Foreword Welcome to the 14 th Polmyer meeting PM14! We cordially welcome you to the Graz Universi... more Foreword Welcome to the 14 th Polmyer meeting PM14! We cordially welcome you to the Graz University of Technology. It is a great honor and pleasure to us to be the host of the 14 th polymer meeting. The 14 th Polymer Meeting in Graz is the continuation of the very successful three river DVSPM-conference series (Danube-Vltava-Sava-Polymer meeting) which became one of the most important meeting in polymer science in Central Europe, as well as on the predecessor conferences "Austrian Slovenian Polymer Meetings" and "Advances in Polymer Science & Technology". However, the origin can be traced back to the Austrian Polymer Meetings, which started more than 25 years ago in Seggau, very close to Graz Polymers are everywhere in today´s life and find applications in packaging, storage, buildings, agriculture, transportation, mobility, electronics, medicine, energy and many more.
Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified ... more Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified wood
Forest-based industries produce huge quantities of bark during their primary processing activitie... more Forest-based industries produce huge quantities of bark during their primary processing activities. In Nordic pulp and paper industries, where a wet debarking process is used for bark removal, toxic debarking water and bark press water are produced as a by-product. However, polyphenols represent an important fraction of the debarking water and bark press water. These polyphenolic compounds are of commercial interest in chemical specialty sectors since polyphenols have been proven to have diverse health benefits, and after collecting them from waste sources, they can act as alternatives to oil-based chemicals. Determining the economic potential of polyphenolic compounds, identifying their molecular structure, and determining the antioxidant capacity of these compounds present in debarking water and bark can support the identification of their potential applications. The results show that water extractions from bark have a lower efficiency than (partial) alcoholic extractions. Neverth...
Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi is an important issue in the timber... more Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi is an important issue in the timber construction. A possible way to avoid wood decay by fungi is by reducing the water content of wood, since water is a primary condition for fungal growth. Bulking of the wood cell wall by chemical reagents occupies the space where water normally occurs. This also improves the dimensional stability of the modified wood. The aim of the work was to react non-toxic reagents using a Maillard type of reaction in the wood cell wall. Wood was soaked in different aqueous solutions with a primary amine and a sugar as the main constituents. The wood was thereafter cured in an oven at 120°C. The preliminary results showed that the use of the Maillard reaction for wood modification is a promising method and is worth further research.
Glucosinolates are well known as natural antimicrobials and anticarcinogenic agents. However, the... more Glucosinolates are well known as natural antimicrobials and anticarcinogenic agents. However, these compounds can lose their properties and transform into antinutrients, depending on processing conditions. In addition, the bitterness of some glucosinolate in rapeseed meal can affect the likability of the final product. Therefore, it is important to identify and determine each glucosinolate and its derived form, not just the total glucosinolate content, in order to evaluate the potential of the final rapeseed protein product. This study provides a comprehensive report of the types and quantities of glucosinolates and their derived forms (isothiocyanates) associated with different rapeseed processing conditions. Glucosinolates and isothiocyanates were determined by HPLC-DAD-qTOF. In our study, the enzymatic degradation of glucosinolates by myrosinase was the main factor affecting either glucosinolate or isothiocyanate content. Other factors such as pH seemed to influence the concentra...
Rapeseed meal and pressed cake are protein-rich by-products from rapeseed after oil extraction. B... more Rapeseed meal and pressed cake are protein-rich by-products from rapeseed after oil extraction. Because of the high protein content, these by-products are an important source of food protein. Their use is motivated by the current pressure on protein prices, increasing demand for functional ingredients, and remaining controversy over wider use of soy. During process development for protein extraction from rapeseed cake or meal, special attention needs to be given to compounds such as erucic acid, which can cause problems if consumed in high amounts. Erucic acid determination is critical to ensure safety, since protein extraction procedures could lead to concentration of this compound in the final product. This research compared differences in extraction (Soxhlet and Folch) and derivatization techniques to obtain the highest erucic acid yield from rapeseed protein products. Results showed that no erucic acid accumulation occurred in the protein during its extraction from the rapeseed ...
Les organoetains sont parmi les polluants les plus dangereux connus a ce jour a avoir ete introdu... more Les organoetains sont parmi les polluants les plus dangereux connus a ce jour a avoir ete introduits dans les ecosystemes aquatiques par l'homme. Les lixiviats de decharge sont des sources importantes de ces substances toxiques. Afin de minimiser leur rejet dans l'environnement, il est important de comprendre les transformations que les organoetains subissent dans ces lixiviats et d'appliquer des procedures d'assainissement appropriees. Cette these a eu pour objectifs principaux i) de contribuer a une meilleure connaissance des processus de transformation des organoetains dans les lixiviats de decharge et ii) d'evaluer le potentiel d’elimination des organoetains par des nanaoparticules de fer (FeNPs). Dans la premiere partie, les syntheses de TBT enrichi en 117Sn, DBT enrichi en 119Sn, SnCl2 et SnCl4 enrichi en 117Sn, ont ete effectuees a partir d’etain metallique enrichi en Sn. La degradation et la biomethylation des organoetains dans des lixiviats ont ete ensui...
Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product created during the processing of olive oil, contains ... more Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product created during the processing of olive oil, contains high amounts of polyphenolic compounds. If put to further use, these polyphenolic compounds could be a valuable resource for the speciality chemical industry. In order to achieve this, isolation of the polyphenolic compounds from OMWW is needed. Several techniques for this process already exist, the most widely used of which is adsorption beds. This research describes new ways of collecting polyphenolic compounds by using unmodified iron oxide (Fe3O4) particles and Fe3O4 modified with silica gel (Fe3O4@C18), citric acid (Fe3O4@CA), and sodium dodecyl sulphate (Fe3O4@SDS). This approach is superior to adsorption beds since it can be used in a continuous system without clogging, while the nano-sized shapes create a high surface area for adsorption. The results of this study show that, if used in a loop system of several adsorption and desorption cycles, (un)modified Fe3O4 has the potential...
Generated fire effluents are toxic and responsible for the majority of fire deaths and injuries. ... more Generated fire effluents are toxic and responsible for the majority of fire deaths and injuries. Therefore, measures of fire safety and the assessment of toxic effects of fires on humans, which are the key factors to assess fire hazards, have been researched in the last decades. However, it is more and more recognized that there is also a need to assess the environmental impact of toxic compounds within fire effluents. Since ecotoxicology investigates the toxic effects of fire effluents on populations, interactions between ecology and toxicology are very important. These interactions may be complex and may involve research of food chains with several different trophic levels. This makes tracing of toxicants, to obtain reliable results, a real challenge. To tackle it, the bench-scale test is a cheaper and less complex method than large-scale fire simulations. Progress in the field of ecotoxicological studies is important because long-term exposure from the environment and bioaccumula...
The moisture-induced recovery of compressed wood is one of the major problems of wood densificati... more The moisture-induced recovery of compressed wood is one of the major problems of wood densification technology. Achieving a cost-efficient surface densification process without the need for additional resins to eliminate the set-recovery may lead to an increase in value of low-density wood species. A previous study has shown that a pre-treatment with ionic liquids (ILs) can nearly eliminate the set-recovery. It was however observed that during the pre-treatment process the IL did not penetrate sufficiently deep into the wood to explain the achieved reduction in set-recovery. Based on these findings, the hypothesis was posed that further penetration of the IL into the wood occurs during the densification stage as a consequence of the applied heat and pressure. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and gas-chromatography mass-selective-detection (GC-MSD) showed that the depth of penetration of the IL was greater after the densification process than before. Digital image correlation (DIC) ...
Mediterranean plant Helichrysum italicum represents a rich source of versatile bioactive compound... more Mediterranean plant Helichrysum italicum represents a rich source of versatile bioactive compounds with potential benefits for human health. Despite extensive research on the plant’s active constituents, little attention has yet been paid to characterizing the relationship between its intra-specific genetic diversity and metabolite profile. The study aimed to determine metabolic profile of H. italicum ssp. italicum (HII) and ssp. tyrrhenicum (HIT) cultivated on the experimental plantation in Slovenia and to compare the chemical composition of extracts regarding the solvent extraction process. Extracts were prepared upon conventional extract preparation procedures: maceration with 50% methanol or ethanol and cold or hot water infusion and analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detection-Electrospray Ionization-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-QTOF-MS). One hundred compounds were identified in the samples, among them several isomers ...
Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi and increasing its dimensional stab... more Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi and increasing its dimensional stability is an important issue in timber construction and other applications. A possible way to avoid wood decay by fungi and increase its dimensional stability, is by reducing the water content of wood. Water is a primary condition for fungal growth and induces shrinking or swelling in wood. By bulking the wood cell walls with chemical reagents, the space where water normally occurs gets occupied. For effective protection using impregnation modification, it is a requirement that the bulking agent is located mainly in the cell wall of the wood and is non-leachable in service. To create a commercially-viable process, the modification requires a water-based delivery system, the use of low-toxicity impregnation agents, thermal-curing and no concerns regarding toxicity at end of life of the modified wood product. In previous work it was found that the use of the Maillard reaction appeared to be...
Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified ... more Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified wood
Foreword Welcome to the 14 th Polmyer meeting PM14! We cordially welcome you to the Graz Universi... more Foreword Welcome to the 14 th Polmyer meeting PM14! We cordially welcome you to the Graz University of Technology. It is a great honor and pleasure to us to be the host of the 14 th polymer meeting. The 14 th Polymer Meeting in Graz is the continuation of the very successful three river DVSPM-conference series (Danube-Vltava-Sava-Polymer meeting) which became one of the most important meeting in polymer science in Central Europe, as well as on the predecessor conferences "Austrian Slovenian Polymer Meetings" and "Advances in Polymer Science & Technology". However, the origin can be traced back to the Austrian Polymer Meetings, which started more than 25 years ago in Seggau, very close to Graz Polymers are everywhere in today´s life and find applications in packaging, storage, buildings, agriculture, transportation, mobility, electronics, medicine, energy and many more.
Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified ... more Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified wood
Forest-based industries produce huge quantities of bark during their primary processing activitie... more Forest-based industries produce huge quantities of bark during their primary processing activities. In Nordic pulp and paper industries, where a wet debarking process is used for bark removal, toxic debarking water and bark press water are produced as a by-product. However, polyphenols represent an important fraction of the debarking water and bark press water. These polyphenolic compounds are of commercial interest in chemical specialty sectors since polyphenols have been proven to have diverse health benefits, and after collecting them from waste sources, they can act as alternatives to oil-based chemicals. Determining the economic potential of polyphenolic compounds, identifying their molecular structure, and determining the antioxidant capacity of these compounds present in debarking water and bark can support the identification of their potential applications. The results show that water extractions from bark have a lower efficiency than (partial) alcoholic extractions. Neverth...
Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi is an important issue in the timber... more Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi is an important issue in the timber construction. A possible way to avoid wood decay by fungi is by reducing the water content of wood, since water is a primary condition for fungal growth. Bulking of the wood cell wall by chemical reagents occupies the space where water normally occurs. This also improves the dimensional stability of the modified wood. The aim of the work was to react non-toxic reagents using a Maillard type of reaction in the wood cell wall. Wood was soaked in different aqueous solutions with a primary amine and a sugar as the main constituents. The wood was thereafter cured in an oven at 120°C. The preliminary results showed that the use of the Maillard reaction for wood modification is a promising method and is worth further research.
Glucosinolates are well known as natural antimicrobials and anticarcinogenic agents. However, the... more Glucosinolates are well known as natural antimicrobials and anticarcinogenic agents. However, these compounds can lose their properties and transform into antinutrients, depending on processing conditions. In addition, the bitterness of some glucosinolate in rapeseed meal can affect the likability of the final product. Therefore, it is important to identify and determine each glucosinolate and its derived form, not just the total glucosinolate content, in order to evaluate the potential of the final rapeseed protein product. This study provides a comprehensive report of the types and quantities of glucosinolates and their derived forms (isothiocyanates) associated with different rapeseed processing conditions. Glucosinolates and isothiocyanates were determined by HPLC-DAD-qTOF. In our study, the enzymatic degradation of glucosinolates by myrosinase was the main factor affecting either glucosinolate or isothiocyanate content. Other factors such as pH seemed to influence the concentra...
Rapeseed meal and pressed cake are protein-rich by-products from rapeseed after oil extraction. B... more Rapeseed meal and pressed cake are protein-rich by-products from rapeseed after oil extraction. Because of the high protein content, these by-products are an important source of food protein. Their use is motivated by the current pressure on protein prices, increasing demand for functional ingredients, and remaining controversy over wider use of soy. During process development for protein extraction from rapeseed cake or meal, special attention needs to be given to compounds such as erucic acid, which can cause problems if consumed in high amounts. Erucic acid determination is critical to ensure safety, since protein extraction procedures could lead to concentration of this compound in the final product. This research compared differences in extraction (Soxhlet and Folch) and derivatization techniques to obtain the highest erucic acid yield from rapeseed protein products. Results showed that no erucic acid accumulation occurred in the protein during its extraction from the rapeseed ...
Les organoetains sont parmi les polluants les plus dangereux connus a ce jour a avoir ete introdu... more Les organoetains sont parmi les polluants les plus dangereux connus a ce jour a avoir ete introduits dans les ecosystemes aquatiques par l'homme. Les lixiviats de decharge sont des sources importantes de ces substances toxiques. Afin de minimiser leur rejet dans l'environnement, il est important de comprendre les transformations que les organoetains subissent dans ces lixiviats et d'appliquer des procedures d'assainissement appropriees. Cette these a eu pour objectifs principaux i) de contribuer a une meilleure connaissance des processus de transformation des organoetains dans les lixiviats de decharge et ii) d'evaluer le potentiel d’elimination des organoetains par des nanaoparticules de fer (FeNPs). Dans la premiere partie, les syntheses de TBT enrichi en 117Sn, DBT enrichi en 119Sn, SnCl2 et SnCl4 enrichi en 117Sn, ont ete effectuees a partir d’etain metallique enrichi en Sn. La degradation et la biomethylation des organoetains dans des lixiviats ont ete ensui...
Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product created during the processing of olive oil, contains ... more Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product created during the processing of olive oil, contains high amounts of polyphenolic compounds. If put to further use, these polyphenolic compounds could be a valuable resource for the speciality chemical industry. In order to achieve this, isolation of the polyphenolic compounds from OMWW is needed. Several techniques for this process already exist, the most widely used of which is adsorption beds. This research describes new ways of collecting polyphenolic compounds by using unmodified iron oxide (Fe3O4) particles and Fe3O4 modified with silica gel (Fe3O4@C18), citric acid (Fe3O4@CA), and sodium dodecyl sulphate (Fe3O4@SDS). This approach is superior to adsorption beds since it can be used in a continuous system without clogging, while the nano-sized shapes create a high surface area for adsorption. The results of this study show that, if used in a loop system of several adsorption and desorption cycles, (un)modified Fe3O4 has the potential...
Generated fire effluents are toxic and responsible for the majority of fire deaths and injuries. ... more Generated fire effluents are toxic and responsible for the majority of fire deaths and injuries. Therefore, measures of fire safety and the assessment of toxic effects of fires on humans, which are the key factors to assess fire hazards, have been researched in the last decades. However, it is more and more recognized that there is also a need to assess the environmental impact of toxic compounds within fire effluents. Since ecotoxicology investigates the toxic effects of fire effluents on populations, interactions between ecology and toxicology are very important. These interactions may be complex and may involve research of food chains with several different trophic levels. This makes tracing of toxicants, to obtain reliable results, a real challenge. To tackle it, the bench-scale test is a cheaper and less complex method than large-scale fire simulations. Progress in the field of ecotoxicological studies is important because long-term exposure from the environment and bioaccumula...
The moisture-induced recovery of compressed wood is one of the major problems of wood densificati... more The moisture-induced recovery of compressed wood is one of the major problems of wood densification technology. Achieving a cost-efficient surface densification process without the need for additional resins to eliminate the set-recovery may lead to an increase in value of low-density wood species. A previous study has shown that a pre-treatment with ionic liquids (ILs) can nearly eliminate the set-recovery. It was however observed that during the pre-treatment process the IL did not penetrate sufficiently deep into the wood to explain the achieved reduction in set-recovery. Based on these findings, the hypothesis was posed that further penetration of the IL into the wood occurs during the densification stage as a consequence of the applied heat and pressure. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and gas-chromatography mass-selective-detection (GC-MSD) showed that the depth of penetration of the IL was greater after the densification process than before. Digital image correlation (DIC) ...
Mediterranean plant Helichrysum italicum represents a rich source of versatile bioactive compound... more Mediterranean plant Helichrysum italicum represents a rich source of versatile bioactive compounds with potential benefits for human health. Despite extensive research on the plant’s active constituents, little attention has yet been paid to characterizing the relationship between its intra-specific genetic diversity and metabolite profile. The study aimed to determine metabolic profile of H. italicum ssp. italicum (HII) and ssp. tyrrhenicum (HIT) cultivated on the experimental plantation in Slovenia and to compare the chemical composition of extracts regarding the solvent extraction process. Extracts were prepared upon conventional extract preparation procedures: maceration with 50% methanol or ethanol and cold or hot water infusion and analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detection-Electrospray Ionization-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-QTOF-MS). One hundred compounds were identified in the samples, among them several isomers ...
Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi and increasing its dimensional stab... more Finding efficient ways to decrease wood decay caused by fungi and increasing its dimensional stability is an important issue in timber construction and other applications. A possible way to avoid wood decay by fungi and increase its dimensional stability, is by reducing the water content of wood. Water is a primary condition for fungal growth and induces shrinking or swelling in wood. By bulking the wood cell walls with chemical reagents, the space where water normally occurs gets occupied. For effective protection using impregnation modification, it is a requirement that the bulking agent is located mainly in the cell wall of the wood and is non-leachable in service. To create a commercially-viable process, the modification requires a water-based delivery system, the use of low-toxicity impregnation agents, thermal-curing and no concerns regarding toxicity at end of life of the modified wood product. In previous work it was found that the use of the Maillard reaction appeared to be...
Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified ... more Conference abstract for Final COST Action FP1407 International Conference - Living with modified wood
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