Carbon Nanostructures Derived through Hypergolic Reaction of Conductive Polymers with Fuming Nitric Acid at Ambient Conditions

Hypergolic systems rely on organic fuel and a powerful oxidizer that spontaneously ignites upon contact without any external ignition source. Although their main utilization pertains to rocket fuels and propellants, it is only recently that hypergolics has been established from our group as a new general method for the synthesis of different morphologies of carbon nanostructures depending on the hypergolic pair (organic fuel-oxidizer). In search of new pairs, the hypergolic mixture described here contains polyaniline as the organic source of carbon and fuming nitric acid as strong oxidizer. Specifically, the two reagents react rapidly and spontaneously upon contact at ambient conditions to afford carbon nanosheets. Further liquid-phase exfoliation of the nanosheets in dimethylformamide results in dispersed single layers exhibiting strong Tyndall effect. The method can be extended to other conductive polymers, such as polythiophene and polypyrrole, leading to the formation of different type carbon nanostructures (e.g., photolumincent carbon dots). Apart from being a new synthesis pathway towards carbon nanomaterials and a new type of reaction for conductive polymers, the present hypergolic pairs also provide a novel set of rocket bipropellants based on conductive polymers.     

Mechanically versatile isosorbide-based thermoplastic copolyether-esters with a poly(ethylene glycol) soft segment

Segmented thermoplastic copolyether esters (TPEE's) with a partially renewable hard block containing isosorbide (ISB) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) soft blocks were prepared by melt polycondensation. A range of compositions was accessible despite the relatively low reactivity of the sterically and electronically hindered ISB monomer. The small-scale reactions performed in the melt were limited in terms of achievable molar mass. This is attributed to the challenge of attaining stoichiometric balance in the feed and maintaining this balance throughout the high temperature (>200°C) reactions. Nevertheless, products were isolated that could be manipulated and melt-pressed into specimen for tensile testing. Varying the feed compositions gave rise to copolymers exhibiting a broad range of mechanical properties (elastic modulus from 1–66 MPa). These characteristics are consistent with a segmented polymer architecture with morphological features similar to commercially available TPEE counterparts. These results pave the way for more responsibly sourced building blocks being incorporated into materials with high market value potential.     

Detecting signatures of stochastic self-organization in US money and velocity measures

In this paper, we continue the research by Serletis [Random walks, breaking trend functions, and the chaotic structure of the velocity of money, J. Bus. Econ. Stat. 13 (1995) 453-458] and Serletis and Shintani [Chaotic monetary dynamics with confidence, J. Macroeconomics 28 (2006) 228-252] by applying the method of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA)—introduced by Peng et al. [Mosaic organization of DNA nucleotides, Phys. Rev. E 49 (1994) 1685-1689] and adapted to the analysis of long-range correlations in economic data by Uritskaya [Forecasting of magnitude and duration of currency crises based on analysis of distortions of fractal scaling in exchange rate fluctuations, Noise and fluctuations in econophysics and finance, Proc. SPIE 5848 (2005) 17-26; Fractal methods for modeling and forecasting of currency crises, in: Proceedings of the fourth International Conference on Modeling and Analysis of Safety and Risk in Complex Systems, SPbSU Press, St.Petersburg, 2005, pp. 210-215]—to investigate the dynamical structure of United States money and velocity measures. We use monthly data over the time period from 1959:1 to 2006:2, at each of the four levels of monetary aggregation, M1, M2, M3, and MZM, making comparisons among simple-sum, Divisia, and currency equivalent (CE) methods of aggregation. The results suggest that the sum and Divisia monetary aggregates are more appropriate for measuring long-term tendencies in money supply dynamics while the CE aggregates are more sensitive measures of short-term processes in the economy.     

