Complexation of poly-bis-(3-silsesquioxanylpropyl)amino-sulfoxide and-sulfone with rare-earth elements

Polymers of silsesquioxane structure, poly[bis-(3-silsesquioxanyl-propylamino)]sulfoxide ( IV ) and -sulfone ( V ) have been prepared and examined as complexation agents toward samarium(III) and thulium(III). Polymer IV was an effective complexation agent toward both of these elements. However, polymer V was an effective complexation agent only toward thulium(III) ions. The selective complexation of polymer V with thulium is not affected by the presence of excess amounts of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, or samarium salt. This suggests that polymer V may prove to be useful in rare-earth element (REE) separation and isolation. The selective complexation of V with thulium(III) is also observed in the presence of nickel(II), copper(II), or lead(II) salt.     

The physicochemical properties of polyhydroxyalkanoates with different chemical structures

A set of polyhydroxyalkanoates are synthesized, and a comparative study of their physicochemical properties is performed. The molecular masses and polydispersities of polyhydroxyalkanoates are found to be independent of their chemical structures. It is shown that the temperature characteristics and degrees of crystallinity of polyhydroxyalkanoates are affected by the chemical compositions of the monomers and their quantitative contents in the polymers. The incorporation of 4-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxyvalerate, and 3-hydroxyhexanoate units into the chain of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) decreases its melting point and thermal degradation temperature relative to these parameters of a homogeneous poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) sample (175 ± 5°C and 275 ± 5°C, respectively). The higher the content of the second monomer units in the poly(3-hydroxybutirate) chain, the greater the changes. The degrees of crystallinity of polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymers are generally lower than that of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (75 ± 5%). The effect on the ratio of the amorphous and crystalline phases of the copolymer samples becomes more pronounced in the series 3-hydroxy-valerate-3-hydroxyhexanoate-4-hydroxybutyrate. The prepared samples exhibit different properties ranging from rigid thermoplastic materials to engineering elastomers.     

A Discretization Approach for the Nonlinear Fractional Logistic Equation

The present study aimed to develop and investigate the local discontinuous Galerkin method for the numerical solution of the fractional logistic differential equation, occurring in many biological and social science phenomena. The fractional derivative is described in the sense of Liouville-Caputo. Using the upwind numerical fluxes, the numerical stability of the method is proved in the L∞ norm. With the aid of the shifted Legendre polynomials, the weak form is reduced into a system of the algebraic equations to be solved in each subinterval. Furthermore, to handle the nonlinear term, the technique of product approximation is utilized. The utility of the present discretization technique and some well-known standard schemes is checked through numerical calculations on a range of linear and nonlinear problems with analytical solutions.     

Local discontinuous Galerkin approximations to fractional Bagley-Torvik equation

In this research, numerical approximation to fractional Bagley-Torvik equation as an important model arising in fluid mechanics is investigated. Our discretization algorithm is based on the local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) schemes along with using the natural upwind fluxes, which enables us to solve the model problem element by element. This means that we require to solve a low-order system of equations in each subinterval, hence avoiding the need for a full global solution. The proposed schemes are tested on a range of initial- and boundary-value problems including a variable coefficient example, a nonsmooth problem, and some oscillatory test cases with exact solutions. Also, the validation of the proposed methods was compared with those obtained available existing computational procedures. Overall, it was found that LDG methods indicated highly satisfactory performance with comparatively lower degree of polynomials and number of elements compared with other numerical models.     

Comparison of the system “Chaplygin ball with a rotor” and the Zhukovskii system from the rough Liouville equivalence point of view

A problem of symplectic geometry is considered, namely, topological analysis of a rolling dynamically balanced non-symmetric ball with a rotor on a rough horizontal plane is considered. The Liouville equivalence between this system and the Zhukovskii system is studied.     

Effect of High-Density Polyethylene Nanocomposite Compatibilizer Type on the Interfacial Adhesion and Mechanical Properties of Polyethylene Nano-Homocomposites

In this paper, the effect of nanocomposite compatibilizer type on the interfacial adhesion and mechanical properties of new class of polyethylene (PE) homocomposites, comprising PE/clay nanocomposites as matrix and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers as reinforcement, was investigated. These were manufactured by a combination of powder impregnation and film stacking methods, introduced in previous research. Three types of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Nanocomposites were prepared based on the various compatibilizers used: (i) nanocomposites containing HDPE-grafted maleic anhydride (HDPE-g-MA) as compatibilizer of clay and HDPE matrix, (ii) linear low-density polyethylene-grafted maleic anhydride (LLDPE-g-MA) used as compatibilizer, and (iii) nanocomposites without any compatibilizer. The effects of the presence and compatibilizer type on the quality of clay dispersion, and also the interface features of HDPE-nanocomposite and UHMWPE fibers were investigated and compared with each other. The results demonstrated that the kind of compatibilizer was an important factor determining the dispersion state of clay platelets, and influenced the UHMWPE fiber–PE matrix interface adhesion and the mechanical properties of the PE nano-homocomposites.     

Synthesis and Investigation of Copper Complexes with Selected Azomethine Monobenzo Crown Ether Derivatives

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A series of novel azomethine derivatives of benzo-18-crown-6, benzo-15-crown-5, and aniline as well as their complexes with copper(II) acetate have been...     

Natural convection of hybrid nanofluids inside a partitioned porous cavity for application in solar power plants

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The present article deals with the CFD simulation of natural convection heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid in an inverted T-shaped cavity partitioned...