Sulphide based anode material for lithium rechargeable battery

In this study, lead sulphide (PbS) was prepared by the chemical bath deposition technique. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-rays (EDAX) and cyclic voltammetry. EDAX spectrum shows peaks attributable to lead and sulphur. The EDAX analysis also shows that the prepared sample is stoichiometric. Cyclic voltammetry experiments were recorded at 100 mV·s⁻¹ and 400 mV·s⁻¹ scan rates. Results show that the rate controlling electrochemical reaction is electron transfer. The presence of redox waves shows that the lithium intercalation and deintercalation can occur as a result of lattice expansion in PbS. There were no differences in the PbS XRD data before and after the cyclic voltammetry experiments indicating that the PbS structure is not modified upon lithium ion intercalation and deintercalation in PbS. The discharge characteristics for 35 cycles of the cell using the LiCoO₂/PbS couple is presented indicating the possible development of such materials as anode in lithium ion cells.     

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Ferula latisecta and Mozaffariania insignis from Iran

The hydrodistilled oils from the aerial parts of Ferula latisecta and Mozaffariania insignis, which is endemic to Iran, were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. (Z)-Ocimenone (32.4%), (E)-ocimenone (20.3%), and cis-pinocarvone (11.4%) were the main components among the 22 constituents characterized in the oil of F. latisecta, representing 87.7% of the total components detected. Twenty-five compounds were identified in the oil of M. insignis, representing 99.0% of the total oil, with octyl acetate (41.1%), β-pinene (30.3%), and α-pinene (23.9%) as the main constituents. The essential oils were examined for their potential antimicrobial activities. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 561–563, November–December, 2006.     

Computational complexity of LCPs associated with positive definite symmetric matrices

Murty in a recent paper has shown that the computational effort required to solve a linear complementarity problem (LCP), by either of the two well known complementary pivot methods is not bounded above by a polynomial in the size of the problem. In that paper, by constructing a class of LCPs—one of ordern forn 2—he has shown that to solve the problem of ordern, either of the two methods goes through 2 ⁿ pivot steps before termination.However that paper leaves it as an open question to show whether or not the same property holds if the matrix,M, in the LCP is positive definite and symmetric. The class of LCPs in whichM is positive definite and symmetric is of particular interest because of the special structure of the problems, and also because they appear in many practical applications.In this paper, we study the computational growth of each of the two methods to solve the LCP, (q, M), whenM is positive definite and symmetric and obtain similar results.This research is partially supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Number AFOSR-78-3646. The United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.     

Performance investigation of an advanced tracked prime mover on the low bearing soil

This study has presented a performance investigation of an advanced tracked prime mover for the operation of agricultural goods and other operations on peat terrain. The maximum and continuous traction torque of the prime mover has been developed by designing an advanced controller for controlling the intelligent system. The prime mover’s mobility is studied with ultrasonic displacement sensor, torque transducer, National Instrument cRIO-9004 Compact-RIO Real-time Controller Unit (RCU), a National Instrument TPC 2106T Touch Panel Control (TPC), a Trimble AG132 GPS antenna and receiver unit, and a Dlink DIR-655 router. The fuzzy logic controller (FLC) has been equipped with the prime mover hydraulic system to increase the traction torque of the hydraulic motor when the prime mover’s sinkage is more than or equal to 70 mm. The prime mover’s design demonstrates good potential in traversing peat terrain as the measured tractive effort was found to be 48% of the vehicle’s gross weight while the recommended tractive effort is in the range of 30–36% of the vehicle’s gross weight.     

Chromium Trioxide Supported onto Wet Silica Gel: Rapid Oxidation of Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds Under Microwave Irradiation in Solventless System

In an environmentally benign system, alcohols are rapidly oxidized to carbonyl compounds using CrO 3 supported onto wet silica gel as an oxidant under microwave irradiation.     

