High strength,acid-resistant composites from canola,sunflower, or linseed oils: Influence of triglyceride unsaturation on material properties

Here are reported composites made by crosslinking unsaturated units in canola, sunflower, or linseed oil with sulfur to yield CanS , SunS , and LinS , respectively. These plant oils were selected because the average number of crosslinkable unsaturated units per triglyceride vary from 1.3 for canola to 1.5 for sunflower and 1.8 for linseed oil. The remeltable composites show compressive strengths that increase with increasing unsaturation number from CanS (9.3 MPa) to SunS (17.9 MPa) to LinS (22.9 MPa). These values for SunS and LinS are competitive when compared with the value of 17 MPa required for residential building using traditional Portland cement. The plant oil composites are recyclable over many cycles and can retain up to 100% of strength after 24 hr in oxidizing acid under conditions where Portland cement is dissolved in under 30 min. Infusion of the composites into premade cement blocks affords them with significantly improved acid resistance as well. This work thus provides a simple, nearly 100% atom economical route to convert plant oils and waste sulfur to composites having enhanced performance over commercial structural materials.     

Synthesis of tri-, penta-, and heptasaccharides,functionalized with orthogonally N-protected amino residues at the reducing and non-reducing ends

The synthesis of four bifunctionalized orthogonally N-protected oligosaccharides derived from lactose and mannose, intended as cross-linking derivatives, is described. The aminosugar at the non-reducing end is derivatized with an N-Boc-protected glycine moiety, and further connected to either a mannose (1→6) disaccharide or (1→3) lactose units (one, two or three) resulting in tri-, penta-, or heptasaccharides. All of the synthesized oligosaccharides have an N-benzyloxycarbonyl-aminoethyl residue at the reducing end. The orthogonal N-Boc/N-Cbz protection group pattern enables further conjugation/derivatization and results in a hydrophilic cross-linking molecule. It was found that the order of the final synthetic steps was crucial to avoid acyl migration. A suitable amide coupling protocol has been applied to introduce the N-Boc-protected glycine moiety in alcoholic solvent. The synthesized oligosaccharides will provide a model system to investigate the influence of length, structure and flexibility.     

Combining agriculture and energy industry waste products to yield recyclable,thermally healable copolymers of elemental sulfur and oleic acid

Sulfur and oleic acid, two components of industrial waste/byproducts, were combined in an effort to prepare more sustainable polymeric materials. Zinc oxide was employed to serve the dual role of compatibilizing immiscible sulfur and oleic acid as well as to suppress evolution of toxic H₂S gas during reaction at high temperature. The reaction of sulfur, oleic acid, and zinc oxide led to a series of composites, ZOS _x (x = wt % sulfur, where x is 8–99). The ZOS _x materials ranged from sticky tars to hard solids at room temperature. The ZOS _x compositions were assessed by ¹H NMR spectrometry, FTIR spectroscopy, and elemental microanalysis. Copolymers ZOS _59‐99 , were further analyzed for thermal and mechanical properties by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanical analysis. Remarkably, even ZOS ₉₉ , comprising only 1 wt % of zinc oxide/oleic acid (99 wt % S) exhibits at least an eightfold increase in storage modulus compared to sulfur alone. The four solid samples (59–99 wt % S) were thermally healable and readily remeltable with full retention of mechanical durability. These materials represent a valuable proof‐of‐concept for sustainably sourced, recyclable materials from unsaturated fatty acid waste products. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1704–1710     

Sequential crosslinking for mechanical property development in high sulfur content composites

This report details how sequential crosslinking processes can be applied to develop properties in sulfur-bisphenol A composites. Olefinic carbons were first crosslinked by inverse vulcanization (InV) at 180°C and then aryl carbon crosslinking was affected via radical-induced aryl halide-sulfur polymerization (RASP) at 220°C. To demonstrate that these two crosslinking mechanisms are orthogonal and can be used to affect stepwise property changes, O,O′-diallyl-2,2′,5,5′-tetrabromobisphenol A was selected as a comonomer. After InV of the monomer with 90 wt% sulfur, a flexible plastic material having an elongation at break of 89% was obtained, whereas after heating this premade polymer to initiate RASP, the polymer develops a threefold increase in its tensile strength and has an elongation at break of only 29%. The sequential crosslinking strategy demonstrated herein thus provides an innovative approach to tuning the properties of high sulfur-content materials.     

