Electrochemical methanol reformation (ECMR) using low-cost sulfonated PVDF/ZrP membrane for hydrogen production

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)-based electrochemical methanol reformation has gained interest as a practical way to produce hydrogen than water electrolysis due to its low operating voltages. Development of alternative PEM for this application is of considerable interest in order to reduce the cost as well as increase the system efficiency. Presently, a novel SPVDF/ZrP composite membrane was synthesized as proton exchange membrane for hydrogen production using electrochemical methanol reformation (ECMR). PVDF-co-HFP granules were defluorinated by alkali treatment followed by sulfonation using chlorosulfonic acid to prepare sulfonated polymer. Inorganic zirconium phosphate (ZrP) was further added to increase proton conductivity. The membranes were characterized for their physicochemical properties, mechanical strength, and thermal stability. The enhancement in proton exchange capacity and water uptake with adequate dimensional stability was observed with dehydrofluorination and impregnation of ZrP. A novel electrolyzer consisting of Pt-Ru/C as anode electrode, same format as anode as cathode electrode and the SPVDF/ZrP composite membrane was assembled and its performance was tested for hydrogen production. It was found that SPVDF/ZrP composite membrane showed good electrochemical cell performance of 0.65 V at 0.15 A cm^?2 current density at ambient temperature and gives scope for operating ECMR cell at higher current densities for to increase the hydrogen production rate which is comparable to the performance of commercial Nafion^® 117 membrane.     

Direct synthesis of 6-sulfonylated phenanthridines via silver-catalyzed radical sulfonylation-cyclization of 2-isocyanobiphenyls

A convenient and straightforward synthesis of 6-sulfonylated phenanthridines via silver-catalyzed sequential radical insertion, cyclization and aromatization of 2-isocyanobiphenyls is reported. The protocol does not require a phenanthridine scaffold as a substrate and presents a highly regioselective synthesis of 6-alkyl/arylsulfonyl phenanthridines. The protocol utilizes readily available and easy to handle sodium sulfinates as sulfonating agents and potassium persulfate as an oxidant to afford good to excellent yields of the desired products in a one-pot operation at room temperature.     

Excess volume of mixing and excess enthalpies of mixing of ethyl iodide + aromatic hydrocarbons at 25°C

The excess volumes and enthalpies of mixing of binary mixtures of ethyl iodide with benzene, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene have been measured experimentally over the whole composition range at 25°C. Qualitatively the data have been explained on the basis of electron donoracceptor interactions between the ethyl iodide and aromatic hydrocarbons and also on the loss of favorable orientational order of the pure components. Flory's theory correctly predicts the sign and to some extent magnitude of the V _E and H ^E values.     

Silaaromaticity in polycyclic systems: a computational study

Density functional theory (B3LYP) calculations were performed to examine the effect of Si substitution on the aromaticity of some polycyclic hydrocarbons using geometric criterion (HOMA), isodesmic isomerization reactions, homodesmotic equations, NICS values, chemical hardness, and out-of-plane distortive tendencies. The HOMA values are lower and the NICS values are higher in the Si-substituted rings compared to those in the hydrocarbon counterpart, whereas the homodesmotic equations predict little loss of aromaticity upon Si replacement in polycylic systems. The chemical hardness values decrease and the out-of-plane distortive tendency increases upon silicon substitution. The relative energies of the positional isomers and the causative factors are analyzed. The high reactivity of some silaaromatics toward dimerization is explained based on local softness indices.     

Selecting nucleic acids for biosensor applications

In vitro selection can be used to generate nucleic acid binding species (aptamers) and catalysts (ribozymes) that can recognize a variety of molecules. Because nucleic acid function is largely derived from readily tabulated secondary structures, it has proven possible to engineer aptamers and ribozymes to function as biosensors. Labeling nucleic acids with reporter molecules has yielded simple antibody substitutes, but by relying on ligand-dependent conformational changes it has also proven possible to generate biosensors that can recognize and specifically report the presence of ligands in homogenous solution. It may prove possible to generate signaling aptamers and allosteric ribozymes (aptazymes) that are responsive to a large fraction of an organismal proteome or metabolome using automated methods. Nucleic acid biosensor arrays for non-nucleic acid targets could likely be generated with the same facility as DNA chips.     