Study of Interactions Between Sugammadex and Penicillins Using Affinity Capillary Electrophoresis

Sugammadex, a new modified gamma cyclodextrin, reverses the neuromuscular blockage induced by rocuronium by forming a strong complex with this muscle relaxant. To evaluate possible interactions with potentially co-administered drugs, interactions between sugammadex and penicillins were investigated using the affinity capillary electrophoresis method for the first time. Capillary electrophoresis coupled to an ultra violet detector was used as an analytical device for the analysis and detection of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. Changes in the effective mobility of guest drugs (amoxicillin, ampicillin, oxacillin, dicloxacillin and azlocillin) were correlated with the increasing concentration of host molecules in background electrolyte, and successfully fitted into a non-linear curve equation; assuming 1:1 stoichiometric interaction. The calculated association constants (K _a) were: 383.44, 184.54, 265.34 and 95.06 M⁻¹ for amoxicillin, ampicillin, oxacillin and dicloxacillin, respectively. No complex formation with sugammadex could be detected for both penicillin G and piperacillin. The difference in the chemical structure of the penicillins, especially in the (R) side chains, is suggested to be responsible for the variety of binding strength between penicillins and sugammadex. The displacement study demonstrated that interactions between sugammadex and co-administered penicillins could reduce the pharmacological effects of both.

     

Numerical study on combustion of H2—O2 in a supersonic reactive expansion in a nozzle

A study on expansion flow inside a nozzle considering full mechanism chemistry of hydrogen and oxygen was carried out. In this study, a full implicit scheme for turbulent reactive flow was obtained by combining the second order TVD scheme of Yee and Harten (1987, Implicit TVD schemes for hyperbolic conservation laws in curvilinear coordinates. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal, 25(2), 266–274) with the efficient implicit lower-upper scheme of Shuen and Yoon (1989, Numerical study of chemically reacting flows using a lower-upper symmetric successive overrelaxation scheme. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal, 27(12), 1752–1756). The species equations, Navier–Stokes equations and turbulence model were implemented in the numerical scheme and solved in conjunction with full detailed finite rate chemistry. The numerical scheme is verified by comparison with experimental results of a converging–diverging nozzle. Effects of inlet pressure, temperature and fuel-oxidant mass ratio on nozzle flow field were studied. Variation of chemical species under different conditions was investigated by considering a chemical mechanism. Results show that increasing inlet pressure increases the rate of reactions due to increasing the concentration of reactants. For lower inlet pressure the radical H increases slightly in the diverging part of the nozzle, while for higher pressures it decreases along the nozzle. Inlet fuel–oxidant mass ratio affects the variation of all species with a greater effect for a near stoichiometric ratio. It was also shown that a higher inlet temperature provides a more enhanced reaction zone in the diverging part of the nozzle.     

ZEOLITE-SUPPORTED CHROMIUM(VI) OXIDE: A MILD,EFFICIENT, AND INEXPENSIVE REAGENT FOR OXIDATIVE DEPROTECTION OF TRIMETHYLSILYL ETHERS UNDER MICROWAVE IRRADIATION

Primary and secondary trimethylsilyl ethers are effeciently converted to the corresponding carbonyl compounds using HZSM-5 zeolite-supported CrO ₃ under microwave irradiation in solventless system.     

Synthesis,Electrical Conductivity,Spectral and Thermal Stability Studies on Poly(aniline-co-o-nitroaniline)

o-Nitroaniline units were incorporated in the polyaniline backbone through copolymerization with aniline. The copolymers were synthesized for 1:3 and 1:1 molar ratios of aniline and o-nitroaniline in acidic medium using potassium persulphate as oxidant and their properties were compared with that of polyaniline. The polymers showed less electrical conductivity than polyaniline. Unlike polyaniline, the presence of nitro group caused higher frequency dependence of electrical conductivity. Electronic spectra showed a blue shift in both the band of the copolymers due to the decrease in the extent of conjugation leading to lower conductivity, which could also be explained in terms of a decrease of delocalization of electron as evinced from electron para magnetic resonance (EPR) data. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that copolymer derived from 1:1 molar ratio showed comparable thermal stability with polyaniline and the one derived from 1:3 molar ratios is thermally less stable than polyaniline. Activation energies for thermal degradation were estimated using Broido equation. The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity suggested charge transport is mainly through variable range hopping.