Browsing by Author "Zhu, Daochen"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Self-assembled microfiber-like biohydrogel for ultrasensitive whole-cell electrochemical biosensing in microdroplets
    (American Chemical Society, 2023-01-27) Ma, Xiao-Meng; Wang, Jian-Wei; Zhao, Li-Ting; Zhang, Yafei; Liu, Jun-Ying; Wang, Songmei; Zhu, Daochen; Yang, Zhugen; Yong, Yang-Chun
    A novel microfiber-like biohydrogel was fabricated by a facile approach relying on electroactive bacteria-induced graphene oxide reduction and confined self-assembly in a capillary tube. The microfiber-like biohydrogel (d = ∼1 mm) embedded high-density living cells and activated efficient electron exchange between cells and the conductive graphene network. Further, a miniature whole-cell electrochemical biosensing system was developed and applied for fumarate detection under −0.6 V (vs Ag/AgCl) applied potential. Taking advantage of its small size, high local cell density, and excellent electron exchange, this microfiber-like biohydrogel-based sensing system reached a linear calibration curve (R2 = 0.999) ranging from 1 nM to 10 mM. The limit of detection obtained was 0.60 nM, which was over 1300 times lower than a traditional biosensor for fumarate detection in 0.2 μL microdroplets. This work opened a new dimension for miniature whole-cell electrochemical sensing system design, which provided the possibility for bioelectrochemical detection in small volumes or three-dimensional local detection at high spatial resolutions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Technoeconomics of sugar cane bagasse valorization to lactic acid using pinch technology: distillation vs reactive distillation
    (American Chemical Society (ACS), 2025-05-12) Maity, Sunil K.; Agrawal, Deepti; Gadkari, Siddharth; Vanapalli, Kumar Raja; Yong, Yang-Chun; Zhu, Daochen; Chen, Chang; Kumar, Vinod
    Sugar cane is one of the largest agricultural crops, and sugar cane bagasse (SCB), a major waste from sugar cane processing, is an abundant and inexpensive source of fermentable sugars for producing diverse platform chemicals. The present study evaluates the technoeconomic viability of L (+) lactic acid (LA) production from SCB with different stand-alone process scenarios modeled using the pinch method. It critically evaluates various cost-contributing factors when a sugar-rich hydrolysate is obtained via two different pretreatment methods: dilute acid and alkali. The cost-benefit of LA purification by conventional distillation (CD) is further compared to reactive distillation (RD). The pinch method cuts the LA manufacturing costs by 10-11%. Alkali pretreatment combined with RD involves a lower capital investment and utility consumption than the CD counterpart and slightly less LA manufacturing cost. However, LA production via dilute acid pretreatment and purification by RD emerges as the most profitable scenario due to capital investment, utility demand, and chemical consumption savings. This scenario offers the minimum LA selling price of 2.3 US$/kg for an 8.5% discount factor and a 5 year payback period. However, for a 20 year plant life and 2.5 US$/kg factory-gate LA selling price, the internal rate of return was 31% and the payback period was 4.4 years for an 8.5% discount factor.