Synthesis and kinetic analysis of isothermal and non-isothermal decomposition of ammonium dinitramide prills

Ammonium dinitramide (ADN) prills were prepared by emulsion crystallization and characterized by optical microscopic, thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques. The isothermal and non-isothermal decomposition kinetics of ADN prills were studied by TG. The differential isoconversional method of Friedman (FR) and integral isoconversional method of Vyazovkin were used to investigate the dependence of activation energy (E _a) with conversion (α) and the results were compared with literature data. The dependence of activation energy was also derived from isothermal data. A strong dependence of E _a with α is observed for the ADN prills. All the methods showed an initial increase in E _a up to α=∼0.2 and later decreases over the rest of conversion. The apparent E _a values of FR method are higher than that of Vyazovkin method up to α=∼0.45. The calculated mean E _a values by FR, Vyazovkin and standard isoconversional method for α between 0.05 and 0.95 were 211.0, 203.9 and 156.9 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively.     

Design of silica microparticles with oligopeptide brushes and their interaction with proteins

Synthesis of small oligopeptide brushes (oligo(S-benzyl-l-cysteine)) onto polyelectrolyte functionalized silica microparticles was developed. Poly(vinyl amine) (PVAm) adsorbed from salt-free and KCl 10⁻¹ mol L⁻¹ aqueous solution onto silica microparticles was chemically and naturally cross-linked by epichlorohydrin and CO₂, respectively. After the adsorption of PVAm onto microporous silica particles and stabilization by cross-linking, five repeated coupling reactions of Boc-S-benzyl-l-cysteine were performed. To test the protein interactions with the newly designed surface, human serum albumin (HSA) has been selected as a model protein. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, total organic carbon, potentiometric and polyelectrolyte titrations, and electrokinetic analysis were employed to obtain information about the polyelectrolyte adsorption and the amount of the amino acid S-benzyl-l-cysteine that was covalently bound to the solid surface and for determination of the protein amount adsorbed onto functionalized surface. The amount of HSA adsorbed onto modified silica microparticles decreased in order: silica/PVAm-cross-linked (silica/PVAm-C) (8.00 mg g⁻¹) > silica/PVAm-C/S-benzyl-l-cysteine (6.34 mg g⁻¹) > silica (4.86 mg g⁻¹) > silica/PVAm-C/(S-benzyl-l-cysteine)₅ (1.86 mg g⁻¹).     

Comparative kinetic study of the non-isothermal thermal curing of <Emphasis Type="Italic">bis</Emphasis>-GMA/TEGDMA systems

The thermal polymerization kinetics of dimethacrylate monomers was studied by differential calorimetry using non-isothermal experiments. The kinetic analysis compared the following procedures: isoconversional method (model-free method), reduced master curves, the isokinetic relationship (IKR), the invariant kinetic parameters (IKP) method, the Coats-Redfern method and composite integral method I. Although the study focused on the integral methods, we compared them to differential methods. We saw that even relatively complex processes (in which the variations in the kinetic parameters were only slight) can be described reasonably well using a single kinetic model, so long as the mean value of the activation energy is known (E). It is also shown the usefulness of isoconversional kinetic methods, which provide with reliable kinetic information suitable for adequately choosing the kinetic model which best describes the curing process. For the system studied, we obtained the following kinetic triplet: f(α)=α^0.6(1−α)^2.4, E=120.9 kJ mol⁻¹ and lnA=38.28 min⁻¹.     

Kinetic model of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) thermal degradation from experimental non-isothermal data

The non-isothermal data given by TG curves for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) were studied in order to obtain a consistent kinetic model that better represents the PHB thermal decomposition. Thus, data obtained from the dynamic TG curves were suitably managed in order to obtain the Arrhenius kinetic parameter E according to the isoconversional F-W-O method. Once the E parameters is found, a suitable logA and kinetic model (f(α)) could be calculated. Hence, the kinetic triplet (E±SD, logA±SD and f(α)) obtained for the thermal decomposition of PHB under non-isothermal conditions was E=152±4 kJ mol⁻¹, logA=14.1±0.2 s⁻¹ for the kinetic model, and the autocatalytic model function was: f(α)=α^m(1−α)ⁿ=α^0.42(1−α)^0.56.     

