A novel amperometric glucose biosensor based on poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-(3-thienylmethylmethacrylate))

Two novel glucose oxidase (GOx) enzyme electrodes based on the copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate with 3-thienylmethyl methacrylate (poly(GMA-co-MTM)) with and without polypyrrole (PPyr) coating were prepared and employed in the amperometric determination of glucose levels. The effect of PPyr coating on the electrode properties was investigated in detail. Cyclic voltammetry studies showed that electrical conductivity of electrode B with PPyr coating (poly(GMA-co-MTM)/GOx/PPyr) was substantially higher than that of electrode A (poly(GMA-co-MTM)/GOx). On the other hand, electrode A showed better results in terms of sensitivity (10 nA/mM), limit of detection (50.2 μM), and response time (5 s). Electrodes A and B gave linear responses to the glucose concentrations in the range of 2–20 and 2–14 mM, respectively. The ranges of linearity for both enzyme electrodes are sufficient for the determination of physiological glucose concentrations in human blood. Moreover, PPyr coating of electrode B did not result in further stabilization of the enzyme electrode.     

Micellization behaviour and thermodynamic parameters of 12-2-12 gemini surfactant in (water + organic solvent) mixtures

The effect of organic solvents on micellization behaviour and thermodynamic parameters of a cationic gemini (dimeric) surfactant, C₁₂H₂₅(CH₃)₂N⁺–(CH₂)₂–N⁺(CH₃)₂C₁₂H₂₅·2Br^?, (12-2-12) was studied in aqueous solutions over the range of T = (293.15 to 323.15) K using the conductometric technique. Ethylene glycol (EG), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and 1,4-dioxan (DO) were used as organic solvents with three different contents. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) and the degree of counter ion dissociation (α) of micelles in the water and in the (water + organic solvent) mixtures including 10%, 20%, and 30% solvent contents were determined. The standard Gibbs free energy $(\mathrm{\Delta }{G}_{\text{m}}^{°})$, enthalpy $(\mathrm{\Delta }{H}_{\text{m}}^{°})$ and entropy $(\mathrm{\Delta }{S}_{\text{m}}^{°})$ of micellization were estimated from the temperature dependence of the cmc values. It was observed that the critical micelle concentration of the gemini surfactant and the degree of counter ion dissociation of the micelle increased as the volume percentage of organic solvent, and temperature increased. The standard Gibbs free energy of micellization was found to be less negative with the increase in the organic solvent content and temperature.     

Synthesis and characterization of anhydrous conducting polyimide/ionic liquid complex membranes via a new route for high‐temperature fuel cells

The paper deals with the synthesis and characterization of a new series of anhydrous conducting acid‐doped complex membranes based on polyimide (PI) and ionic liquid (IL) for high‐temperature fuel cells via a new route. For this purpose, three imidazolium‐based ILs (RIm⁺BF₄^?) with different alkyl chain lengths (R=methyl, ethyl, and butyl) are added into polyamic acid (PAA) intermediate prepared from the reaction of benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride and diaminodiphenylsulfone in different –COOH/imidazolium molar ratios (n = 0.5, 1, and 2). Then, the thermally imidized complex membrane was doped with H₂SO₄. The conductivities of acid‐doped PI/IL complex membranes prepared by taking n of 1 are found to be in the range of 10^?4?10^?5 S cm^?1 at 180°C, whereas the acid‐free PI/IL complex membranes show the conductivity at around 10^?9?10^?10 S cm^?1. Thermogravimetric analysis results reveal that the acid‐doped PI/IL complex membranes are thermally stable up to 250°C. Dynamic mechanical analysis results of the acid‐doped ionically interacted complex membrane show that the mechanical strengths of the PI/IL complex membranes including 1‐methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (MeIm‐BF₄) and 1‐ethyl 3‐methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EtIm‐BF₄) are comparable with those of pristine PI until 200°C. Furthermore, it can be clearly emphasized that the ionic interaction between carboxylic acid groups of PAA's and IL's cations offers a positive role in long‐term conductivity stability by preventing the IL migration at high temperatures. On the other hand, preliminary methanol permeability tests of the acid‐doped membranes show that they can also be considered as an alternative for direct methanol fuel cells. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of Generalized Relative Permeability Coefficients for Electrically Assisted Oil Recovery in Oil Formations

Evaluation of relative permeability coefficients is one of the key steps in reliable simulation of two-phase flow in porous media. An extensive body of work exists on evaluation of these coefficients for two-phase flow under pressure gradient. Oil transport under an applied electrical gradient in porous media is also governed by the principles of two-phase flow, but is less understood. In this paper, relative permeability coefficients under applied electric field are evaluated for a specific case of two- phase fluid flow in water-wet porous media, where the second fluid phase is oil. It is postulated that the viscous drag on the oil phase, exerted by the electro-osmotic flow of the water phase, is responsible for the transport of oil in the absence of a pressure gradient. Reliable prediction of the flow patterns necessitates accurate representation and determination of the relative permeability coefficients under the electrical gradient. The contribution of each phase to the flow is represented mathematically, and the relative permeability coefficients are evaluated through electro-osmotic flow measurements conducted on oil bearing rock cores.     

