Preparation of a dual-functionalized fumed silica nanoparticle catalysis for synthesis of azaluorenone derivatives

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A dual-functional silica-based catalyst was prepared by treating fumed silica with amino-containing silane then 1,4-butane sultone. The presence of functional...     

Mesoporous interstitial and substitutional nitrogen-containing titanium dioxide photocatalysts prepared by acid-assisted sol–gel procedure

Two different types of nitrogen-containing TiO₂ were synthesized via an acid-modified sol–gel method. Yellow-colored interstitial and white substitutional nitrogen-containing TiO₂ powders were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda pore size distribution analyses, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. The band gaps of interstitial and substitutional nitrogen-containing TiO₂ ceramics were estimated from UV–vis spectroscopy data to be 2.6 and 2.8 eV, respectively. Prepared substitutional nitrogen-containing TiO₂ featured steep light absorption edge with an approximately parallel characteristic to that in pure TiO₂. This fact is due to band-to-band visible light absorption ability of substitutional nitrogen-containing TiO₂. The photocatalytic properties of the produced nitrogen-containing TiO₂ samples were compared for the degradation of Direct Red 28 azo dye. Further studies were also devised to compare the catalytic efficiency of the nitrogen-containing TiO₂ powders with the pure TiO₂ synthesized via the similar sol–gel method. The produced nitrogen-containing TiO₂ samples revealed superior photocatalytic properties in comparison with pure TiO₂ due to their remarkable band gap narrowing, surface oxygen vacancies and much more surface defects. The results also revealed that the substitutional nitrogen-containing TiO₂ is the most effective photocatalyst under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation.     

Existence results to positive solutions of fractional BVP with $${\varvec{}}$$-derivatives

This paper investigates the existence and uniqueness of positive and nondecreasing solution for nonlinear boundary value problem with fractional q-derivative

$$\begin{aligned}&D_{q}^{\alpha }u(t)+f(t,u(t))=0, \quad {0<t<1, ~3<\alpha \le 4,} \\&u(0)= D_{q}u(0)=D_{q}^{2}u(0)=0, \quad D_{q}^{2}u(1)=\beta D_{q}^{2}u(\eta ), \end{aligned}$$

where \(D_{q}^{\alpha }\) denotes the Riemann–Liouville q-derivative of order \(\alpha \), \(0<\eta <1\) and \(1-\beta \eta ^{\alpha -3}>0\). Our analysis relies a fixed point theorem in partially ordered sets. An example to illustrate our results is given.

     

The experimental/numerical investigation of variations in strip speed,water shower pattern and water temperature on high-temperature strip cooling rate in hot strip mill

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Hot-rolled strips are cooled on the run-out table to achieve the customer-required mechanical properties. Cooling reduces the oxidation, which can...     

Antiinfective properties of ursolic acid-loaded chitosan nanoparticles against Staphylococcus aureus

The present study aimed to synthesize ursolic acid-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (UA-Ch-NPs) as an antiinfective agent against 21 Staphylococcus aureus isolates. The UA-Ch-NPs were synthesized by a simple method and then characterized by TEM, FTIR, DLS-zeta potential, and XRD analyses. According to the characterization results, highly dispersed spherical nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 258 nm and a zeta potential of + 40.1 mV were developed. The antibacterial properties of UA-Ch-NPs were investigated and their inhibitory effect on biofilm formation was demonstrated by AFM. Finally, the expression levels of icaA and icaD were measured using real-time PCR. Results indicated that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of UA and UA-Ch-NPs against S. aureus was 64 and 32 µg/mL, respectively. The treatment of bacterial cells with UA-Ch-NPs significantly decreased the expression of icaA and icaD genes which are engaged in biofilm formation. Our results indicated that UA-Ch-NPs could be a promising material for antibacterial and antibiofilm applications.     

Numerical simulation of electronic structure,linear and third order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients in the polymeric nanoheterostructure using imaginary time propagation method

In the effective mass approximation, the charge density, the potential profile, the wavefunctions, and the corresponding energy states for zinc sulfide spherical quantum dot have been self-consistently solved, which is embedded in the polymeric media (PVP) by the imaginary time propagation method. Moreover, for the first time, the oscillator strength, linear, third order nonlinear, and total optical absorption coefficients for the transition between intersubbands 1s-1p, 1p-1d, 1d-1f, 1f-1g, 1g-1h, and 1h-1i are investigated with respect to photon energy and the saturation strength has been calculated for every transition too. Calculated result shows that the oscillator strength and the magnitude of optical absorption coefficients are enhanced for transition between intersubbands with higher energies. Also, calculations show that the total absorption coefficient depends on the strength of incident optical intensity and relaxation time.     

