Adsorption of water on JSC‐1A (simulated moon dust samples)—a surface science study

JSC‐1a (a simulated lunar dust sample) supported on a silica wafer (SiO₂/Si(111)) has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x‐ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The adsorption kinetics of water has been studied primarily by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and in addition by collecting isothermal adsorption transients. Blind experiments on the silica support have been performed as well. JSC‐1a consists mostly of aluminosilicate glass and other minerals containing Fe, Na, Ca, and Mg, as characterized in detail in prior studies, for example, at NASA. The particle sizes span the range from a few micrometers up to 100 µm. At small exposures, H₂O TDS is characterized by broad (100–450) K structures; at large exposures, distinct TDS peaks emerge, which are assigned to amorphous solid water (ASW) (145 K) and crystalline ice (CI) (165 K). Water dissociates on JSC‐1a at small exposures but not on the bare silica support. Coadsorption TDS data (alkane–water mixtures) indicate that rather porous condensed ice layers form at large exposures, with the mineral particles acting most likely as nucleation sites. At thermal impact energies, the initial adsorption probability amounts to 0.92 ± 0.05. It is evident that the drop‐and‐dry technique, developed in studies about nanoparticles/tubes, can be extended to obtain samples for surface science studies based on powders consisting of particles with rather large diameters. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DABCO-mediated aza-Michael addition of 4-aryl-1H-1,2,3-triazoles to cycloalkenones. Regioselective synthesis of disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles

Aza-Michael addition of 4-aryl-1H-1,2,3-triazoles to 2-cycloalken-1-ones has been studied in the presence of DABCO as organic base. The reactions were carried out in acetonitrile at room temperature to provide 2,4-disubstituted 2H-1,2,3-triazoles as major adducts and 1,4-disubstituted 1H-1,2,3-triazoles as minor adducts. Though the reaction times are longer (4–8 days), the two regioisomers were separated by using column chromatography and the adducts were obtained in very good to excellent combined chemical yields. The electron-rich and electron-poor substituents on aryl moiety of 4-aryl-triazoles could tolerate the reaction conditions to afford the title adducts.     

Microwave resonant and zero-field absorption study of pure and doped ferrite nanoparticles

Microwave absorption was studied for magnetic nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄ (A) prepared by co-precipitation and Ni_0.35Cu_0.15Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (B) nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel combustion method at different temperature. In all cases only one ferromagnetic resonance line was observed which indicated that the materials were magnetically uniform. The linewidths were large mainly because of the wide variations in particle sizes, shapes and orientations. As expected, A type nanoparticles showed no absorption at zero-field. However, B type nanoparticles exhibited a sizable loss at a zero-field and the effect increases with the increase of reaction temperature. Mechanical crushing of the sample further enhanced the absorption.     

Effect of nanoclay and barium sulfate nanoparticles on the thermal and morphological properties of polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites

The thermal, morphological and optical studies of BaSO₄ and MMT (nanoclay) embedded in PVDF were investigated. Nanocomposites samples of PVDF–BaSO₄–MMT were prepared by varying the loadings (1–4 mass%) in case of BaSO₄ and MMT nanomaterials, respectively. Polyvinylidene fluoride–barium sulfate-montmorillonite (PVDF–BaSO₄–MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by solvent-mixing technique. Nanoparticles were synthesized by in situ deposition technique with the help of nonionic polymeric surfactant, and the particle size of nanoparticles was recognized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis which confirms that the particle has diameter of 80–90 nm. As prepared, nanocomposites films (thickness, 25 μm) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR), SEM and electron diffraction spectroscopy (EDS). FTIR shows that all the chemical constituents were present in the nanocomposites, whereas SEM analysis suggested that the nanofillers dispersed well in polymer matrix and EDS showed the elemental composition of nanocomposite samples. Thermal properties of nanocomposites were studied by using TG/DTA/DTG. TG/DTA studies showed decomposition temperature of pure PVDF is 473.5 °C. The decomposition temperature (T _d) of nanocomposites was increased by 93 °C in case of nanocomposites with addition of both BaSO₄ and MMT nanomaterials. The difference in the thermal degradation temperature was found to be 1.2% higher in case of addition of BaSO₄ nanoparticle as compared to nanoclay. The obtained transparent nanocomposite films were characterized by using UV–Vis spectrophotometer which shows that transparencies of nanocomposites are maintained in visible region, the intensity of absorption band in UV region is increased with the addition of BaSO₄ nanoparticles, while in case of addition of nanoclay the UV region does not show drastic changes. Addition of both nanoparticle and nanoclay shows higher absorption in comparison with the individual samples. But further, doubling the amount of nanoparticle and nanoclay shows decrease in UV absorption. Overall, the results of thermal studies show that the incorporation of BaSO₄ and MMT could significantly improve the thermal properties of nanocomposites.     

