Synthesis and design of polyurethane and its nanocomposites derived from canola-castor oil: Mechanical,thermal and shape memory properties

The recent global pandemic and its tremendous effect on the price fluctuations of crude oil illustrates the side effects of petroleum dependency more evident than ever. Over the past decades, both academic and industrial communities spared endless efforts in order to replace petroleum-based materials with bio-derived resources. In the current study, a series of shape memory polymer composites (SMPC's) was synthesized from epoxidized vegetable oils, namely canola oil and castor oil fatty acids (COFA's) as a 100% bio-based polyol and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as an isocyanate using a solvent/catalyst-free method in order to eventuate polyurethanes (PU's). Thereafter, graphene oxide (GO) nanoplatelets were synthesized and embedded in the neat PU in order to overcome the thermomechanical drawbacks of the neat matrix. The chemical structure of the synthesized components, as well as the dispersion and distribution levels of the nanoparticles, was characterized. In the following, thermal and mechanical properties as well as shape memory behavior of the specimens were comprehensively investigated. Likewise, the thermal conductivity was determined. This study proves that synthesized PU's based on vegetable oil polyols, including graphene nanoparticles, exhibit proper thermal and mechanical properties, which make them stand as a potential candidate to compete with traditional petroleum-based SMPC's.     

Synthesis and investigation of antibacterial activities and carbonic anhydrase and acetyl cholinesterase inhibition profiles of novel 4,5-dihydropyrazol and pyrazolyl-thiazole derivatives containing methanoisoindol-1,3-dion unit

Novel 4,5-dihydropyrazole derivatives (3a–i), 3-(4-((3aR,4S,7R,7aS)-1,3-dioxo-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-1H-4,7-methanoisoindol-2(3H)-yl)phenyl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole-1-carbothio amide, were obtained by the addition of thiosemicarbazide (2) to the chalcones (1a–i). The addition–cyclization of 2,4′-dibromoacetophenone (4) to pyrazole derivatives (3a–i) gave the new pyrazolyl-thiazole derivatives (5a–i), (3aR,4S,7R,7aS)-2-(4-(1-(4-(4-bromophenyl)thiazol-2-yl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)phenyl)-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-1H-4,7-methanoisoindole-1,3(2H)-dione. Antibacterial and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme and human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) I, and II isoform inhibitory activities of the compounds 3a–i and 5a–i were investigated. Some of the compounds showed promising antibacterial activity. In addition, the hCA II and I were effectively inhibited by the lately synthesized derivatives, with K_i values in the range of 18.90?±?2.37 ?58.25?±?13.62?nM for hCA II and 5.72?±?0.98 ?37.67?±?5.54?nM for hCA I. Also, the K_i parameters of these compounds for AChE were obtained in the range of 25.47?±?11.11???255.74?±?82.20?nM. Also, acetazolamide, clinical molecule, was used as a CA standard inhibitor that showed K_i value of 70.55?±?12.30?nM against hCA II, and 67.17?±?9.1?nM against hCA I, and tacrine inhibited AChE showed K_i value of 263.67?±?91.95.     

Novel silver(I)N-heterocyclic carbene complexes bearing 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl group: Synthesis,characterization, and enzyme inhibition properties

Herein, novel silver-based N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes bearing 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl group were synthesized. Novel Ag(I)NHC complexes were synthesized from the 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl-substituted benzimidazolium salts and silver oxide via in situ deprotonation method. The successful formation of all Ag(I)NHC complexes was proved by using ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis techniques. In addition, their inhibitory effects have been investigated of these substances on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), α-glycosidase (α-Gly), human carbonic anhydrase I (hCA I), and human carbonic anhydrase II (hCA II) enzymes. It has been seen that all compounds have a better ability to inhibit compared with existing tried inhibitors. Among these, the best inhibitor against AChE enzyme is 1g (K_i : 9.54 ± 0.98 μM and IC₅₀ : 17.40), and against α-Gly, 1c showed the highest effect (K_i 3.09 ± 0.36 μM and IC₅₀ 7.91). The best inhibitor against hCA I and hCA II enzymes are 1c and 1g compounds. For hCA I and hCA II, IC₅₀ values were calculated as 17.85 and 9.06 μM and K_i values were measured as 5.45 ± 2.02 and 8.99 ± 2.02 μM, respectively.     

