Tailored side‐chain architecture of benzil voltage stabilizers for enhanced dielectric strength of cross‐linked polyethylene

The synthesis and physico‐chemical properties of seven benzil‐type voltage stabilizers are reported. The benzil core is substituted with alkyl chains of different length that are linked to the benzil core via an ester, ether, or tertiary amine group. All additives can be melt‐processed with low‐density polyethylene (LDPE). Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy confirms that benzil compounds are not affected by the LDPE cross‐linking reaction induced by dicumyl peroxide. Moreover, a combination of gel content measurements, thermal analysis, and small‐angle X‐ray scattering indicates that the presence of benzil voltage stabilizers does not significantly alter the microstructure of cross‐linked polyethylene (XLPE). Electrical tree inhibition experiments under high‐voltage alternating current conditions show that all investigated additives substantially enhance the dielectric strength of the insulating material at a concentration of only 10 mmol kg^?1. The highest improvement in dielectric strength, of more than 70% with respect to reference XLPE, is obtained with voltage stabilizers, which carry short (methyl) side chains that are linked to the benzil core via an ester or tertiary amine group. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 1047–1054     

Uncertainty analysis of correlated stability constants

Every attempt of using a computer to model reality has two main uncertainties: the conceptual uncertainty and the data uncertainty. The conceptual uncertainty deals with the choice of model selected for the simulation and the data uncertainty is about the precision and accuracy of the input data. They are often determined experimentally and may thus be encumbered by a number of uncertainties. Normally when treating uncertainties in input data these data are treated as independent variables. However, since many of these parameters are determined together they are actually correlated. This paper focuses on chemical stability constants, a most important parameter for chemical calculations based on speciation. Commonly in the literature they are at best given with an uncertainty interval. We propose to also give the covariance matrix thus giving the opportunity to really assess correlations. In addition we discuss the effect of these correlations on speciations.     

High efficiency voltage stabilizers for XLPE cable insulation

A set of new voltage stabilizers has been synthesized, tested and has shown to suppress a degradation mechanism, i.e. electrical treeing, present in cross-linked polyethylene used for high-voltage cables. Electrical treeing is seen at very high and divergent electrical fields and has a rapid lapse from initiation to total breakdown of the insulation material. The new voltage stabilizers presented in this paper have increased the electrical tree inception field with up to 50% at such low additions as 0.4%-wt. Furthermore, the best-performing materials have also proven to increase the threshold level for tree inception, i.e. before this level no deterioration of the material is seen, up to 50%.     

Fungal upgrading of wheat straw for straw-thermoplastics production

Combining biologic pretreatment with storage is an innovative approach for improving feedstock characteristics and cost, but the magnitude of responses of such systems to upsets is unknown. Unsterile wheat straw stems were upgraded for 12 wk with Pleurotus ostreatus at constant temperature to estimate the variation in final compositions with variations in initial moisture and inoculum. Degradation rates and conversions increased with both moisture and inoculum. A regression analysis indicated that system performance was quite stable with respect to inoculum and moisture content after 6 wk of treatment. Scale-up by 150× indicated that system stability and final straw composition are sensitive to inoculum source, history, and inoculation method. Comparative testing of straw-thermoplastic composites produced from upgraded stems is under way.     

Synthesis and biological activity of prodrug inhibitors of the thioredoxin-thioredoxin reductase system

A series of palmarumycin prodrugs and water-soluble analogs has been synthesized and assayed for inhibition of the thioredoxin-thioredoxin reductase system. Increased aqueous solubility led to an improved in vivo activity profile.     

Mapping the intracellular fraction of water by varying the gradient pulse length in q-space diffusion MRI

Finite gradient pulse lengths are traditionally considered a nuisance in q-space diffusion NMR and MRI, since the simple Fourier relation between the acquired signal and the displacement probability is invalidated. Increasing the value of the pulse length leads to an apparently smaller value of the estimated compartment size. We propose that q-space data at different gradient pulse lengths, but with the same effective diffusion time, can be used to identify and quantify components with free or restricted diffusion from multiexponential echo decay curves obtained on cellular systems. The method is demonstrated with experiments on excised human brain white matter and a series of model systems with well-defined free, restricted, and combined free and restricted diffusion behavior. Time-resolved diffusion MRI experiments are used to map the spatial distribution of the intracellular fraction in a yeast cell suspension during sedimentation, and observe the disappearance of this fraction after a heat treatment.     

High-throughput screening of pKa values of pharmaceuticals by pressure-assisted capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

A high-throughput pKa screening method based on pressure-assisted capillary electrophoresis (CE) and mass spectrometry (MS) is presented. Effects of buffer type and ionic strength on sensitivity and pKa values were investigated. Influence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) concentration present in the sample on effective mobility measurement was examined. A series of ten volatile buffers, covering a pH range from 2.5 to 10.5 with the same ionic strength, was employed. The application of volatile background electrolytes resulted in significant signal increase as compared with commonly used non-volatile phosphate buffers. In general, the CE/MS system provided a ten-fold higher sensitivity than conventional UV detection. The newly developed CE/MS method offers high-throughput capacity by pooling a number of compounds into a single sample. Simultaneous measurement of more than 50 compounds was readily achieved in less than 150 min. The measured pKa values are consistent with the published data obtained from the CE/UV method and are also in good agreement with data generated by other methods. Other advantages of using CE/MS for pKa screening are illustrated with typical examples, including poorly soluble compounds and non-UV-absorbing compounds.     

Ultrafast photonic crystal lasers

We describe recent progress in photonic crystal nanocavity lasers with an emphasis on our recent results on ultrafast pulse generation. These lasers produce pulses on the picosecond scale, corresponding to only hundreds of optical cycles. We describe laser dynamics in optically pumped single cavities and in coupled cavity arrays, at low and room temperature. Such ultrafast, efficient, and compact lasers show great promise for applications in high‐speed communications, information processing, and on‐chip optical interconnects.     

On the emission of X-rays in a FXR discharge

Pinhole camera exposures of a flash X-ray (FXR) discharge show that X-radiation is emitted from (i) the plane parallel electrode surfaces, (ii) a cloud outside the anode centre, and (iii) the cylindrical anode surface. It is found that the cathode X-radiation is secondary and that secondary X-radiation is also emitted by the wall of the discharge tube. The X-radiation from the cylindrical anode surface is found to be due to the bombardment of photoelectrons emanating from the tube wall.