The thermal conductivities enhancement of mono ethylene glycol and paraffin fluids by adding β-SiC nanoparticles

Changes in the thermal conductivities of paraffin and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) as a function of β-SiC nanoparticle concentration and size was studied. An enhancement in the effective thermal conductivity was found for both fluids (i.e., both paraffin and MEG) upon the addition of nanoparticles. Although an enhancement in thermal conductivity was found, the degree of enhancement depended on the nanoparticle concentration in a complex way. An increase in particle-to-particle interactions is thought to be the cause of the enhancement. However, the enhancement became muted at higher particle concentrations compared to lower ones. This phenomenon can be related to nanoparticles interactions. An improvement in the thermal conductivities for both fluids was also found as the nanoparticle size shrank. It is believed that the larger Brownian motion for smaller particles causes more particle-to-particle interactions, which, in turn, improves the thermal conductivity. The role that the base-fluid plays in the enhancement is complex. Lower fluid viscosities are believed to contribute to greater enhancement, but a second effect, the interaction of the fluid with the nanoparticle surface, can be even more important. Nanoparticle-liquid suspensions generate a shell of organized liquid molecules on the particle surface. These organized molecules more efficiently transmit energy, via phonons, to the bulk of the fluid. The efficient energy transmission results in enhanced thermal conductivity. The experimentally measured thermal conductivities of the suspensions were compared to a variety of models. None of the models proved to adequately predict the thermal conductivities of the nanoparticle suspensions.     

Preparation of Diazo Phenyl Sulfides. Kinetics and Mechanism of the Diazo Coupling Reaction of p-Nitrobenzenediazo Phenyl Sulfide with β-Naphthol under Various Conditions

Aryldiazophenyl sulfides prepared from diazotised arylamines and thiophenol at controlled pH, are coupled with β-naphthol yielding the corresponding azo dye. A kinetic study of the diazo coupling reaction of p-nitrobenzenediazo phenyl sulfide with β-naphthol under various conditions revealed that the reaction is of first order kinetics with respect to the diazo phenyl sulfide, and that the rate of coupling measured colorimetrically is influenced by the hydrogen ion concentration and by the ionising power of the medium.     

Peptide peak intensities enhanced by cysteine modifiers and MALDI TOF MS

Two cysteine‐specific modifiers we reported previously, N‐ethyl maleimide (NEM) and iodoacetanilide (IAA), have been applied to the labeling of cysteine residues of peptides for the purpose of examining the enhancement of ionization efficiencies in combination with matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS). The peak intensities of the peptides as a result of modification with these modifiers were compared with the peak intensities of peptides modified with a commercially available cysteine‐specific modifier, iodoacetamide (IA). Our experiments show significant enhancement in the peak intensities of three cysteine‐containing synthetic peptides modified with IAA compared to those modified with IA. The results showed a 4.5–6‐fold increase as a result of modification with IAA compared to modification with IA. Furthermore, it was found that IAA modification also significantly enhanced the peak intensities of many peptides of a commercially available proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA), compared to those modified with IA. This significant enhancement helped identify a greater number of peptides of these proteins, leading to a higher sequence coverage with greater confidence scores in identification of proteins with the use of IAA. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinetics and thermodynamics of uranium ion adsorption from waste solution using Amberjet 1200 H as cation exchanger

The present work deals with the adsorption of uranium from a nitric acid waste solution using the cation exchange resin Amberjet 1200 H (AHR) . Batch experiments were performed in order to assess the performance of AHR in uranium adsorption. The influences of pH, contact time, initial uranium concentration and temperature have been enhanced. The physical parameters including the adsorption kinetics, the isotherm models and the thermodynamic data have also been determined to determine the nature of the uranium adsorption by AHR. The studied resin has been agreed with both the pseudo second order reaction and Langmuir isotherm.     

