ABSTRACT The development of smart biomaterials able to quantitatively analyse the dynamics of bio... more ABSTRACT The development of smart biomaterials able to quantitatively analyse the dynamics of biological systems with high temporal resolution in biomimetic environments is of paramount importance in biophysics, biology and medicine. In this context, we develop a biosensing water-based soft biomaterial with tunable mechanical properties through the generation of an electroconductive nano-element network. As a proof of concept, in order to detect glucose concentration, we fabricate an electroconductive polyacrylamide glucose oxidase (GOx) loaded hydrogel (HY) modified with a small amount of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) (up to 0.85 wt%). MicroRaman maps and optical analysis show the nanotube distribution in the samples at different mass fractions. Electrochemical impedance spectra and their fitting with equivalent circuit models reveal electron conduction in the charged hydrogels in addition to ionic conductivity. The effective resulting resistance of the nanostructured network is comparable to that of a gold electrode. These findings were also confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. Interestingly, heterogeneous clustering of SWNTs shows double electric mechanisms and efficiencies. GOx–SWNT doped hydrogels show a linear glucose concentration response in the range between 0.1 mM and 1.6 mM; taken together these results show high detection limits for glucose (down to 15 mM) and a sensitivity of 0.63 mA mM À1 . In the perspective of monitoring cell dynamics, hydrogel functionalization allows cell adhesion and long-term cell culture, and atomic force microscopy is used for mapping the doped hydrogel stiffness. Myoblasts, cells sensitive to mechanical substrate properties, show proper differentiation of phenotype in the SWNT–HYs with nominal physiological stiffness.
Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction an... more Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction and fast response time. The integration of miniaturized biosensors within lab-on-a-chip setups under flow conditions is highly desirable, not only because it simplifies process handling but also because measurements become more robust and operator-independent. In this work, we study the integration of flow amperometric biosensors within a microfluidic platform when analyte concentration is indirectly measured. As a case study, we used a platinum miniaturized glucose biosensor, where glucose is enzymatically converted to H 2 O 2 that is oxidized at the electrode. The experimental results produced are strongly coupled to a theoretical analysis of fluid dynamic conditions affecting the electrochemical response of the sensor. We verified that the choice of the inlet flow rate is a critical parameter in flow biosensors, because it affects both glucose and H 2 O 2 transport, to and from the electrode. We identify optimal flow rate conditions for accurate sensing at high time resolution. A dimensionless theoretical analysis allows the extension of the results to other sensing systems according to fluid dynamic similarity principles. Furthermore, we developed a microfluidic design that connects a sampling unit to the biosensor, in order to decouple the sampling flow rate from that of the actual measurement.
• A new model for studying the thermal standby behavior of a VRFB stack is presented. • Losses fr... more • A new model for studying the thermal standby behavior of a VRFB stack is presented. • Losses from species crossover and shunt currents are duly taken into account. • The dynamic cell temperature distribution in the stack is computed. • Successful validation against data from a 9 kW experimental stack is described. • Simulations show that shunt currents can have pivotal effects in high-power stacks.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Jan 7, 2000
The applicability of electrochemical methods to remove tannins from wastewater was investigated. ... more The applicability of electrochemical methods to remove tannins from wastewater was investigated. Gallotannic acid was used as the reference substance. Electrochemical experiments were performed using platinum electrodes. Macroscale potentiostatic or galvanostatic electrolyses were carried out with sodium sulfate or sodium chloride as supporting electrolytes, to analyze direct and indirect oxidation processes. Operating variables such as pH and chloride concentration were considered to determine their influence on the efficiency and energy consumption of the process. The simulation of a pilot plant was carried out with a mathematical model, the parameters of which were determined by fitting of experimental profiles. The results of a preliminary investigation on the oxidation-coagulation process using sacrificial electrodes are also reported.
European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings, 2013
The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power s... more The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power systems fed with biogas from anaerobic digestion. The concentration of this contaminant in the digester output biogas varies over the time, but it should be kept below the ppm level at the fuel cell system inlet, to minimize the reformer catalyst poisoning and cell component degradation. This work was aimed to analyse, into a real case, the entire anaerobic digestion process, highlighting the parameters that govern the hydrogen sulphide production, and to study the behaviour of a biotrickling filter for fine desulphurisation of real biogas to be fed into a laboratory scale HTPEM (High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system. The amount of hydrogen sulphide in biogas resulted to be an important instantaneous indicator of the proper digestion process. The biotrickling filter showed high hydrogen sulphide removal efficiencies and proved to be a quite robust system, satisfactorily performing also in offdesign conditions.