Model-free control of Lorenz chaos using an approximate optimal control strategy

In this paper, we are concerned with model-free control of the Lorenz chaotic system, where only the online input and output are available while the mathematic model of the system is unknown. The problem is formulated from an optimal control perspective and solved using an iterative method. The convergence of the iteration and the stability of the control law are proven in theory. Simulations validate theoretical conclusions and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Saccharide-functionalized alkanethiols for fouling-resistant self-assembled monolayers: synthesis, monolayer properties, and antifouling behavior

We describe the synthesis of a series of mono-, di-, and trisaccharide-functionalized alkanethiols as well as the formation of fouling-resistant self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) from these. The SAMs were characterized using ellipsometry, wetting measurements, and infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). We show that the structure of the carbohydrate moiety affects the packing density and that this also alters the alkane chain organization. Upon increasing the size of the sugar moieties (from mono- to di- and trisaccharides), the structural qualities of the monolayers deteriorated with increasing disorder, and for the trisaccharide, slow reorganization dynamics in response to changes in the environmental polarity were observed. The antifouling properties of these SAMs were investigated through protein adsorption experiments from buffer solutions as well as settlement (attachment) tests using two common marine fouling species, zoospores of the green macroalga Ulva linza and cypris larvae of the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. The SAMs showed overall good resistance to fouling by both the proteins and the tested marine organisms. To improve the packing density of the SAMs with bulky headgroups, we employed mixed SAMs where the saccharide-thiols are diluted with a filler molecule having a small 2-hydroxyethyl headgroup. This method also provides a means by which the steric availability of sugar moieties can be varied, which is of interest for specific interaction studies with surface-bound sugars. The results of the surface dilution study and the low nonspecific adsorption onto the SAMs both indicate the feasibility of this approach.     

Advances and approaches for chemical recycling of plastic waste

The global production and consumption of plastics has increased at an alarming rate over the last few decades. The accumulation of pervasive and persistent waste plastic has concomitantly increased in landfills and the environment. The societal, ecological, and economic problems of plastic waste/pollution demand immediate and decisive action. In 2015, only 9% of plastic waste was successfully recycled in the United States. The major current recycling processes focus on the mechanical recycling of plastic waste; however, even this process is limited by the sorting/pretreatment of plastic waste and degradation of plastics during the process. An alternative to mechanical processes is chemical recycling of plastic waste. Efficient chemical recycling would allow for the production of feedstocks for various uses including fuels and chemical feedstocks to replace petrochemicals. This review focuses on the most recent advances for the chemical recycling of three major polymers found in plastic waste: PET, PE, and PP. Commercial processes for recycling hydrolysable polymers like polyesters or polyamides, polyolefins, or mixed waste streams are also discussed.     

Two highly porous single-crystalline zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks

Herein we report two highly porous Zr-based metal-organic frameworks(MOFs, 1 and 2) constructed by the truncated octahedral secondary building unit(SBU) of Zr_6O_4(OH)_4(CO_2)_(12) and the organic linear ligand of 4,4.-stilbenedicarboxylic acid(H_2sbdc) or4,4′-azobenezenedicarboxylic acid(H_2abdc). Both Zr-based MOFs are obtained as single crystals of suitable size for single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Furthermore, these two Zr-based MOFs have been fully characterized by powder X-ray diffraction(PXRD) studies, thermogravimetric analysis(TGA), infrared spectroscopy(IR) and gas adsorption analysis. In particular, their CO_2 gas adsorption behaviors have been investigated and discussed.