Chemical-Modified Nylon 4 Membrane for Pervaporation

Abstract

A hydrophilic polymer membrane was synthesized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) onto a Nylon 4 polymer backbone, PHEMA-g-N4. The membranes were water permselective because of the hydrophilicity, and the water permselectivity increased with increasing the degree of grafting. Permseparation of water was investigated with respect to the feed aqueous alcohol concentration, feed temperature, size of the alcohols, and degree of grafting. The separation factors of this PHEMA-g-N4 membrane were higher than those of the unmodified Nylon 4 membrane for pervaporation of aqueous ethanol solution, while the permeation rate was slightly lower. A separation factor of 98 and a 194 g/m²·h permeation rate could be obtained. Compared with an unmodified Nylon 4 membrane, the PHEMA-g-N4 membrane effectively increased the pervaporation separation index for the water-ethanol mixtures on pervaporation separation.     

Wrinkling and Growth Mechanism of CuO Nanowires in Thermal Oxidation of Copper Foil

We report a systematic study on wrinkling and CuO nanowires （NWs） growth in the thermal oxidation of copper foil. Copper foils with thickness of 0.5 mm were thermally oxidized in air at 500℃ for 0.5-10 h. It is found that all the samples have wrinkles and the size of the wrinkles increases with the oxidation time increasing. CuO NWs can grow on both the sidehill and hilltop of wrinkle. The CuO NWs on sidehill are longer and denser than those on hilltop. The growth direction of the CuO NWs on sidehill is not vertical to the substrate but vertical to their growth surfaces. The process of wrinkling and CuO NWs growth can be divided into three stages： undulating, voiding, and cracking. The CuO NWs on both sidehill and hilltop grow at the undulating stage. However, only the CuO NWs on sidehill grow and those on hilltop stop growing at the voiding and cracking stages because of the void in hilltop. The local electric field in a wrinkle at undulating stage was calculated, and it is found that the difference of local electric field strengths between hilltop and sidehill is small, which indicates that the predominant driving force for the diffusion of Cu ion during CuO NWs growth is internal stress.     

A Highly Oxidizing and Isolable Oxoruthenium(V) Complex [RuV(N4O)(O)]2+: Electronic Structure,Redox Properties,and Oxidation Reactions Investigated by DFT Calculations

The electronic structure and redox properties of the highly oxidizing, isolable Ru^V?O complex [Ru^V(N₄O)(O)]²⁺, its oxidation reactions with saturated alkanes (cyclohexane and methane) and inorganic substrates (hydrochloric acid and water), and its intermolecular coupling reaction have been examined by DFT calculations. The oxidation reactions with cyclohexane and methane proceed through hydrogen atom transfer in a transition state with a calculated free energy barrier of 10.8 and 23.8 kcal mol^?1, respectively. The overall free energy activation barrier (ΔG^≠=25.5 kcal mol^?1) of oxidation of hydrochloric acid can be decomposed into two parts: the formation of [Ru^III(N₄O)(HOCl)]²⁺ (ΔG=15.0 kcal mol^?1) and the substitution of HOCl by a water molecule (ΔG^≠=10.5 kcal mol^?1). For water oxidation, nucleophilic attack on Ru^V?O by water, leading to O? O bond formation, has a free energy barrier of 24.0 kcal mol^?1, the major component of which comes from the cleavage of the H? OH bond of water. Intermolecular self‐coupling of two molecules of [Ru^V(N₄O)(O)]²⁺ leads to the [(N₄O)Ru^IV? O₂? Ru^III(N₄O)]⁴⁺ complex with a calculated free energy barrier of 12.0 kcal mol^?1.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Iron Nanowires

The iron nanowires can be fabricated via the process in which sodium borohydride reduces iron salts in external magnetic field. The iron nanowires are found to be covered by passivated layers of iron oxide which prevent the oxidation of iron nanowires. In this process, the boron will include in iron nanowires. The average length and diameter of iron nanowires is around 1.2 micrometers and 60 nanometers, respectively. According to ICP results, the contents of B and Fe are about 1.98 wt% and 87.04 wt%, respectively, in iron nanowires. A wide variety of equipment is used to investigate the morphological, microchemical, and structural characteristics of the newly synthesized iron nanowires ––– e.g., XRD, FE‐SEM, HR‐TEM, VSM and XANES. XANES analysis indicates the boron in iron nanowires exists in the form of B₂O₃. The saturation magnetization and the coercive force of iron nanowires are 157.93 emu/g and 9.74 Oe, respectively. In‐situ images of synthesized iron nanowires during reduction process in magnetic field are observed by NSRRC transmission X‐ray microscope. Thus, this study develop a novel process to produce iron nanowires with large quantitates and can control its length and diameter by various the concentration of precursors for various applications.     

A Convenient Synthesis of 3, 4′-Bipyridine

3, 4′-Bipyridine was synthesized from 6-methoxy-3, 4′-bipyridine or 6-benzyloxy-3, 4′-bipyridine via 6-chloro-3, 4′-bipyridine. The chloro derivative was catalytically dechlorinated into the corresponding 3, 4′ -bipyridine.     

Controlling the optimum surfactants concentrations for dispersing carbon nanofibers in aqueous solution

As a new nano-scale functional material, it is necessary to achieve a uniform distribution in the composites for gaining the CNFs’ excellent reinforcing effect. In this paper, CNFs were purified by the method of high temperature annealing treatment. Six surfactants, methylcellulose (MC), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), dodecylamine (DDA), N, N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) were used individually and combinatorially in a certain concentration to disperse the CNFs in aqueous solution. To achieve a good dispersion of the CNFs, a method utilizing ultrasonic processing was employed. The CNFs treated by the method of high temperature annealing treatment were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), and the ultrasonication-driven dispersion of CNFs in aqueous solutions were monitored by UVvis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experiments reveal that the method of high temperature annealing treatment purified the CNFs and the maximum achievable dispersion of CNFs corresponds to the maximum UV absorbance of the solution. All results show that the surfactants mixture of MC and SDS in a certain concentration of 0.4 and 2.0 g/L has the maximum dispersion effect on CNFs in aqueous solution, the optimum concentration ratio of MC, SDS, and CNFs was 2: 10: 1.     

A Convenient and Efficient Preparation of 2‐Acetyl‐4,5‐difluorothiophene

A convenient, five‐step preparation of 2‐acetyl‐4,5‐difluorothiophene from 2,3‐dibromothiophene is described.