Synthetic solutions containing up to 2000 ppm of gallotannic acid and real wastewater from vegeta... more Synthetic solutions containing up to 2000 ppm of gallotannic acid and real wastewater from vegetal tanning processes with values of chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeding 100 000 ppm were decontaminated by electrolysis using a sacrificial iron anode coupled to either a titanium-platinised or an O 2-diffusion cathode. Experiments were performed in the presence of oxidants and oxidation promoters such as air, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, the latter being directly added to the solution or electrogenerated by the O 2-diffusion cathode. COD and UV-visible absorbance evolution showed that tannins are removed from electrolysed solutions down to relatively low values, permitting more than 94% elimination. Partial oxidation of the mother compound generates short-chain by-products (mostly carboxylic acids) responsible for the remaining low COD values. Contaminants (tannins and non-tannins) contained in industrial wastewater were removed by combining electroprecipitation with a Fentonassisted process; a final oxidation step, carried out on a boron-doped diamond electrode, was performed in order to decrease the COD to very low final values.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Aug 10, 2022
In the last two decades lab-on-chip models, specifically heart-on-chip, have been developed as pr... more In the last two decades lab-on-chip models, specifically heart-on-chip, have been developed as promising technologies for recapitulating physiological environments suitable for studies of drug and environmental effects on either human physiological or patho-physiological conditions. Most human heart-on-chip systems are based on integration and adaptation of terminally differentiated cells within microfluidic context. This process requires prolonged procedures, multiple steps, and is associated with an intrinsic variability of cardiac differentiation. In this view, we developed a method for cardiac differentiation-on-a-chip based on combining the stage-specific regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling with the forced expression of transcription factors (TFs) that timely recapitulate hallmarks of the cardiac development. We performed the overall cardiac differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to cardiomyocytes (CMs) within a microfluidic environment. Sequential forced expression of cardiac TFs was achieved by a sequential mmRNAs delivery of first MESP1, GATA4 followed by GATA4, NKX2.5, MEF2C, TBX3, and TBX5. We showed that this optimized protocol led to a robust and reproducible approach to obtain a cost-effective hiPSC-derived heart-on-chip. The results showed higher distribution of cTNT positive CMs along the channel and a higher expression of functional cardiac markers (TNNT2 and MYH7). The combination of stage-specific regulation of Wnt/βcatenin signaling with mmRNAs encoding cardiac transcription factors will be suitable to obtain heart-on-chip model in a cost-effective manner, enabling to perform combinatorial, multiparametric, parallelized and high-throughput experiments on functional cardiomyocytes.
Leather industry uses high quantities of water, from 50 to 200 m 3 d -1 and tanning processes use... more Leather industry uses high quantities of water, from 50 to 200 m 3 d -1 and tanning processes use large quantities of tannin-based organic compounds, which with all the protein, lipids, greases and hairs, constitute high amounts of COD (chemical oxygen demand) and BOD (biological oxygen demand) with many biorefractory compounds in the tanning effluents. Effective treatment with recycling option of such large quantities of technological waters would: 1) reduce the costs of the entire tanning process (as for that of water consumption and that of salt expenses), 2) allow to easily depurate the issuing waters with lower costs, and 3) eliminate progressively the negative environmental impact of the final effluent discharge into rivers by reducing considerably (or eliminating) the remaining COD and the quantities of sludge at the end of the treatment process. Depuration sludges are usually stocked in specially conceived landfills. Leachate from such landfills contains also high quantities of contaminants, COD from 5000-15000 ppm, and requires further treatment. Periodical recirculation of the leachate is done, which, in fact, does not always suffer subsequent treatment. The main process presented in this work, H2O2-assisted electroprecipitation (AEP) with sacrificial Fe anode coupled with Ti(Pt) cathode, combines physico-chemical aspects of the treatment of water effluents with electro-Fenton(EF)-based electrochemical oxidation and partial coagulation/precipitation of the remaining compounds. The COD removal is 90% in 8 h for the desalting wastewater and in the range 60-80% in 6 h for the leachate during AEP treatment. EF and photoelectron-Fenton on boron doped diamond (BDD) anode coupled with O2-diffusion cathode also allow high degradation efficiency (75-80%), limited by oxalate-complexes formation and the presence of suspended solids. BDD anodic oxidation achieves 99% destruction of COD in a longer time, more than 20 h. AEP treatment, alone or in combination with complementary treatment, allows complete COD removal from the effluents. The AEP-technology is suitable to industrial application specially for the recycling of tanning effluents and landfill leachate.