Effects of Zr addition on solidification characteristics of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy using thermal analysis

The effect of Zr as a grain refiner on the solidification behavior, micro- and macrostructure of a new Al–Zn–Mg–Cu aluminum super-high strength alloy containing high Zn content was studied. The addition of 2 mass% Zr reduced the grain size from 1500 to 190 μm. Moreover, the dendritic structure of the alloy altered from a coarse, elongated and non-uniform morphology to a rosette-like shape and more uniform one. The parameters of liquidus region of cooling curve obtained from thermal analysis were in a good correlation with grain size results. The maximum of first derivative in the liquidus region was introduced beside recalescence undercooling which could predict the grain refinement level even after disappearing of recalescence in the cooling curve. Furthermore, the addition of 1 mass% Zr enhanced fraction of solid in dendrite coherency point from 21 to 31% and lessened the amounts of porosity from 2.3 to 1.4%.     

Fabrication of an iron(III)-selective PVC membrane sensor based on a bis-bidentate Schiff base ionophore

A Fe³⁺ ion-selective membrane sensor was fabricated from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) matrix membrane containing bis-bidentate Schiff base (BBS) as a neutral carrier, sodium tetraphenyl borate (NaTPB) as anionic excluder, and o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (NPOE) as a plasticizing solvent mediator. The effects of the membrane composition, pH, and additive anionic influence on the response properties were investigated. The best performance was obtained with a membrane containing 32% PVC, 62.5% NPOE, 3% BBS, and 2.5% NaTPB. The electrode shows a Nernstian behavior (slope of 19.3 ± 0.6) over a very wide iron ion concentration range (1.0 × 10⁻⁷–1.0 × 10⁻² M) and has a low detection limit (7.4 × 10⁻⁸ M). The potentiometric response of the sensor is independent of pH of the solution in the pH range 1.9–5.1. The proposed sensor has a very low response time (<15 s) and a good selectivity relative to a wide variety of other metal ions including common alkali, alkaline earth, heavy, and transition metal ions. The electrode can be used for at least 60 days without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed sensor was successfully applied as an indicator electrode for the potentiometric titration of 1.0 × 10⁻² M Fe³⁺ ions with a 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ M EDTA and the direct determination of Fe³⁺ in mineral water and wastewater samples.     

Lanthanum-selective sensors based on 3-amino-2-mercapto-3H-quinazolin-4-one in PVC matrix

A new solvent polymeric membrane (PME) and coated graphite (CGE) electrodes based on 3-amino-2-mercapto-3H-quinazolin-4-one as a suitable carrier for La(III) ion are described. The sensors exhibited a Nernstian response for La(III) ion over a wide concentration range (3.0 × 10^?7 to 1.0 × 10^?1 M for PME and 1.0 × 10^?7 to 1.0 × 10^?1 M for CGE) with a slope of 20.1 ± 0.3 (PME) and 23.4 ± 0.4 (CGE) mV decade^?1. The lower detection limits by PME and CGE were 2.0 × 10^?7 and 7.1 × 10^?8 M, respectively. The potentiometric response of the proposed electrodes was independent of the pH of the test solution in the pH range 3.0–9.0 with a fast response time (<10 s). The applications of prepared sensors were demonstrated in the determination of lanthanum ions in spiked water sample and also utilized for indirect determination of fluoride content of two mouth wash preparation samples.     

Embedded passivated-electrode insulator-based dielectrophoresis (EπDEP)

Here, we introduce a new technique called embedded passivated-electrode insulator-based dielectrophoresis (EπDEP) for preconcentration, separation, or enrichment of bioparticles, including living cells. This new method combines traditional electrode-based DEP and insulator-based DEP with the objective of enhancing the electric field strength and capture efficiency within the microfluidic channel while alleviating direct contact between the electrode and the fluid. The EπDEP chip contains embedded electrodes within the microfluidic channel covered by a thin passivation layer of only 4 μm. The channel was designed with two nonaligned vertical columns of insulated microposts (200 μm diameter, 50 μm spacing) located between the electrodes (600 μm wide, 600 μm horizontal spacing) to generate nonuniform electric field lines to concentrate cells while maintaining steady flow in the channel. The performance of the chip was demonstrated using Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial pathogens in aqueous media. Trapping efficiencies of 100 % were obtained for both pathogens at an applied AC voltage of 50 V peak-to-peak and flow rates as high as 10 μl/min.