Engineered mesoporous ionic‐modified γ‐Fe2O3@hydroxyapatite decorated with palladium nanoparticles and its catalytic properties in water

A new mesoporous organic–inorganic nanocomposite was formulated and then used as stabilizer and support for the preparation of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs). The properties and structure of Pd NPs immobilized on prepared 1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) chemically tagged on mesoporous γ‐Fe₂O₃@hydroxyapatite (ionic modified (IM)‐MHA) were investigated using various techniques. The synergistic effects of the combined properties of MHA, DABCO and Pd NPs, and catalytic activity of γ‐Fe₂O₃@hydroxyapatite‐DABCO‐Pd (IM‐MHA‐Pd) were investigated for the Heck cross‐coupling reaction in aqueous media. The appropriate surface area and pore size of mesoporous IM‐MHA nanocomposite can provide a favourable hard template for immobilization of Pd NPs. The loading level of Pd in the nanocatalyst was 0.51 mmol g^?1. DABCO bonded to the MHA surface acts as a Pd NP stabilizer and can also lead to colloidal stability of the nanocomposite in aqueous solution. The results reveal that IM‐MHA‐Pd is highly efficient for coupling reactions of a wide range of aryl halides with olefins under green conditions. The superparamagnetic nature of the nanocomposite means that the catalyst to be easily separated from solution through magnetic decantation, and the catalytic activity of the recycled IM‐MHA‐Pd showed almost no appreciable loss even after six consecutive runs.     

Turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow of alumina nanofluid inside three-lobed twisted tube

Turbulent flow characteristics and heat transfer applications of a twisted heat exchanger with 3-lobed cross section along with Y-tape insert are numerically studied. The working fluids for the simulations are pure water and water–Al₂O₃ nanofluid using two-phase mixture model. The study is carried out for various nanofluid volume fractions of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 with Reynolds number in the range of 5000–20,000. The effect of nanoparticles in heat transfer augmentation for smooth and lobed tubes is discussed based on presenting the highest thermal performance, which is a relation between heat transfer rate and pressure loss. Results show that implementing the twisted tube with Y-tape insert enhances the heat transfer more than the twisted tube. Relative Nusselt numbers for twisted tubes decrease with Reynolds number in comparison with the plain tube. Turbulent intensity, swirl number and tangential velocity of twisted tube with insert are higher than empty twisted tube indicating that inserting the Y-tape intensifies the turbulence and disturbs the fluid flow further. On the other hand, although the twisted tube increases the pressure drop more than plain tube, the case with Y-tape drastically increases the friction factor. So, the thermal performance of twisted tube with insert is lower than empty twisted tube. Adding nanoparticles to the base fluid has different influence on the investigated cases. It augments the relative Nusselt number inside plain tube and empty twisted tube with slight increment in friction factor. Increasing the nanoparticles concentration enhances the heat transfer rates for these cases while it does not increase the relative Nusselt number inside twisted tube with Y-tape insert at high Reynolds number and nanoparticle concentration. Moreover, it can be found that twisted tube with or without Y-tape insert is more efficient at low Reynolds number in comparison with the plain tube.

     

An NO+ reactant ion source for ion mobility spectrometry

The major reactant ion in conventional ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is the hydronium ion, H₃O⁺ which is produced in the usual ionization sources such as corona discharge or radioactive sources. Using the hydronium reactant ion, mostly the analytes with proton affinity higher than that of water are ionized. A broader range of compounds can be detected by IMS if other alternative ionization channels, such as charge transfer from NO⁺, are employed. In this work we introduce a simple and novel method for producing NO⁺ as the major reactant ion in IMS. This was achieved by adding neutral NO to the corona discharge ionization source. The neutral NO was prepared via an additional discharge in an air stream, flowing into the corona discharge source. A curtain plate was mounted in front of the corona discharge to prevent the influence of the analyte on the production of NO⁺. Using this technique, the reactant ion could easily and quickly switch between the H₃O⁺ and NO⁺. The performance of the new source was evaluated by recording ion mobility spectra of test compounds with both H₃O⁺ and NO⁺ reactant ions.     

A note on weak amenability of semigroup algebras

Semigroup Forum - We study weak amenability of certain classes of commutative semigroup algebras. First, we present a class of commutative semigroups which semigroup algebras (like arbitrary group...