Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide on Activated Carbon

The adsorption of CO2 on a raw activated carbon A and three modified activated carbon samples B, C, and D at temperatures ranging from 303 to 333 K and the thermodynamics of adsorption have been investigated using a vacuum adsorption apparatus in order to obtain more information about the effect of CO2 on removal of organic sulfur-containing compounds in industrial gases. The active ingredients impregnated in the carbon samples show significant influence on the adsorption for CO2 and its volumes adsorbed on modified carbon samples B, C, and D are all larger than that on the raw carbon sample A. On the other hand, the physical parameters such as surface area, pore volume, and micropore volume of carbon samples show no influence on the adsorbed amount of CO2. The Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) equation was the best model for fitting the adsorption data on carbon samples A and B, while the Preundlich equation was the best fit for the adsorption on carbon samples C and D. The isosteric heats of adsorption on carbon samples A, B, C, and D derived from the adsorption isotherms using the Clapeyron equation decreased slightly increasing surface loading. The heat of adsorption lay between 10.5 and 28.4 kJ/mol, with the carbon sample D having the highest value at all surface coverages that were studied. The observed entropy change associated with the adsorption for the carbon samples A, B, and C (above the surface coverage of 7 ml/g) was lower than the theoretical value for mobile adsorption. However, it was higher than the theoretical value for mobile adsorption but lower than the theoretical value for localized adsorption for carbon sample D.     

Magnetic diphase nanostructure of ZnFe2O4/γ-Fe2O3

Magnetic diphase nanostructures of ZnFe₂O₄/γ-Fe₂O₃ were synthesized by a solvothermal method. The formation reactions were optimized by tuning the initial molar ratios of Fe/Zn. All samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectra. It is found that when the initial molar ratio of Fe/Zn is larger than 2, a diphase magnetic nanostructure of ZnFe₂O₄/γ-Fe₂O₃ was formed, in which the presence of ZnFe₂O₄ enhanced the thermal stability of γ-Fe₂O₃. Further increasing the initial molar ratio of Fe/Zn larger than 6 destabilized the diphase nanostructure and yielded traces of secondary phase α-Fe₂O₃. The grain surfaces of diphase nanostructure exhibited a spin-glass-like structure. At room temperature, all diphase nanostructures are superparamagnetic with saturation magnetization being increased with γ-Fe₂O₃ content.     

THE EFFECT OF ETHERS ON ALTERNATING COPOLYMERIZATION OF BUTADIENE AND PROPYLENE CATALYZED BY VANADIUM-ALUMINUM SYSTEM

The effect of five ethers on alternating copolymerization of br(?)adiene and propylene were investigated. It was found that under appropriate conditions, by adding ether into reaction system, the conversion could be increased by 10-20% and the catalytic efficiency doubled at -45℃. The interaction between ether and active center was also studied.     

Catalytic Combustion of Methane over CO1-xMgxO/Al2O3/FeCrAl Monolithic Catalysts

A series of CoxMgxO/Al2O3/FeCrAl catalysts （x=0-1） were prepared. The structures of the catalysts were characterized using XRD, SEM, and TPR analyses. The catalytic activity of the catalysts for methane combustion was evaluated in a continuous flow microreactor. The results indicated that the active washcoats adhered well on the FeCrAl foils. The phases in the catalysts were Co--xMgxO solid solutions, α-Al2O3, and γ-Al2O3. The surface particle size of the catalysts varied with variations in the molar ratios of Co to Mg. The Co component of the Co1_xMgxO/Al2O3/FeCrAl catalysts played an important role in the catalytic activity for methane combustion. In the Co1-xMgxO/AluO3/FeCrAl series catalyst （x=0.2-0.8）, the catalytic activity in terms of x was in the order of 0.5〉0.2〉0.8 under the experimental conditions. The presence of Mg in these catalysts could promote the thermal stability to a large extent. There were strong interactions between the Co1-xMgxO oxides and the AluO3/FeCrAl supports.     