Specific glucose consumption rate based on the local glucose concentration. • Image analysis tecn... more Specific glucose consumption rate based on the local glucose concentration. • Image analysis tecnique for scaffold morphology characterization and cell counting. • Modeling of the cell growth heterogeneity in a perfusion dynamic bioreactor. • A method to evaluate the local cell distribution, based on scaffold pore size.
Three-dimensional hydrogel-based organ-like cultures can be applied to study development, regener... more Three-dimensional hydrogel-based organ-like cultures can be applied to study development, regeneration, and disease in vitro. However, the control of engineered hydrogel composition, mechanical properties and geometrical constraints tends to be restricted to the initial time of fabrication. Modulation of hydrogel characteristics over time and according to culture evolution is often not possible. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing a hydrogel-in-hydrogel live bioprinting approach that enables the dynamic fabrication of instructive hydrogel elements within pre-existing hydrogel-based organ-like cultures. This can be achieved by crosslinking photosensitive hydrogels via two-photon absorption at any time during culture. We show that instructive hydrogels guide neural axon directionality in growing organotypic spinal cords, and that hydrogel geometry and mechanical properties control differential cell migration in developing cancer organoids. Finally, we show that hydrogel ...
Human neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold a ... more Human neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold a great potential to study (dys)functional human skeletal muscle (SkM) in vitro. The three-dimensional (3D) self-assembly of NMOs leads to the generation of spheroids, whose 3D organization cannot be controlled. Indeed, proper development, maturation and function of the innervated SkM require a well-defined multiscale 3D organization of the cells in a tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) context. We hypothesized that extracellular structural imprinting along with hiPSC small-molecule-based differentiation could provide self-assembly guidance driving NMO morphogenesis and promoting the maturation and function of the human neuronal-coupled SkM in vitro models. We found that SkM ECM, provided as decellularized skeletal muscle, is able to reproducibly guide the morphogenesis of differentiating hiPSC toward multiscale structured tissue-like NMOs (t-NMOs). T-NMOs show contractile activity ...
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, 1988
La dynamique du processus est modelisee puis testee a l'echelle pilote avec un tamis molecula... more La dynamique du processus est modelisee puis testee a l'echelle pilote avec un tamis moleculaire (zeolite 5A). On observe un bon accord entre le modele et les resultats experimentaux
The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power s... more The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power systems fed with biogas from anaerobic digestion. The concentration of this contaminant in the digester output biogas varies over the time, but it should be kept below the ppm level at the fuel cell system inlet, to minimize the reformer catalyst poisoning and cell component degradation. This work was aimed to analyse, into a real case, the entire anaerobic digestion process, highlighting the parameters that govern the hydrogen sulphide production, and to study the behaviour of a biotrickling filter for fine desulphurisation of real biogas to be fed into a laboratory scale HTPEM (High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system. The amount of hydrogen sulphide in biogas resulted to be an important instantaneous indicator of the proper digestion process. The biotrickling filter showed high hydrogen sulphide removal efficiencies and proved to be a quite robust system, satisfactorily performing also in offdesign conditions.
Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 1997
This paper analyses the effects of agitation level on the mass transport coefficient in a new ele... more This paper analyses the effects of agitation level on the mass transport coefficient in a new electrochemical reactor equipped with reciprocating sieve-plate electrodes. It also presents the results of experimental investigations carried out on laboratory apparatus and in a pilot plant using stainless steel electrodes and an aqueous solution of potassium iodide in the presence of an excess of supporting
Removal of gallic acid from aqueous solutions of different concentrations has been performed by e... more Removal of gallic acid from aqueous solutions of different concentrations has been performed by electroprecipitation using a sacrificial iron anode, by indirect electrochemical oxidation carried out via electro-and photoelectro-Fenton processes using an oxygen-diffusion cathode, and by a combination of the first two methods (peroxicoagulation process). In all cases, chromatographic analyses have shown a very quick disappearance of gallic acid and its aromatic by-products within 30-90 min of electrolysis, depending on the method. A pseudo first-order kinetic decay of gallic acid was always observed under galvanostatic conditions. A decay of TOC and COD close to 90 and 95% is observed with electroprecipitation and peroxicoagulation processes, respectively, after electrolysis time lower than 2 h. The specific charge utilised in these two processes was about half of that theoretically required for the complete direct oxidation process (mineralisation). During electrolyses some carboxylic acids have been detected as main intermediates, which completely disappear at the end of the process, except oxalic acid in the case of electro-Fenton method.
3D constructs are fundamental in tissue engineering and cancer modeling, generating a demand for ... more 3D constructs are fundamental in tissue engineering and cancer modeling, generating a demand for tailored materials creating a suitable cell culture microenvironment and amenable to be bioprinted. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is a well‐known functionalized natural polymer with good printability and binding motifs allowing cell adhesion; however, its tight micropores induce encapsulated cells to retain a non‐physiological spherical shape. To overcome this problem, blended GelMa is here blended with Pluronic F‐127 (PLU) to modify the hydrogel internal porosity by inducing the formation of larger mesoscale pores. The change in porosity also leads to increased swelling and a slight decrease in Young's modulus. All blends form stable hydrogels both when cast in annular molds and bioprinted in complex structures. Embedded cells maintain high viability, and while Neuroblastoma cancer cells typically aggregate inside the mesoscale pores, Mesenchymal Stem Cells stretch in all three dimen...
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, 1991
The fluodynamic behaviour of a reciprocating perforated-plate column is analysed by means of modi... more The fluodynamic behaviour of a reciprocating perforated-plate column is analysed by means of modified backflow cell and continuous diffusion models also in the case of time-depending inputs. Using a pilot plant, it has been noticed how the parameters of the models depend on the operative variables and the agitation level affects the bubble dimensions in the dispersed phase
ABSTRACT The development of smart biomaterials able to quantitatively analyse the dynamics of bio... more ABSTRACT The development of smart biomaterials able to quantitatively analyse the dynamics of biological systems with high temporal resolution in biomimetic environments is of paramount importance in biophysics, biology and medicine. In this context, we develop a biosensing water-based soft biomaterial with tunable mechanical properties through the generation of an electroconductive nano-element network. As a proof of concept, in order to detect glucose concentration, we fabricate an electroconductive polyacrylamide glucose oxidase (GOx) loaded hydrogel (HY) modified with a small amount of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) (up to 0.85 wt%). MicroRaman maps and optical analysis show the nanotube distribution in the samples at different mass fractions. Electrochemical impedance spectra and their fitting with equivalent circuit models reveal electron conduction in the charged hydrogels in addition to ionic conductivity. The effective resulting resistance of the nanostructured network is comparable to that of a gold electrode. These findings were also confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. Interestingly, heterogeneous clustering of SWNTs shows double electric mechanisms and efficiencies. GOx–SWNT doped hydrogels show a linear glucose concentration response in the range between 0.1 mM and 1.6 mM; taken together these results show high detection limits for glucose (down to 15 mM) and a sensitivity of 0.63 mA mM À1 . In the perspective of monitoring cell dynamics, hydrogel functionalization allows cell adhesion and long-term cell culture, and atomic force microscopy is used for mapping the doped hydrogel stiffness. Myoblasts, cells sensitive to mechanical substrate properties, show proper differentiation of phenotype in the SWNT–HYs with nominal physiological stiffness.
Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction an... more Miniaturization in biological analyses has several advantages, such as sample volume reduction and fast response time. The integration of miniaturized biosensors within lab-on-a-chip setups under flow conditions is highly desirable, not only because it simplifies process handling but also because measurements become more robust and operator-independent. In this work, we study the integration of flow amperometric biosensors within a microfluidic platform when analyte concentration is indirectly measured. As a case study, we used a platinum miniaturized glucose biosensor, where glucose is enzymatically converted to H 2 O 2 that is oxidized at the electrode. The experimental results produced are strongly coupled to a theoretical analysis of fluid dynamic conditions affecting the electrochemical response of the sensor. We verified that the choice of the inlet flow rate is a critical parameter in flow biosensors, because it affects both glucose and H 2 O 2 transport, to and from the electrode. We identify optimal flow rate conditions for accurate sensing at high time resolution. A dimensionless theoretical analysis allows the extension of the results to other sensing systems according to fluid dynamic similarity principles. Furthermore, we developed a microfluidic design that connects a sampling unit to the biosensor, in order to decouple the sampling flow rate from that of the actual measurement.
