Tribocharging Mechanism and its Application in Bioprocess Separation and On-line Process Monitoring

在全球挑战的背景下，有许多驱动因素，其中最重要的是日益严重的世界粮食安全和营养不良问题。除了这些挑战之外，还有气候变化的潜在影响，它可能对农业产生负面影响，影响到作物、牲畜生产和渔业。世界人口的快速增长和肉类和乳制品生产的低效率导致对植物蛋白、高蛋白食品的需求不断增加，以及旨在保持其营养价值的更好的加工方法。植物蛋白是一种环保的蛋白质来源，与更昂贵的肉类和乳制品蛋白质相比，它具有经济优势。植物蛋白的氨基酸分布相对均衡，使其成为人类营养的潜在来源。植物蛋白被广泛添加到食品和饮料产品中，以提高其营养价值和功能特性，如发泡能力和稳定性、乳化活性和胶凝能力。淀粉在食品中用作增稠剂和胶凝剂，也是非食品的添加剂，如可生物降解的洗涤剂、化妆品和保健品、生物医学聚合物和纳米复合材料，主要是因为它的生物相容性和可生物降解性。与合成纤维相比，植物源性或天然纤维由于其低密度、高强度、弹性模量和环保优势而在纤维增强聚合物复合材料中的应用也受到了广泛的关注。***蛋白质作物的主要成分（蛋白质、淀粉和纤维）的分离仍然依赖于传统的技术，如在碱性或酸性条件下的水萃取，然后是等电沉淀、中和和干燥。这样的加工条件会对植物大分子的天然状态产生负面影响，降低成分的质量和功能。此外，这些水萃取方法会产生大量乳清样流出物，其中蛋白质物质的含量相对较高，这可能导致水质问题。***本研究的总体目标是开发保留植物大分子天然状态，同时环境清洁和经济可行的替代分离方法。这项研究的重点是应用摩擦电气化原理将蛋白质作物、能源作物和农业资源分解成它们的组成部分。**

There are numerous drivers in the context of global challenges paramount of which is increasing world issues concerning food security and malnutrition. Layered on these challenges is the potential impact of climate change which may have a negative impact on agriculture affecting crops, livestock production, and fisheries. Rapid world population growth and the inefficiency of meat and dairy production have led to the increasing demand for plant protein, high protein food products, and better processing methods aimed at retaining their nutritional value. Plant protein is an environmentally conservative protein source that has economic advantages over more expensive meat and dairy based proteins. The relatively well-balanced amino acid profile of plant proteins makes them attractive potential sources for human nutrition. Plant protein is added to a broad range of food and beverage products to enhance their nutritional value and functional properties such as foaming capacity and stability, emulsifying activity, and gelling ability. Starch is used as a thickening and gelling agent in food products and is an additive to non-food products, such as biodegradable detergents, cosmetic and healthcare products, biomedical polymers and nanocomposites mostly due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. Plant-derived or natural fibers have also attracted a great deal of attention particularly its application in fiber reinforced polymer composites due to their low density and high strength, elastic modulus, and environmental advantages compared to synthetic fibers.***Fractionation of protein crops into their major components (protein, starch, and fiber), still relies on conventional technologies, such as aqueous extraction under alkaline or acidic conditions, followed by isoelectric precipitation, neutralization, and drying. Such processing conditions can negatively affect the native state of plant macromolecules, reducing the quality and functionality of the ingredients. Furthermore, these aqueous extraction methods generate large volumes of whey-like effluents with relatively high quantities of proteinaceous material, which can result in water quality issues. ***The overall objective of this research is to develop alternative separation methods that preserve the native state of plant macromolecules, and at the same time are environmentally clean and economically feasible. The focus of the proposed research is to apply the principles of triboelectrification to fractionate protein crops, energy crops, and agro-based resources into their constituent fractions. **