The molar formation enthalpy of nano-SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> with different surface area

Three samples of silicon dioxide were syhthesized and their surface areas were measured. A thermo-chemical cycle was designed to calculate the molar formation enthalpy. The molar formation enthalpy, Δ_f H _m^Φ, for three amorphous silica with the Langmuir surface area 198.0854, 25.1108 and 11.9821 m² g⁻¹ gave −895.52, −910.86 and −915.67 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. With the increasing surface area, the values of Δ_f H _m^Φ increased accordingly. The results suggest that the silica with larger surface area is more unstable. The wetting heat was also measured by adding the silica powder into water. With the rehydration of the more SiOH groups on the surface, the larger surface areas of silica lead to the more wetting heat. A smaller particle has the more unstable hydroxyl groups and surface energy.     

Kinetics of non-isothermal crystallization of some glass-ceramics based on basalt

The crystallization kinetics of some glass-ceramics obtained from Romanian (Şanoviţa) basalt has been studied in non-isothermal conditions using DTA technique. The activation energies of the crystallization processes were calculated using the isoconversional methods Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall. The results obtained show a dependence of the activation energy (E _α) on the crystallized fraction (α) that proves the complex mechanism of the glass-ceramics crystallization process. It has been proved that the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model cannot be applied for the studied glass-ceramics crystallization process. The effect of 2% TiO₂ as nucleating agent upon the crystallization kinetics and upon the microstructure of the studied glass-ceramics was analyzed.     

Sol–gel synthesis of Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>CaSiO<Subscript>4</Subscript> and its in vitro biological behaviors

In this work we prepared the hybrid material (SG) by the sol–gel method through the reaction between tetraethylortosilicate (TEOS) and acetylacetonatepropyltrimethoxysilane (ACACSIL). We also immobilized the acetylacetonate on silica surface (GR) by the grafting method through the reaction between a commercial silica and ACACSIL. Infrared thermal analysis showed that these materials were thermally stable until 200 °C. SG is a microporous material and has surface area of 500 m² g⁻¹, average porous volume of 0.09 cm³ g⁻¹ and organic content of 1 mmol g⁻¹. GR is a mesoporous material and has surface area of 300 m² g⁻¹, average porous volume of 0.7 cm³ g⁻¹ and organic content of 0.4 mmol g⁻¹. Iron(III) was coordinated to SG and GR resulting in the SG–Fe and GR–Fe silicas which were tested as catalysts on the aerobic epoxidation of cis-cyclooctene. SG–Fe yielded 100% of conversion and 94% of selectivity in epoxide whereas GR–Fe silica led to a maximum conversion of 50% and 100% of selectivity.     

Kinetic characterization of the reduction of silica supported cobalt catalysts

Abstact  The reduction process of silica supported cobalt catalyst was studied by thermal analysis technique. The reduction of the catalyst proceeds in two steps:

Differential scanning calorimetric examination of the degenerated human palmar aponeurosis in dupuytren disease

The Dupuytren contracture - degenerative shortening of the palmar aponeurosis - is a common disease of the hand in Europe. The aetiology of the degenerative changes in the collagen structures is still not clear. To describe the clinical manifestation of the disease we use an international classification according to Iselin. Our hypothesis was that in Dupuytren disease there is a clear pathological abnormality in the tissue elements building up the palmar aponeurosis, which is responsible for the disease, and could be monitored besides the classical histological methods by differential scanning calorimetry. The thermal denaturation of different parts of human samples was monitored by a SETARAM Micro DSC-II calorimeter. All the experiments were performed between 0 and 100°C. The heating rate was 0.3 K min⁻¹. DSC scans clearly demonstrated significant differences between the different types and conditions of samples (control: T _m=63°C and ΔH _cal=4.1 J g⁻¹, stage I.: T _m= 63°C and ΔH _cal=5.1 J g⁻¹, stage II.: T _m=64°C and ΔH _cal=5.2 J g⁻¹, stage III.: T _m=60°C and ΔH _cal=5.2 J g⁻¹, stage IV.: T _m=60.2°C and ΔH _cal=5.3 J g⁻¹). The heat capacity change between native and denatured states of aponeurosis samples increased with the degree of structural alterations indicating significant water loosing. These observations could be explained with the structural alterations caused by the biochemical processes. With our investigations we could demonstrate that DSC is a useful and well applicable method for the investigation of collagen tissue of the human aponeurosis. Our results may be of clinical relevance in the future i.e. in the choice of the optimal time of surgical therapy of different clinical level Dupuytren contractures.     

