Development of highly ionic conductive cellulose acetate-g-poly (2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid-co-methyl methacrylate) graft copolymer membranes

A novel cellulose acetate-g-poly (2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid-co- methyl methacrylate) copolymer was prepared via free radical polymerization for the first time. The chemical structure of the graft copolymer was confirmed using FT-IR, ¹H NMR and EDX. The TGA and DSC investigated the thermal changes. Factors affecting the grafting process were studied and various grafting characteristic parameters such as grafting efficiency (%), grafting yield (%) and add-on value (%) were determined. Flexible membranes based on different graft copolymer compositions were fabricated by simple solution casting. Physicochemical properties including ion exchange capability (IEC), water uptake (WU) and proton conductivity (σ) were evaluated. These membranes demonstrated higher IEC, WU and conductivity than the pristine CA. The maximum proton conductivity of the CA-g-poly (2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid-co- methyl methacrylate) copolymer membrane (68%; Add-on %) was found to be 6.44 × 10⁻³ S/cm compared with 0.035 × 10⁻³ S/cm of the pristine CA. Thus, the appropriate graft copolymer composition will allow fine-tuning of the physical characteristics and led to several potential applications, such as polyelectrolyte fuel cells membranes or biodiesel production.     

Thermal Stability of Amorphous Solid Dispersions

Amorphous solid dispersion drug delivery systems (ASD DDS) were proved to be efficient for the enhancement of solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. One of the major keys for successful preparation of ASD is the selection of appropriate excipients, mostly polymers, which have a crucial role in improving drug solubility and its physical stability. Even though, excipients should be chemically inert, there is some evidence that polymers can affect the thermal stability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The thermal stability of a drug is closely related to the shelf-life of pharmaceutical products and therefore it is a matter of high pharmaceutical relevance. An overview of thermal stability of amorphous solids is provided in this paper. Evaluation of thermal stability of amorphous solid dispersion is perceived from the physicochemical perspective, from a kinetic (motions) and thermodynamic (energy) point of view, focusing on activation energy and fragility, as well all other relevant parameters for ASD design, with a glance on computational kinetic analysis of solid-state decomposition.     

Influence of Carbon Nanotubes on Phase Composition,Thermal and Post-Heating Behavior of Cementitious Composites

This paper experimentally investigates the influence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on phase composition, microstructure deterioration, thermal behavior, and residual mechanical strengths of cementitious composites exposed to elevated temperatures. Cement mortars with small dosages of CNTs, 0.05% and 0.2% by weight of cement, were prepared and then heated at 25 °C, 150 °C, 200 °C, 450 °C, and 600 °C for two hours before being tested. The results show positive impact of the CNTs on the hydration process of cement mortar at room temperature and at higher temperatures up to 200 °C. Decomposition of the hydration products is obvious at 450 °C, whereas sever deterioration in the microstructure occurs at 600 °C. The nano reinforcement and bridging effect of the CNTs are obvious up to 450 °C. Thermal behavior characterization shows that CNTs incorporation enhances the thermal conductivity of the unheated and heat-treated mortar specimens. The decomposition of the hydration products needs more heat in the presence of CNTs. Finally, presence of CNTs significantly enhances the residual compressive and flexural strengths of heated mortar specimens for all studied temperatures.     

Prandtl Number in Classical Hard-Sphere and One-Component Plasma Fluids

The Prandtl number is evaluated for the three-dimensional hard-sphere and one-component plasma fluids, from the dilute weakly coupled regime up to a dense strongly coupled regime near the fluid-solid phase transition. In both cases, numerical values of order unity are obtained. The Prandtl number increases on approaching the freezing point, where it reaches a quasi-universal value for simple dielectric fluids of about ≃1.7. Relations to two-dimensional fluids are briefly discussed.     

Stability Enhancement of a Dimeric HER2-Specific Affibody Molecule through Sortase A-Catalyzed Head-to-Tail Cyclization

Natural backbone-cyclized proteins have an increased thermostability and resistance towards proteases, characteristics that have sparked interest in head-to-tail cyclization as a method to stability-enhance proteins used in diagnostics and therapeutic applications, for example. In this proof-of principle study, we have produced and investigated a head-to-tail cyclized and HER2-specific Z_HER2:342 Affibody dimer. The sortase A-mediated cyclization reaction is highly efficient (>95%) under optimized conditions, and renders a cyclic Z_HER3:342-dimer with an apparent melting temperature, T_m, of 68 °C, which is 3 °C higher than that of its linear counterpart. Circular dichroism spectra of the linear and cyclic dimers looked very similar in the far-UV range, both before and after thermal unfolding to 90 °C, which suggests that cyclization does not negatively impact the helicity or folding of the cyclic protein. The cyclic dimer had an apparent sub-nanomolar affinity (K_d ~750 pM) to the HER2-receptor, which is a ~150-fold reduction in affinity relative to the linear dimer (K_d ~5 pM), but the anti-HER2 Affibody dimer remained a high-affinity binder even after cyclization. No apparent difference in proteolytic stability was detected in an endopeptidase degradation assay for the cyclic and linear dimers. In contrast, in an exopeptidase degradation assay, the linear dimer was shown to be completely degraded after 5 min, while the cyclic dimer showed no detectable degradation even after 60 min. We further demonstrate that a site-specifically DyLight 594-labeled cyclic dimer shows specific binding to HER2-overexpressing cells. Taken together, the results presented here demonstrate that head-to-tail cyclization can be an effective strategy to increase the stability of an Affibody dimer.     

