Fermentation of Prawn Shell Waste and Its Application of its Product as Dietary Ingredient for Penaeus Indicus (H. Milne Edwards)

This work envisages the fermentation of prawn shell waste into a more nutritious product with simpler components for application as a feed ingredient in aquaculture. This product would be a rich source of protein along with chitin, minerals, vitamins and N-acetyl glucosamine. A brief description of the various processing (chemical and bioprocess) methods employed for chitin, chitosan and single sell protein preparations from shell waste. It deals with the isolation of micro flora associated with prawn shell degradation. It describes the methods adopted for fermentation of prawn shell degradation and fermentation of prawn shell waste with the selected highly chitinoclastic strains. The comparison of SSF and SmF for each selected strain in terms of enrichment of protein, lipid and carbohydrate in the fermented product was done. Detailed analysis of product quality is discussed. The feed for mulation and feeding experiment explained in detail. Statistical analysis of various biogrowth parameters was done with Duncan’s multiple range test. Very briefly explains 28 days of feeding experiment. A method for the complete utilization of shell waste explains with the help of experiments.

Fabrication Of Potentiometric Sensors For The Determination Of Certain Metal Ions

In this study Fabrication of Potentiometric sensors for the determination of certain metal ions, presents the synthesis and characterization of seven ionophores, their use in the fabrication of potentiometric sensors and the results and discussion of fourteen sensors developed for the determination of five transition metal ions. As part of the present investigations a total of fourteen potentiometric sensors have been developed and fabricated. A three fold approach has been taken in developing he sensors, PVC plasticized membrane sensor, carbon paste electrode and chemically modified carbon paste electrode. All the sensors are highly useful in the determination of metal ions such as manganese, nickel, copper, mercury and lead. A through analytical study has been carried out with respect to each other developed. Based on these studies, optimum conditions have been developed for the quantitative determinations of the selected metal ions using the sensors. Systematic application studies have also been carried out for all the developed sensors and the results revealed that the presently developed sensors are far superior than most of the sensors reported.

A PVC plasticized membrane sensor for nickel ions

A new PVC membrane sensor, which is highly selective towards Ni (II) ions, has been developed using a thiophene-derivative Schiff base as the ionophore. The best performance was exhibited by the membrane having the composition percentage ratio of 5:3:61:31 (ionophore:NaTPB:DBP:PVC) (w=w), where NaTPB is the anion excluder, sodium tetraphenylborate and DBP is the plasticizing agent (dibutyl phthalate). The membrane exhibited a good Nernstian response for nickel ions over the concentration range of 1.0 10 1– 5.0 10 6M (limit of detection is 1.8 10 6 M) with a slope of 29.5 1.0mV per decade of activity. It has a fast response time of<20 s and can be used for a period of 4 months with good reproducibility. The sensor is suitable for use in aqueous solutions of a wide pH range of 3.2–7.9. The sensor shows high selectivity to nickel ions over a large number of mono-, bi- and trivalent cations. It has been successfully used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of nickel ions against EDTA and also for direct determination of nickel content in real samples – wastewater samples from electroplating industries and Indian chocolates.

A PVC Plasticized Membrane Sensor for Nickel Ions

A new PVC membrane sensor, which is highly selective towards Ni (II) ions, has been developed using a thiophene-derivative Schiff base as the ionophore. The best performance was exhibited by the membrane having the composition percentage ratio of 5:3:61:31 (ionophore:NaTPB:DBP:PVC) (w=w), where NaTPB is the anion excluder, sodium tetraphenylborate and DBP is the plasticizing agent (dibutyl phthalate). The membrane exhibited a good Nernstian response for nickel ions over the concentration range of 1.0 10 1– 5.0 10 6M (limit of detection is 1.8 10 6 M) with a slope of 29.5 1.0mV per decade of activity. It has a fast response time of<20 s and can be used for a period of 4 months with good reproducibility. The sensor is suitable for use in aqueous solutions of a wide pH range of 3.2–7.9. The sensor shows high selectivity to nickel ions over a large number of mono-, bi- and trivalent cations. It has been successfully used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of nickel ions against EDTA and also for direct determination of nickel content in real samples – wastewater samples from electroplating industries and Indian chocolates.

