Electrochemical synthesis of conducting polymers from oligomers containing thiophene and furan rings

Oligomers containing 2,5-thienylene and 2,5-furanylene units were synthesized by NiCl₂ (dppp) (dppp = Ph₂PCH₂CH₂CH₂PPh₂) coupling of Grignard compounds with the appropriate bromothiophene or bromofuran; UV and electrochemical data are given and discussed in terms of number and kind of heterolene units in the oligomeric species.     

Ureasulfonamide Polymeric Sorbent for Selective Mercury Extraction

A new polymeric resin with sulfonamide pendant functions has been prepared for the selective extraction of mercuric ions. This polystyrene sulfonamide urea resin with a 3.5 mmol/g total nitrogen content is able to selectively sorb mercury from aqueous solutions. The mercury sorption capacity of the resin is around 1.60 mmol/g under non-buffered conditions. The experiments performed under identical conditions with some metal ions reveal that Cd(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Fe(III) ions are also extractable in low quantity (0.05–0.1 mmol/g). The sorbed mercury can be eluted by repeated treatment with hot acetic acid without hydrolysis of the amide groups.     

pH-Driven Fluorescent Switch Behavior of Azometine Dyes in Solid Matrix Materials

Photoinduced switch behaviors of two dimethylamino-bearing azometine derivatives (AZM-I and AZM-II) were investigated in conventional solvents, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and ethyl cellulose (EC) by means of absorption and emission spectroscopy. The fluorescence modulation of the molecular switches arises from increasing response of the exploited molecules to pH between pH = 6.00 and 11.00 in emission intensity at 590 and 582 nm. In the employed systems optical or chemical inputs are transduced into detectable spectroscopic outputs after the controlled exchange of protons between solution and membrane phases. In immobilized phases the attained reversible relative signal changes were very good; 97% and 99% for AZM-I and AZM-II respectively. Sensitivities of the molecular switches to most abundant anions and metal cations were also investigated. Except that of bicarbonate, Hg²⁺ and Ag⁺, presence of anions and metal cations in test medium did not restrict the proton sensing ability of the molecules.     

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Studies of 3,6-Diphenyl-2,5-Dihydropyrrolo[3,4-C]Pyrrole-1,4-Dion’s N,N’-Dialkyl Derivatives

3,6-diaryl-2,5-dihydro-1,4-diketopyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione (DPPD) derivatives are used commercially as red pigments, because of their color strength, brightness, and very low solubility in most common solvents. These products, although highly colored, appear to be of limited value as dyes, since they show a tendency to form an aggregate when incorporated into a solvent. Monoalkyl and dialkyl derivatives of DPPD were synthesized and then characterized with IR, ¹HNMR, UV-Vis absorption and emission spectroscopy. Molar absorption coefficient, singlet energy level and Stokes’ shift values of DPPD derivatives were declared. Monoalkyl and dialkyl derivatives of DPPD’s solubilities were measured from saturated solutions of dimethylformamide (DMF), tetrahydrofuran (THF), dichloromethane (DCM), acetonitrile (ACN) and toluene and they are compared with each other.     

Preparation of a New Polymeric Surfactant for Emulsion Polymerization

The stability of polymeric dispersions is a property of practical importance and hence, the search for an optimized strategy to equip polymer dispersions with sufficient stability is a matter of continuous research during the last years. The kernel is to reach a sufficient stability, as it is required during polymerization, conditioning, or storage and to allow coagulation or coalescence of particles when it is needed, such as during separation of polymer from latex or during film formation. In this study, the emulsion homopolymerization system containing vinyl acetate, potassium persulfate, new polymeric surfactant, NaHCO₃ and water was studied in the classical glass emulsion polymerization reactor. The effects of new polymeric emulsifier on the physicochemical properties of obtained vinyl acetate latex properties were investigated depending on vinyl acetate percentage in homopolymerization.     

Ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of cyclododecene using an electrochemically reduced tungsten‐based catalyst

The ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of cyclododecene using an electrochemically reduced tungsten‐based catalyst (WCl₆? e^?? Al? CH₂Cl₂) is described. In addition, the influence of reaction conditions on the polymerization yield was determined. The resulting polymer has been characterized by NMR, IR, gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry. The glass transition temperature and melting point of the polydodecenamer are 19.6°C and 70.0°C respectively. Furthermore, cyclododecene has been polymerized into a low‐molecular‐weight polymer (12.0 × 10³) with a polydispersity of 2.06 in high yields (94%). IR and NMR analysis indicate that the polydodecenamer has a high trans content (60%). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A note on the damping of large amplitude beam vibrations

This paper presents a new series-type method for solving the eigenvalue problems of irregularly shaped plates clamped at all edges. An irregularly shaped plate is formed on a simply supported rectangular plate by rigidly fixing several segments. With the reaction forces and moments acting on all edges of an actual plate of irregular shape regarded as unknown harmonic loads, the stationary response of the plate to these loads is expressed by the use of the Green function. The force and moment distributions along the edges are expanded into Fourier series with unknown coefficients, and the homogeneous equations for the coefficients are derived by restraint conditions on the edges. The natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the actual plate are determined by calculating the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the equations. The method is applied to a cross-shaped, an I-shaped and an L-shaped plate clamped at all edges, the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the plates are calculated numerically and the effect of the shape is discussed.     

Subfemtosecond pulse generation by rotational molecular modulation

We extend a recent suggestion for the generation of subfemtosecond pulses by molecular modulation [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2894 (1998)] to the rotational spectrum of molecular hydrogen (H(2)) . When a rotational transition |a? ? |b? is strongly driven (|rho(ab) |=0.5) the generation and phase-slip lengths are of the same order and the Raman spectrum has approximately Bessel function sideband amplitudes. Numerical simulation predicts that this spectrum (generated in a 14-cm-long cell at 1-atm pressure of H(2)) will compress into a train of pulses with 94-fs pulse separation and a pulse length of 0.5 fs.     

Optimal berth allocation and time-invariant quay crane assignment in container terminals

Due to the dramatic increase in the world’s container traffic, the efficient management of operations in seaport container terminals has become a crucial issue. In this work, we focus on the integrated planning of the following problems faced at container terminals: berth allocation, quay crane assignment (number), and quay crane assignment (specific). First, we formulate a new binary integer linear program for the integrated solution of the berth allocation and quay crane assignment (number) problems called BACAP. Then we extend it by incorporating the quay crane assignment (specific) problem as well, which is named BACASP. Computational experiments performed on problem instances of various sizes indicate that the model for BACAP is very efficient and even large instances up to 60 vessels can be solved to optimality. Unfortunately, this is not the case for BACASP. Therefore, to be able to solve large instances, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for generating an optimal solution of BACASP from an optimal solution of BACAP using a post-processing algorithm. In case this condition is not satisfied, we make use of a cutting plane algorithm which solves BACAP repeatedly by adding cuts generated from the optimal solutions until the aforementioned condition holds. This method proves to be viable and enables us to solve large BACASP instances as well. To the best of our knowledge, these are the largest instances that can be solved to optimality for this difficult problem, which makes our work applicable to realistic problems.