负载型廉价金属催化剂在低温催化氧化甲醛中的应用

甲醛是室内常见的挥发性有机污染物之一,长期接触会严重危害人体健康。负载型廉价金属催化剂在甲醛去除和实际应用方面表现出优异性能,引起研究人员的广泛关注。本文阐述了低温条件下负载型廉价金属催化剂在甲醛热催化氧化、光催化氧化和等离子协同催化氧化方面的研究进展,介绍了甲醛低温催化的影响因素,并讨论了反应机理。反应条件、载体类型和制备方式是影响甲醛低温催化活性的重要因素。虽然负载型廉价金属催化剂在甲醛光催化氧化和热催化氧化方面均表现出良好性能,但仍须进一步探究提升其在可见光和室温下的催化活性。对于甲醛等离子协同催化氧化,降低反应过程所产生的副产物和能耗仍是研究重点。此外,本文还对负载型廉价金属催化剂在甲醛催化应用中的发展方向进行了展望。     

Synthesis,Characterization of Cr Doped TeO2 Nanostructures and its Application as EGFET pH Sensor

In the present work, Cr doped tellurium dioxide nanostructures (CTO NS)(1 wt %, 6 wt %, 8 wt % and 12 wt %) synthesized by co precipitation method and characterized by CV, UV-Visible, SEM, XRD, XPS spectroscopic analysis. Electron beam deposited thin film of CTO NS having 12 wt % of Cr exhibited EGFET-pH sensitivity of 62.03 mV/pH at 250 °C in buffer solutions of pH 6–12, linearity 0.9345, drift rate of 1.12 mV/h and deviation of 0.01145 as compared with 1 wt %, 6 wt % and 8 wt % of CTO NS.     

Near-infrared photoluminescence and thermally stimulated current in Cu3Ga5Se9 layered crystals: A comparative study

Near-infrared photoluminescence (PL) and thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectra of Cu₃Ga₅Se₉ layered crystals grown by Bridgman method have been studied in the photon energy region of 1.35–1.46 eV and the temperature range of 15–115 K (PL) and 10–170 K (TSC). An infrared PL band centered at 1.42 eV was revealed at T = 15 K. Radiative transitions from shallow donor level placed at 20 meV to moderately deep acceptor level at 310 meV were suggested to be the reason of the observed PL band. TSC curve of Cu₃Ga₅Se₉ crystal exhibited one broad peak at nearly 88 K. The thermal activation energy of traps was found to be 22 meV. An energy level diagram demonstrating the transitions in the crystal band gap was plotted taking account of results of PL and TSC experiments conducted below room temperature.     

The slowly reacting mode of combustion of gaseous mixtures in spherical vessels. Part 1: Transient analysis and explosion limits

Frank-Kamenetskii's analysis of thermal explosions is revisited, using also a single-reaction model with an Arrhenius rate having a large activation energy, to describe the transient combustion of initially cold gaseous mixtures enclosed in a spherical vessel with a constant wall temperature. The analysis shows two modes of combustion. There is a flameless slowly reacting mode for low wall temperatures or small vessel sizes, when the temperature rise resulting from the heat released by the reaction is kept small by the heat-conduction losses to the wall, so as not to change significantly the order of magnitude of the reaction rate. In the other mode, the slow reaction rates occur only in an initial ignition stage, which ends abruptly when very large reaction rates cause a temperature runaway, or thermal explosion, at a well-defined ignition time and location, thereby triggering a flame that propagates across the vessel to consume the reactant rapidly. Explosion limits are defined, in agreement with Frank-Kamenetskii's analysis, by the limiting conditions for existence of the slowly reacting mode of combustion. In this mode, a quasi-steady temperature distribution is established after a transient reaction stage with small reactant consumption. Most of the reactant is burnt, with nearly uniform mass fraction, in a subsequent long stage during which the temperature follows a quasi-steady balance between the rates of heat conduction to the wall and of chemical heat release. The changes in the explosion limits caused by the enhanced heat-transfer rates associated with buoyant motion are described in an accompanying paper.     

Dielectric properties and study of AC electrical conduction mechanisms by non-overlapping small polaron tunneling model in Bis(4-acetylanilinium) tetrachlorocuprate(II) compound

In the present work, the synthesis and characterization of the Bis(4-acetylanilinium) tetrachlorocuprate(II) compound are presented. The structure of this compound is analyzed by X-ray diffraction which confirms the formation of single phase and is in good agreement the literature. Indeed, the Thermo gravimetric Analysis (TGA) shows that the decomposition of the compound is observed in the range of 420–520 K. However, the differential thermal analysis (DTA) indicates the presence of a phase transition at T=363 k. Furthermore, the dielectric properties and AC conductivity were studied over a temperature range (338–413 K) and frequency range (200 Hz–5 MHz) using complex impedance spectroscopy. Dielectric measurements confirmed such thermal analyses by exhibiting the presence of an anomaly in the temperature range of 358–373 K. The complex impedance plots are analyzed by an electrical equivalent circuit consisting of resistance, constant phase element (CPE) and capacitance. The activation energy values of two distinct regions are obtained from log σT vs 1000/T plot and are found to be E=1.27 eV (T<363 K) and E=1.09 eV (363 K<T).The frequency dependence of ac conductivity, σ_ac, has been analyzed by Jonscher's universal power law σ(ω)=σ_dc+Aω^s. The value of s is to be temperature-dependent, which has a tendency to increase with temperature and the non-overlapping small polaron tunneling (NSPT) model is the most applicable conduction mechanism in the title compound.