Use of an open photoacoustic cell for the thermal characterisation of liquid crystals

In this paper, we describe the use of an open cell photoacoustic configuration for the evaluation of the thermal effusivity of liquid crystals. The feasibility, precision and reliability of the method are initially established by measuring the thermal effusivities of water and glycerol, for which the effusivity values are known accurately. In order to demonstrate the use of the present method in the thermal characterization of liquid crystals, we have measured the thermal effusivity values in various mesophases of 4-cyano-4 - octyloxybiphenyl (8OCB) and 4-cyano-4 -heptyloxybiphenyl (7OCB) liquid crystals using a variable temperature open photoacoustic cell. A comparison of the measured values for the two liquid crystals shows that the thermal effusivities of 7OCB in the nematic and isotropic phases are slightly less than those of 8OCB in the corresponding phases

Use of an open photoacoustic cell for the thermal characterisation of liquid crystals

In this paper, we describe the use of an open cell photoacoustic configuration for the evaluation of the thermal effusivity of liquid crystals. The feasibility, precision and reliability of the method are initially established by measuring the thermal effusivities of water and glycerol, for which the effusivity values are known accurately. In order to demonstrate the use of the present method in the thermal characterization of liquid crystals, we have measured the thermal effusivity values in various mesophases of 4-cyano-4 - octyloxybiphenyl (8OCB) and 4-cyano-4 -heptyloxybiphenyl (7OCB) liquid crystals using a variable temperature open photoacoustic cell. A comparison of the measured values for the two liquid crystals shows that the thermal effusivities of 7OCB in the nematic and isotropic phases are slightly less than those of 8OCB in the corresponding phases

Use of an open photoacoustic cell for the thermal characterisation of liquid crystals

In this paper, we describe the use of an open cell photoacoustic configuration for the evaluation of the thermal effusivity of liquid crystals. The feasibility, precision and reliability of the method are initially established by measuring the thermal effusivities of water and glycerol, for which the effusivity values are known accurately. In order to demonstrate the use of the present method in the thermal characterization of liquid crystals, we have measured the thermal effusivity values in various mesophases of 4-cyano-4 - octyloxybiphenyl (8OCB) and 4-cyano-4 -heptyloxybiphenyl (7OCB) liquid crystals using a variable temperature open photoacoustic cell. A comparison of the measured values for the two liquid crystals shows that the thermal effusivities of 7OCB in the nematic and isotropic phases are slightly less than those of 8OCB in the corresponding phases

Synthesis and Characterization of Some Organic Semiconductors and Investigations on the Effect of Swift Heavy Ions on Their Properties

In this work polymers belonging to polyaniline and polyaniline doped with camphor sulphonic acid are synthesised. Cobalt phthalocyanine is an interesting candidate belonging to the tetramers. Studies on the composites containing cobalt phthalocyanine tetramer and polyaniline doped with camphor sulphonic acid for various concentration are also undertaken in order to understand the mechanism. RF plasma polymerised aniline and furfural are prepared. The structural and electrical properties are evaluated. The bombardment of swift heavy ions of these films are carried out and the effect of irradiation on their properties is also investigated.

Catalysis by some metal oxides modified with phosphate ions

Surface acidity of phosphate modified La2O3,CeO2 and SnO2 has been estimated by titrimetric Method using Hammett Indicators.Mixed Oxides of tin and lanthanum have also been prepared and subjected to phosphate modification.Surface characterizartion of the samples has been carried out using XRD, surface area,thermal analysis and IR spectroscopy. Phosphate content in the samples has been chemically estimated. The catalytic activity for benzylation and esterification reaction has also been investigated.