• A new model for studying the thermal standby behavior of a VRFB stack is presented. • Losses fr... more • A new model for studying the thermal standby behavior of a VRFB stack is presented. • Losses from species crossover and shunt currents are duly taken into account. • The dynamic cell temperature distribution in the stack is computed. • Successful validation against data from a 9 kW experimental stack is described. • Simulations show that shunt currents can have pivotal effects in high-power stacks.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Jan 7, 2000
The applicability of electrochemical methods to remove tannins from wastewater was investigated. ... more The applicability of electrochemical methods to remove tannins from wastewater was investigated. Gallotannic acid was used as the reference substance. Electrochemical experiments were performed using platinum electrodes. Macroscale potentiostatic or galvanostatic electrolyses were carried out with sodium sulfate or sodium chloride as supporting electrolytes, to analyze direct and indirect oxidation processes. Operating variables such as pH and chloride concentration were considered to determine their influence on the efficiency and energy consumption of the process. The simulation of a pilot plant was carried out with a mathematical model, the parameters of which were determined by fitting of experimental profiles. The results of a preliminary investigation on the oxidation-coagulation process using sacrificial electrodes are also reported.
European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings, 2013
The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power s... more The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power systems fed with biogas from anaerobic digestion. The concentration of this contaminant in the digester output biogas varies over the time, but it should be kept below the ppm level at the fuel cell system inlet, to minimize the reformer catalyst poisoning and cell component degradation. This work was aimed to analyse, into a real case, the entire anaerobic digestion process, highlighting the parameters that govern the hydrogen sulphide production, and to study the behaviour of a biotrickling filter for fine desulphurisation of real biogas to be fed into a laboratory scale HTPEM (High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system. The amount of hydrogen sulphide in biogas resulted to be an important instantaneous indicator of the proper digestion process. The biotrickling filter showed high hydrogen sulphide removal efficiencies and proved to be a quite robust system, satisfactorily performing also in offdesign conditions.
Synthetic solutions containing up to 2000 ppm of gallotannic acid and real wastewater from vegeta... more Synthetic solutions containing up to 2000 ppm of gallotannic acid and real wastewater from vegetal tanning processes with values of chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeding 100 000 ppm were decontaminated by electrolysis using a sacrificial iron anode coupled to either a titanium-platinised or an O 2-diffusion cathode. Experiments were performed in the presence of oxidants and oxidation promoters such as air, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, the latter being directly added to the solution or electrogenerated by the O 2-diffusion cathode. COD and UV-visible absorbance evolution showed that tannins are removed from electrolysed solutions down to relatively low values, permitting more than 94% elimination. Partial oxidation of the mother compound generates short-chain by-products (mostly carboxylic acids) responsible for the remaining low COD values. Contaminants (tannins and non-tannins) contained in industrial wastewater were removed by combining electroprecipitation with a Fentonassisted process; a final oxidation step, carried out on a boron-doped diamond electrode, was performed in order to decrease the COD to very low final values.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Aug 10, 2022
In the last two decades lab-on-chip models, specifically heart-on-chip, have been developed as pr... more In the last two decades lab-on-chip models, specifically heart-on-chip, have been developed as promising technologies for recapitulating physiological environments suitable for studies of drug and environmental effects on either human physiological or patho-physiological conditions. Most human heart-on-chip systems are based on integration and adaptation of terminally differentiated cells within microfluidic context. This process requires prolonged procedures, multiple steps, and is associated with an intrinsic variability of cardiac differentiation. In this view, we developed a method for cardiac differentiation-on-a-chip based on combining the stage-specific regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling with the forced expression of transcription factors (TFs) that timely recapitulate hallmarks of the cardiac development. We performed the overall cardiac differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to cardiomyocytes (CMs) within a microfluidic environment. Sequential forced expression of cardiac TFs was achieved by a sequential mmRNAs delivery of first MESP1, GATA4 followed by GATA4, NKX2.5, MEF2C, TBX3, and TBX5. We showed that this optimized protocol led to a robust and reproducible approach to obtain a cost-effective hiPSC-derived heart-on-chip. The results showed higher distribution of cTNT positive CMs along the channel and a higher expression of functional cardiac markers (TNNT2 and MYH7). The combination of stage-specific regulation of Wnt/βcatenin signaling with mmRNAs encoding cardiac transcription factors will be suitable to obtain heart-on-chip model in a cost-effective manner, enabling to perform combinatorial, multiparametric, parallelized and high-throughput experiments on functional cardiomyocytes.
