Cyclometalated organoplatinum(II) complexes: first example of a monodentate benzo[h]quinolyl ligand and a complex with bridging bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane

The cyclometalated complexes [Pt(ppy)R(SMe(2))] or [Pt(bhq)R(SMe(2))], where ppyH = 2-phenylpyridine, bhqH = benzo[h]quinoline and R = methyl or p-tolyl, react with bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, dppe, in a 1:1 ratio to give the corresponding complexes [Pt(κ(1)-C-ppy)R(dppe)] or [Pt(κ(1)-C-bhq)R(dppe)], in which the ppy or bhq ligands are monodentate and dppe is chelating. The similar reaction in a 2:1 ratio gives the binuclear complexes [{Pt(ppy)R}(2)(μ-dppe)] or [{Pt(bhq)R}(2)(μ-dppe)], in which the dppe ligands are in the unusual bridging bidentate bonding mode.     

Preparation of cellulose nanofibers with hydrophobic surface characteristics

The aim of this study was to develop cellulose nanofibers with hydrophobic surface characteristics using chemical modification. Kenaf fibers were modified using acetic anhydride and cellulose nanofibers were isolated from the acetylated kenaf using mechanical isolation methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated acetylation of the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. The study of the dispersion demonstrated that acetylated cellulose nanofibers formed stable, well-dispersed suspensions in both acetone and ethanol. The contact angle measurements showed that the surface characteristics of nanofibers were changed from hydrophilic to more hydrophobic when acetylated. The microscopy study showed that the acetylation caused a swelling of the kenaf fiber cell wall and that the diameters of isolated nanofibers were between 5 and 50 nm. X-ray analysis showed that the acetylation process reduced the crystallinity of the fibers, whereas mechanical isolation increased it. The method used provides a novel processing route for producing cellulose nanofibers with hydrophobic surfaces.     

碱性介质中 (氢) 氧化铜修饰电极电催化氧化蔗糖

 A stable copper (hydr)oxide-modified electrode was prepared in 0.5 mol/L NaOH solution by cyclic voltammetry in the range of -250 to 1 000 mV. It can be used for electrochemical studies in the range of -250 to 1 000 mV without interfering peaks because there is no oxidation of copper. During an anodic potential sweep, the electro-oxidation of saccharose on Cu occurred by the formation of Cu^III and this reaction also occurred in the early stages of the reversed cycle until it is stopped by the negative potentials. A mechanism based on the electro-chemical generation of Cu^III active sites and their subsequent consumption by saccharose was proposed, and the rate law and kinetic parameters were obtained. The charge transfer resistance from theoretical and impedance studies was used to verify the mechanism. Under chronoamperometry regimes, the reaction followed Cottrellian behavior. The transfer of up to 21 electrons was observed in further investigations of the electro-oxidation of saccharose on a (hydr)oxide Cu rotating disk electrode.     

Effect of Copper Substitution and Preparation Methods on the LaMnO3 Structure and Catalysis of Methane Combustion and CO Oxidation

 LaMn1-xCuxO3刡冊 perovskite oxides (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) were prepared by two different methods, the Pechini and sol-gel methods. The catalysts were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, N2 adsorption, and temperature-programmed reduction. Their catalytic activity in the oxidation of methane and CO was evaluated. EDS and SEM results showed that the Pechini samples had more homogeneity and smaller particles (higher specific surface area). The catalytic activity for methane combustion was highest for x = 0.2. In CO oxidation, the oxides with x = 0.2 and x = 0.4 were the most active. The Pechini samples had higher activity and stability than the sol-gel samples.     

A comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation of styrene atom transfer radical polymerization

<正>An optimized and high-performance Monte Carlo simulation is developed to take thorough account of four different cases of termination in styrene ATRP.According to the simulation results,the bimolecular termination rate constant sharply drops throughout the polymerization when either chain-length dependency of termination rate constant,gel effect,or both together is applied to the simulation.In addition,as expected,the initiator is quickly decomposed at the early stages of the polymerization.The concentration of the catalyst in lower oxidation state decreases at first and then plateaus at higher conversion;furthermore,the steady concentration of M_t~nY/L in the polymerization is the highest when the chain-length-dependent diffusion-controlled termination rate constant is employed in the simulation.The rates of deactivation and chain end degradation reactions are also smaller in this case.Therefore,the fraction of dormant chains is higher throughout the reaction and consequently the portion of dead polymers decreases.Besides,molecular weight increases linearly with conversion;however,when neither gel effect nor chain-length dependency of termination rate constant is considered,the molecular weight deviates from linearity at the end of the reaction.The peak of chain length distribution shifts toward higher molecular weight too during the reaction.Finally,the molecular weight distribution broadens at higher conversion;however, the chain length distribution of polymers produced under conditions of applying chain-length-dependent diffusion-controlled termination rate constant is narrower.     

