The invention relates to a method for treating a nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel, wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing a nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel, wherein the nanofibrillar cellulose is oxidized nanofibrillar cellulose, wherein the oxidation has been carried out through N-oxyl mediated catalytic oxidation of cellulose-based raw material, and has at most 50 μmol of aldehyde groups per gram of dry nanofibrillar cellulose; and subjecting the nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel to a heat treatment.

The invention relates to a method for treating nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel, wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing a nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel; and subjecting the nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel to heat treatment, wherein the heat treatment comprises keeping the nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel at a temperature of at least 130° C. for at least 0.5 seconds, for reducing the number of viable micro-organisms in the nanofibrillar cellulose hydrogel.

A microfluidic droplet generator that includes a body, an inlet arranged adjacent an upper surface of the body, and a sample reservoir adapted to contain a reservoir fluid that is immiscible in water. The sample reservoir includes a floor and a sidewall coupled to the floor. The floor extends along a horizontal axis and the sidewall extends along a vertical axis substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis. The microfluidic droplet generator also includes one or more microchannels fluidly connecting the inlet to the sample reservoir. Each of the microchannels includes an inlet end and a reservoir end, and the reservoir end of each of the microchannels intersects the sidewall of the sample reservoir at a location beneath the upper surface of the body.

The invention relates to a new method of preparation of a polynuclear iron compound stabilized by carbohydrates and/or humic acid or forming a complex with carbohydrates and/or humic acid using a pressure-driven filtration process.

There is provided a method for preparing a dense hydrogel comprising providing an at least partially gelled hydrogel, placing the at least partially gelled hydrogel in fluid communication with an end of a capillary, and driving the at least partially gelled hydrogel into the capillary to form a dense hydrogel. There is also provided a system for preparing the dense hydrogel comprising a capillary having a bore; and a driver in communication with an end of the capillary for driving an at least partially gelled hydrogel into the bore of the capillary to form a dense hydrogel.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) forms the basis of devices for applications including sensing devices, solar cells, photo-electrochromics, and photocatalysis. Such devices exploit different phases of TiO2 within such devices and accordingly it would be beneficial to have an amorphous TiO2 precursor which allows crystalline phase spatial patterning, for the crystallization of the amorphous TiO2 precursor to be triggered at low energies, and with the crystalline phase controllable at room-temperature without necessitating complex handling whilst providing TiO2 phases that ate stable over a prolonged period of time. Accordingly, there ate provided processes for providing a TiO2 precursor and controlling the conversion of the TiO2 precursor from amorphous-to-anatase, amorphous-to-rutile, amorphous-to-mixture of anatase/rutile or from amorphous-to-anatase-to-rutile in a simple and efficient manner.

Described herein is a new process for the preparation of powdered microcapsules encapsulating active volatile active ingredients, in particular a perfume or a flavour, the process being performed at room temperature. Powdered microcapsules obtainable by the process are also described. Perfuming and flavouring compositions as well as consumer products including the capsules are also described.

In an aspect, a method for making a metal-containing material comprises steps of: forming a metal-containing hydrogel from an aqueous precursor mixture using a photopolymerization; wherein the aqueous precursor mixture comprises water, one or more aqueous photosensitive binders, and one or more aqueous metal salts; and thermally treating the metal-containing hydrogel to form the metal-containing material; wherein the metal-containing hydrogel is exposed to a thermal-treatment atmosphere during the step of thermally treating; wherein a composition of the metal-containing material is at least partially determined by a composition of the thermal-treatment atmosphere during the thermally treating step.

A method of creating hydrocolloid beads includes forcing a hydrocolloid gel suspension through a plurality of nozzles, wherefrom the hydrocolloid gel forms into a plurality of gel drops and fall into a reactant bath. The drops are exposed to the reactant bath for a predetermined period of time, wherein the drops form firm or semi-firm beads as they remain in the reactant bath. The firm or semi-firm beads are removed from the reactant bath, rinsed, and dried.

The production method includes a drying step of drying a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer obtained by polymerizing a monomer, which is a material of a water-absorbent resin, using a heating device to obtain dried particles. The heating device includes: a rotary container that contains the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer therein and rotates; and a plurality of heating tubes that are located within the rotary container, extend in an axial direction of the rotary container, and rotate together with the rotary container. A gel temperature of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer to be subjected to the drying step, the gel temperature being measured by a contact thermometer, is not lower than 50° C.