Synthesis of star-shaped CuO nanoparticles supported on magnetic functionalized graphene: Catalytic and antibacterial activity

In this study, graphene oxide was modified during consecutive functionalization steps with 1,4-diphenylamine, cyanuric chloride, and ethylenediamine. Then, star-shaped CuO nanoparticles were synthesized on modified graphene oxide using the seed-mediated growth method in which nucleation, growth stages, and reduction of graphene oxide to graphene occurred simultaneously. After ensuring successful synthesis of CuO nanoparticles and to facilitate recycling, a magnetization process was utilized by adding iron oxide nanoparticles. This nanocomposite was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The prepared heterogeneous catalyst was investigated for the reduction of organic dyes in the presence of NaBH₄ as a reducing reagent. The kinetic data obtained for the reduction of methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), and rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) were fitted to first-order rate equations, and the calculated rate constants for the reduction of MO, MB, 4-NP and Rh6G were as follows: −0.091, −0.071, −0.045, and 0.040, respectively. As star-shaped CuO nanoparticles showed a higher antibacterial effect compared to spherical-shaped CuO nanoparticles, the antibacterial activity of star-shaped CuO nanoparticles immobilized on magnetic functionalized graphene was evaluated against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria through an agar well diffusion assay and demonstrated more antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria.     

Synthesis of a polymer-capped palladium nanoparticles and its application as a reusable catalyst in oxidative coupling reaction of α-hydroxyketones and 1,2-diamines for preparation of pyrazines and quinoxalines

A novel method for the synthesis of pyrazines and quinoxalines has been developed using α-hydroxyketones and 1,2-diamines in the presence of cross-linked poly(4-vinylpyridine)-stabilized Pd(0) nanoparticles, [P4-VP]-PdNPs. The catalyst was easily prepared and characterized using various techniques such as FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopy, AAS, TEM, FESEM, EDX analysis and XRD. The results confirm a good dispersion of palladium nanoparticles on the polymer support. The catalyst displayed good catalytic activity when applied to the synthesis of quinoxalines via condensation of α-hydroxyketones with 1,2-diamines. A few pyrazine derivatives and various quinoxalines are prepared via coupling reaction of α-hydroxyketones and 1,2-diamines in high–excellent yields (81–99%) with short reaction times. The quinoxalines products were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and the physical properties were compared to the literature values of known compounds. The advantages of the present method over conventional classical methods are rapid and very simple work-up, and the catalyst is reusable many times without a significant loss in its activity.     

Ionic Liquid Based Ultrasound-Assisted Emulsification Microextraction for Preconcentration of Phenol Using Central Composite Design

In this work, phenol reacted with 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AAP) reagent in presence of potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) and then was extracted using ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction via 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate as an environmentally friendly solvent. Effects of the main experimental variables were investigated and optimized by central composite design. Under the optimum conditions (pH 9.5, 100 mg/L 4-AAP, 100 μL of ionic liquid as extraction solvent, 0.2 g/L K₃Fe(CN)₆ and 0.2 M NH₄Cl) the dynamic linear range, limit of detection and relative standard deviation were obtained as 0.2?25 μg/L, 0.07 μg/L and 2.6%, respectively. Finally, the applicability of the proposed ultrasoundassisted emulsification microextraction was examined and very good results were obtained. The results confirmed the applicability of the proposed method as a versatile, low cost and sensitive preconcentration method for determination of very low concentrations of phenol in aqueous solutions.     

Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of trace amounts of mononitrotoluenes from waste water samples

Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction method was studied based on a phase separation phenomenon in a ternary solvent system. According to this procedure, mononitrotoloenes were extracted by single-phase extraction in a water/methanol/chloroform, homogeneous ternary solvent system. Methanol and chloroform were used as consolute and extraction solvents, respectively. The homogeneous solution was broken by the addition of salt and a cloudy solution was formed. After centrifugation, the fine droplets of the extraction solvent were sedimented in the bottom of the conical test tube. Analysis of the extracts was carried out by gas chromatography. The optimization procedure was performed using Box-Behnken design. The variables involved were: sample and extraction solvent volumes, consolute solvent volume and phase separator reagent concentration. Optimum results were obtained under the following conditions: sample volume of 5 mL, extraction solvent volume of 55 μL, consolute solvent volume of 1 mL and phase separator reagent concentration; 5% (w/v). Under these conditions, the enrichment factors of 354, 311 and 300, dynamic linear ranges of 0.5-500, 1-500 and 1-500 μg L⁻¹, and limit of detections (LODs) of 0.09, 0.09 and 0.1 μg L⁻¹ were obtained for o-nitrotoluene, m-nitrotoluene and p-nitrotoluene, respectively. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of MNTs in the waste water samples in the range of micrograms per liter with R.S.Ds. < 13.2%.     

