CO2 laser heating of surfaces: Melt pool formation at surface

The melt pool formation during the heating of titanium and steel surfaces by a moving CO₂ laser beam is examined. The repetitive pulses are introduced in the simulations and the Marangoni effect in the melt pool is incorporated in the model study. The influence of laser scanning speed and the laser intensity parameter on the melt pool size is also considered. The enthalpy–porosity method is adopted to account for the phase change in the irradiated spot. It is found that the influence of laser scanning speed on the melt pool size is considerable, which is more pronounced for laser beam parameter β=1. The melt pool size is smaller for stainless steel as compared to that corresponding to titanium.     

Galerkin's finite element formulation of the system of fourth‐order boundary‐value problems

In this article, a Galerkin's finite element approach based on weighted‐residual is presented to find approximate solutions of a system of fourth‐order boundary‐value problems associated with obstacle, unilateral and contact problems. The approach utilizes a piece‐wise cubic approximations utilizing cubic Hermite interpolation polynomials. Numerical studies have shown the superior accuracy and lesser computational cost of the scheme in comparison to cubic spline, non‐polynomial spline and cubic non‐polynomial spline methods. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the method. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 1551–1560, 2011     

Brønsted acid catalyzed cyclization of hydroxylated enynes: a concise synthesis of five-membered heterocycles

A mild and direct pathway for the formation of five‐membered heterocyclic compounds from hydroxylated enynes has been developed. In this reaction, hydroxylated enynes were selectively transformed into five‐membered heterocyclic compounds 2 , with an allene moiety at the 3‐position, in the presence of F₃CSO₃H (0.1 mol %). When R¹, R²=Ph, diphenylvinyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole ( 2 y ) was obtained. With HSbF₆ (5 mol %) as the catalyst, polycyclic skeletons 3 and 4 with adjacent stereocenters were obtained. When R¹=H and R²=styrene, 1,3‐dienyl‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole ( 6 as ) was formed. This Brønsted acid catalyzed domino process involves the formation of an allene carbocation intermediate, which can be readily trapped by olefins to give various novel five‐membered heterocyclic skeletons.     

Diorganotin(IV) carboxylates of 3-methylphenyl ethanoic acid: Synthesis,crystal structure,antibacterial, anticancer and molecular docking studies

Abstract

Di-n-butyl- (1) and diethyltin(IV) (2) derivatives of 3-methylphenylethanoic acid were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, atomic absorption, IR, ¹H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The spectroscopic data and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies for complex 2 have confirmed a bidentate coordination mode of the carboxylate ligand and the presence of hexacoordinated tin atoms in the complexes. The complexes were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against selected gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains. The anticancer potential was assessed against prostate cancer cell lines. Both complexes have shown higher activities than the ligand acid. Complex 1 with an IC₅₀ value of 4.97?±?0.27?μg/mL was found to be better anti prostate cancer agent than complex 2 (IC₅₀ = 11.26?±?2.18?μg/mL). Molecular docking study has suggested antibacterial action of the complexes in terms of their ability to develop hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions with vital residues of the target proteins like tyrosyl-tRNA synthase from Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive bacteria) and undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase from Escherichia coli (gram-negative bacteria).     

Polyimide-silica Hybrids: Structural and Morphological Investigations

Polyimide (PI) containing pendant hydroxyl functional groups have been employed for preparation of PI-silica hybrids through the sol-gel process. A stoichiometric amount of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) was reacted with a mixture of oxydianiline (ODA) and 3,3′-diamino-4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl (DAHP) in dimethylacetamide (DMAc) solvent to prepare the precursor poly(amic acid) (PAA) solution for the PI. Various proportions of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) were mixed with PAA to prepare PI-silica hybrids through sol-gel process. The structure and morphology of these hybrids were investigated with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), optical surface profilometery, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and compared with the one in which the matrix was prepared from PMDA and ODA with no pendant hydroxyl functionalities. Formation of silica lean and silica rich phases (SLP and SRP) as a result of formation of nano-sized silica clusters with diffused boundaries, dispersed in the matrix and their agglomerates, respectively, along with totally different morphology suggest a strong influence of hydroxyl groups in controlling the morphology of PI-silica hybrids. A model namely “Retain and React” has been introduced to explain observed structure.     

