Three Dimensional Network Polymeric Structure of (4,4′-bipyridinium)[CdBr<Subscript>4</Subscript>]<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript>: Supramolecular Motifs and Crystal Supramolecularity

Abstract A single crystal structure determination of the complex (4,4′-bipyridinium)[CdBr₄] _n , [henceforth (I)], has been carried out. It crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c, with the following cell parameters: a = 16.119(3) ?, b = 13.206(3) ?, c = 7.2601(15) ?, β = 115.62°, V = 1393.5(6) ?³, with Z = 4 formula units. The polymeric anion forms an infinite zig-zag chain of edge-sharing octahedra along c, with a distorted octahedral stereochemistry around Cd. There are N–H···Br [Br2···N1 of 3.386(13) ? and Br1···N1 of 3.363(13) ?] and C–H···Br [Br2···C5 of 3.552(16) ?] hydrogen bonding interactions, tying the CdBr chains to the cations to form 2D-network. The resulting 2D-networks are further linked by aryl···aryl (π···π) interactions within the cationic chains leading to a 3D-network. Index Abstract Three dimensional network polymeric structure of (4,4′-bipyridinium)[CdBr₄] _n : Supramolecular motifs and crystal supramolecularity. Rawhi Al-Far and Basem F. Ali The polymeric anion consists of a zig–zag chain of distorted edge shared octahedra run along c axis. The protonated cation bridges the anion chains through N–H···Br and C–H···Br into a supramolecular array.      

STOP: A slater-type orbital package for molecular electronic structure determination

A general ab initio package using Slater-type atomic orbitals is presented. This package, called STOP, uses the one-center two-range expansion method to evaluate the multicenter electronic integrals. Thoroughly optimized numerical techniques, in particular, convergence accelerators and suitable Gauss quadratures, are used in the algorithms which provide accurate numerical values for all these integrals. STOP thus provides wavefunctions for general molecular structures at the self-consistent field level for the first time over a Slater-type orbital basis. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Distribution of heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments in Dubai Creeks, United Arab Emirates

Dubai is developing rapidly and many developmental activities are concentrated around its Creek. The present study reports the lateral distribution of heavy metals and compares it with local historical record of heavy metal concentrations. For this purpose surface sediment samples were collected and analyzed for metal contents, total organic carbon content (TOC), mineralogy and grain size. The percentages of the different grain size fraction of the collected sediments were as follow 65% for sand size, 15% for silt size fraction, and the rest accounted for clay size fraction. The microscopic analyses indicate that the sediment composed mainly from carbonate and quartz with traces of rock fragments. Such mineral composition is not believed to be a potential source of heavy metal. The study found that the average recorded heavy metal concentrations in the collected sediment samples were 87, 96, 127, 38.5, and 279 ppm for Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Those values were slightly higher than metal concentrations recoded in 2001 with 1.22 (Cr), 2.5 (Cu), 2.87 (Ni), 0.69 (Pb), and 2.1 (Zn) folds. However, in 2001 and 2003 the measured metal contents, along the creek, were lower than those of the average earth crust. Along the Creek most metals recorded the highest concentrations in the upper reach of the Creek. The distribution of the measured heavy metals was not affected significantly with the TOC values. The present study also documented obvious related point sources of pollution.     

Anisotropic parabolic problems with Orlicz data

In this work, we prove the existence of weak solution for a class of anisotropic parabolic problems with Orlicz data. Our approach is based on the anisotropic Sobolev inequality, a smoothness, and compactness results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dispersed Phase Size During the Blending of Relatively-Inelastic Polymer Melts

The influence of simultaneous drop breakup and drop coalescence on polymer-morphology was studied during the blending of polymer melts in a commercial counter-rotating twin-screw extruder. The polymers employed were PET and nylon 66, and these were chosen to minimize fluid elasticity and drop coalescence effects. Each material was dispersed in the other, and the dispersed phase size was determined using scanning electron microscopy. Variables examined included dispersed phase concentration, shear rate, residence time in the extruder and the addition of a compatibilizer. As has been the experience of others, it was found that coalescence was significant at all concentrations examined, and it increased with increasing dispersed phase concentration. However, coalescence could be drastically reduced with the help of a compatibilizer. It appeared that there were no elastic effects, and the measured drop size seemed to approach the Taylor limit as the dispersed phase concentration was lowered. An unexpected finding was that an increase in shear rate resulted in an increase in droplet size, especially at high concentrations.     

Hydrogels of starch-g-(<Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butylacrylate) and starch-g-(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butylacrylate) copolymers

The synthesis, characterization, and hydrogel properties of starch-g-(tert-butylacrylate) and starch-g-(n-butylacrylate) copolymers were studied. The optimum conditions for the grafting process of tert-butylacrylate into 1.0 g of starch were as follows: [tert-butylacrylate] = 0.04 mol/L, [CAN] = 9.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L, temperature = 20 °C in 100 mL solution, whereas the results using n-butylacrylate monomer were as follows: [n-butylacrylate] = 0.04 mol/L, [CAN] = 4.0 × 10⁻³ mol/L, temperature = 30 °C in 100 mL solution. The grafting evidences of monomers into starch were done through TG and its derivative DTG for thermal changes and mass losses, scanning electron microscope (SEM) for morphological changes, powder X-ray for crystallinity measurements and FTIR for functional group changes. Acid hydrolysis method was used efficiently to allow the calculations of the viscosity average molecular weight (M _v) of the grafted chains on starch and consequently the real percent of grafting efficiency (i.e. %GY). The capability of starch-g-(n-BAC) hydrogel to absorb water were found 10 times more than starch-g-(tert-BAC) hydrogel, which were clarified through the X-ray and SEM results.     

AFM study of the SIMS beam induced roughness in monocrystalline silicon in presence of initial surface or bulk defects of nanometric size

In this paper, the SIMS beam induced roughness (BIR) in monocrystalline Si in presence of initial surface or bulk defects of nanometric size is studied. We follow the development of the BIR by monitoring the increase of Si²⁺ and SiO₂⁺ signals during SIMS sputtering. The topography of the crater bottoms is measured at different steps of the evolution of the roughness using an atomic force microscope (AFM). We show that in presence of nanometric sized defects on the surface or in the bulk, the BIR develops far more rapidly than usual. It appears as soon as the crater reaches the defects and, as reported on Si free from any treatment, the same morphology evidencing waves perpendicular to the sputtering beam develops rapidly. This study of the behaviour of the BIR in presence of voluntarily introduced defects allows us to better understand the basic physical phenomena involved in its apparition.     

Minimal subsystems of affine dynamics on local fields

We describe the dynamics of an arbitrary affine dynamical system on a local field by exhibiting all its minimal subsystems. In the special case of the field \mathbbQ_p{\mathbb{Q}_p} of p-adic numbers, for any non-trivial affine dynamical system, we prove that the field \mathbbQ_p{\mathbb{Q}_p} is decomposed into a countable number of invariant balls or spheres each of which consists of a finite number of minimal subsets. Consequently, we give a complete classification of topological conjugacy for non-trivial affine dynamics on \mathbbQ_p{\mathbb{Q}_p} . For each given prime p, there is a finite number of conjugacy classes.