Comprehensive DFT calculations on organic sulfuric acid derivatives to design of powerful neutral organic superacids

In order to examine the acidity of organic sulfuric acid derivatives in gas phase, comprehensive density functional theory (DFT) calculations at B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level have been undertaken. In the title compounds, one of the oxygen atoms is substituted by an 1,3-cyclopentadiene group. The focus of this paper is on DFT studies of two classes of sulfuric acid derivatives: dithionic and peroxydisulfuric acids. Tautomers of proposed organic sulfuric acids are also investigated. DFT calculations indicate that the acidity of the proposed acids without any electron withdrawing groups on the ring was more than sulfuric acid.

     

Experimental investigation of paraffin nano-encapsulated phase change material on heat transfer enhancement of pulsating heat pipe

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this study, a mixture of nano-encapsulated phase change materials in water has been used as the working fluid in a pulsating heat pipe in order to...     

Water vapor adsorption onto activated carbons prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC)

Activated carbons were prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC) using zinc chloride activation. The structural and surface chemical characteristics of CMC-based activated carbons were determined by N₂ adsorption-desorption and Boehm titration, respectively. The water vapor adsorption properties of the prepared activated carbons with various pore structure and surface nature were examined, and the mechanism of water adsorbed onto activated carbon was also discussed. The results show that the adsorption of water vapor on carbons begins at specific active sites at low relative humidity (RH), followed by micropore filling at medium RH through the formation of pentamer cluster of water molecules in the narrow micropores. The water vapor adsorption capacity of activated carbon is predominantly dependent on its pore volume and surface area. Although capillary condensation is not the mechanism for water adsorption onto activated carbon, water can adsorb on narrow mesopore to some extent.     

The influence of heat transfer in an MHD second grade fluid film over an unsteady stretching sheet

The flow and heat transfer problem of a second grade fluid film over an unsteady stretching sheet is considered. The fluid is incompressible and electrically conducting in the presence of a uniform applied magnetic field. The series solutions of the governing boundary value problems are obtained by employing homotopy analysis method (HAM). The convergence of the developed solutions is discussed explicitly. The dependence of velocity and temperature profiles on various parameters is shown and discussed through graphs. The values of skin-friction coefficient, Nusselt number and free surface temperature are given in tabular form for various emerging parameters.     

A Clustering Approach for the Separation of Touching Edges in Particle Images

The occurrence of touching objects in images of particulate systems is very common especially in the absence of dispersion methods during image acquisition. The separation of these touching particles is essential before accurate estimation of particle size and shape can be achieved from these images. In the current work, clustering approaches based on the fuzzy C‐means algorithm are employed to identify the touching particle regions. Firstly, clustering in the multidimensional space of image features, e.g., standard deviation, gradient and range calculated in a certain neighborhood of each pixel, is performed to trap the touching regions. Then, in a novel proposed method, the clustering of pixel intensity itself into two fuzzy clusters is performed and a feature, referred to as the ‘Fuzzy Range', is calculated for each pixel from its membership values in both clusters and is presented as a distinguishing feature of the touching regions. Both approaches are compared and the superiority of the latter method in terms of the non‐necessity of neighborhood based calculations and minimum disfiguration is elucidated. The separation methods presented herein do not make any assumption about the shape of the particle as is undertaken in many methods reported elsewhere. The technique is proven to minimize greatly the deleterious effects of over‐segmentation, as is the case with traditional watershed segmentation techniques, and consequently, it results in a superior performance.     

Chloro-Modified Magnetic Fe3O4@MCM-41 Core–Shell Nanoparticles for L-Asparaginase Immobilization with Improved Catalytic Activity,Reusability, and Storage Stability

This paper describes a new support that permits to efficient immobilization of L-asparaginase (L-ASNase). For this purpose, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and coated by MCM-41. 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane (CPTMS) was used as a surface modifying agent for covalent immobilization of L-ASNase on the magnetic nanoparticles. The chemical structure; thermal, morphological, and magnetic properties; chemical composition; and zeta potential value of Fe₃O₄@MCM-41-Cl were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), and zeta-potential measurement. The immobilization efficiency onto Fe₃O₄@MCM-41-Cl was detected as 63%. The reusability, storage, pH, and thermal stabilities of the immobilized L-ASNase were investigated and compared to that of soluble one. The immobilized enzyme maintained 42.2% of its original activity after 18 cycles of reuse. Furthermore, it was more stable towards pH and temperature compared with soluble enzyme. The Michaelis–Menten kinetic properties of immobilized L-ASNase showed a lower V_max and a similar K_m compared to soluble L-ASNase. Immobilized enzyme had around 47 and 32.5% residual activity upon storage a period of 28 days at 4 and 25 °C, respectively. In conclusion, the Fe₃O₄@MCM-41-Cl@L-ASNase core–shell nanoparticles could successfully be used in industrial and medical applications.

     

Polypyrrole nanotube modified by gold nanoparticles for improving the neural microelectrodes

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - High selectivity and low impedance are preferred properties for neural microelectrodes. The localized and controlled release of drugs from the...     

Photoinduced Birefringence in Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Polymeric Thin Films Doped with Di-Azo Sudan G

Photoinduced birefringence in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polymeric thin films doped with di-azo Sudan G was investigated. A pump-probe method was used to study the dynamic behavior of the birefringence. The mechanism for the inducement of birefringence is discussed in terms of the photoisomerization of the di-azo Sudan G molecules. The results showed that the dynamic evolution of the photoinduced birefringence was such that the average birefringence increased, saturated, and then decreased with respect to the laser pump intensity. Also, an exponential-like relationship was observed between both the saturation and the isotropic states of the averaged transmitted probe beam (expressing the residual anisotropy) and the birefringence on one hand, and the intensity amplitudes of the pumping powers on the other hand.