Synthesis of regenerated bacterial cellulose-zinc oxide nanocomposite films for biomedical applications

Regenerated bacterial cellulose (RBC) composites with zinc-oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) were prepared using a new strategy for enhanced biomedical applications of BC. Powdered BC was dissolved in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide, and different concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles were mixed into the BC solution. RBC, RBC-ZnO1 (1 % ZnO) and ZnO-RBC2 (2 % ZnO) nanocomposite films were prepared by casting the solutions through an applicator. FE-SEM images confirmed the structural features and impregnation of the RBC films by nanoparticles. XRD analysis indicated the presence of specific peaks for RBC and ZnO in the composites. The RBC nanocomposites were found to have greatly enhanced thermal, mechanical and biological properties. Specifically, the degradation temperatures were improved from 334 °C for RBC to 339 and 344 °C for RBC-ZnO1 and RBC-ZnO2, respectively. The mechanical strength and Young’s modulus of the composites were also higher than those of pure RBC. The greatly improved antibacterial properties of the RBC-ZnO nanocomposites are the most striking feature of the present study. The bacterial growth inhibition measured for the RBC was zero, but reached up to 34 and 41 mm for RBC-ZnO1 and RBC-ZnO2, respectively. In addition to their antibacterial properties, the RBC-ZnO nanocomposites were found to be nontoxic and biocompatible with impressive cell adhesion capabilities. These RBC-ZnO nanocomposites can be used for different biomedical applications and have the potential for use in bioelectroanalysis.     

Organotin(IV) 4-nitrophenylethanoates: Synthesis, structural characteristics and intercalative mode of interaction with DNA

Four new organotin(IV) carboxylates, [Bu₂SnL₂] (1), [Et₂SnL₂] (2), [Bu₃SnL]_n (3), [Me₃SnL]_n (4), where L = 4-nitrophenylethanoates, were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and multinuclear NMR (¹H and ¹³C). Spectroscopic results authenticated the coordination of ligand to the organotin moiety via COO group while X-ray single crystal analysis revealed bidentate chelating mode of coordination of ligand in complex 2 and a bridging behavior in complexes 3 and 4. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) technique was used to evaluate the electrochemical, kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of complexes 1-4, interacting with DNA. The linearity of the plots between the peak current (I) and the square root of the scan rate (ν^1/2) indicated the electrochemical processes to be diffusion controlled. The diffusion coefficients of the free (D_f) and DNA bound forms (D_b), standard rate constants (ks) and charge transfer coefficients (α) were determined by the application of Randle–Sevcik, Nicholson and Kochi equations. Furthermore, the binding constants evaluated from voltammetric data revealed the following increasing order of binding strength: 2 < 1 < 4 < 3. For 1 and 2, the activity against prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3) was found consistent with the order obtained from voltammetric behavior.     

Influence of clay modification on the properties of aramid-layered silicate nanocomposites

Nanocomposites from organoclay and aromatic polyamide were prepared using solution intercalation method. Aramid chains were synthesised by reacting 4-aminophenylsulfone with isophthaloyl chloride in dimethylacetamide. Dodecylamine was used as a modifier to change the hydrophilic nature of montmorillonite into organophilic. Suitable quantities of organoclay were mixed in the aramid solution with high-speed stirring for homogeneous dispersion of the clay. Thin films cast from these materials after evaporating the solvent were characterised. The morphology of nanocomposites was determined by X-ray diffraction and TEM. Results revealed the formation of delaminated and disordered intercalated clay platelets in the aramid matrix. Mechanical data indicated improvement in the tensile strength and modulus with clay loading up to 6 wt.%. The glass transition temperature increased up to 20 wt.% organoclay, suggesting better cohesion between the two phases and thermal stability augmented with increasing clay loading. The water uptake reduced gradually as a function of organoclay showing decreased permeability.