Asymptotic formulas for the diameter of sections of symmetric convex bodies

Sharpening work of the first two authors, for every proportion λ∈(0,1) we provide exact quantitative relations between global parameters of n-dimensional symmetric convex bodies and the diameter of their random ⌊λn⌋-dimensional sections. Using recent results of Gromov and Vershynin, we obtain an “asymptotic formula” for the diameter of random proportional sections.     

Auslander-Reiten Triangles, Ziegler Spectra and Gorenstein Rings

We investigate (existence of) Auslander—Reiten triangles in a triangulated category in connection with torsion pairs, existence of Serre functors, representability of homological functors and realizability of injective modules. We also develop an Auslander—Reiten theory in a compactly generated triangulated category and we study the connections with the naturally associated Ziegler spectrum. Our analysis is based on the relative homological theory of purity and Brown's Representability Theorem. Our main interest lies in the structure of Auslander—Reiten triangles in the full subcategory of compact objects. We also study the connections and the interplay between Auslander—Reiten theory, pure-semisimplicity and the finite type property, Grothendieck groups, and we give applications to derived categories of Gorenstein rings.     

Biocompatible functionalisation of starch

The enzyme catalysed esterification of starch and fatty acids with terminal triple bonds is described. This material can be used as an acceptor for azide containing molecules, through azide/alkyne cycloaddition. The potential is illustrated by the production of fluorescently-labelled starch, and a biotinylated derivative which can bind streptavidin.     

Application of stable isotopes and hydrochemical analysis in groundwater aquifers of Argolis Peninsula (Greece)

The present study examines the isotopic and hydrochemical composition of 18 inland spring waters and 3 coastal karstic spring waters, covering the period between October 2005 and March 2008. The stable isotopes (¹⁸O, ²H) processing has revealed the absence of significant evaporation phenomena and that the origin of fresh water samples is meteoric. Using ¹⁸O values in rainfall waters, an average line of isotopic depletion with altitude has been constructed, extracting a rate of?0.45‰/100 m as typical for the study area. Furthermore, the mean altitude of recharge of the springs has been estimated by plotting the groundwater sampling points on a δ¹⁸O versus altitude diagram. Hydrochemistry results have shown that the dissolution of carbonate, flysch and ophiolitic formations defines the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater. Moreover, seawater intrusion in the coastal area is significantly high, causing the water in the three karstic springs to be brackish.     

Degradation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid by combined ultrasound irradiation and catalytic wet peroxide oxidation

The aim of this study is to explore the potential benefits from the combined use of ultrasound irradiation and catalytic wet peroxide oxidation for the degradation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA). The target compound degradation was studied under direct and indirect sonication, while silent conditions were employed as reference. The catalyst, a mixed (Al-Fe) pillared clay named FAZA, was in the form of powder and of extrudates. In the case of extrudates it was observed that ultrasound improves the catalyst performance due to reduction of diffusion resistance, thereby increasing the conversion after 4 h by 12-15 times. Increasing the initial concentration of 4-HBA was found to lead to lower conversion. The combined ultrasonic/catalytic process appears very promising for environmental applications.     

Synthesis via ATRP,kinetics study and characterization (molecular‐morphological) of 3‐Arm star diblock copolymers of the (PS‐b‐P2VP)3 type

The synthesis of five homopolymers (PS)₃ and the corresponding diblock copolymer 3‐arm stars of the (PS‐b‐P2VP)₃ type is reported through atom transfer radical polymerization. Such star homo‐ and copolymers are prepared without any addition of solvent (bulk polymerization). The kinetics study results lead to the ability of predicting the best polymerization time with high values of monomer to polymer conversion, sufficient polydispersity indices and average molecular weights. Molecular characterization through size exclusion chromatography, viscometry, low‐angle laser light scattering, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR, respectively) verified the successful synthesis of both homopolymer and copolymer 3‐arm star‐like architectures. Furthermore, the morphological characterization of the final copolymers is reported through transmission electron microscopy studies verifying the self‐assembly without any indication of homopolymer or Cu(I) traces. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 23–32