The effect of heat-treatment on the physico-chemical properties of silica aerogel prepared by sub-critical drying technique

Synthesis of transparent and crack-free monoliths of silica aerogel by sub-critical drying technique is reported in the present article. Silane ageing with 50% tetraethylorthosilicate:ethanol followed by solvent exchange using ethanol was adopted. The effect of heat-treatment on the textural and physical characteristics of silica aerogel was evaluated. The chosen composition resulted in a high surface area silica aerogel of 1,000 m² g⁻¹ and a pore volume of 1.4 cm³ g⁻¹ at room temperature. The aerogel heat-treated at 900 °C possessed a surface area of 450 m² g⁻¹ with a pore volume of 0.4 cm³ g⁻¹. The decrease in surface area and pore volume was associated with the sintering process. The present technique seems advantageous in preserving the high surface area of the material at high temperatures. The XRD studies showed that the amorphous nature of aerogel matrix was retained till 1,400 °C, beyond which it crystallized to phase pure crystoballite.     

Fabrication and characterization of hexagonal mesoporous silica monolith via post-synthesized hydrothermal process

Large-sized, optical transparent mesostructured Brij 56/silica monolith has been fabricated using a lyotropic liquid crystal of Brij 56 (C₁₆EO₁₀) as a template and TMOS as a silica source, combined with a optimizing sol-gel process and a hydrothermal aging process. By programmed temperature drying and calcinations, translucent mesoporous silica monolith with two-dimensional hexagonal structure (P6mm) has bee obtained. The ordered mesoporous silica monoliths have been characterized by small-angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen adsorption, which shows that the materials have a highly ordered two-dimensional hexagonal mesostructure with the high specific surface area of 837 m² · g⁻¹ and narrow pore distribution with a mean BJH pore diameter of 2.73 nm. Based on calculations and differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses, the action mechanism of the hydrothermal aging process has been proposed: the 100°C hydrothermal conditions and autogenous 2.3 atm pressure promote the condensation and dehydration of silanol groups, with the result that cross-linking degree, the flaws and moisture content in gels are reduced notably. Those processes guarantee the integrity of gels in the following drying process.     

Non-isothermal kinetic study on the decomposition of Zn acetate-based sol-gel precursor

The paper presents a non-isothermal kinetic study of the decomposition of Zn acetate-based gel precursors for ZnO thin films, based on the thermogravimetric (TG) data. The evaluation of the dependence of the activation energy (E) on the mass loss (Δm) using the isoconversional methods (Friedman (FR), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS)) has been presented in a previous paper. It was obtained that the sample dried at 125°C for 8 h exhibits the activation energy independent on the heating rate for the second decomposition step. In this paper the invariant kinetic parameter (IKP) method is used for evaluating the invariant activation parameters, which were used for numerically evaluation of the function of conversion. The value of the invariant activation energy is in a good agreement with those determined by isoconversional methods. In order to determine the kinetic model, IKP method was associated with the criterion of coincidence of the kinetic parameters for all heating rates. Finally, the following kinetic triplet was obtained: E=91.7 (±0.1) kJ mol⁻¹, lnA(s⁻¹)=16.174 (±0.020) and F1 kinetic model.     

Model-fitting and model-free analysis of thermal decomposition of palladium acetylacetonate [Pd(acac)2]

The non-isothermal decomposition process of the powder sample of palladium acetylacetonate [Pd(acac)₂] was investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Model-free isoconversional method of Tang, applied to the investigated decomposition process, yield practically constant apparent activation energy in the range of 0.05≤α≤0.95. It was established, that the Coats-Redfern (CR) method gives several statistically equivalent reaction models, but only for the phase-boundary reaction models (R2 and R3), the calculated value of the apparent activation energy (E) is nearest to the values of E obtained by the Tang’s and Kissinger’s methods. The apparent activation energy value obtained by the IKP method (132.4 kJ mol⁻¹) displays a good agreement with the value of E obtained using the model-free analysis (130.3 kJ mol⁻¹). The artificial isokinetic relationship (aIKR) was used for the numerical reconstruction of the experimental integral model function, g(α). It was established that the numerically reconstructed experimental function follows R3 reaction model in the range of α, taken from model-free analysis. Generally, decomposition process of Pd(acac)₂ starts with initial nucleation which was characterized by rapid onset of an acceleratory reaction without presence of induction period.     