Mechanistic investigations of ruthenium(III) catalyzed oxidation of pentoxifylline by copper(III) periodate complex in aqueous alkaline medium

Abstract  

The kinetics of the oxidation of ruthenium(III)-catalyzed oxidation of pentoxifylline (PTX) by diperiodatocuprate(III) (DPC) in aqueous alkaline medium at a constant ionic strength of 0.30 mol dm⁻³ was studied spectrophotometrically. The reaction between PTX and DPC in alkaline medium in the presence of Ru(III) exhibits 1:2 stoichiometry (PTX:DPC). The reaction was of first order in DPC, less than the unit order in [PTX] and [OH⁻] and negative fractional order in [IO₄ ⁻]. The order in [Ru(III)] was unity. Intervention of free radicals was observed in the reaction. The main products were identified by TLC and spectral studies including LC-MS. The oxidation reaction in alkaline medium has been shown to proceed via a Ru(III)-PTX complex, which reacts with monoperiodatocuprate(III) to decompose in a rate determining step followed by a fast step to give the products. The reaction constants involved in different steps of the mechanism were calculated. The activation parameters with respect to the slow step of the mechanism were computed and discussed, and thermodynamic quantities were also determined. The active species of catalyst and oxidant have been identified.     

Pinched flow coupled shear-modulated inertial microfluidics for high-throughput rare blood cell separation

Blood is a highly complex bio-fluid with cellular components making up >40% of the total volume, thus making its analysis challenging and time-consuming. In this work, we introduce a high-throughput size-based separation method for processing diluted blood using inertial microfluidics. The technique takes advantage of the preferential cell focusing in high aspect-ratio microchannels coupled with pinched flow dynamics for isolating low abundance cells from blood. As an application of the developed technique, we demonstrate the isolation of cancer cells (circulating tumor cells (CTCs)) spiked in blood by exploiting the difference in size between CTCs and hematologic cells. The microchannel dimensions and processing parameters were optimized to enable high throughput and high resolution separation, comparable to existing CTC isolation technologies. Results from experiments conducted with MCF-7 cells spiked into whole blood indicate >80% cell recovery with an impressive 3.25 × 10(5) fold enrichment over red blood cells (RBCs) and 1.2 × 10(4) fold enrichment over peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). In spite of a 20× sample dilution, the fast operating flow rate allows the processing of ～10(8) cells min(-1) through a single microfluidic device. The device design can be easily customized for isolating other rare cells from blood including peripheral blood leukocytes and fetal nucleated red blood cells by simply varying the 'pinching' width. The advantage of simple label-free separation, combined with the ability to retrieve viable cells post enrichment and minimal sample pre-processing presents numerous applications for use in clinical diagnosis and conducting fundamental studies.     

Spin glass behavior and non-ergodicity in amorphous iron-boron alloys

We report FMR measurements on amorphous Fe_xB_1-x thin films with x=0.47, 0.49 and 0.53. At low T we observe anomalies characteristic of the FM-SG transition. In addition, in the 0.47 and 0.49 alloys the resonance field, below ～80K, depends upon the rate of cooling. We suggest that this behavior is symptomatic of non-ergodicity in the spin glass state.     

Measurement of the acoustic properties of a nerve-muscle preparation as a function of physiologic state

Nerve-muscle preparations of Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to low dosage ultrasound. The objectives were to measure the velocity of propagation and attenuation of ultrasonic energy in both the relaxed and contracted states. A tension-measuring system and associated ultrasonic instrumentation were designed to measure the tension developed in stimulated muscle and its corresponding acoustic parameters, ie the attenuation coefficient, (db cm^-1) and the velocity of propagation, c (ms^-1). Each test was performed at ultrasonic frequencies 3.1, 5.35, and 7.68 MHz and with the preparation maintained at 23 ± 0.5° C. Attenuation of ultrasonic energy was observed to increase by 10 ± 0.5% in the active state from its value in the relaxed state. The relation between the attenuation and the acoustic frequency was found to be approximately linear over the frequency range tested. The velocity of propagation in the active state did not change appreciably from its value in the relaxed state and was observed to be independent of the acoustic frequency in the range used.     

Phonon Dispersion in Polyadenylic Acid

A study of the normal modes of vibration and their dispersion in polyadenylic acid based on the Urey–Bradley force field is reported. It gives a better interpretation of FTIR spectra as compared with the valence force field. Characteristic features of dispersion curves such as regions of high density‐of‐states, repulsion, and character mixing of dispersive modes are discussed. Predictive valuzes of heat capacity as a function of temperature are reported.