Periodic Golay pairs and pairwise balanced designs

Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics - In this paper we exploit a relationship between certain pairwise balanced designs with v points and periodic Golay pairs of length v, to classify periodic Golay...     

Path to achieving molecular dispersion in a dense reactive mixture

A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multicomponents. In this study, we have examined the role of plasticizer in the reaction of two seemingly unlikely reactants: a highly crystalline hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and a strongly hydrogen bonded phenol formaldehyde resin. By combining information from NMR, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, we were able to determine the role of specific intermolecular interactions necessary for the plasticizer to dissolve the highly crystalline HMTA and to plasticize the phenol formaldehyde resin in this crosslinking reaction. The presence of the plasticizer increased the segmental mobility, disrupted the hydrogen bonded matrix, and freed the hydroxyl units, which further increased the solubility of the HMTA. Both the endothermic and exothermic transitions are accounted for in the calorimetric data obtained. For the first time, it is possible to obtain the effective molar ratio of each component needed to complete the crosslinking reaction efficiently. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1519–1526     

Influence of Potassium Metal-Support Interactions on Dendrite Growth

Combined synchrotron X-ray nanotomography imaging, cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and modeling elucidate how potassium (K) metal-support energetics influence electrodeposit microstructure. Three model supports are employed: O-functionalized carbon cloth (potassiophilic, fully-wetted), non-functionalized cloth and Cu foil (potassiophobic, nonwetted). Nanotomography and focused ion beam (cryo-FIB) cross-sections yield complementary three-dimensional (3D) maps of cycled electrodeposits. Electrodeposit on potassiophobic support is a triphasic sponge, with fibrous dendrites covered by solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and interspersed with nanopores (sub-10 nm to 100 nm scale). Lage cracks and voids are also a key feature. On potassiophilic support, the deposit is dense and pore-free, with uniform surface and SEI morphology. Mesoscale modeling captures the critical role of substrate-metal interaction on K metal film nucleation and growth, as well as the associated stress state.     

A New and Facile Synthesis of Novel Pyrazolothienopyrimidines and Imidazopyrazolothienopyrimidines

4‐Amino‐3‐methyl‐1‐phenyl‐1H‐thieno[2,3‐c]pyrazole‐5‐carboxamide ( 5 ), which was synthesized by an innovative method, was used as a versatile precursor for synthesizing pyrazolothienopyrimidines and imidazopyrazolothienopyrimidines compounds. Reaction of amino thienopyrazole carboxamide 5 with triethyl orthoformate afforded thienopyrazolopyrimidine 6 . Chlorination of the latter compound, using phosphorus oxychloride afforded the chloro pyrazolothienopyrimidine 7 , which underwent nucleophilic substitution reactions with various primary and secondary amines to give the alkyl (aryl) amino pyrimidine compounds 8a–d . On the other hand, the reaction of chloropyrimidine 7 with thiourea afforded the pyrimidine thione compound 9 , which was alkylated with α‐halogentaed compounds to afford the S‐alkylated derivatives 10a–c . Also, chloroacetylation of the amino carboxamide 5 using chloroacetyl chloride yielded the chloromethyl pyrazolothienopyrimidine 12 , which underwent nucleophilic substitu‐ tion reactions with various primary and secondary amines to afford the alkyl (aryl) aminomethyl compounds 13a–f . The latter Compounds underwent Mannich reaction to give imidazopyrimidothieno‐ pyrazoles 14a–c . The newly synthesized compounds and their derivatives were fully characterized by elemental and spectral analysis.     

Direct Potentiometric Study of Cationic and Nonionic Surfactants in Disinfectants and Personal Care Products by New Surfactant Sensor Based on 1,3-Dihexadecyl−1H-benzo[d]imidazol−3-ium

A novel, simple, low-cost, and user-friendly potentiometric surfactant sensor based on the new 1,3-dihexadecyl−1H-benzo[d]imidazol−3-ium-tetraphenylborate (DHBI–TPB) ion-pair for the detection of cationic surfactants in personal care products and disinfectants is presented here. The new cationic surfactant DHBI-Br was successfully synthesized and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and elemental analysis and was further employed for DHBI–TPB ion-pair preparation. The sensor gave excellent response characteristics for CTAB, CPC and Hyamine with a Nernstian slope (57.1 to 59.1 mV/decade) whereas the lowest limit of detection (LOD) value was measured for CTAB (0.3 × 10⁻⁶ M). The sensor exhibited a fast dynamic response to dodecyl sulfate (DDS) and TPB. High sensor performances stayed intact regardless of the employment of inorganic and organic cations and in a broad pH range (2−11). Titration of cationic and etoxylated (EO)-nonionic surfactant (NSs) (in Ba²⁺) mixtures with TPB revealed the first inflexion point for a cationic surfactant and the second for an EO-nonionic surfactant. The increased concentration of EO-nonionic surfactants and the number of EO groups had a negative influence on titration curves and signal change. The sensor was successfully applied for the quantification of technical-grade cationic surfactants and in 12 personal care products and disinfectants. The results showed good agreement with the measurements obtained by a commercial surfactant sensor and by a two-phase titration. A good recovery for the standard addition method (98–102%) was observed.     

Quasi-symmetric 2-(64,24,46) designs derived from AG(3,4)

This paper completes the enumeration of quasi-symmetric 2-$(64,24,46)$ designs supported by the dual code $C^{\perp }$ of the binary linear code $C$ spanned by the lines of $AG(3,4)$, initiated in Rodrigues and Tonchev (2015). It is shown that $C^{\perp }$ supports exactly 30,264 nonisomorphic quasi-symmetric 2-$(64,24,46)$ designs. The automorphism groups of the related strongly regular graphs are computed.