Open-cell photoacoustic investigation of the thermal effusivity of liquid crystals

We report the use of an open photoacoustic cell configuration for the evaluation of thermal effusivity of liquid crystals. Initially, the method is calibrated using water and glycerol as transparent liquid samples, and the role of thermal conductivity of these liquids on the photoacoustic signal amplitude is discussed. To demonstrate the application of the present method for the evaluation of thermal effusivity of liquid crystals, we have used certain multicomponent nematic liquid crystal mixtures, namely BL001, BL002, BL032, and BL035. Each of these liquid crystal mixtures contains four to nine components and are primarily based on the cyanobiphenyl structure. The measured values of thermal effusivity of BL001 and BL002 were found to be almost the same, but differ from those of BL032 and BL035, which implies a difference in composition of the latter two from the former two mixtures.

Photoacoustic investigation of doped InP using open cell configuration

An open cell photoacoustic (PA) configuration has been employed to evaluate the thermal diffusivity of intrinsic InP as well as InP doped with tin and iron. Thermal diffusivity data have been evaluated from variation of phase of PA signal as a function of modulation frequency. In doped samples, we observe a reduced value for thermal diffusivity in comparison with intrinsic InP. We also observed that, while the phase of the PA signal varies linearly with the square root of chopping frequency for doped samples, the intrinsic material does not exhibit such behaviour in the experimental frequency range. These results have been interpreted in terms of the heat generation and phonon assisted heat diffusion mechanisms in semiconductors.

Effect of Te doping on thermal diffusivity of Bi2Se3 crystals: A study using open cell photoacoustic technique

An open cell configuration has been employed for the photoacoustic measurement of the thermal diffusivity of undoped Bi2Se3 crystals and Bi2Se3 crystals doped with various concentrations of Te. The amplitude of the photoacoustic signal obtained under heat transmission configuration as a function of chopping frequency is used to evaluate the numerical value of thermal diffusivity, α. Doped samples show a substantial reduction in the value of α compared to undoped samples. The variations in the thermal diffusivity of the doped samples are explained in terms of the phonon assisted heat transfer mechanism. It is seen that α is very sensitive to structural variations arising from doping. The experimentally observed results are correlated with X-ray diffraction studies.

Production of Alkaline Protease by Free and Immobilised Cells of VIBRIO sp. Under Different Fermentation Systems and Its Application on Deproteinisation of Prawn Shell Waste for Chitin Recovery

This thesis presents a detailed account of a cost - effective approach towards enhanced production of alkaline protease at profitable levels using different fermentation designs employing cheap agro-industrial residues. It involves the optimisation of process parameters for the production of a thermostable alkaline protease by Vibrio sp. V26 under solid state, submerged and biphasic fermentations, production of the enzyme using cell immobilisation technology and the application of the crude enzyme on the deproteinisation of crustacean waste.The present investigation suggests an economic move towards Improved production of alkaline protease at gainful altitudes employing different fermentation designs utilising inexpensive agro-industrial residues. Moreover, the use of agro-industrial and other solid waste substrates for fermentation helps to provide a substitute in conserving the already dwindling global energy resources. Another alternative for accomplishing economically feasible production is by the use of immobilisation technique. This method avoids the wasteful expense of continually growing microorganisms. The high protease producing potential of the organism under study ascertains their exploitation in the utilisation and management of wastes. However, strain improvement studies for the production of high yielding variants using mutagens or by gene transfer are required before recommending them to Industries.Industries, all over the world, have made several attempts to exploit the microbial diversity of this planet. For sustainable development, it is essential to discover, develop and defend this natural prosperity. The Industrial development of any country is critically dependent on the intellectual and financial investment in this area. The need of the hour is to harness the beneficial uses of microbes for maximum utilisation of natural resources and technological yields. Owing to the multitude of applications in a variety of industrial sectors, there has always been an increasing demand for novel producers and resources of alkaline proteases as well as for innovative methods of production at a commercial altitude. This investigation forms a humble endeavour towards this perspective and bequeaths hope and inspiration for inventions to follow.