Leather industry uses high quantities of water, from 50 to 200 m 3 d -1 and tanning processes use... more Leather industry uses high quantities of water, from 50 to 200 m 3 d -1 and tanning processes use large quantities of tannin-based organic compounds, which with all the protein, lipids, greases and hairs, constitute high amounts of COD (chemical oxygen demand) and BOD (biological oxygen demand) with many biorefractory compounds in the tanning effluents. Effective treatment with recycling option of such large quantities of technological waters would: 1) reduce the costs of the entire tanning process (as for that of water consumption and that of salt expenses), 2) allow to easily depurate the issuing waters with lower costs, and 3) eliminate progressively the negative environmental impact of the final effluent discharge into rivers by reducing considerably (or eliminating) the remaining COD and the quantities of sludge at the end of the treatment process. Depuration sludges are usually stocked in specially conceived landfills. Leachate from such landfills contains also high quantities of contaminants, COD from 5000-15000 ppm, and requires further treatment. Periodical recirculation of the leachate is done, which, in fact, does not always suffer subsequent treatment. The main process presented in this work, H2O2-assisted electroprecipitation (AEP) with sacrificial Fe anode coupled with Ti(Pt) cathode, combines physico-chemical aspects of the treatment of water effluents with electro-Fenton(EF)-based electrochemical oxidation and partial coagulation/precipitation of the remaining compounds. The COD removal is 90% in 8 h for the desalting wastewater and in the range 60-80% in 6 h for the leachate during AEP treatment. EF and photoelectron-Fenton on boron doped diamond (BDD) anode coupled with O2-diffusion cathode also allow high degradation efficiency (75-80%), limited by oxalate-complexes formation and the presence of suspended solids. BDD anodic oxidation achieves 99% destruction of COD in a longer time, more than 20 h. AEP treatment, alone or in combination with complementary treatment, allows complete COD removal from the effluents. The AEP-technology is suitable to industrial application specially for the recycling of tanning effluents and landfill leachate.
Specific glucose consumption rate based on the local glucose concentration. • Image analysis tecn... more Specific glucose consumption rate based on the local glucose concentration. • Image analysis tecnique for scaffold morphology characterization and cell counting. • Modeling of the cell growth heterogeneity in a perfusion dynamic bioreactor. • A method to evaluate the local cell distribution, based on scaffold pore size.
Three-dimensional hydrogel-based organ-like cultures can be applied to study development, regener... more Three-dimensional hydrogel-based organ-like cultures can be applied to study development, regeneration, and disease in vitro. However, the control of engineered hydrogel composition, mechanical properties and geometrical constraints tends to be restricted to the initial time of fabrication. Modulation of hydrogel characteristics over time and according to culture evolution is often not possible. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing a hydrogel-in-hydrogel live bioprinting approach that enables the dynamic fabrication of instructive hydrogel elements within pre-existing hydrogel-based organ-like cultures. This can be achieved by crosslinking photosensitive hydrogels via two-photon absorption at any time during culture. We show that instructive hydrogels guide neural axon directionality in growing organotypic spinal cords, and that hydrogel geometry and mechanical properties control differential cell migration in developing cancer organoids. Finally, we show that hydrogel ...
Human neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold a ... more Human neuromuscular organoids (NMOs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) hold a great potential to study (dys)functional human skeletal muscle (SkM) in vitro. The three-dimensional (3D) self-assembly of NMOs leads to the generation of spheroids, whose 3D organization cannot be controlled. Indeed, proper development, maturation and function of the innervated SkM require a well-defined multiscale 3D organization of the cells in a tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) context. We hypothesized that extracellular structural imprinting along with hiPSC small-molecule-based differentiation could provide self-assembly guidance driving NMO morphogenesis and promoting the maturation and function of the human neuronal-coupled SkM in vitro models. We found that SkM ECM, provided as decellularized skeletal muscle, is able to reproducibly guide the morphogenesis of differentiating hiPSC toward multiscale structured tissue-like NMOs (t-NMOs). T-NMOs show contractile activity ...
