Fabrication, characterization, and measurement of viscosity of α-Fe2O3-glycerol nanofluids

Magnetic nanofluids, ferrofluids, are a special category of smart nanomaterials, consisting of stable dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in different fluids. In this study, magnetic nanoparticles of hematite, α-Fe₂O₃, were prepared by solvothermal method using Fe(NO₃)₃ as a starting material. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electronic microscope (TEM).To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research on the rheological properties of nanofluids of α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and glycerol. The experimental results showed that the viscosity of α-Fe₂O₃-glycerol nanofluids increases with increasing the particle volume fraction and decreases with increasing temperature. Our results clearly showed that the α-Fe₂O₃-glycerol nanofluids are non-Newtonian shear-thinning and their shear viscosity depends strongly on temperature. The experimental data were compared with some theoretical models. The measured values of the effective viscosity of nanofluids are underestimated by the theoretical models.     

Conductance Study of Binding of Some Rb+ and Cs+ Ions by Macrocyclic Polyethers in Acetonitrile Solution

A conductance study of the interaction between Rb+ and Cs+ ions and18-crown-6 (18C6), dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 (DC18C6), dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6),dibenzo-24-crown-8 (DB24C8), and dibenzo-30-crown-10 (DB30C10) inacetonitrile solution has been carried out at various temperatures. The formationconstants of the resulting 1:1 complexes were determined from the molarconductance-mole ratio data and found to vary in the orderDC18C6 > 18C6 > DB30C10 > DB18C6 DB24C8for Rb+ ion andDC18C6 > 18C6 > DB30C10 DB24C8 > DB18C6for Cs+ ion. The enthalpy and entropy of complexation were determined fromthe temperature dependence of the formation constants. The complexes with the18-crowns are both enthalpy and entropy stabilized while, in the case of largecrown ethers, the corresponding complexes are enthalpy stabilized but entropydestabilized.     

Synthesis and microstructural study of stereoblock elastomeric polypropylenes from metallocene catalyst (2‐PhInd)2ZrCl2 activated with cocatalyst mixtures

Various elastomeric polypropylenes (PPs) are synthesized through homogeneous propylene polymerization with metallocene catalyst (2‐PhInd)₂ZrCl₂ in the presence of different cocatalyst mixtures: triethylaluminum (TEA)/methylaluminoxane (MAO) or triisobutylaluminum (TIBA)/MAO in the range of Al_AlR3/Al_MAO = 0.0–0.9. The cocatalyst formulation impacts the resultant polymer microstructure and the thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of the produced PPs. ¹³C NMR analysis of the polymers reveals essentially atactic PP, with mmmm = 7.9%, when Al_AlR3/Al_MAO = 0.0. The mmmm pentad content is maximized when Al_AlR3/Al_MAO = 0.8; for TIBA, mmmm = 23.5%; and for TEA, mmmm = 17.6%. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis corroborate these findings. Specifically, T_m, ΔH_m, and T_g are essentially maximized under these conditions, and the minimum damping is observed for Al_AlR3/Al_MAO = 0.6–0.8. ¹H NMR analysis of the mixtures of catalyst and cocatalysts (without monomer) shows very minor differences for [Zr]:Al_AlR3 in the range of 1:1–1:5. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Synthesis,structural characterization and alcohol oxidation activity of a new mononuclear manganese(II) complex

A manganese(II) complex of 2,4,6-tris(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine (tptz) has been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analyses, IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopic techniques. Oxidation of alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes and ketones was conducted by this catalyst using oxone (2KHSO₅·KHSO₄·K₂SO₄) as an oxidant under biphasic reaction conditions (CH₂Cl₂/H₂O) and tetra-n-butylammonium bromide as phase transfer agent under air at room temperature. Easy preparation, mild reaction conditions, high yields of the products, short reaction times, no further oxidation to the corresponding carboxylic acids, high selectivity and inexpensive reagents make this catalytic system a useful oxidation method for aliphatic and benzylic alcohols.     

Matrix analysis of nonlinear trusses using Prandtl-2 Neural Networks

A new method, based on the concepts of matrix analysis as well as the learning capabilities of neural networks, for the analysis of nonlinear trusses under dynamic loading is presented. The method can be applied to static trusses too. While there have been attempts in the past to use neural networks to identify and model different structures based on data measured on structural response directly, the main feature and advantage of this new method is in its capability to model a nonlinear truss by assembling the data collected on the response of its members. The basics of the method are: (1) for each truss member, a neural network is trained to learn and simulate its load-response behavior, (2) the member neural networks are then assembled to build another neural network which can simulate the load-response behavior of the whole truss. Noticing test at member level is generally easier than at structure level, this can make the building of a neural network to simulate the response of the truss more affordable. Also this has potential application when it is hard to find a mathematical model from experimental data to describe the internal force vector for a truss, as well as identification and control of trusses where precise modeling of the structure is a key point to the success of the application. Prandtl Neural Network, developed recently by the authors for modeling of nonlinear hysteretic materials, has been improved and used in this study too. The improved version has been called Prandtl-2 Neural Network (PNN2) in this paper. The method has been applied to the static and dynamic analysis of a 3-bar and a 10-bar benchmark truss successfully, the results of which are reported in this paper.     

Note on new solutions of LR fuzzy linear systems using ranking functions and ABS algorithms

Recently, Ghanbari and Mahdavi-Amiri focused on solving LR fuzzy linear systems by use of ranking functions. They applied a ranking function introduced by Cheng, which is based on the centroid point, to illustrate their method. Also, they presented an important lemma using the centroid formulae provided by Cheng, to determine the centroid point for a class of fuzzy numbers. Unfortunately, they didn’t consider that the formulae are incorrect and have led to some misapplications as pointed out by Wang and his colleagues. Therefore, in this paper, we first show that Lemma 19 of Ghanbari and Mahdavi-Amiri’s paper is not true and then correct it using the centroid formulae suggested by Wang. Finally, we correct the results obtained in Ghanbari and Mahdavi-Amiri’s paper for a special example.     

Some extensions of the operator entropy type inequalities

In this paper, we define the generalised relative operator entropy and investigate some of its properties such as subadditivity and homogeneity. As application of our result, we obtain the information inequality. In continuation, we establish some reverses of the operator entropy inequalities under certain conditions by using the Mond–Pe?ari? method.     

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-UV detection as a very simple,rapid and sensitive method for the determination of bisphenol A in water samples

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV detection was applied for the extraction and determination of bisphenol A (BPA) in water samples. An appropriate mixture of acetone (disperser solvent) and chloroform (extraction solvent) was injected rapidly into a water sample containing BPA. After extraction, sedimented phase was analyzed by HPLC-UV. Under the optimum conditions (extractant solvent: 142 μL of chloroform, disperser solvent: 2.0 mL of acetone, and without salt addition), the calibration graph was linear in the range of 0.5–100 μg L⁻¹ with the detection limit of 0.07 μg L⁻¹ for BPA. The relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 5) for the extraction and determination of 100 μg L⁻¹ of BPA in the aqueous samples was 6.0%. The results showed that DLLME is a very simple, rapid, sensitive and efficient analytical method for the determination of trace amount of BPA in water samples and suitable results were obtained.     

Microfluidic synthesis of chitosan-based nanoparticles for fuel cell applications

A microfluidic platform is developed for the synthesis of monodisperse, 100 nm, chitosan based nanoparticles using nanogelation with ATP. The resulting nanoparticles tuned and enhanced transport and electrochemical properties of Nafion based nanocomposite membranes, which is highly favorable for fuel cell applications.