Mechanism of glycolysis of nylon 6,6 and its model compound by ethylene glycol

The degradation mechanism of nylon 6,6 and its model compound hexamethylenebis(hexamide) (HMHA) by ethylene glycol (EG) was studied in detail. Glycolysis of both model compound and nylon 6,6 was carried out with stoichiometric excess of EG at high temperature (250 and 275 °C, respectively) in an autoclave reactor as a closed system. Samples were collected at predetermined intervals and characterized by FT-IR, GC-MS, and GPC. FT-IR studies of model compound glycolysis showed no significant increase in the ester band after 11 h indicating that the glycolysis reaction may have reached equilibrium. GC-MS data revealed the presence of ester as well as unreacted model compound. GC-MS data for nylon 6,6 revealed the presence of compounds having β-hydroxyethylester group, bis(β-hydroxyethyl)adipate, and δ-valerolactone as the degradation products. From GPC data, as the glycolysis time of nylon 6,6 increased, both the number average and weight average molecular weights decreased indicating that the main chain of nylon 6,6 was broken into low molecular weight compounds during glycolysis.     

Synthesis, characterisation and biological evaluation of lanthanide(III) complexes with 3-acetylcoumarin-o-aminobenzoylhydrazone (ACAB)

Lanthanide(III) complexes of the general formula [Ln(ACAB)(2)(NO(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)].NO(3).H(2)O where Ln=La(III), Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), Eu(III), Gd(III), Tb(III), Dy(III) and Y(III), ACAB=3-acetylcoumarin-o-aminobenzoylhydrazone have been isolated and characterised based on elemental analyses, molar conductance, IR, (1)H- and (13)C-NMR, UV, TG/DTA and EPR spectral studies. The ligand behaves in bidentate fashion coordinating through hydrazide >C=O and nitrogen of >C=N. A coordination number of ten is assigned to the complexes. Antibacterial and Antifungal studies indicate an enhancement of activity of the ligand on complexation.     

Selection of fluorescent aptamer beacons that light up in the presence of zinc

In order to generate nucleic acid biosensors that could undergo a reversible conformation change in the presence of the metal zinc, a random sequence pool of single-stranded DNA was immobilized on an oligonucleotide affinity column. In the presence of zinc, those species that underwent a conformational change were released from the column, collected, and amplified. A series of negative and positive selections refined the metal specificity of the selected aptamer beacons. Since the aptamer beacons contained a fluorophore, while the bound oligonucleotide contained a quencher, zinc binding also resulted in an increase in fluorescence. One of the selected beacons, Zn-6m2, bound zinc in the low micromolar range, gave a dose-dependent fluorescence signal, and showed an approximately sixfold increase in fluorescence on zinc binding. While some cross-reactivity with cadmium was observed, it should nonetheless prove possible to use the novel selection method to generate and tune the specificity of a variety of reversible metal biosensors. Such biosensors could potentially be used for continuous monitoring of metals in environmental samples.     

Enriching Oryzanol in Rice Bran Oil using Membranes

Oryzanol present in rice bran is associated with various physiological functions. However, these beneficial ferulate esters are lost to the extent of 87% during conventional refining of crude rice bran oil. In the present investigation, oryzanol enrichment in rice bran oil was attempted using nonporous polymeric membranes under undiluted as well as hexane-diluted conditions with different (crude, refined, and model oil) systems varying widely in their oryzanol content. During membrane processing, oryzanol content in the refined rice bran oil increased from 2,420 to 7,340 mg/kg (approximately threefold enrichment). While processing crude oil and model oil systems, the oryzanol content in the oil improved from 17,600 to 27,300 mg/kg and 20,400 to 30,300 mg/kg, respectively. The enrichment of oryzanol was due to its moderate rejection by the nonporous hydrophobic membrane owing to the hydrophilic nature of the ferulic esters. Hexane dilution improved the oil flux by one order of magnitude but reduced the selectivity. Enriched rice bran oil may find wider applications in the pharmaceutical, therapeutic, and dietary preparations as well as in producing standard cooking oil with guaranteed oryzanol content.     

Visible light photocatalysis with benzophenone for radical thiol-ene reactions

We report herein a simple, metal- and oxidant-free visible light promoted strategy for an anti-Markovnikov hydrothiolation of unactivated olefins using benzophenone as an inexpensive photocatalyst at room temperature. Anti-Markovnikov adducts of a wide variety of olefins and thiols are formed in highly regioselective manner and good to excellent yields. The present radical thiol-ene reaction is operationally simple and well tolerates a variety of functional groups.