Solubility parameter determination of cationic surfactants by inverse GC

Summary The solubility parameters of cationic surfactants were obtained using the inverse gas chromatographic technique. The surfactants didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide and dodecyl pyridinium chloride were used as stationary phase and retention data of different probe solutes were measured at different temperatures. The results were analysed by the combination of Flory-Huggins and Hildebrand theories, and the solubility parameters of the surfactants were obtained in a range of temperatures between 80–120°C.     

Penetration of radionuclides across the skin: Rat age dependent promethium permeation through skin in vitro

The composition and the permeation properties of the skin are dependent on age. In the animal models for permation studies, age affects the mechanical as well as the permeation properties significantly. The time dependence of permeation of ¹⁴⁷Pm³⁺ from aqueous solution was established by the animal skin model and the age dependence of promethium permeation through the skin was examined. The aim was to find the optimum rat skin age model for radionuclide permeation studies and to assess the relative importance of the main permeation pathways: transepidermal and transfollicular permeation. The skin from 5-day-old rats (5DR) was found to represent the optimum animal model to study transepidermal permeation of ions. The skin from 9-day-old rats (9DR) was selected to study transfollicular permeation of ions. Comparison of the permeated amounts of promethium through the skin without hairs (3 DR to 6 DR) and with hairs (7DR to 12DR) showed that the additional permation mode via follicles significantly contributed to the permeation rate and extent.     

Viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene interpenetrating polymer networks

The effects of the blend ratio and initiating system on the viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene‐based interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were investigated in the temperature range of ?80 to 150 °C. The studies were carried out at different frequencies (100, 50, 10, 1, and 0.1 Hz), and their effects on the damping and storage and loss moduli were analyzed. In all cases, tan δ and the storage and loss moduli showed two distinct transitions corresponding to natural rubber and polystyrene phases, which indicated that the system was not miscible on the molecular level. However, a slight inward shift was observed in the IPNs, with respect to the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the virgin polymers, showing a certain degree of miscibility or intermixing between the two phases. When the frequency increased from 0.1 to 100 Hz, the T_g values showed a positive shift in all cases. In a comparison of the three initiating systems (dicumyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, and azobisisobutyronitrile), the dicumyl peroxide system showed the highest modulus. The morphology of the IPNs was analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. The micrographs indicated that the system was nanostructured. An attempt was made to relate the viscoelastic behavior to the morphology of the IPNs. Various models, such as the series, parallel, Halpin–Tsai, Kerner, Coran, Takayanagi, and Davies models, were used to model the viscoelastic data. The area under the linear loss modulus curve was larger than that obtained by group contribution analysis; this showed that the damping was influenced by the phase morphology, dual‐phase continuity, and crosslinking of the phases. Finally, the homogeneity of the system was further evaluated with Cole–Cole analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1680–1696, 2003     

The Effect of Atmospheric Ionization on Oxygen Diffusion in Polycrystalline Ferrites under e-Beam Irradiation

It is shown that activation of the process of oxygen diffusion in polycrystalline lithium-titanium ferrites heated by a beam of high-energy electrons in the range of temperatures 873–1173 K occurs due to two factors: gas medium ionization by an e-beam and acceleration of diffusion processes directly in the matrix in the irradiation field.     

Study of relaxor-like behaviour of laser ablated (Pb, La)Tio3 thin films

Lanthanum modified lead titanate (PLT) thin films are one of the potential candidates for the pyroelectric and memory applications due to their excellent dielectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties. PLT thin films with 25 at.% of La were deposited on platinum coated Si substrates by the laser ablation technique. The phase transition studies were done in the temperature range of −40 to 150 °C as a function of frequency and ac field. A diffused phase transition with the shifting of the maximum dielectric permittivity (?_max) to higher temperatures with the increase of frequency and dielectric dispersion with frequency at the lower temperatures were observed. The variation of the temperature corresponding to maximum dielectric constant T_m, with frequency follows the Vogel-Fulcher relation, which is the characteristic of the relaxor-like behavior of the material. With the increase of ac drive, the T_max was shifted to lower value.     

Measurement of the dynamic elastic constants of short isotropic cylinders

A method based on a single test is proposed to characterize the elasticity of an isotropic homogeneous material in the shape of a cylinder of any slenderness (length-diameter) ratio. Firstly, the Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to determine the natural frequencies of the cylinders vibrating axisymmetrically. The study is focused on cylindrical samples with diameter and length of similar magnitude so that the shear modulus and the Poisson ratio can be calculated simultaneously. Subsequently, the theoretical results for cylinders of slenderness ratio between 0.1 and 3 are analyzed in order to obtain the data required to determine the elastic constants from one of the two lowest measured natural frequencies and their quotient. The analysis of the results demonstrates that any slenderness ratio is useful in the calculation of the elastic constants, although in some cases the third natural frequency should be used. Furthermore, the influence of the length-diameter quotient on the sensitivity of the method is analyzed by evaluating the systematic uncertainties for both dynamic elastic constants. Finally, the method is experimentally tested by characterizing two steel cylinders with slenderness ratios 0.1 and 1, respectively. The results demonstrate that uncertainties for both Poisson ratio and the shear modulus are smaller when the slenderness ratio is 1.