Application of model-free and multivariate non-linear regression methods for evaluation of the thermo-oxidative endurance of a recent manufactured parchment

The thermo-oxidative degradation of a parchment recent manufactured from a goat skin has been investigated by TG/DTG, DSC simultaneous analysis performed in static air atmosphere, at six heating rates in the range 3–15 K min⁻¹. At the progressive heating in air atmosphere, the investigated material exhibits three main successive processes occurring with formation of volatile products, namely the dehydration followed by two thermo-oxidative processes. The processing of the non-isothermal data corresponding to the first process of thermo-oxidation was performed by using Netzsch Thermokinetics—a Software Module for Kinetic Analysis. The dependence of activation energy, evaluated by isoconversional methods suggested by Friedman, and Ozawa, Flynn and Wall, on the conversion degree and the relative high standard deviations of this quantity show that the investigated process is a complex one. The mechanism and the corresponding kinetic parameters were determined by Multivariate Non-linear Regression program. Three mechanisms, one consisting in four successive steps and two others in five successive steps, exhibit the best F-test Fit Quality for TG curves. It was also used the previously suggested criterion, according to which the most probable process mechanism correspond to the best agreement between E _FR  = E _FR (α) (E _FR is the activation energy evaluated by isoconversional method suggested by Friedman; α is the conversion degree) obtained from non-isothermal experimental data and activation energy values, E _iso , obtained by applying the differential method to isothermal data simulated using non-isothermal kinetic parameters. According to this last criterion, the most probable mechanism of parchment oxidation consists in four successive steps. The contribution of the thermo-oxidation process in the parchment damage by natural aging is discussed.     

New synthesis of pure CexZr1?xO2 mixed oxides (0?≤?x?≤?1) by an epoxide sol–gel method

Pure ceria-zirconia mixed oxides Ce _x Zr_1−x O₂ with high specific surface area were synthesized with a new epoxyde driven sol–gel route and characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction studies and transmission electron microscopy. This sol–gel method is cheap and uses only a few steps. The Ce _x Zr_1−x O₂ mixed oxides were obtained in the range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 (except for x = 0.8) and crystallised at 350 °C after decomposition of the gels. This temperature is very low in comparison with the other methods. The studies of the influence of different synthesis parameters (concentration of the sol and decomposition temperature) allowed us to determine the conditions to obtain the best homogeneity in the gel to avoid the formation of a mixture of phases instead of mixed oxides. This approach leads to the synthesis of oxide with specific surface area above 100 m² g⁻¹. The elaboration of an ambigel could increase this value up to 195 m² g⁻¹ for x = 0.5. This sol–gel synthesis offers new perspectives for these oxides in several applications. Generally, these oxides are difficult to obtain pure in large range of composition at low-temperature and with high specific surface area by other methods.     

Thermodynamic investigation of effect of salt concentrations on denatured α-Amylase adsorbed onto a moderately hydrophobic surface

The displacement adsorption enthalpies (ΔH) of denatured α-Amylase (by 1.8 mol L⁻¹ GuHCl) adsorbed onto a moderately hydrophobic surface (PEG-600, the end-group of polyethylene glycol) from solutions (x mol L⁻¹ (NH₄)₂SO₄, 0.05 mol L⁻¹ KH₂PO₄, pH 7.0) at 298 K are determined by microcalorimeter. Further, entropies (ΔS), Gibbs free energies (ΔG) and the fractions of ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG for net adsorption of protein and net desorption of water are calculated in combination with adsorption isotherms of α-Amylase based on the stoichiometric displacement theory for adsorption (SDT-A) and its thermodynamics. It is found that the displacement adsorptions of denatured α-Amylase onto PEG-600 surface are exothermic and enthalpy driven processes, and the processes of protein adsorption are accompanied with the hydration by which hydrogen bond form between the adsorbed protein molecules favor formation of β-sheet and β-turn structures. The Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis shows that the contents of ordered secondary structures of adsorbed α-Amylase increase with surface coverages and salt concentrations increment.     

