A breakthrough in cosmeceuticals by utilizing insects as major ingredients in cosmetic products is gaining popularity. Therefore, the interest in rare sources of ingredients, for instance, from the Oryctes rhinoceros beetle, can bring huge benefits in terms of turning pests into wealth. In this study, curcumin was chosen as the active ingredient loaded into chitosan-gold nanoparticles (CCG-NP). Curcumin is unstable and has poor absorption, a high rate of metabolism, and high sensitivity to light. These are all factors that contribute to the low bioavailability of any substance to reach the target cells. Therefore, chitosan extracted from O. rhinoceros could be used as a drug carrier to overcome these limitations. In order to overcome these limitations, CCG-NPs were synthesized and characterized. Chitosan was isolated from O. rhinoceros and CCG-NPs were successfully synthesized at 70 °C for 60 min under optimal conditions of a reactant ratio of 2:0.5 (0.5 mM HAuCl₄: 0.1% curcumin). Characterizations of CCG-NP involved FTIR analysis, zeta potential, morphological properties determination by FE-SEM, particle size analysis, crystallinity study by XRD, and elemental analysis by EDX. The shape of the CCG-NP was round, its size was 128.27 d.nm, and the value of the zeta potential was 20.2 ± 3.81 mV. The IC50 value for cell viability is 58%, indicating a mild toxicity trait. To conclude, CCG-NP is a stable, spherical, nano-sized, non-toxic, and homogeneous solution.

This work investigated low shrinkage curing techniques and characterization of unsaturated polyester (UPE-8340) and vinyl ester (VE-922) reinforced composite. The reinforced polymeric composite was composed using various amounts (0.1 vol.% to 0.5 vol.%) of methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) and the proportion of UPE and VE (5 vol.%) was kept fixed throughout the study. The epoxy matrix was formed using a 3D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) dumbbell shape mold and the specimen was cured in the presence of air and an inner gas (carbon dioxide) using a customized ambient closed chamber system. The influence of MEKP on UPE and VE reinforce composites was studied by investigating curing kinetics, shrinkage, tensile properties, contact angle, and thermal stability. The CO₂-cured results show a significant lower shrinkage rate and higher tensile strength and flexural modulus of UPE and VE reinforced composite articles compared with air-cured reinforced composite. These macro-scale results correlate with the air-cured structure, an un-banded smooth surface was observed, and it was found that the lowest amount of MEKP revealed significant improvement in the contact angle of UPET and VE reinforced composites.

The proposed chapter addresses a comprehensive overview of the history and future outlook of ultrafiltration/microfiltration (UF/MF) membrane for desalination water pretreatment. Known theories on UF/MF membrane formation from phase inversion (Dr/wet) systems can be prolonged to define the consequences of high or low molecular weight additives. Also, direct material reengineering and surface modification for high-performance anti-fouling of UF/MF membranes are also highlighted. Before the modern final polymeric film, the characterization techniques, particularly molecular weight cut-off, pore size, pore size distribution, and microbiological activity classification, on to the UF/MF membrane surface were presented, respectively. Lab scale to commercial scale UF/MF membrane configuration and market size of UF/MF membranes for pretreatment desalination are described. The significance of UF/MF provided here as an unconventional approach for desalination water pretreatment is in contrast with the current conventionally used technologies. The recent development made in the integration of established desalination processes, such as spiral wound reverse osmosis (SWRO), multi-stage flash (MSF), multi-effect distillation (MED), electrodialysis (ED) desalination, and UF pretreatment, is addressed. Finally, the influence of UF/MF on desalination water pretreatment step on to the energy cost of desalination process system is discussed.

The main obstacles to scaling up membrane distillation (MD) on a commercial level are membrane fouling and temperature polarization. Therefore, in this study, the significance of the pulsation feed flow phenomenon was used for membrane distillation (DCMD) polarization, and comparisons were made using steady-state feed flow. Two different Hertz and amplitudes of pulsation feed flow trends were used in DCMD using different sources of water, including distilled water, seawater, and wastewater. Compared to steady-state feed flow, the results revealed that flux was enhanced for seawater once the operating flow became turbulent, and it enhanced even more once the flow rate was increased and the turbulence flow was moved. For wastewater, pulsation in the feed flow had an impact on delaying the beginning of the flux decline point and enhancing the overall freshwater recovery. In both pulsation feed flows (1 and 2 Hertz), the results also revealed a deficiency in fouling and an improvement in the temperature distribution in the feed channel for seawater desalination and wastewater running under typical operational conditions. Taking this value into consideration, an enhancement in mass flux (~5–10%) was observed compared to steady-state feed flow. Moreover, the pulsation feed channels were found to reduce CPC by about 10–15%, proving the role of turbulence in mixing the flow and mitigating the reduction in concentration polarization.

This study considers the integration of multistage flash (MSF) desalination with hydrate-based desalination (HBD) precursor to improve MSF performance in terms of distillate production, longevity, and operational conditions. This is accomplished by a comprehensive analysis of the rate of scale formation, distillate production, and the MSF performance ratio by means of mathematical modelling conducted in Simulink software. To calibrate the effectiveness of HBD as precursor to the MSF desalination process, two MSF models were created: the once-through (OT) and brine recycle (BR) configurations. The MSF models were validated in terms of stagewise distillate production, brine temperature, and coolant temperatures with data from the literature, while neglecting the non-equilibrium allowance. The operational performance of the proposed integration approach was evaluated in terms of the deposition rates of CaCO₃, scale thickness, fouling resistance, overall heat transfer coefficient, performance ratio, and production ratio. The examination was conducted from the perspective of water salinity and stream temperature for the integrated HBD-MSF systems. The results show that due to the quality of output water in terms of salinity and temperature, the integration of HBD and MSF improved the performance of MSF by substantially reducing scale formation rates as well as increasing the production of distillate where the scale formation rates were 40.6% and 36.3% lower for the hybrid HBD-MSF-OT and HBD-MSF-BR systems, respectively.

Gas hydrates are increasingly becoming a viable method due to their potential efficiency and minimal energy demands. The capacity to manipulate and regulate the development of these hydrates is essential for enhancing their application in practical contexts. The study employed a VINCI autoclave apparatus to experimentally investigate the CO2 filling rate necessary to attain hydration pressure with minimal temperature increase. MATLAB is used to derive theoretical gas filling equations that control the filling behavior and compare them with the results of our tests. A clear proportional link exists between filling flow rates and temperature increment within the reactor. The simulation effectively identifies values for temperature and pressure in the reactor that are extremely similar to the final measurements, particularly at low flow rates during filling. The optimal CO2 flow rates are subsequently employed to pressurize the reactor for measuring CO2 uptake during the induction period of gas hydrate. The induction time for CO2 hydrate was minimal across all experimental sets with new operation order, where reactor is pressurized then cooled to form hydrate with nucleation commencing in as little as 9 seconds in certain experiments, even prior to the completion of the filling process. The duration of the experiment varies between sets, but all persisted until no liquid water remained in the reactor. The absorption of CO2 has reached 0.127 moles, resulting in a ratio of 1:43.7 moles of CO2 to moles of pure water.