Propylsulfonic acid functionalized nanozeolite clinoptilolite as heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives

In this work, the natural nanozeolite clinoptilolite (Nano CP) was successfully functionalized by propylsulfonic acid and applied as efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives in aqueous media. The nanocatalyst was characterized by various techniques such as CHN, XRD, FT-IR, BET, TGA/DTA, SEM, TEM and TEM-EDS. The results show its applicability as green, reusable and promising catalyst in organic synthesis. It was found that the nanocatalysts could be recycled and reused eight times without significant loss of catalytic activities.     

Synthesize,Characterization, and Corrosion Inhibition of Polypyrrole Thin Films on Copper

Polypyrrole (PPy) coatings were synthesized on copper by electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole monomer in aqueous acidic and basic solutions by cyclic voltammetry. The coatings were characterized with CV, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The corrosion protection aspects of PPy coatings have been investigated using the potentiodynamic polarization technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The potentiodynamic polarization measurements show that the PPy coating has ability to protect the copper against corrosion. It was concluded that a complete corrosion protective PPy film could not be obtained through direct electro-oxidation procedure. This may be due to copper dissolution in the monomer oxidation potential range.     

A combined multicomponent-acid catalyzed cyclization reaction as an efficient route to novel tricyclic pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline derivatives

A simple, new two-step procedure for the synthesis of novel tricyclic pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline derivatives is described. The initially prepared polysubstituted pyrroles obtained via the four-component condensation of arylglyoxals, cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyls, aminoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal, and β-keto esters subsequently underwent intramolecular acid-catalyzed cyclization to the desired products in moderate to good yields.     

Magnetic metal-organic frameworks for the extraction of trace amounts of heavy metal ions prior to their determination by ICP-AES

Microchimica Acta - The authors describe the preparation of two kinds of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), referred to as TMU-8 and TMU-9. The MOFs were applied to the preconcentration of the ions...     

Extraction and preconcentration of formaldehyde in water by polypyrrole‐coated magnetic nanoparticles and determination by high‐performance liquid chromatography

In this study, a simple and rapid extraction method based on the application of polypyrrole‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as a magnetic solid‐phase extraction sorbent was successfully developed for the extraction and preconcentration of trace amounts of formaldehyde after derivatization with 2,4‐dinitrophenylhydrazine. The analyses were performed by high‐performance liquid chromatography followed by UV detection. Several variables affecting the extraction efficiency of the formaldehyde, i.e., sample pH, amount of sorbent, salt concentration, extraction time and desorption conditions were investigated and optimized. The best working conditions were as follows: sample pH, 5; amount of sorbent, 40 mg; NaCl concentration, 20% w/v; sample volume, 20 mL; extraction time, 12 min; and 100 μL of methanol for desorption of the formaldehyde within 3 min. Under the optimal conditions, the performance of the proposed method was studied in terms of linear dynamic range (10–500 μg/L), correlation coefficient (R² ≥ 0.998), precision (RSD% ≤ 5.5) and limit of detection (4 μg/L). Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of formaldehyde in tap, rain and tomato water samples, and satisfactory results were obtained.     

Strain stiffening and negative normal stress in alginate hydrogels

Alginate hydrogels are polysaccharide biopolymer networks widely useful in biomedical and food applications. Here, we report nonlinear mechanical responses of ionically crosslinked alginate hydrogels captured using large amplitude oscillatory shear experiments. Gelation was performed in situ in a rheometer and the rheological investigations on these samples captured the strain‐stiffening behavior for these gels as a function of oscillatory strain. In addition, negative normal stress was observed, which has not been reported earlier for any polysaccharide networks. The magnitude of negative normal stress increases with the applied strain amplitude and can exceed that of the shear stress at large‐strain. Fitting a constitutive relationship to the stress‐strain curves reveals that the mode of deformation involves stretching of the alginate chains and bending of both the chains and the junction zones. The contribution of bending increases near saturation of G blocks as Ca²⁺ concentration was increased. The results presented here provide an improved understanding of the deformation behavior of alginate hydrogels and such understanding can be extended to other crosslinked polysaccharide networks. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1767–1775     

Effects of Young’s modulus on response of railway sleeper

As a main part of a railroad system, sleepers have important duty in conveying the load from rails to the ballast. The different situations in which the sleepers should function necessitate making them from different materials, such as various types of wood, reinforced concrete and even steel. In this work, the effects of Young’s modulus on response of railway sleeper are evaluated. As a main consideration, Winkler’s theorem is used to model the behavior of the elastic foundation. First, the response of a sleeper on a Winkler’s foundation is found. To evaluate the results of the closed form solution, a finite element model is used. Good agreement between the results of the closed form solution and the finite element model proves the validity of the results. In the next stage, the Young’s modulus is considered as a variable and the fundamental diagrams of the beam are plotted based on the variation of Young’s modulus.     

Heteropolyacid immobilized on polymer/magnetic zeolite nanocomposite as a new and recyclable catalyst for the selective oxidation of alcohols

A new magnetic oxidation catalyst was prepared using immobilization of tungstophosphoric acid on poly(N-vinylimidazole) entrapped magnetic nanozeolite and characterized by FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, VSM, and ICP-OES. The resulting heterogeneous catalyst displays high catalytic performance for selective oxidation of alcohols compared to the other catalysts. The catalyst could be reused eight times without any loss of catalytic activity.