Polymer blends—I. Mechanical and morphological behaviour of polyethylene/polyvinyl chloride blends

As part of a fundamental study of the behaviour of mixed plastics during reprocessing and in service, blends of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) have been investigated. It was found that Young's modulus increased steadily from pure LDPE to pure PVC whereas both tensile strength at break and elongation at break passed through a minimum at about 5% PVC. Optical and scanning electron microscope studies have related this mechanical behaviour to morphological changes in the two phase system under stress.     

A New Reaction of Isatin,Cyclic 1,3‐Diketone,and 2‐Cyanoacetamide: A Four‐Component Synthesis of Spirooxindoles

A novel reaction of isatins, 2‐cyanoacetamide, and cyclic 1,3‐diketones in ethanol was reported. The reaction gave the unexpected spirooxindole ethyl carboxylates in excellent yields and the spirooxindole carboxamide was not observed.     

Flow and thermal study of MHD Casson fluid past a moving stretching porous wedge

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This research provides the analysis of an analytical method named Homotopy analysis method which is applied to examine the series solutions/results on...     

A look at multiparticle production via modified combinants

The European Physical Journal A - The transverse momentum ($$p_{T}$$) distribution of strange hadrons ($$K_{S}^{0}$$ and $$\varLambda $$) and multi-strange hadrons( $$\varXi $$ and $$\varOmega $$)...     

Copolymerization of Carbonyl Sulfide and Propylene Oxide via a Heterogeneous Prussian Blue Analogue Catalyst with High Productivity and Selectivity

This study demonstrates the superiority of a stable and well-defined heterogeneous cobalt hexacyanocobaltate (Co₃[Co(CN)₆]₂), a typical cobalt Prussian Blue Analogue (CoCo-PBA) that catalyzes the copolymerization of carbonyl sulfide (COS) and propylene oxide (PO) to produce poly(propylene monothiocarbonate)s (PPMTC). The number-average molecular weights of the PPMTC were 66.4 to 139.4 kg/mol, with a polydispersity of 2.0–3.9. The catalyst productivity reached 1040 g polymer/g catalyst (12.0 h). The oxygen-sulfur exchange reaction (O/S ER), which would generate random thiocarbonate and carbonate units, was effectively suppressed, and thus the selectivity of the monothiocarbonate over carbonate linkages was up to >99%. It was shown that no cyclic thiocarbonate byproduct was produced during the heterogeneous catalysis of COS/PO copolymerization using CoCo-PBA as the catalyst. The content of monothiocarbonate and ether units in the copolymer chain could be regulated by tuning the feeding amount of COS.     

Test of a new tip material for Langmuir probe diagnostic

The objective of the work is to test a nickel–chrome alloy as a probe tip material for characterization of discharge plasmas. In order to meet the objective, a symmetric triple Langmuir probe diagnostic system and an associated driving circuit are designed and tested in an inductively coupled plasma generated by a 13.56-MHz radio frequency source coupled with an automated impedance match network. This probe is used to measure the electron temperature, electron number density, and ion saturation current as functions of the input power of the radio frequency source and the filling gas pressure. An increasing trend is noticed in the electron temperature and electron number density with an increase in the input power, whilst a decreasing trend is evident in these parameters with an increase in the nitrogen gas pressure. The overall inaccuracies in electron temperature and electron number density measurements are 5–12% and 3–13%, respectively.     

Polymer blends—II. The use of solid phase dispersants to improve the properties of binary mixtures of incompatible polymers

The mechanical properties of three binary mixtures of incompatible polymers (LDPE/PP, LDPE/PS and LDPE/PVC) have been studied in the presence of potential solid phase dispersants. The results show that it is possible to achieve an acceptable level of toughness in the composite products for the re-use of the materials in demanding applications. It is suggested that the main factor necessary to achieve good impact resistance and elongation at break of the polymer is the presence of a rubbery interphase between the heterophases. Satisfactory tensile strength on the other hand depends more on the dispersant properties of the third component.     

Focal region fields of three dimensional Gregorian system

Maslov’s method is applied to derive high frequency field expressions for the wave reflected by a three dimensional Gregorian system when the plane wave is incident. Expression is relatively simple and is valid in the caustic region. Geometrical optics approximation generally used to study high frequency field, fails in the vicinity of a caustic. Maslov’s method is a systematic procedure for predicting the field in the caustic region combining the simplicity of ray and generality of the transform method. Field distributions around the caustic region are calculated and the results are compared with obtained using current distribution method. Agreement among them is fairly good.     

Adsorption syntax of Au(III) on unloaded polyurethane foam

The nature of adsorption behavior of Au(III) on polyurethane (PUR) foam was studied in 0.2M HCl aqueous solution. The effect of shaking time and amount of adsorbent were optimized for 3.16·10⁻⁵M solution of Au(III) in 0.2M HCl. The classical Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms have been employed successfully. The Freundlich parameters 1/n and adsorption capacityK are 0.488±0.016 and (1.40±0.22)·10⁻² mol·g⁻¹, respectively. The Langmuir constants of saturation capacityM and binding energyb are (1.66±0.08)·10⁻⁴mol·g⁻¹ and 40294±2947 l·g⁻¹, respectively, indicating the monolayer chemical sorption. The mean free energy (E) of adsorption of Au(III) on PUR foam has been evaluated using D-R isotherm and found to be 11.5±0.16 kJ·mol⁻¹ reflecting the ion exchange type of chemical adsorption. The effect of temperature on the adsorption has also been studied. the isosteric heat of adsorption was found to be 44.03±1.66 kJ·mol⁻¹. The thermodynamic parameters of ΔG, ΔH, ΔS and equilibrium constantK _c have been calculated. The negative values of ΔG, ΔH and ΔS support that the adsorption of Au(III) on PUR foam is spontaneous, exothermic and of ion exchange chemisorption. The nature of the Au(III) species sorbed on PUR foam have been discussed.