Preparation of polymethyl methacrylate with well-controlled stereoregularity by anionic polymerization in an ionic liquid solvent

This study investigates the effect of ionic liquids (ILs) on the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA). Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), an isotactic polymer, is prepared by anionic polymerization at a high reaction temperature with an IL that acts as both solvent and additive. The most plausible reaction mechanism is determined using ¹H NMR and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The electrostatic interaction between MMA and the IL increases the apparent steric hindrance in MMA, resulting in the isotactic PMMA.     

Oxotitanium(IV) complexes of some bis‐unsymmetric Schiff bases: Synthesis,structural elucidation and biomedical applications

A number of oxotitanium(IV) complexes of the type TiOL with bis‐unsymmetric dibasic tetradentate Schiff base (LH₂) containing ONNO donor atoms have been synthesized. Mono‐Schiff base (OPD‐HNP) was prepared by the condensation of 1:3 molar ratio of 2‐hydroxy‐1‐naphthaldehyde (HNP) with o‐phenylenediamine (OPD). Dibasic unsymmetric tetradentate diamine Schiff bases were prepared by the reaction of OPD‐HNP with 2‐hydroxyacetophenone, 2‐hydroxypropeophenone, benzoylacetone, acetylacetone and ethylacetoacetate. Further, titanylacetylacetonate was reacted with these ligands to obtain their metal complexes. On the basis of analytical and physiochemical data, the formation of complexes as TiOL was suggested having square pyramidal geometry. Quantum mechanical approach also confirmed this geometry. The assessment of the synthesized ligands and their complexes showed that some behave as good inhibitors of mycelial growth against selected phytopathogic fungi but weak inhibitors against some selected bacteria. A few of them also showed antioxidant properties.     

Validation of primary formaldehyde gas standards prepared by dynamic thermogravimetry through a tri-national comparison of gaseous formaldehyde amount fraction

A validation study for primary formaldehyde gas standards was performed at three National Metrology Institutes: the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) and the National Institute of Metrology of China (NIM). The studied materials had a nominal amount fraction of 2 μmol/mol formaldehyde in nitrogen balance and were prepared in 10-L aluminum cylinders by KRISS. The impurities in the materials were analyzed using a gas chromatograph/atomic emission detector and a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The stability of the materials was assessed for 1 year by KRISS using paraformaldehyde as a source for the primary standard gas and a cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) instrument as the measurement method. The amount fraction of formaldehyde in the materials decreased linearly by 0.74 % each month. The studied materials that exhibited similar linear rates of decline were distributed to the participants. After the measurement was completed by the participants, the materials were returned to KRISS and the stability analysis based on the primary standard maintained at KRISS was repeated. NMIJ analyzed the materials using paraformaldehyde as the source of the primary standard of formaldehyde and FTIR analysis, whereas NIM used trioxane as the primary standard gas source and CRDS analysis. The results of the comparison revealed good agreement between the results and were within the expanded uncertainty of 2 % although each of them used different combinations of methods in the generation of primary gas standards and measurements.     

A New Flexible Multibody Beam Element Based on the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation Using the Global Shape Function and the Analytical Mode Shape Function

Several techniques for the reduced dimensionality of finite elementformulations were considered as component mode reduction methods in themiddle sixties. These techniques are widely used in flexiblemultibody simulations for solving small deformation problems. Theabsolute nodal coordinate formulation for solving large rotation anddeformation problems has been established as a full finite elementmethod instead of using similar kinds of reduction techniques. In thispaper, a reduced order absolute nodal coordinate formulation is newlyestablished by introducing the global beam shape function and theanalytical deformation modes as a full finite element. This formulationleads to a constant and symmetric mass matrix as the conventionalabsolute nodal coordinate formulation, and makes it possible to reducethe number of elements and system coordinates of the beam structurewhich undergoes large rotations and large deformations. Numericalexamples show that the excellent agreements between thepresent formulation and the conventional absolute nodal coordinateformulation using a large number of elements are examined. These results demonstratethat the present formulation has high accuracy in the sense that thepresent solutions are similar to the conventional ones with fewersystem coordinates, and high efficiency in computation.     

Low-temperature growth of high-Tc superconducting films by plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Plasma-enhanced MOCVD in which metal-organic compounds are sublimated directly into the growth chamber is studied for the first time as a new low-temperature process for growing superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O-_-x thin films. Y(THD)₃, Ba(THD)₂, Cu(THD)₂ and oxygen are used as metal sources and oxydizing agent. Emission spectroscopy reveals that activated metal-organic compounds and activated oxygen species are present during film growth. Superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x films whose zero-resistivity temperature are 50 K and 82 K are grown at 550°C and 600°C.     

High Pressure Synthesis of Cycloadduct of Fullerene C60 with 2H-Pyran-2-one∗∗

Under high pressure conditions, fullerene C₆₀ smoothly reacts with 2H-pyran-2-one to give a [4+2] cycloadduct, which can be reduced to an alcohol derivative.

     

Evaluating a time-delay of hydrogen production quantitatively in photosynthetic bacteria for stabilizing intermittency

Renewable energy is regarded as a clean energy source but has some problems, one of which is intermittency. To reduce this, the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria can be effective. In this study, we qualitatively evaluated the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria under various irradiation conditions, and we also quantitatively evaluated it by fitting the experimental data and the hydrogen production model with a genetic algorithm. As a result of model fitting, we found that the relationship between the lengths of the optimized time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria and the amount of light irradiation is linear. And we also found that the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria had an upper limit under low light intensity. We have suggested the existence of an energy store mechanism in photosynthetic bacteria.     

Electrochemical kinetics of nanosized Ag and Ag2O thin films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Ag and Ag₂O thin films have been prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on Cu substrates and have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The electrochemical performance of the thin films has been studied by galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry. The potential dependence of Li-ion chemical diffusion coefficients, [(D)\tilde]_\textLi {\widetilde{D}_{\text{Li}}} , of the films has been determined by galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It is found that Li-ion chemical diffusion coefficients of the Ag film range from 10⁻¹⁶ to 3 × 10⁻¹⁴ cm² s⁻¹. The Ag/Li₂O composite that is formed from Ag₂O after the first cycle exhibits higher [(D)\tilde]_\textLi {\widetilde{D}_{\text{Li}}} values than the Ag film, especially at a low Li-intercalation content. The phase transitions in the two-phase region cause a significant decrease of chemical diffusion coefficients.