Kinetic study of crystallization of PHB in presence of hydroxy acids

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, has been structurally modified through reaction with hydroxy acids (HA) such as tartaric acid (TA) and malic acid (MA). The crystallization kinetic of the samples was evaluated by isoconversional method through nonlinear fitting to obtain the estimation for activation energy (E _a ) and pre-exponential (A) values. The thermal behavior of the crystallization temperature, 44.8 and 58.9 °C at 5 °C/min, and results obtained to the average activation energy, 73 ± 9 kJ mol⁻¹ and 63 ± 1 kJ mol⁻¹, to PHB/MA and PHB, respectively, are suggesting that malic acid may be deriving plasticizer units from its own PHB chain. PHB/TA show increase in the medium value of E _a, 119 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹ and T _c = 48.2 °C (at 5 °C/min), indicating that tartaric acid is probably interacts in different way to the of PHB chain (E _a=73 ± 9 kJ mol⁻¹, T _c = 44.8 °C at 5 °C/min).     

Synthesis of silica nanoparticles by modified sol–gel process: the effect of mixing modes of the reactants and drying techniques

A modified preparation of silica nanoparticles via sol–gel process was described. The ability to control the particle size and distribution was found highly dependent on mixing modes of the reactants and drying techniques. The mixture of tetraethoxysilane and ethanol followed by addition of water (Mode-A) produced monodispersed powder with an average particle size of 10.6 ± 1.40 nm with a narrow size distribution. The freeze drying technique (FD) further improved the quality of powder. In addition, the freeze dried samples have shown unique TGA decomposition steps which might be related to the well-defined structure of silica nanoparticles as compared to the heat dried samples. DSC analysis showed that FD preserved the silica surface with low shrinkage and generated remarkably well-order, narrow and bigger pore size and pore volume and also large endothermic enthalpies (ΔH _FD = −688 J g⁻¹ vs. ΔH _HD = −617 J g⁻¹) that lead to easy escape of physically adsorbed water from the pore at lower temperature.     

Thermodynamic investigation of room temperature ionic liquid

The molar heat capacities of the room temperature ionic liquid 1-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate (BPBF₄) were measured by an adiabatic calorimeter in temperature range from 80 to 390 K. The dependence of the molar heat capacity on temperature is given as a function of the reduced temperature X by polynomial equations, C _p,m [J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹]=181.43+51.297X −4.7816X ²−1.9734X ³+8.1048X ⁴+11.108X ⁵ [X=(T−135)/55] for the solid phase (80–190 K), C _p,m [J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹]= 349.96+25.106X+9.1320X ²+19.368X ³+2.23X ⁴−8.8201X ⁵ [X=(T−225)/27] for the glass state (198–252 K), and C _p,m[J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹]= 402.40+21.982X−3.0304X ²+3.6514X ³+3.4585X ⁴ [X=(T−338)/52] for the liquid phase (286–390 K), respectively. According to the polynomial equations and thermodynamic relationship, the values of thermodynamic function of the BPBF₄ relative to 298.15 K were calculated in temperature range from 80 to 390 K with an interval of 5 K. The glass transition of BPBF₄ was observed at 194.09 K, the enthalpy and entropy of the glass transition were determined to be ΔH _g=2.157 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔS _g=11.12 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹, respectively. The result showed that the melting point of the BPBF₄ is 279.79 K, the enthalpy and entropy of phase transition were calculated to be ΔH _m = 8.453 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔS _m=30.21 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹. Using oxygen-bomb combustion calorimeter, the molar enthalpy of combustion of BPBF₄ was determined to be Δ_c H _m⁰ = −5451±3 kJ mol⁻¹. The standard molar enthalpy of formation of BPBF₄ was evaluated to be Δ_f H _m⁰ = −1356.3±0.8 kJ mol⁻¹ at T=298.150±0.001 K.