Harvard College

Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.

Other

Kraft Foods Global Brands LLC

Manuel Marquez-Sanchez

Darren Roy Link

David A Weitz

Ahmad Akashe

Zhengdong Cheng

Bary Lyn Zeller

David Vu

Cheryl Baldwin

Gustavo Larsen

Rathna Koka

Rajinder S Gill

This invention generally relates to systems and methods for the formation and/or control of fluidic species, and articles produced by such systems and methods. In some cases, the invention involves unique fluid channels, systems, controls, and/or restrictions, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the invention allows fluidic streams (which can be continuous or discontinuous, i.e., droplets) to be formed and/or combined, at a variety of scales, including microfluidic scales. In one set of embodiments, a fluidic stream may be produced from a channel, where a cross-sectional dimension of the fluidic stream is smaller than that of the channel, for example, through the use of structural elements, other fluids, and/or applied external fields, etc. In some cases, a Taylor cone may be produced. In another set of embodiments, a fluidic stream may be manipulated in some fashion, for example, to create tubes (which may be hollow or solid), droplets, nested tubes or droplets, arrays of tubes or droplets, meshes of tubes, etc. In some cases, droplets produced using certain embodiments of the invention may be charged or substantially charged, which may allow their further manipulation, for instance, using applied external fields. Non-limiting examples of such manipulations include producing charged droplets, coalescing droplets (especially at the microscale), synchronizing droplet formation, aligning molecules within the droplet, etc. In some cases, the droplets and/or the fluidic streams may include colloids, cells, therapeutic agents, and the like.

Formation and control of fluidic species

Mineral complexes, especially calcium complexes, of lactobionic acid which are especially useful for mineral fortification of food and beverage products are provided. The preferred calcium complex of lactobionic acid provided in the present invention delivers a soluble, stable, clean tasting calcium source suitable for calcium fortification of a wide variety of food and beverage products. The mineral complexes are prepared by mixing lactobionic acid, a mineral source, (e.g., mineral hydroxide), and an edible acid (e.g., citric acid) in an aqueous solution.

Mineral complexes of lactobionic acid and method of using for mineral fortification of food products

The present invention is directed to metastable mineral-amino acid complexes that are formed by combining a mineral oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate an amino acid and an organic acid. The complexes may be used to fortify a variety of food and beverage products.

Metastable mineral-amino acid preparations for food and beverage fortification

A cellulose/silica composite useful as a filter material is highly selective towards a solute that has been molecularly imprinted upon an inorganic gel coating formed on the cellulose. The filter material provides dual filtering functionality, as both a selective molecular sieve and as a particulate filter. A unique method for making the filter material is also set forth that imparts these attributes and performance capabilities.

Molecular imprinting of solute on cellulose/silica composite, and products and uses thereof

Stable cellulosic fiber material for use in forming zeolite/cellulose composites is prepared by suspending loose cellulose fibers in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or sodium silicate, stirring the resulting suspension until it reaches a macroscopically homogenous appearance, heating the resulting mixture at a temperature of 323-423 K until only dry solids remain, contacting the resulting mixture with excess distilled water to remove physically adsorbed or trapped sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or sodium silicate from the fibers, and heating the resulting fiber material at 323-423 K to dry the fiber material. Stable zeolite/cellulose composite material characterized in that leaching of the zeolite phase does not occur upon contact of the composite with water at approximately 373 K comprises a zeolite and a stable cellulosic fiber prepared as described above, the composite material being formed by contacting a zeolite with the stable fiber material.

Stable zeolite/cellulose composite materials and method of preparation

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Lincolnshire, IL, United States of America

Manuel Marquez-Sanchez