One-dimensional α-MnO2: Trapping chemistry of tunnel structures, structural stability, and magnetic transitions

Highly crystalline one-dimensional (1D) α-MnO₂ nanostructures were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. All samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimeter, and infrared spectroscopy. During the formation reactions, the tunnel structure of 1D α-MnO₂ was simultaneously modified by NH₄⁺ species and water molecules. The amount of NH₄⁺ species that were trapped in the tunnels is almost independent on the reaction temperature, while the total water content increased with the reaction temperature. The average diameter of α-MnO₂ nanorods increased from 9.2 to 16.5 nm when the reaction temperature increased from 140 to 220 °C. 1D α-MnO₂ was destabilized by a subsequent high-temperature treatment in air, which is accompanied by a structural transformation to 1D Mn₂O₃ of a cubic structure. At low temperatures, all 1D α-MnO₂ nanorods showed two magnetic transitions that were characterized by a decreased Néel temperature with rod diameter reduction. According to the effective magnetic moments experimentally measured, Mn ions presented in the nanorods were determined to be in a mixed valency of high spin state Mn⁴⁺/Mn³⁺.     

The effect of the third component on butadiene–propylene alternating copolymerization catalyzed by vanadium–aluminum system

The effects of five ethers and four AliBu₂OR's with varied R' on butadiene–propylene alternating copolymerization were investigated. It was found that by adding the proper third component, both the conversion and the catalytic efficiency could be increased. The effect of the third component on the valence state of vanadium ion was also studied. A model of the active center of the ternary-component catalyst system was proposed.     

Application of algebraic method to the high overtones of C6H6 and C6D6

Both the spectra and infrared transition strengths of C₆H₆ and C₆D₆ for the C? H stretching overtones up to as high as v = 10 are described in high precision with few parameters (six for the spectra and four for the transition strengths) by the Iachello–Oss algebraic model. The Hamiltonian model is solved in the symmetry adapted bases, which are constructed by the symmetrized boson representation (SBR) technique. The results show that the combination of the algebraic method and SBR technique is a powerful method for describing vibrations of large molecules and high overtones. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Microfluidic three-dimensional biomimetic tumor model for studying breast cancer cell migration and invasion in the presence of interstitial flow

Cell migration and invasion are critical steps in cancer metastasis, which are the major cause of death in cancer patients. Tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs) and interstitial flow(IF) are two important biochemical and biomechanical cues in tumor microenvironment, play essential roles in tumor progression. However, their combined effects on tumor cell migration and invasion as well as molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In this work, we developed a microfluidic-based 3 D breast cancer model by co-culturing tumor aggregates, macrophages, monocytes and endothelial cells within 3 D extracellular matrix in the presence of IF to study tumor cell migration and invasion. On the established platform, we can precisely control the parameters related to tumor microenvironment and observe cellular responses and interactions in real-time. When co-culture of U937 with human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) or MDA-MB-231 cells and tri-culture of U937 with HUVECs and MDA-MB-231 cells, we found that mesenchymal-like MDA-MB-231 aggregates activated the monocytes to TAM-like phenotype macrophages. MDA-MB-231 cells and IF simultaneously enhanced the macrophages activation by the stimulation of colony-stimulating factor 1(CSF-1). The activated macrophages and IF further promoted vascular sprouting via vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGFα) signal and tumor cell invasion. This is the first attempt to study the interaction between macrophages and breast cancer cells under IF condition. Taken together, our results provide a new insight to reveal the important physiological and pathological processes of macrophages-tumor communication. Moreover, our established platform with a more mimetic 3 D breast cancer model has the potential for drug screening with more accurate results.     

Film-forming characteristics and thermal stability of low viscosity benzoxazines derived from melamine

A novel class of low-viscosity benzoxazines has been synthesized from melamine and formaldehyde with phenol or bisphenol A. The striking feature of the class of benzoxazines is the subtle combination of their inherently low viscosity at room temperature, good film-forming characteristics and high chemical and thermal stability mainly due to the introduction of melamine into the network of the polymers. The structure of the benzoxazines has been confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal properties of polybenzoxazine have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. Transparent polybenzoxazine films were easily obtained under solvent-free conditions, exhibiting significantly improved toughness compared to the conventional polybenzoxazines. Our research may open a new path for overcoming the present drawbacks of polybenzoxazines such as high brittleness, the difficulties in preparing films and poor processibility via tailoring the structures and properties of amine in the benzoxazines.