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, 1988
La dynamique du processus est modelisee puis testee a l'echelle pilote avec un tamis molecula... more La dynamique du processus est modelisee puis testee a l'echelle pilote avec un tamis moleculaire (zeolite 5A). On observe un bon accord entre le modele et les resultats experimentaux
The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power s... more The presence of significant amounts of hydrogen sulphide is a critical issue in fuel cell power systems fed with biogas from anaerobic digestion. The concentration of this contaminant in the digester output biogas varies over the time, but it should be kept below the ppm level at the fuel cell system inlet, to minimize the reformer catalyst poisoning and cell component degradation. This work was aimed to analyse, into a real case, the entire anaerobic digestion process, highlighting the parameters that govern the hydrogen sulphide production, and to study the behaviour of a biotrickling filter for fine desulphurisation of real biogas to be fed into a laboratory scale HTPEM (High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system. The amount of hydrogen sulphide in biogas resulted to be an important instantaneous indicator of the proper digestion process. The biotrickling filter showed high hydrogen sulphide removal efficiencies and proved to be a quite robust system, satisfactorily performing also in offdesign conditions.
Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 1997
This paper analyses the effects of agitation level on the mass transport coefficient in a new ele... more This paper analyses the effects of agitation level on the mass transport coefficient in a new electrochemical reactor equipped with reciprocating sieve-plate electrodes. It also presents the results of experimental investigations carried out on laboratory apparatus and in a pilot plant using stainless steel electrodes and an aqueous solution of potassium iodide in the presence of an excess of supporting
Removal of gallic acid from aqueous solutions of different concentrations has been performed by e... more Removal of gallic acid from aqueous solutions of different concentrations has been performed by electroprecipitation using a sacrificial iron anode, by indirect electrochemical oxidation carried out via electro-and photoelectro-Fenton processes using an oxygen-diffusion cathode, and by a combination of the first two methods (peroxicoagulation process). In all cases, chromatographic analyses have shown a very quick disappearance of gallic acid and its aromatic by-products within 30-90 min of electrolysis, depending on the method. A pseudo first-order kinetic decay of gallic acid was always observed under galvanostatic conditions. A decay of TOC and COD close to 90 and 95% is observed with electroprecipitation and peroxicoagulation processes, respectively, after electrolysis time lower than 2 h. The specific charge utilised in these two processes was about half of that theoretically required for the complete direct oxidation process (mineralisation). During electrolyses some carboxylic acids have been detected as main intermediates, which completely disappear at the end of the process, except oxalic acid in the case of electro-Fenton method.
3D constructs are fundamental in tissue engineering and cancer modeling, generating a demand for ... more 3D constructs are fundamental in tissue engineering and cancer modeling, generating a demand for tailored materials creating a suitable cell culture microenvironment and amenable to be bioprinted. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is a well‐known functionalized natural polymer with good printability and binding motifs allowing cell adhesion; however, its tight micropores induce encapsulated cells to retain a non‐physiological spherical shape. To overcome this problem, blended GelMa is here blended with Pluronic F‐127 (PLU) to modify the hydrogel internal porosity by inducing the formation of larger mesoscale pores. The change in porosity also leads to increased swelling and a slight decrease in Young's modulus. All blends form stable hydrogels both when cast in annular molds and bioprinted in complex structures. Embedded cells maintain high viability, and while Neuroblastoma cancer cells typically aggregate inside the mesoscale pores, Mesenchymal Stem Cells stretch in all three dimen...
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, 1991
The fluodynamic behaviour of a reciprocating perforated-plate column is analysed by means of modi... more The fluodynamic behaviour of a reciprocating perforated-plate column is analysed by means of modified backflow cell and continuous diffusion models also in the case of time-depending inputs. Using a pilot plant, it has been noticed how the parameters of the models depend on the operative variables and the agitation level affects the bubble dimensions in the dispersed phase
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Papers by Monica Giomo