A systematic study for the structures and properties of phosphorylated pulp fibers prepared under various conditions

Cellulose - A bleached softwood kraft pulp was phosphorylated with (NH4)2HPO4 and urea at 150 ℃ for 0‒40 min, and the structures and properties of the resulting...     

A CO Adsorption Site Change Induced by Copper Substitution in a Ruthenium Catalyst for Enhanced CO Oxidation Activity

Ru is an important catalyst in many types of reactions. Specifically, Ru is well known as the best monometallic catalyst for oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and has been practically used in residential fuel cell systems. However, Ru is a minor metal, and the supply risk often causes violent fluctuations in the price of Ru. Performance‐improved and cost‐reduced solid‐solution alloy nanoparticles of the Cu‐Ru system for CO oxidation are now presented. Over the whole composition range, all of the Cu_xRu_1?x nanoparticles exhibit significantly enhanced CO oxidation activities, even at 70 at % of inexpensive Cu, compared to Ru nanoparticles. Only 5 at % replacement of Ru with Cu provided much better CO oxidation activity, and the maximum activity was achieved by 20 at % replacement of Ru by Cu. The origin of the high catalytic performance was found as CO site change by Cu substitution, which was investigated using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectra and theoretical calculations.     

TiC-MgO composite: an X-ray transparent and machinable heating element in a multi-anvil high pressure apparatus

ABSTRACT

TiC-MgO composite was developed as a heating element for X-ray study in the multi-anvil high pressure apparatus. We synthesized TiC-MgO blocks (50–70 wt.% of TiC) by compression in a cold isostatic press followed by baking in a gas flow furnace. Heaters of tubular shape were manufactured from the synthesized blocks either by lathe or numerically controlled milling machine. The so-produced heating elements have been proved to generate temperatures up to 2250?K at 10?GPa, condition where classical graphite heaters are not suitable anymore due to graphite-diamond transition. These new heaters have been successfully used for in situ X-ray radiography and diffraction measurements on liquid Fe alloys, exploiting excellent X-ray transparency.     

Interpretation of the Role of Composition on the Inclusion Efficiency of Monovalent Cations into Cobalt Hexacyanoferrate

Cobalt hexacyanoferrate of various compositions was prepared in flow mode and the role of the vacancy on the structure, thermogravimetric (TG) properties, and the adsorption efficiency was studied. The material, Na_yCo[Fe(CN)₆]_1−x ⋅ z H₂O, with a minimum vacancy of x=0.014 to the highest x=0.47, was obtained. The TG-differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) profile showed a distinct influence of the vacancy on the water release temperature. Materials with x>0.35 showed a smooth release of water at a relatively lower temperature. However, for the materials with x<0.35, water release took place in multiple steps, suggesting the existence of various forms of water. The FTIR profiles supported the existence of free and bonded water molecules. However, the materials with multiple water peaks in the FTIR spectra showed a shift of the major XRD peaks when heated at 285 °C in N₂ atmosphere. Regarding the effect of the vacancy on the adsorption behavior, for NH₄, the adsorption was found to be proportional to the number of Na atoms in the material, confirming the ion-exchange process. On the contrary, the materials with low vacancy and high Na content showed nominal Cs adsorption capacity. Interestingly, the K adsorption capacity was found to be in between that of the other two ions. This means the ionic size decides the rate of placement into the interstitial sites. For larger ions like Cs, the ease of percolation via the vacancy decides the overall adsorption efficiency.     

Cyanide-Free One-Pot Synthesis of Methacrylic Esters from Acetone

Methacrylic esters, represented by methyl methacrylate (MMA), are widely used as commodity chemicals. Here, the one-pot synthesis of methacrylic esters from acetone, a haloform and alcohols in the presence of an organic base is described. Using DBU as the organic base for the reaction of acetone, chloroform and methanol in acetonitrile afforded MMA in 66 % yield. When the solvent was replaced by benzonitrile, the product MMA was successfully purified by distillation. Applicability of this process to various alcohols was also investigated to show ethyl, phenyl, CF₃CH₂, and n-C₆F₁₃CH₂CH₂ esters were obtained in moderate yields. The use of bromoform instead of chloroform resulted in the improvement of the yield, for example, methyl and n-C₆F₁₃CH₂CH₂ esters up to 81 and 70 %, respectively. The reaction with deuterated starting materials acetone-d₆ and MeOH-d₄, with DBU in acetonitrile afforded deuterated MMA (MMA-d₈) in 70 % yield.     

Radioactivity characterization of 125I brachytherapy seeds used in prostate cancer treatment

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A procedure for characterizing the activity amount of 125I seed was developed in order to establish a secondary standard activity measurement...