous to the study region (Leptolyngbya sp., Microcoleus sp., Nostoc sp., and Scytonema sp.) were used to create an inoculant. Seeds of seven native plant species were bio‐primed with the inoculant, and their germination and growth assessed in a laboratory experiment. Seedling growth after bio‐priming was assessed in a glasshouse experiment for a subset of three species, in two different substrates (topsoil and mine waste). Soil properties related to soil function, e.g. total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and microbial activity, were also measured. Minor effects on germination were recorded with only significantly higher germination rates reported in E. gamophylla. Soil parameters were generally higher in topsoil than in mine waste, regardless of bio‐priming treatment. However, bio‐priming resulted in seedlings of four species producing longer radicles and/or shoots. For example, seedling root lengths of bio‐primed G. wickhamii were 57% larger than the control treatment (30.1 ± 4.3 and 13.0 ± 1.6 mm, respectively); and shoots of T. wiseana were 54% longer in the bio‐primed treatment (18.6 ± 1.6 mm) compared to the control (8.53 ± 1.4 mm). Overall, our results highlight that bio‐priming with cyanobacteria may improve plant growth for some species commonly used in dryland restoration.     

Bio‐antifelting of wool based on mild methanolic potassium hydroxide pretreatment

Covalently bound lipids cover the wool surface and make enzymatic degradation of wool scales very difficult. In this paper, methanolic potassium hydroxide (MPH) pretreatment was used prior to enzymatic treatment of wool with protease, aiming at hydrolyzing the outmost lipids on the wool surface and promoting the subsequent proteolytic reaction. The efficacy of lipid removal from the fiber surface and the properties of the protease‐treated wool were evaluated. The results indicated that mild MPH pretreatment with 0.10 mol/L MPH for 10 min improved the wettability of the wool without adverse impacts on its mechanical properties. The wetting time and area shrinkage of the wool fabric reached 0.5 s and 5.6%, respectively, and the strength loss was within the acceptable range. Pretreatment with high concentrations of MPH for longer times led to significant damage to the wool fibers and caused heavy strength loss, without improving the antifelting properties after protease treatment. Thus, the combination of mild MPH and protease treatments endowed the wool with desirable properties in contrast to the treatment with protease alone.     

Coaxial Aerodynamically Assisted Bio‐jets: A Versatile Paradigm for Directly Engineering Living Primary Organisms

In this paper, a coaxial jetting methodology is demonstrated as a first example (non‐electric field driven) completely run by aerodynamic forces which are brought about by the application of a differential pressure for the safe handling of primary living organisms by means of jets as encapsulated droplets. Previously this jetting technique in this configuration has only been investigated for processing combinations of liquid‐liquid and liquid‐gas systems. These developmental studies into aerodynamically assisted jets (AAJ) have unearthed a versatile bio‐jetting approach referred to here as coaxial aerodynamically assisted bio‐jetting (CAABJ). In the current work, this flexible approach is demonstrated to handle two primary cell types for drop‐and‐placing onto several different substrates. Furthermore, the study assesses cellular viability of the post‐treated cells in comparison to controls by way of flow cytometry. These first steps demonstrate the promise this protocol has in exploring the creation of biologically viable structures to form encapsulations of cells which would be useful as a direct tissue engineering to the immuno‐hinding methodology in bio‐repair and therapeutics. Therefore, these investigations place CAABJ into the cell jetting pursuit together with bio‐electrosprays, which will undergo an explosive developmental research.     

Approaches for Addressing Life Cycle Assessment Data Gaps for Bio‐based Products

There is an increasing need for life cycle data for bio‐based products, which becomes particularly evident with the recent drive for greenhouse gas reporting and carbon footprinting studies. Meeting this need is challenging given that many bio‐products have not yet been studied by life cycle assessment (LCA), and those that have are specific and limited to certain geographic regions. In an attempt to bridge data gaps for bio‐based products, LCA practitioners can use either proxy data sets (e.g., use existing environmental data for apples to represent pears) or extrapolated data (e.g., derive new data for pears by modifying data for apples considering pear‐specific production characteristics). This article explores the challenges and consequences of using these two approaches. Several case studies are used to illustrate the trade‐offs between uncertainty and the ease of application, with carbon footprinting as an example. As shown, the use of proxy data sets is the quickest and easiest solution for bridging data gaps but also has the highest uncertainty. In contrast, data extrapolation methods may require extensive expert knowledge and are thus harder to use but give more robust results in bridging data gaps. They can also provide a sound basis for understanding variability in bio‐based product data. If resources (time, budget, and expertise) are limited, the use of averaged proxy data may be an acceptable compromise for initial or screening assessments. Overall, the article highlights the need for further research on the development and validation of different approaches to bridging data gaps for bio‐based products.