Film thickness effects on calibrations of a narrowband thermochromic liquid crystal

Thermochromic liquid crystals (TLCs) have been widely employed by researchers in heat transfer and fluid flow communities as a reliable and non-intrusive temperature measurement tool due to their unique optical properties such as birefringence, optical activity, circular dichroism and selective reflection of colours in the visible spectrum as function of temperature. The use of narrowband TLCs are attractive for temperature and heat transfer measurements due to their higher precision in temperature measurements and due to the fact that narrowband TLCs are less affected by variations in illumination-viewing angles and illumination disturbances. Narrowband TLCs have been used with full intensity-matching methods to provide robust image processing for measurements of thermal parameters in transient heat transfer tests. Calibration of narrowband TLCs is necessary in order to obtain the intensity-temperature relationship of the TLCs. Film thickness is one of the factors which affects calibrations of TLCs. In this research, film thicknesses of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 μm were investigated on green intensity-based calibrations of R35C1W TLC during heating and cooling. Results showed an increase in magnitude of peak green intensity with increasing film thickness, with a percentage increase of nearly 18% when film thickness increased from 10 to 50 μm. Results also showed an inconsistent shift in temperature at which peak green intensity occurs, with a maximum shift of 0.40 °C, suggesting that film thickness effects may be insignificant for narrowband TLCs compared with wideband TLCs. A theoretical method for estimating the volume of TLC coating required to achieve a desired film thickness has also been described in this paper, based on the surface area and dry solids content of the TLC. The method is easily implemented and applicable for sprayable TLC coatings.     

Reactivity of carbon monoxide towards high valent molybdenum complexes

Reaction of carbon monoxide (3 atm) with Mo(O)₂(mes)₂ (mes = MESITYL = C₆H₂Me₃-2,4,6) in pyridine at room temperature affords dimesityl ketone 1 (5%) and 1,1′-bis(mesitoyl)-1,1′,4,4′-tetrahydro-4,4′-bipyridine 2 (25%), the molecular structure of which has been determined by an X-ray diffraction study. The formation of 2 represents the first example of N-acylation of a pyridine by CO mediated by a transition metal complex. It has been shown that the relative ratio of 1 and 2 is dependent on the reaction conditions and that the presence of pyridine is essential for the formation of 1. Reactions of CO with the isoelectronic complex Mo(N^tBu)₂mes₂ contrast sharply with Mo(O)₂mes₂ and, under the same conditions, no dihydropyridine is formed, the sole identified products being 1 (60%) and mesityltertiobutyl amide HN(^tBu)COmes (40%). In light of the experimental results and of extended Hückel calculations on dioxo and diimido d⁰ molybdenum complexes, a tentative mechanism for the formation of 2 is proposed which involves oxycarbene-like intermediates in the case of the more electrophilic dioxo molybdenum species.     

Host-guest inclusion complex between β-cyclodextrin and paeonol: A theoretical approach

Host-guest interactions of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) with paeonol (PAE) were simulated using semi-empirical PM3 and both ONIOM2 [(B3LYP/6-31G*:PM3), (HF/6-31G*:PM3)] methods. The results obtained with PM3 method clearly indicate that the complexes formed are energetically favored with or without solvent, the model 1 (PAE entering into the cavity of β-CD from its wide side by OCH3 group) is found more favored than the model 2 (PAE entering into the cavity of β-CD from its wide side by COCH3 group). Finally, natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis was performed based on ONIOM2 optimized complexes to quantify the donor–acceptor interactions between PAE and β-CD.     

Mechanism of inclusion chaining in SmC* free-standing films

The self-assembly of colloidal inclusions has recently been shown in smectic C* freely suspended films. In such 2D systems, the organization of the inclusions is qualitatively explained by elastic interactions induced by the disruption of the orientational order in the SmC* host phase. The interaction between resulting inclusion-defect pairs exhibits a dipolar character. We have developed a simplified model representing every inclusion and its companion hyperbolic defect by (+1)- and (-1)-wedge disclination lines, respectively. A finite anchoring energy has been introduced to explain the coalescence of the thinnest inclusions. Our model enables us to explain the chaining of the thickest inclusions and confirms the inclusion size dependence on the stability of the chains.     

Decay estimates for second order evolution equations with memory

This paper develops a unified method to derive decay estimates for general second order integro-differential evolution equations with semilinear source terms. Depending on the properties of convolution kernels at infinity, we show that the energy of a mild solution decays exponentially or polynomially as t→+∞. Our approach is based on integral inequalities and multiplier techniques.These decay results can be applied to various partial differential equations. We discuss three examples: a semilinear viscoelastic wave equation, a linear anisotropic elasticity model, and a Petrovsky type system.     

Extractive separation of Cu<Superscript>2+</Superscript>–Co<Superscript>2+</Superscript> and Ni<Superscript>2+</Superscript>–Co<Superscript>2+</Superscript> mixtures using <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-salicylideneaniline

A study on the extraction of copper(II), cobalt(II), and nickel(II) from solutions containing ions of both metals with N-salicylideneaniline(SAN) in chloroform has been realized. Distribution of the metal ions in wide range of pH has been studied. Extraction of copper(II) was always favored over that of cobalt(II). Extraction of copper(II) from binary metal solution is selective and it can be quantitatively separated from cobalt(II). The equilibrium constant of the extraction of cobalt and nickel from an aqueous solution containing both metals using SAN were evaluated. The separation factors for cobalt and nickel were expressed as a function of the distribution of nickel and cobalt. From these results, salicylideneaniline is an adequate extractant for extractive separation of such mixtures.     

A DFT study of inclusion complexes of the antituberculosis drugs pyrazinamide and isoniazid with cucurbit[7]uril

A photoactive system, (2E)-3-{3-[(Z)-naphthalen-1-yldiazenyl] phenyl} prop-2-enoic acid, was synthesized and incorporated on to beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) core through esterification of the hydroxyl groups of β-CD with the free carboxyl moiety of the chromophoric system by DCC coupling. The silver nanoparticle was synthesized by the reduction reaction executed on silver acetate in presence of dodecyl amine. The silver nano particles were dispersed in β-CD aggregates modified with photoactive system by phase transfer mechanism. The products were characterized by elemental analysis, melting point determination, UV–visible, FT-IR and NMR (¹H and ¹³C) spectral methods and SEM and TGA-DTG thermal studies. The thermal studies shows that the silver nanoparticle dispersed functionally modified beta cyclodextrin exhibited enhanced thermal stability compared to the functionalised β-CD.