Study of Polymer-Cement Composite Containing Portland Cement and Aqueous Poly (methyl methacrylate) Latex Polymer by Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy

The polymer-cement composite is an immiscible band having modified morphology. Polymer phase improves the toughness of brittle cement and has a reinforcing effect, and interactions between cement components and polymers provide stability. In this study, polymer latex [poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA] – cement paste was prepared with different weight proportions of polymer content. The main scientific objective of this report has been the analysis and the prediction of high strength with the aim of understanding the interactions of PMMA polymer with Portland cement after hydration reaction of cement pastes and curing the specimens for 28 days. The samples were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results are critically examined. It is shown that bands support the interaction of PMMA with cement in the composite.     

Crystal and Molecular Structures of Mononuclear Coordinated Copper(I) Complexes with Thio-triazole and Thio-triazine based Schiff base Ligands

Reaction of 4-amino-5-methyl-1,2,4-triazol-3(2H)-thione (AMTT) and 4-amino-6-methyl-3-thio-3,4-dihydro-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-one (AMTTO) with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde led to the synthesis of corresponding Schiff base ligands [(Z)-4-((2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-3-methyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione ( L1 ) and (Z)-4-((2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-6-methyl-3-thioxo-3,4-dihydro-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-one ( L2 )]. Treatment of synthesized Schiff base ligands with CuCl provided the complexes [Cu(L1)₃Cl] ( 1 ) and [Cu(L2)₂Cl] ( 2 ). Synthesized complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. Complex 1 consists of a metal ion coordinated with one chloride ion and three Schiff base ligands via sulfur atoms in a distorted tetrahedral environment, whereas 2 consists of a metal ion coordinated with one chloride ion and two sulfur atoms from two different Schiff base ligands in a trigonal planar arrangement. Crystal data for 1 at –153 °C revealed an orthorhombic space group Fdd2, a = 34.8088(7), b = 33.8156(8), c = 11.6142(2) Å, Z = 16, R₁ = 0.0357; for 2 at –178 °C the symmetry was triclinic, space group P1 , a = 7.27520(10), b = 15.4620(2), c = 23.7985(4) Å, α = 72.1964(13), β = 86.5208(12), γ = 89.8597(11)°, Z = 4, R₁ = 0.0359.     

Freeze-thaw behaviour of aqueous glucose solutions--the crystallisation of cubic ice

We report on the polymorphic transitions of ice in aqueous solutions of glucose during freezing and thawing over a temperature range of 298-153 K. Emphasis is placed on the sub-glass temperature range where the systems consist of cubic ice (ice-1c) crystals embedded in a freeze concentrated, vitrified glucose solution. The systems were studied by a combination of thermal, cryomicroscopic and X-ray diffraction techniques. At the glass transition (230 K) the solution phase contained 80 mol% of unfrozen water which, on further cooling, was shown to crystallise as cubic ice (ice-1c), nucleated in the vitrified matrix. The thermal stability of the ice-1c formed was studied by annealing and isothermal changes in the diffraction patterns with time. The polymorphic transition 1c --> 1h could be fitted to first order kinetics. Contrary to currently held belief, this study has provided evidence that ice-1c can be formed directly in the bulk water phase of a vitrified solution.     

Dynamics of Hydration of Alkylsulfonate Anions in Aqueous Solutions

The ¹⁷O-NMR spin-lattice relaxation times (T ₁) of water molecules in aqueous solutions of n-alkylsulfonate (C₁ to C₆) and arylsulfonic anions were determined as a function of concentration at 298 K. Values of the dynamic hydration number, (S^-) = n_h ^- (t_c^- /t_c⁰ - 1)(\mathrm{S}^{-}) = n_{\mathrm{h}}^{ -} (\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{-} /\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{0} - 1), were determined from the concentration dependence of T ₁. The ratios (t_c ^-/t_c⁰\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{ -}/\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{0}) of the rotational correlation times (t_c ^-\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{ -} ) of the water molecules around each sulfonate anion in the aqueous solutions to the rotational correlation time of pure water (t_c⁰\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{0}) were obtained from the n _DHN(S⁻) and the hydration number (n_h ^-n_{\mathrm{h}}^{ -} ) results, which was calculated from the water accessible surface area (ASA) of the solute molecule. The t_c ^-/t_c⁰\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{ -}/\tau_{\mathrm{c}}^{0} values for alkylsulfonate anions increase with increasing ASA in the homologous-series range of C₁ to C₄, but then become approximately constant. This result shows that the water structures of hydrophobic hydration near large size alkyl groups are less ordered. The rotational motions of water molecules around an aromatic group are faster than those around an n-alkyl group with the same ASA. That is, the number of water–water hydrogen bonds in the hydration water of aromatic groups is smaller in comparison with the hydration water of an n-alkyl group having the same ASA. Hydrophobic hydration is strongly disturbed by a sulfonate group, which acts as a water structure breaker. The disturbance effect decreases in the following order: $\mbox{--} \mathrm{SO}_{3}^{-} > \mbox{--} \mathrm{NH}_{3}^{ +} > \mathrm{OH}> \mathrm{NH}_{2}$\mbox{--} \mathrm{SO}_{3}^{-} > \mbox{--} \mathrm{NH}_{3}^{ +} > \mathrm{OH}> \mathrm{NH}_{2}. The partial molar volumes and viscosity B _V coefficients for alkylsulfonate anions are linearly dependent on their n _DHN(S⁻) values.     

Cubic ice can be formed directly in the water phase of vitrified aqueous solutions

This study addresses the possibility that ice-Ic may form spontaneously and directly during the cooling of previously freeze-concentrated aqueous solutions, at temperatures where the residual unfrozen water is likely to exist in small, isolated domains. It is shown that on cooling a dilute aqueous glucose solution, ice-Ih crystallises initially, but when the solution has been freeze-concentrated to ca.10 mol %, further cooling results in the slow nucleation and growth of ice-Ic in the residual water domains, rather than on the pre-existing ice-Ih crystal surfaces.     

A family of four-coordinate iron(II) complexes bearing the sterically hindered tris(pyrazolyl)borato ligand Tp(tBu,Me)

A new family of 14‐electron, four‐coordinate iron(II) complexes of the general formula [Tp^tBu,MeFeX] (Tp^tBu,Me is the sterically hindered hydrotris(3‐tert‐butyl‐5‐methyl‐pyrazolyl) borate ligand and X=Cl ( 1 ), Br, I) were synthesized by salt metathesis of FeX₂ with Tp^tBu,MeK. The related fluoride complex was prepared by reaction of 1 with AgBF₄. Chloride 1 proved to be a good precursor for ligand substitution reactions, generating a series of four‐coordinate iron(II) complexes with carbon, oxygen, and sulphur ligands. All of these complexes were fully characterized by conventional spectroscopic methods and most were characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray crystallographic analysis. Magnetic measurements for all complexes agreed with a high‐spin (d⁶, S=2) electronic configuration. The halide series enabled the estimation of the covalent radius of iron in these complexes as 1.24 Å.