Pyrophosphate Selective Recognition in Aqueous Solution Based on Fluorescence Enhancement of a New Aluminium Complex

A novel and simple fluorescence enhancement method for selective pyrophosphate(PPi) sensing was proposed based on a 1:1 metal complex formation between bis(8-hydroxy quinoline-5-solphonat) chloride aluminum(III) (Al(QS)₂Cl), (L) and PPi in aqueous solution. The linear response range covers a concentration range of 1.6 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol/L of PPi and the detection limit of 2.3 × 10⁻⁸ mol/L. The association constant of L-PPi complex was calculated 2.6 × 10⁵ L/mol. L was found to show selectively and sensitively fluorescence enhancement toward PPi over than I₃^-, NO₃^-, CN⁻, CO₃²⁻, Br⁻, Cl⁻, F⁻, H₂PO4⁻ and SO₄²⁻, which was attributed to higher stability of inorganic complex between pyrophosphate and L.     

Electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction on Nafion/platinum/gas diffusion layer electrode for PEM fuel cell

In this work a new membrane electrode based on Pt-coated Nafion membrane was fabricated. Chemical deposition process was used to coat platinum on Nafion 117 membrane and then Pt-coated Nafion membrane was hot pressed on gas diffusion layer (GDL) to make new membrane electrode. The electrochemical and chemical studies of the Pt-coated Nafions were investigated by electrochemical techniques, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical results indicated that as the concentration of H₂PtCl₆ increased, the oxygen reduction reaction rate increased until the concentration was reached where the reduction reaction was limited by the problem of mass transport. The electrochemical results for oxygen reduction reaction showed that the new electrode which prepared by plating Nafion membrane with 0.06 M H₂PtCl₆ in electroless plating solution, has a higher performance than other electrodes. The XRD results showed that the average platinum particle size of the best sample was about 3 nm. The loading of platinum for this electrode was 0.153 mg cm⁻².     

Mixed finite difference and Galerkin methods for solving Burgers equations using interpolating scaling functions

The current paper proposes a technique for the numerical solution of Burgers equations. The method is based on finite difference formula combined with the Galerkin method, which uses the interpolating scaling functions. Several test problems are given, and the numerical results are reported to show the accuracy and efficiency of the new algorithm. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modular Decomposition of the Orlik-Terao Algebra

Let ${\mathcal{A}}$ be a collection of n linear hyperplanes in ${\mathbb{k}^\ell}$ , where ${\mathbb{k}}$ is an algebraically closed field. The Orlik-Terao algebra of ${\mathcal{A}}$ is the subalgebra ${{\rm R}(\mathcal{A})}$ of the rational functions generated by reciprocals of linear forms vanishing on hyperplanes of ${\mathcal{A}}$ . It determines an irreducible subvariety ${Y (\mathcal{A})}$ of ${\mathbb{P}^{n-1}}$ . We show that a flat X of ${\mathcal{A}}$ is modular if and only if ${{\rm R}(\mathcal{A})}$ is a split extension of the Orlik-Terao algebra of the subarrangement ${\mathcal{A}_X}$ . This provides another refinement of Stanley’s modular factorization theorem [34] and a new characterization of modularity, similar in spirit to the fibration theorem of [27]. We deduce that if ${\mathcal{A}}$ is supersolvable, then its Orlik-Terao algebra is Koszul. In certain cases, the algebra is also a complete intersection, and we characterize when this happens.     

Chaotic fractional‐order model for muscular blood vessel and its control via fractional control scheme

This article studies the chaotic and complex behavior in a fractional‐order biomathematical model of a muscular blood vessel (MBV). It is shown that the fractional‐order MBV (FOMBV) model exhibits very complex and rich dynamics such as chaos. We show that the corresponding maximal Lyapunov exponent of the FOMBV system is positive which implies the existence of chaos. Strange attractors of the FOMBV model are depicted to validate the chaotic behavior of the system. We change the fractional order of the model and investigate the dynamics of the system. To suppress the chaotic behavior of the model, we propose a single input fractional finite‐time controller and prove its stability using the fractional Lyapunov theory. In addition, the effects of the model uncertainties and external disturbances are taken into account and a robust fractional finite‐time controller is constructed. The upper bound of the chaos suppression time is also given. Some computer simulations are presented to illustrate the findings of this article. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 20: 37–46, 2014