Landfills are nettlesome sources of malodorous gases as well as methane that has the second largest radiative forcing of long residence-greenhouse gases, followed carbon dioxide. Because methane and malodorous gases are simultaneously emitted in landfills, investigation of whether or not methane and malodorous gases affect each other’s degradation is important. Amines such as monomethylamine(MMA), dimethylamine(DMA) and trimethylamine(TMA) are representative malodorous gases from landfills. In this study, the effect of amines on the bio-oxidation of methane was evaluated using a methane-oxidizing consortium where the dominant bacteria were Methylocystis spp. Amines inhibited the methane oxidation by the consortium, and the inhibition effect increased in the order of TMA > DMA > MMA. Methane oxidation rates in the consortium decreased with increasing amine/methane ratio(mol/mol). These results can be used to design and optimize the biological processes for simultaneous removal of methane and malodorous gases.

Chitosan is widely used in cosmetics and medical fields. Special emphasis has been put on the chemical modification of chitosan to explore its full potential. We have described the synthesis and biological activity of novel peptide amino acid derivatives. The polyamino acid derivatives were synthesized by introducing alkylamine functional group on chitosan at C-6. The poor aqueous solubility of chitosan derivatives hinder both pharmacological studies and pharmaceutical development. To make amino acid coupled chitosan derivatives with improved biological effect and solubility, some attempts have been taken to consist of amino peptide group like aspartic acid and phenylalanine-aspartic acid derivatives onto chitosan C-6. The resultingly substituted chitosan was characterized by solubility in various solvents. We measured chitosan derivatives with 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. Also, We were investigated on the physical properties and biological activities of these products.