Enzymatic and chemical hydrolysis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabrics

Alkaline and enzymatic hydrolyzes of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabrics (PET) were mechanistically compared based on released degradation products (HPLC‐UV‐RI) and changes in surface properties [hydrophilicity, cationic dyeing, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)]. Enzymatic hydrolysis led to an increase in the amount of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the surface resulting in an enhanced water absorption and dyeability. Enzymes partially adsorbed to PET fabrics during hydrolysis were completely removed by subsequent extraction according to XPS analysis. In contrast to the enzyme treatment, alkaline hydrolysis did not lead to an increase of hydroxyl and acid groups according to XPS while both treatments caused a substantial increase in hydrophilicity and were more effective on amorphous fibers. Alkaline hydrolysis led to a greater increase in the K/S value after cationic dyeing due to enlarged surface area. Consequently, ESEM‐images demonstrated that alkaline treatment drastically affected the surface morphology of the polymer resulting in crater‐like structures of the fibers, whereas after enzymatic treatment the morphology of the fibers remained unchanged. To reach similar benefits in hydrophilicity, drastically higher amounts of degradation products were released during alkaline hydrolysis as also indicated by >6% weight loss compared to <1% after enzyme treatment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6435–6443, 2008     

Ternary Mn/Ge/Se anions from reactions of [Ba2(H2O)9][GeSe4]: synthesis and characterization of compounds containing discrete or polymeric [Mn6Ge4Se17]6- units

[Ba2(H2O)9][GeSe4] is suitable for the formation of novel M/14/16 anions [Mn6Ge4Se17]6- --discrete or linked in an as yet unprecedented porous network--with antiferromagnetically coupled Mn(II) centers and relatively small electronic excitation energies.     

Magnetically induced phonon anisotropy in ZnCr2O4 from first principles

We have studied the influence of magnetic order on the optical phonons of the geometrically frustrated spinel ZnCr2O4 within density-functional theory. By mapping local spin density approximation plus Hubbard U (LSDA + U) phonon calculations onto a Heisenberg-like model, we developed a method to calculate exchange derivatives and subsequently the spin-phonon coupling parameter from first principles.     

Evidence for temperature-dependent electron band dispersion in pentacene

Evidence for temperature-dependent electron band dispersion in a pentacene thin film polymorph on graphite is provided by angle- and energy-dependent ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The bands derived from the highest occupied molecular orbital exhibit dispersion of approximately 190 meV at room temperature, and approximately 240 meV at 120 K. Intermolecular electronic coupling in pentacene thin films is thus confirmed to be dependent on temperature and possibly crystal structure, as suggested by additional infrared absorption measurements.     

Can We Compute the Similarity between Surfaces?

A suitable measure for the similarity of shapes represented by parameterized curves or surfaces is the Fréchet distance. Whereas efficient algorithms are known for computing the Fréchet distance of polygonal curves, the same problem for triangulated surfaces is NP-hard. Furthermore, it remained open whether it is computable at all. Using a discrete approximation, we show that it is upper semi-computable, i.e., there is a non-halting Turing machine which produces a decreasing sequence of rationals converging to the Fréchet distance. It follows that the decision problem, whether the Fréchet distance of two given surfaces lies below a specified value, is recursively enumerable.     

Binary phase gratings for star couplers with high splitting ratio

Binary phase transmission gratings exhibiting a certain number N of central diffraction orders of equal intensity can be used to construct star couplers of the 1-to-N and N-to-N type. The calculation of the grating's groove structure is described, and first experimental results are presented.     

3D-Printed Phenacrylate Decarboxylase Flow Reactors for the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of 4-Hydroxystilbene

Continuous flow systems for chemical synthesis are becoming a major focus in organic chemistry and there is a growing interest in the integration of biocatalysts due to their high regio- and stereoselectivity. Methods established for 3D bioprinting enable the fast and simple production of agarose-based modules for biocatalytic reactors if thermally stable enzymes are available. We report here on the characterization of four different cofactor-free phenacrylate decarboxylase enzymes suitable for the production of 4-vinylphenol and test their applicability for the encapsulation and direct 3D printing of disk-shaped agarose-based modules that can be used for compartmentalized flow microreactors. Using the most active and stable phenacrylate decarboxylase from Enterobacter spec. in a setup with four parallel reactors and a subsequent palladium(II) acetate-catalysed Heck reaction, 4-hydroxystilbene was synthesized from p-coumaric acid with a total yield of 14.7 % on a milligram scale. We believe that, due to the convenient direct immobilization of any thermostable enzyme and straightforward tuning of the reaction sequence by stacking of modules with different catalytic activities, this simple process will facilitate the establishment and use of cascade reactions and will therefore be of great advantage for many research approaches.