Mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites: a review

There has been a growing interest in the utilization of sisal fibres as reinforcement in the production of polymeric composite materials. Natural fibres have gained recognition as reinforcements in fibre polymer–matrix composites because of their mechanical properties and environmental friendliness. The mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites have been studied by many researchers and a few of them are discussed in this article. Various fibre treatments, which are carried out in order to improve adhesion, leading to improved mechanical properties, are also discussed in this review paper. This review also focuses on the influence of fibre content and fabrication methods, which can significantly affect the mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites.     

Fatty amides synthesized from vegetable oil as extractant of molybdenum(VI)

In this study, fatty amides (FAs) synthesized from palm olein were used to extract and separate Mo(VI) from acidic media. Effects of various parameters upon the separation of Mo(VI) from Co(II), Ni(II), Al(III) and Mn(II), including extractant concentration, metal ion concentration, contact time, diluent, and acidity, were investigated. It was found that Mo(VI) was successfully separated from the above commonly associated metal ions by stripping from the loaded organic phase. Different acidic and alkaline solutions were used. Ammonium hydroxide solution was an optimal. Extraction of Mo(VI) into the organic phase involved the formation of 1:3 complexes. This work presents the development of a low-cost and environmentally friendly extractant to recycle and recover molybdenum.     

Uniqueness of uniform norm and C*-norm in L p (G, ω)

Let G be a locally compact abelian group with a fixed Haar measure and ω be a weight on G. For 1 < p < ∞, we study uniqueness of uniform and C*-norm properties of the invariant weighted algebra L ^p (G, ω).     

Quantitative Evaluation of Generic Glyphosate Using Carbon Paste Electrode Electrochemically Modified with Copper Ions

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - Generic products are not identical to their branded equivalents. They are typically off-patent. Therefore, this paper suggests a selective, reliable, and...     

Fabrication and characterization of zinc oxide anti-reflective coating on flexible thin film microcrystalline silicon solar cell

This paper studies the fabrication and characterization of 80 nm zinc oxide anti-reflective coating (ARC) on flexible 1.3 μm thin film microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) solar cell. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) shows a c-axis oriented ZnO (0 0 2) peak (hexagonal crystal structure) at 34.3° with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.3936°. Atomic force microscope (AFM) measures high surface roughness root-mean-square (RMS) of the layer (50.76 nm) which suggests scattering of the incident light at the front surface of the solar cell. UV–vis spectrophotometer illustrates that ZnO ARC has optical transmittance of more than 80% in the visible and infra-red (IR) regions and corresponds to band gap (E_g) of 3.3 eV as derived from Tauc equation. Inclusion of ZnO ARC successfully suppresses surface reflectance from the cell to 2% (at 600 nm) due to refractive index grading between the Si and the ZnO besides quarter-wavelength (λ/4) destructive interference effect. The reduced reflectance and effective scattering effect of the incident light at the front side of the cell are believed to be the reasons why short-circuit current (I_sc) and efficiency (η) of the cell improve.     

Oxygen bridged Homobinuclear Mn(II) compounds with Anthranilic acid: Theoretical calculations,oxidation and catalase activity

Two new homobinuclear manganese compounds with mixed ligands, [Mn₂(μ_1,1–2‐NH₂C₆H₄COO)₂(phen)₄](ClO₄)2(CH₃OH) ( 1 ), and [Mn₂(μ_1,3–2‐NH₂C₆H₄COO)₂(bipy)₄](ClO₄)2 ( 2 ) (NH₂C₆H₄COOH = anthranilic acid, bipy = 2,2′‐bipyridine, phen = 1,10‐ phenanthroline) were synthesized and thoroughly characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV and single crystal X‐ray crystallography. X‐ray structure analysis shows that in the mono‐ and bidentate carboxylate bridged compounds, Mn–Mn distances of 1 and 2 are 3,461 Å, and 4,639 Å, respectively. The energy of the compounds was determined with a DFT (Density Functional Theory) calculation on B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) optimized geometry by using the B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) basis set. These compounds acts as biomimetic catalyst and show catalase‐like activity for the hydrogen peroxide dismutation at room temperature in different solvents with remarkable activity (TOF, Turnover frequency = mol of subst./(mol of cat. × time)) up to 12640 h^?1 with 1 , and 17910 h^?1 with 2 in Tris–HCl buffer). Moreover, the catalytic activity of 1 and 2 has been studied for oxidation of alcohols (cinnamyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, cyclohexanol, 1‐octanol and 1‐heptanol) and alkenes (cyclohexene, styrene, ethyl benzene, 1‐octene and 1‐hexene) in a homogeneous catalytic system consisting t‐butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as an oxidant in acetonitrile. Both compounds exhibited very high activity in the oxidation of cyclohexene to cyclohexanone (~80% selectivity, ~99% conversion in 1 h, TOF = 243 h^?1 and 226 h^?1) and cinnamyl alcohol to cinnamaldehyde (~64% selectivity) as the main product with very high TOF value (9180 h^?1 and 13040 h^?1 in the first minute of reaction) (~100% conversion in 0.5 h) with TBHP at 70 °C in acetonitrile, for 1 and 2 , respectively.     

Effects of quantum confined stark effect and well thickness on optical properties of double quantum wells violet InGaN laser diodes

The effects of quantum confined stark effect (QCSE) and quantum well (QW) thickness on the optical properties of violet InGaN laser diodes (LDs) have numerically been investigated. The simulation results indicated that the QCSE greatly effects the optical properties of LDs, where QCSE relates to the QW thickness and it increases when the QW thickness is wider which leads to deteriorating of the optical proprieties of the violet InGaN LD. The polarization in the active region of the InGaN LD has been estimated by the blue shift of the wavelength and it is found that the blue shift of the wavelength depends on the QW thickness. The major simulation result has shown that the best properties of violet InGaN LD can be obtained with smaller QW thickness, where more carriers can be restricted, stayed and overlapped inside the QW which leads to a larger stimulated recombination rate and optical material gain which in turn increase the output power of the LD; while decreasing the threshold current of the LD.     

STUDIES IN CYCLODIPHOSPHAZANES. SOME REACTIONS OF HEXACHLOROCYCLO-DIPHOSPHAZANES WITH UREA AND THIOUREA DERIVATIVES

Abstract

Interaction of chlorocyclodiphosphazanes (I) with some bifunctional reagents (such as phenylurea, diphenylurea, thiourea and its phenyl derivatives) in acetonitrile furnished geminal and nongeminal aminocyclodiphosphazanes of type (II–V). The structures of the isolated products were proposed on the basis of microanalytical data, infrared, ultraviolet, ¹H n.m.r., and mass spectra. The mechanism of the nucleophilic substitution is also discussed.     

The Behavior of Certain Coumarins and Furocoumarins Toward Sulfur Reagents

The behavior of 4-hydroxycoumarin (1), 7-hydroxycoumarin (2), 4-hydroxy-bergapten (3), and 4-hydroxyisopimpinellin (4) toward sulfur reagents, namely, thionyl chloride, phosphorus pentasulfide, thiolacetic acid, and Lawesson's reagent (5), was studied. The nature of products in each case depended upon the type of reactants and reaction conditions. Possible reaction mechanisms were considered, and structural elucidations of the new products were based upon compatible elementary and spectroscopic evidences.