Dielectric spectra of LiTFSI-doped chitosan/PEO blends

Solid-polymer-blend electrolyte consisting of chitosan and polyethylene oxide (PEO) in a 1:1 weight ratio and doped with lithium trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI) salt was prepared by solution cast technique. The highest conducting film with conductivity value of 1.40 × 10^-6 S cm⁻¹ at room temperature consists of 30 wt% LiTFSI. The temperature dependence for the highest conducting film obeyed Arrhenius relationship. From loss tangent–frequency plots at different temperatures, the frequency f _max at which the plot is a maximum was obtained. From this, ln f _max vs 10³/T was plotted. The activation energy value obtained from the log σ vs 10³/T plot and ln f _max vs 10³/T plot is about the same, suggesting that the processes of conductivity and relaxation for the charge carriers are the same. This paper was presented at the International Conference on Solid State Science and Technology 2006, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, Sept. 4–6, 2006.     

Mechanistic study of nanoparticles–surfactant foam flow in etched glass micro-models

This study was conducted in order to identify the pore-level mechanisms controlling the nanoparticles–surfactant foams flow process and residual oil mobilization in etched glass micro-models. The dominant mechanism of foam propagation and residual oil mobilization in water-wet system was identified as lamellae division and emulsification of oil, respectively. There was inter-bubble trapping of oil and water, lamellae detaching and collapsing of SDS-foam in the presence of oil in water-wet system and in oil-wet system. The dominant mechanisms of nanoparticles–surfactant foam flow and residual oil mobilization in oil-wet system were the generation of pore spanning continuous gas foam. The identified mechanisms were independent of pore geometry. The SiO₂-SDS and Al₂O₃-SDS foams propagate successfully in water-wet and oil-wet systems; foam coalescence was prevented during film stretching due to the adsorption and accumulation of the nanoparticles at the gas–liquid interface of the foam, which increased the films’ interfacial viscoelasticity.     

Genotype-phenotype correlation of SMN locus genes in spinal muscular atrophy patients from India

Spinal muscular atrophy has been classified into four groups based on the age of onset and clinical severity of the disease. Homozygous deletion in SMN1 gene causes the disease but the clinical severity may be modified by copy number of homologous gene SMN2 as well as the extent of deletion at SMN locus. In the view of scarcity of genotype and phenotype correlation data from India, this study has been undertaken to determine that correlation in SMA patients by using the SMN and NAIP genes and two polymorphic markers C212 and C272 located in this region. Two to four alleles of the markers C212 and C272 were observed in normal individuals. However, majority of Type I patients showed only one allele from both markers whereas in Type II and III patients, 2-3 alleles were observed. The SMN2 copy number in our type III patients showed that patients carry 3-5 copies of SMN2 gene. Our results suggest that extent of deletions encompassing H4F5, SMN1, NAIP and copy number of SMN2 gene can modify the SMA phenotype, thus accounting for the different clinical subtypes of the disease.     

Assessment of heavy metals pollution in Sudanese harbours along the Red Sea Coast

The levels of some heavy metals in sediments of two harbours along the Sudanese Coast of the Red Sea were examined and reported for the first time. A total of thirty-six surface sediment samples were collected from Port-Sudan and Sawakin harbours. Part of each sample was partitioned into five fractions with grain-size ranges of 1000–500, 500–250, 250–125, 125–63 and less than 63 μm. The Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb concentration in bulk samples and sub-samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The spatial distribution pattern of heavy metal content of crustal origin in the sediments is more uniform in Port-Sudan harbour than in Sawakin harbour. The granulometric normalization revealed that some sites in Port-Sudan harbour and one site in Sawakin harbour have been exposed to different levels of heavy metal contamination, which probably originated from ships, industrial and domestic activities.     

Humic-makeup approach for simultaneous functionalization of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers during electrospinning process,and dye adsorption study

A useful methodology is represented to functionalize polyacrylonitrile nanofibers by using humic acid as a makeup agent in electrospinning process. Both morphology and surface chemistry of polyacrylonitrile nanofiber mats were understood to be influenced by incorporation of humic acid into the structure. Physicochemical changes were evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and surface charge measurements. Unlike some anionic dyes (i.e., methyl orange, methyl red, and Congo red), there was an enhancement in crystal violet (a cationic dye) adsorption after incorporation of humic acid. The Langmuir model fitted well to crystal violet data, and monolayer adsorption capacity was calculated as 81.6 mg/g (r² = 0.998).     

Palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative aminocarbonylation with alkynoic acid and tertiary amine for the synthesis of alkynyl amide

We developed a method for the synthesis of alkynyl amides via the carbonylation of alkynoic acids and C-N activation of tertiary amines. The reaction of alkynoic acid and tertiary amine with carbon monoxide using a palladium catalyst in the presence of oxygen, KI, and K₃PO₄, gave the desired alkynyl amides in good yields.     

Effect of high temperature on reduction-controlling reaction rate of agricultural waste chars and coke with steelmaking slag

In the present research, mechanical and thermal properties of high-density polyethylene/wood flour were improved by incorporating nanoclay (Cloisite 30B) and antioxidant (Irganox B225) in the compound. Design of experiments was carried out to optimize composition among nine compounds and to investigate the effect of nanoclay and antioxidant (0–5 phr) and (0–0.4 phr), respectively. The results of mechanical tests showed approximately 24% increase in the tensile strength of compounds containing 2.5 and 5.0 part per hundred (phr) of the nanoclay in the composite compared with the same samples without nanoclay. The tensile modulus of composites increased 7.3% by increasing the level of nanoclay from 0 to 2.5 phr. However, a further increase in the nanoclay content led to a 4.3% decrease in tensile modulus. Evaluation of the thermal oxidation stability of samples confirmed that the thermal oxidation of composites decreased with increasing nanoclay from 0 to 5.0 phr and increased significantly with the addition of the antioxidant.

     

Simulations of solitary waves of RLW equation by exponential B-spline Galerkin method

In this paper,an approximate function for the Galerkin method is composed using the combination of the exponential B-spline functions.Regularized long wave equation(RLW)is integrated fully by using an exponential B-spline Galerkin method in space together with Crank–Nicolson method in time.Three numerical examples related to propagation of single solitary wave,interaction of two solitary waves and wave generation are employed to illustrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the method.Obtained results are compared with some early studies.     

Optically controlled field effect transistors based on photochromic spiropyran and fullerene C60 films

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