Recent studies have shown that anaerobic co-digestion (AnCoD) is superior to conventional anaerobic digestion (AD). The benefits of enhanced bioenergy production and solids reduction using co-substrates have attracted researchers to study the co-digestion technology and to better understand the effect of multi substrates on digester performance. This review will discuss the results of such studies with the main focus on: (1) generally the advantages of co-digestion over mono-digestion in terms of system stability, bioenergy, and solids reduction; (2) microbial consortia diversity and their synergistic impact on biogas improvement; (3) the effect of digester mode, i.e., multi-stage versus single stage digestion on AnCoD. It is essential to note that the studies reported improvement in the synergy and diverse microbial consortia when using co-digestion technologies, in addition to higher biomethane yield when using two-stage mode. A good example would be the co-digestion of biodiesel waste and glycerin with municipal waste sludge in a two-stage reactor resulting in 100% increase of biogas and 120% increase in the methane content of the produced biogas with microbial population dominated by Methanosaeta and Methanomicrobium.

This article highlights the biomaterial-related research of the Macromolecular Engineering Research Centre (MERC). The MERC group concentrated on polyisobutylene (PIB)-based biomaterials. In this article, first the unique properties of PIB are discussed, followed by a review of PIB-based potential biomaterials. MERC's systematic research program aimed to develop novel PIB-based biomaterials is then highlighted, including surface modification and biocompatibility studies.

This review summarizes previous work that was done to improve the production of bacterial cellulose nanofibres. Production of biocellulose nanofibres is a subject of interest owing to the wide range of unique properties that makes this product an attractive material for many applications. Bacterial cellulose is a natural nanomaterial that has a native dimension of less than 50 nm in diameter. It is produced in the form of nanofibres, yielding a very pure cellulose product with unique physical properties that distinguish it from plant-derived cellulose. Its high surface-to-volume ratio combined with its unique properties such as poly-functionality, hydrophilicity and biocompatibility makes it a potential material for applications in the biomedical field. The purpose of this review is to summarize the methods that might help in delivering microbial cellulose to the market at a competitive cost. Different feedstocks in addition to different bioreactor systems that have been previously used are reviewed. The main challenge that exists is the low yield of the cellulosic nanofibres, which can be produced in static and agitated cultures. The static culture method has been used for many years. However, the production cost of this nanomaterial in bioreactor systems is less expensive than the static culture method. Biosynthesis in bioreactors will also be less labour intensive when scaled up. This would improve developing intermediate fermentation scale-up so that the conversion to an efficient large-scale fermentation technology will be an easy task.

Cellulose is one of the most abundant component of biomass in nature and the basic feedstock in paper and pulp industries. Cellulose fibres are relatively strong; have breaking strengths of up to 1 GN/m2 (10,000 MPa). Traditionally extracted from plant tissue (trees, cotton, etc.) cellulose can also be produced, using certain bacterial species, by fermentation in the form of nanofibers, yielding a very pure cellulose product with unique properties. Research in the biosynthesis of microbial cellulose and its application are being pursued intensively. Bacterial cellulose possesses unique physical properties that distinguish it from plant-derived cellulose. Its fibre has a high aspect ratio with a fibre diameter of 20-100 nm. As a result, it has a very high surface area per unit mass. This property, when combined with its very hydrophilic nature, results in very high liquid loading capacity. The unique properties of this natural and biocompatible nanofiber make it an attractive candidate for a wide range of applications in many different industries especially those related to Biomedical and Biotechnology.

Novel polystyrenes (PS) carrying thymine functional groups were synthesized by copolymerizing styrene (St) and 1-(vinylbenzyl)thymine (1-VBT) in the presence and absence of divinylbenzene (DVB) in batch free radical emulsion polymerization. Microsphere latexes were obtained with an average particle size of ≈60 nm (3.0 and 5.0 wt % [VBT] 0) with ≈80% conversion and ≈38 nm (10 wt % [VBT]0) with 91% conversion. The final copolymer latexes were freeze-dried to obtain particles in the size range of 32-544 µm. Copolymer compositions were determined by FTIR-DRIFT, 1 H NMR, and elemental analysis and were found to be close to the composition of the monomer charges. XPS analysis revealed that VBT concentration on the surface of the particles was much higher (17, 24, and 36 wt %) than in the bulk. Phenol was selected as a model compound to examine adsorption onto the thymine functional groups. Hydrogen bonding between the phenolic hydroxyl group and the thymine units of soluble polymers was evidenced by 1 H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. Adsorption isotherms obtained with all samples showed a good fit with Langmuir's model, supporting evidence for a monolayer chemisorption model in the heterogeneous adsorbent-phenol/hexane system investigated. 89.4% of the phenol was desorbed by adding Borax buffer solution of pH g 10 to the adsorbent-phenol/hexane system. These novel copolymers have potential in biotechnology.