Volatile Compounds Present in Carbon Blacks Produced by Thermal Plasmas

Carbon black nanopowders were produced using two thermal plasma processes based on DC, respectively ICP plasma torches. Although the produced particles were in the nanometer size range, the values obtained for the surface area of the particles using a Brunauer Emmett Teller technique were very small. This indicated the presence of contaminants in the experimental powders, as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analysis. A thermal treatment process was developed in order to extract these volatile compounds, which were then identified using a Gas Chromatography—Mass Spectrometry method. The experimental powders were analyzed using Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy before and after the thermal treatment in order to determine the effect of the heat treatment on the powder structural properties.     

Construction of spirolactones with concomitant formation of the fused quaternary centre--application to the synthesis of natural products

Polycyclic structures fused at a central carbon are of great interest due to their appealing conformational features and their structural implications in biological systems. Although progress in the development of synthetic methodologies towards such structures has been impressive, the stereoselective construction of such quaternary stereocentres remains a significant challenge in the total synthesis of natural products. This review highlights the progress in the formation of 1-oxaspiro[4.n]alkan-2-ones (2≤n≤7) with concomitant formation of the quaternary spiro centre.     

Blends of a new thermoplastic in a thermoset epoxy matrix

Properties of thermoplastic modified epoxy network have been studied. The particularity of this work is the use of new thermoplastic epoxies whose structure is close to the final matrix. Blends of thermoset epoxy (Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol A/4-4′ methylenebis [3-chloro 2,6-diethylaniline]) with a thermoplastic content from 5 to 40%w have been realised. Initial miscibility in the thermoset precursors shows an UCST behaviour with a maximal value near 130°C for a thermoplastic content of 10%. Due to the presence of tertiary amine and pendant hydroxyl groups on the thermoplastic backbone, epoxy amine reactions are faster than for the neat system but the thermoplastic seems not to have reacted with the thermoset network. The final blends are transparent but toughening increase is rather low.     

Starch Nanocrystal Fillers in an Acrylic Polymer Matrix

Aqueous suspensions of nanocrystals can be obtained by acid hydrolysis of native waxy maize starch granules. The disruption of waxy maize starch granules by 2.2N HCl hydrolysis has been followed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and laser granulometry. The mechanical properties of composite materials made of poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate) filled with starch nanocrystals were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis. These nanocrystals appeared to be an interesting reinforcing phase in a thermoplastic matrix.     

Theoretical investigation of the molecular structure of aluminium triisopropoxide and its complexes in ring-opening polymerization

We present a theoretical study on aluminium triisopropoxide (Al(OⁱPr)₃) using both empirical (Molecular Mechanics, MM, with Dreiding II force field) and quantum-chemical (Austin Model 1, AM1, semiempirical Hartree-Fock) techniques. We determine the most stable geometries for both the tetramer and trimer of aluminium triisopropoxide as well as the thermodynamic characteristics of the equilibrium existing between these two aggregated structures. The theoretical results are compared to experimental data from X-ray diffraction and ²⁷A1 NMR measurements. For the tetramer, it appears that the optimal equilibrium geometries are in good agreement with the experimental X-ray diffraction geometry; another geometry is also obtained with both theoretical approaches, which is slightly less stable but of higher symmetry. On the basis of the most stable configurations for the tetramer and trimer aggregates, the variation of free enthalpy (ΔG) between the two aggregated structures has been estimated. The evolution of the theoretical ΔG values indicates a displacement of equilibrium towards the trimer species with temperature, in good agreement with experimental ¹H and ²⁷A1 NMR data. Moreover, the AM1 heats of formation show a gain of 33.9 kcal/mol due to the aggregation of four A1(OⁱPr)₃ instead of three, and thus a better stability of the tetramer. The molecular geometries being well described by the theoretical methods used in this study, we also present a model for the ring-opening polymerization complexes of ε-caprolactone and lactides.     

ChemInform Abstract: Local Density Functional Study of Copper Clusters: A Comparison Between Real Clusters,Model Surface Clusters,and the Actual Metal Surface.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.     

Ion implantation in poly(para-phenylene): Stability of the resulting electrical conductivity and influence of the implantation parameters

: In an attempt to obtain a semiconducting poly(paraphenylene) PPP we have looked at the effect of ion implantion on this conjugated polymer (Ref. 1). The properties of the material may be varied according to the implantation parameters (Ref. 2) and the electrical conductivity after ion implantation of PPP remains almost constant for a long period of time.