Application of Synthetic Kernel (SKN) method to participating linearly anisotropically scattering solid spherical medium

The Synthetic Kernel (SK_N) method is applied to a solid spherical absorbing, emitting and linearly anisotropically scattering homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium. The SK_N method relies on approximating the integral transfer kernels by Synthetic Kernels. The radiative integral transfer equation is then reducible to a set of coupled second-order differential equations. The SK_N method, which uses Gauss quadratures, is tested against integral equation and the discrete-ordinates S₈ solutions for various optical radius and scattering albedo variations.     

阴离子对鼠尾草提取物中Ni盐前体绿色合成的NiO纳米粒子磁性和结构性能的影响

采用绿色合成方法,将鼠尾草提取物用作还原和封端剂合成氧化镍纳米颗粒(NiO NPs)。此外,使用各种前驱体合成了NiO NPs,并使用扫描电子显微镜对其形貌进行了分析。利用傅里叶变换红外光谱和粉末X射线衍射(PXRD)对NiO NPs的结构进行了表征,使用振动样品磁强计测量了它们的磁性。PXRD研究表明,所有合成的NiO NPs都表现出具有高结晶度的面心立方相,并且形成了具有高纯度相的NiO。磁化研究结果表明,3种镍盐(乙酸盐、氯化物和硫酸盐)前驱体合成的NiO NPs分别表现出超顺磁、软铁磁和顺磁行为。     

Supramolecular inclusion complexes of a star polymer containing cholesterol end‐capped poly(ε‐caprolactone) arms with β‐cyclodextrin

A novel hexa‐armed and star‐shaped polymer containing cholesterol end‐capped poly(ε‐caprolactone) arms emanating from a phosphazene core (N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆) was synthesized by a combination of ring‐opening polymerization and “click” chemistry techniques. For this purpose, the terminal ? OH groups of the synthesized precursor (N₃P₃‐(PCL‐OH)₆) were converted into –Chol through a series of reaction. Both N₃P₃‐(PCL‐OH)₆ and N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ were then employed in the preparation of supramolecular inclusion complexes (ICs) with β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD). The latter formed ICs with β‐CD in higher yield. The host–guest stoichiometry (ε‐CL:β‐CD, mol:mol) in the ICs of N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ was found to be 1.2. The formation of supramolecular ICs of N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ with β‐CD was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic methods, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and thermal analysis techniques. WAXD data showed that the obtained ICs with N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ had a channel‐type crystalline structure, indicating the suppression of the original crystallization of N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ in β‐CD cavities. Moreover, the thermal stabilities of ICs were found to be higher than those of the free star polymer and β‐CD. Furthermore, the surface properties of N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ and its ICs with β‐CD were investigated by static contact angle measurements. The obtained results proved that the wettability of N₃P₃‐(PCL‐Chol)₆ successfully increased with the formation of its ICs with β‐CD. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3406–3420     

Study on cloud points of Triton X-100-cationic gemini surfactants mixtures: A spectroscopic approach

This study investigates the effects of various cationic surfactants on the cloud point (CP) of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 (TX-100) in aqueous solutions. Instead of visual observation, a spectrophotometer was used for measurement of the cloud point temperatures. The values of CPs for Triton X-100 can be measured directly because TX-100 has an average number of oxyethylene units per molecule of p ≈ 9.5 and a CP = 66.0 °C. Quaternary ammonium dimeric surfactants (m-s-m, m = 10, 12, and 16, and s = 2, 6, and 10) were synthesized and used. The melting temperature T_M and the Krafft temperature T_K were measured for 1 wt% aqueous solutions of these synthesized surfactants. The melting temperature of the solid gemini surfactants increased with the carbon number of the alkyl chain. The results showed that additions of the gemini surfactants (which are infinitely miscible with water) to Triton X-100 increased the cloud point of the TX-100 solutions. All salts tested in these studies had a large effect on the CPs of nonionic surfactants due to their effect on water structure and their hydrophilicity. The effect of the alkyl chain length of the gemini surfactant on the CP of Triton X-100 is therefore more important than the spacer chain length.     

An approach to aminonaphthoquinone ansamycins using a modified Danishefsky diene

A robust and scalable synthesis of a novel, cyano-substituted Danishefsky-type diene and its use in the Diels-Alder reaction with various dienophiles is reported. The diene allows for the rapid construction of highly substituted aminonaphthoquinones that occur in numerous ansamycin antibiotics.     

Radiative transfer in one-dimensional hollow sphere with anisotropic scattering and variable medium properties

The effects of variable medium properties on radiation transfer in participating and anisotropically scattering one-dimensional spherical medium were investigated by Tsai et al. (JQSRT 42(3) (1989) 187). The discrete ordinates method solutions they provided for hollow spherical medium cases are incorrect. The correct DOM S₈ and the integral transfer equation solutions are provided.