Acetone extraction and HPLC determination of acrylamide in potato chips

A new sensitive method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid extraction for the analysis of acrylamide (AA) in potato chips is reported. The method comprises extraction with acetone using ultrasonic bath and reversed phase C18-AQ (2 × 250 mm) column with water as eluent. Flow rate was 0.15 ml min^-1 and the column temperature was kept constant at 40 °C. The analysis was performed using a 20 μl injection loop and a UV detector adjusted at 202 nm. In this condition, the retention time for AA was 8 min. A linear calibration curve (regression coefficient = 0.999) in the range of 20–400 ng g^-1 was used for quantitative purposes. Limit of detection (LOD) (signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1) and limit of quantification (LOQ) (signal-to-noise ratio of 10:1) for the method was 2.46 and 3.14 ng g^-1, respectively. Extracted samples and standard solutions with different concentrations of AA were analyzed repeatedly in one day and different days to estimate the repeatability and reproducibility of the method. Analysis of variance on the obtained data showed no significant difference between variances in different days. Using the proposed method, different potato chips samples were analyzed in different days in another laboratory. Paired t-test showed no significant difference between the obtained results from the two laboratories.     

Modified iron oxide nanoparticles as solid phase extractor for spectrophotometeric determination and separation of basic fuchsin

This study presents a novel separation, preconcentration and determination of basic fuchsin (BF) in an aqueous solution by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-bounded iron oxide nanoparticles (S-IONPs). It is shown that the novel magnetic nano-adsorbent is quite efficient for the adsorption and desorption of BF at 25 °C. Different parameters such as pH, temperature, ionic strength and composition of desorbent solvent were optimized. The effect of some co-existing ions on the determination was investigated. The nanoparticles were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the sizes of S-IONPs were in the range of 20-100 nm. The method showed good linearity for the determination of BF in the range of 10-300 ng mL⁻¹ with a regression coefficient of 0.9989. The limit of detection (LOD) (signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1) was 0.0073 μg L⁻¹ and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for 0.03 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.2 μg mL⁻¹ of BF were 4.53% and 4.73%, respectively. The BF was determined successfully in spiked samples of Karoon River water.     

Transient heat transfer in a spherical protective material, submitted to flux and mixed boundary conditions: an investigation on zirconia

An analytic solution is presented for describing combined radiation and conduction heat transfer in a spherical fiber thermal protection exposed to combined radiative and convective heating. The solution includes the equation of radiative transfer within the material, coupled to a transient energy equation that contains both radiative and convective terms. At elevated temperatures radiative transfer becomes important, and if several hot surfaces view each other, the radiation exchange process must be considered carefully. Some thermal protections are partially transparent to thermal radiation. Hence, an exchange process is complicated by radiation penetrating into and coming out of material. The radiation leaving an area depends on the temperature distribution inside that area and that is unknown and is affected by the exchange process to other areas. The analysis has allowed for unlimited spectral detail but assumes that the various material properties do not vary significantly with temperature. Transient temperature distributions are obtained for the boundary conditions of external radiation and convection. The present analysis includes the influence of reflectivity, surface radiative properties and spectral properties on the temperature distributions.     

Thermal analysis for transient radiative cooling of a conducting semitransparent layer of ceramic in high-temperature applications

A method is developed for obtaining transient temperature distribution in a cooling semitransparent layer of ceramic. The layer is emitting, absorbing, isotropically scattering and heat conducting with a refractive index ranging from 1 to 2. The solution involves solving simultaneously the energy equation and the integral equation for the radiative flux gradient. The energy equation is solved using an implicit finite volume scheme and the integral equation of radiative heat transfer is solved using the singularity technique and Gaussian integration. The effects of scattering are investigated. It is shown that scattering has a significant effect on the transient temperature distribution and the transient mean temperature of the layer.