Hydrazone-based compounds distinguished by their azomethine –NHNCH group and their respective coinage metal complexes have emerged as leading candidates in the search for effective anticancer and antibiotic agents.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) incorporated chitosan scaffolds on osteoblasts proliferation and differentiation. The chitosan polymer was initially modified by the predetermined concentration of the photoreactive azido group for UV-crosslinking and with RGD peptides (N-acetyl-GRGDSPGYG-amide). The PEG was mixed at different ratios (0, 10, and 20 wt) with modified chitosan in 96-well tissue culture polystyrene plates to prepare CHI-100, CHI-90, and CHI-80 scaffolds. PEG-containing scaffolds exhibited bigger pore size and higher water content compared to unmodified chitosan scaffolds. After 10days of incubation, the cell number of CHI-90 (1.1×106cells/scaffold) surpasses that of CHI-100 (9.2×105cells/scaffold) and the cell number of CHI-80 (7.6×105cells/scaffold) were significantly lower. The ALP activity of CHI-90 was the highest on the fifth day indicating the favored osteoblasts' early-stage differentiation. Moreover, after 14days of osteogenic culture, calcium deposition in the CHI-90 scaffolds (2.7μmol Ca/scaffold) was significantly higher than the control (2.2μmol Ca/scaffold) whereas on CHI-80 was 1.9μmol/scaffold. The results demonstrate that PEG-incorporated chitosan scaffolds favored osteoblasts proliferation and differentiation; however, mixing relatively excess PEG (20 wt.) had a negative impact on osteoblasts proliferation and differentiation.

The world's nations are searching for renewable and sustainable energy and fuels due to restrictions on carbon discharges and fossil feedstock shortage.. Biomass is a renewable and sustainable resource; and its conversion is one of the research hotspot areas. This review aims to summarize the evidence gained from different methods of converting lignocellulose materials using heterogeneous catalysts. The review summarizes heterogeneous catalysts like carbon-based sulfonated acids, polymeric acids, metal oxides, and solid and magnetic nature acids, including methods to improve functionality and recyclability. The paper also discusses the approaches for enhancing the efficiency of reactions between heterogeneous catalysts and lignocellulose substrates, like ball-milling, microwave irradiation, solid acid interaction, the effect of hydrogen bonding, and CH–pi (π) bond interaction techniques.

In this study, the synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) from nonusable invasive weed Senna didymobotrya cellulose was possible through response surface methodology (RSM)–guided alkalization and etherification methods. The RSM method indicates that the maximum CMC yield obtained, 0.85 gm or 85.6%, was achieved when 1 gm or 6 mol of anhydrous glucose unit (AGU) cellulose reacted with 1 gm or 3.24 mol of KOH/AGU and 1.1 gm or 2.05 mol of monochloroacetic acid (MCA)/AGU at 60°C with a total reaction time of 2 h. This finding opens a new avenue for saving chemicals while producing industrial chemicals. The RSM analysis also indicates that the method was significant and valid. This is because the factors and factor interactions used in this method were significant ( p < 0.05) and the method was precise because the adequate precision (30.7) found was much higher than the expected precision value of 4. The factors used were alkalization, etherification, and temperature. The degree of substitution of synthesized CMC was 2.5 and comparable with the commercial CMC (2.9). The viscosity measurement of the synthesized and commercial CMC indicates that both materials showed non‐Newtonian pseudoplastic behavior. The viscosity of the synthesized CMC was 331.64 cP and the commercial CMC was 227.08 cP. This indicates that the synthesized CMC was more viscous than the commercial CMC. Hence, the synthesized CMC could be used as a good thickener in different factories. The FTIR, XRD peaks, and SEM images indicate that the CMC was synthesized from the isolated cellulose. The TGA/DTA analysis also indicates the CMC was thermally stable up to 380°C and exhibited heat resistance up to 800°C. Therefore, the two simplest, not time‐ and energy‐taking, methods used and the results of their characterizations with respect to commercial CMC indicate that our synthesized CMC from the weed Senna didymobotrya cellulose can be extended to large‐scale production of CMC and marketed locally and worldwide.

Teff (Eragrostis tef) is a staple crop and holds the biggest share of grains cultivated area in Ethiopia, consequently, a large quantity of Teff straw is produced. The Teff straw was pretreated for the first time with Chromium-based Metal-Organic Framework, MIL-101(Cr), assisted hydrothermal method at temperatures ranging from 160 to 240 °C for 1/2, 1, or 2 h time independently. With an increase of pretreatment severity, the yield of total reducing sugar (TRS) was increased until reaching maximum (185 mg g⁻¹). The identified optimum hydrothermal pretreatment condition, (180 °C and 1 h), had a feature of higher TRS yield and lower furfural concentration. The morphological analysis showed that treated Teff straw had degraded structure, higher surface area, and distorted bundles than native Teff straws. This study insight into MOFs’ application in lignocellulose biomass processing, and optimizing the pretreatment condition of Teff straw biomass.

Senna didymobotrya is one of the emerging invasive weeds in East and South Africa. One of the solutions for weed management involves isolating cellulose and converting it into valuable materials. In this research, the isolation of cellulose was optimized by the Plackett‐Burman design (PBD) and response surface methodology using Box‐Behnken design (BBD), both of which are statistical empirical models. The maximum isolated cellulose yield was 37.5% (w/w) using sulfuric acid 1.75% (w/v), sodium chlorite 3% (w/v) at pH of 3.5, and potassium hydroxide 6% (w/v) treatment. Each chemical treatment was done by heating the mixture at 90°C for 2 hrs. The cellulose yield obtained (37.5% (w/w)) was higher than the preoptimized value of 35.5% (w/w). The dewaxed powder of the weed, isolated cellulose, and commercial cellulose was characterized side by side for comparison using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TGA/DTA. All the characterizing methods indicated that the isolated material was cellulose. Even though the intensity of FTIR and XRD graphs of the isolated cellulose was higher than the commercial cellulose, the crystallinity index calculated from XRD analysis showed that the commercial cellulose (83%) was higher than the isolated cellulose (78%). The TGA/DTA indicates that the isolated cellulose and commercial cellulose had comparable thermal stability, both stable at up to 360°C. Therefore, using this optimized method, cellulose isolation from S. didymobotrya opens avenues for converting cellulose into valuable materials like carboxymethyl cellulose, cellulose hydrogel, and cellulose nanocrystals.