Computational studies on the thermal decomposition of the CH2FOCHFO radical

Theoretical studies have been carried out on the kinetics and thermochemistry of the thermal decomposition of the CH₂FOCHFO radical formed during the photo-oxidation of CH₂FOCH₂F (HFE-152E) using the dual-level method of obtaining the optimised structure at DFT(M06-2X)/6-311++G(d,p) followed by a single-point energy calculation at the G3 level of theory. The rate constant for different reaction channels involved during the decomposition processes of CH₂FOCHFO is evaluated at 298 K and 1 atm using canonical transition-state theory. The results point out that the C–H bond scission is the dominant path involving an energy barrier of 9.5 kcal mol^?1 determined at the G3 level of theory. A potential energy diagram is constructed and the results are compared with the data available from the literature for a structurally similar molecule.     

Swift heavy ion irradiation-induced modifications in structural and electrical properties of Y3+-substituted yttrium iron garnet

The consequences of 50 MeV Li³⁺ ion irradiation (fluence: 5×10¹³ ions/cm²) on the structural and electrical properties of the Y_3+xFe_5?xO₁₂ (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6) garnet system have been investigated over the temperature range of 300–673 K. It is found that the percentage formation of an additional yttrium orthoferrite phase observed along with the bcc garnet phase considerably reduces for x=0.4 and 0.6 compositions after swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation. The nature of thermal variation of DC resistivity curves for x=0.0 and 0.2 compositions is different from that for x=0.4 and 0.6 compositions. The SHI irradiation influences the magnitude of DC resistivity and conduction mechanism for the single-phase compositions while for mixed-phase compositions they remain unaffected. The results have been explained in the light of replacement of magnetic (5μ_B), smaller (0.64 Å), Fe³⁺ ion by nonmagnetic (0μ_B), larger (0.89 Å), Y³⁺ ion, the presence of the yttrium orthoferrite phase and swift heavy ion irradiation-induced paramagnetic centers in the system.     

Dielectric relaxation in polyvinylidenefluoride–polysulfone blends

Dielectric properties of polymer blend of polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and polysulfone (PSF) of different wt. % have been studied to understand the molecular motion and their relaxation behavior in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 10 kHz at different temperatures between 30 and 190 °C. The dielectric constant of the blend decreased with frequency and increased with the increasing temperature and PSF content in the blend. The magnitude of dielectric loss also increased with increase in temperature and PSF content. The observed characteristic has been consistently explained in terms of dipolar motions and the plasticization effect brought about by blending of PSF with PVDF. At constant frequency and temperature, the blend follows a linear relationship between logarithm of their dielectric constant and different ratios of blend. The appearance of a peak for each concentration in dielectric loss suggests the presence of relaxing dipoles in the blend. In addition of PSF with PVDF, the peak shifts toward higher frequency side suggesting the speed up the relaxation process. AC dielectric data is also combined with thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) data which is generally studied for low-frequency dielectric properties of polymers blends so as to produce the results in a wide frequency range. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the blend was studied by differential scanning calorimetric technique (DSC), the T_g was compared and correlated with TSDC peak. The blend samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the formation of blend and micro structural properties of the materials. The shifting of peak toward lower diffraction angle side confirms the reduction in particle size with increasing amorphous content in the blend.     

Dye-sensitized solar cells concocted with dyes extracted from fresh and dried leaves of Henna using different solvents

Optical and Quantum Electronics - Nowadays, world is moving from conventional energy sources to non-conventional energy sources like solar energy, wind power, hydropower and those energy sources...     

Higher-order cone-pseudoconvex, quasiconvex and other related functions in vector optimization

Recently Bhatia (Optim. Lett. doi:10.1007/s11590-010-0248-0, 2010) introduced higher-order cone-convex functions and used them to obtain higher-order sufficient optimality conditions and duality results for a vector optimization problem over cones. The concepts of higher-order (strongly) cone-pseudoconvex and cone-quasiconvex functions were also defined by Bhatia (Optim. Lett. doi:10.1007/s11590-010-0248-0, 2010). In this paper we introduce the notions of higher-order naturally cone-pseudoconvex, strictly cone-pseudoconvex and weakly cone-quasiconvex functions and study various interrelations between the above mentioned functions. Higher-order sufficient optimality conditions have been established by using these functions. Generalized Mond–Weir type higher-order dual is formulated and various duality results have been established under the conditions of higher-order strongly cone-pseudoconvexity and higher-order cone quasiconvexity.     

A Facile Method for Detection and Speciation of Inorganic Selenium with Ion Chromatography

Chromatographia - In this work, we present a new method for the determination and speciation of selenium in water with ion chromatography (IC) using a conductometric detector. Chromatographic...     

Optoelectronic and biological quantification of semi-conducting,crimson europium chelates with fluorinated β-keto acid and N-donor ancillary ligands

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Five luminescent ternary and one binary Europium(III) complexes were synthesised with β-keto acid as primary ligand and neocuproine(neo),...     

Nanocomposite Hydrogel of Pd@ZIF-8 and Laponite®: Size-Selective Hydrogenation Catalyst under Mild Conditions

The composite hydrogel of a nanoscale metal–organic framework (NMOF) and nanoclay has emerged as a new soft-material with advanced properties and applications. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of a hydrogel nanocomposite by charge-assisted self-assembly of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles with Laponite^® nanoclay which coat the surface of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles. Such surface coating significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the ZIF-8 compared to the pristine framework. Further, the Pd@ZIF-8+LP hydrogel nanocomposite shows better size-selective catalytic hydrogenation of olefins than Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles based on selective diffusion of the substrate.