Crystal structure, electronic structure, and physical properties of Ti1-deltaMo1+deltaAs4 and Ti1-deltaMo1+deltaSb4

The new ternary pnictides, Ti(1-delta)Mo(1+delta)Pn4 (Pn = As, Sb), were uncovered during our search for novel thermoelectric materials. Both compounds crystallize in the OsGe2 type in the monoclinic space group C2/m, with lattice dimensions of a = 10.1222(9) A, b = 3.6080(3) A, c = 8.1884(8) A, beta = 120.230(2) degrees , and V = 258.38(7) A3 (Z = 2) for Ti(0.79(1))Mo(1.21)Sb4 and a = 9.1580(2) A, b = 3.3172(1) A, c = 7.6666(1) A, beta = 119.496(1) degrees , and V = 202.720(4) A3 (Z = 2) for Ti(0.86(2))Mo(1.14)As4. The electronic structure calculations predicted metallic behavior for these compounds, which was in agreement with the measured temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient.     

Hollow fiber-based liquid phase microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography for extraction and determination of some antidepressant drugs in biological fluids

The applicability of hollow fiber-based liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) was evaluated for the extraction and preconcentration of three antidepressant drugs (amitriptyline, imipramine and sertraline) prior to their determination by HPLC-UV. The target drugs were extracted from 11.0 mL of aqueous solution with pH 12.0 (source phase) into an organic extracting solvent (n-dodecane) impregnated in the pores of a hollow fiber and finally back extracted into 24 μL of aqueous solution located inside the lumen of the hollow fiber and adjusted to pH 2.1 using 0.1 M of H₃PO₄ (receiving phase). The extraction was performed due to pH gradient between the inside and outside of the hollow fiber membrane. In order to obtain high extraction efficiency, the parameters affecting the HF-LPME including pH of the source and receiving phases, the type of organic phase, ionic strength and volume of the source phase, stirring rate and extraction time were studied and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, enrichment factors up to 300 were achieved and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.%) of the method was in the range of 2-12%. The calibration curves were obtained in the range of 5-500 μg L⁻¹ with reasonable linearity (R² > 0.998) and the limits of detection (LODs) ranged between 0.5 and 0.7 μg L⁻¹ (based on S/N = 3). Finally, the applicability of the proposed method was evaluated by extraction and determination of the drugs in urine, plasma and tap water samples. The results indicated that hollow fiber microextraction method has excellent clean-up and high-preconcentration factor and can be served as a simple and sensitive method for monitoring of antidepressant drugs in the biological samples.     

A Heuristic Insight on End-Point Calculation and a New Phase Interference Parameter in Two-Phase Relative Permeability Curves for Horizontal Fracture Flow

Relative permeability curves of two-phase flow in a fracture have been a subject of study in recent years. The importance of these curves have been widely observed in multidisciplines, such as water subsurface resources, geothermal energy and underground hydrocarbon resources, especially fractured oil and gas reservoirs. Extensive experimental studies have been cited alongside the numerical studies in this area. However, simple analytical and practical solutions are still attractive. In the current study, wettability effects and phase interference explicitly were tried to be implemented in a simple analytical formula. The wettability effects are represented by residual saturations which resulted in direct calculation of relative permeability end points. In addition, the phase interference part affected the shape of the curves that allowed to quantify the degree of phase interference from no phase interference, assigned as zero, to ultimate phase interference, assigned as infinity. The results were compared and validated with the available experimental data in the literature. The proposed formulation is applicable for both smooth and rough fracture assemblies.     

Isostructural bisdithiazolyl and bisthiaselenazolyl radicals: trends in bandwidth and conductivity

Reaction of N-alkylated pyridine-bridged bisdithiazolylium cations [1]+ (R1 =Me, Et; R2 =Ph) with selenium dioxide in acetic acid provides a one-step high-yield synthetic route to bisthiaselenazolylium cations [2]+ (R1 = Me, Et; R2 = Ph). The corresponding radicals 1 and 2 can be prepared by chemical or electrochemical reduction of the cations. Structural analysis of the radicals has been achieved by a combination of single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction methods. While the two sulfur radicals 1 adopt different space groups (P3(1)21 for R1 = Me and P(-)1 for R1 = Et), the two selenium radicals 2 (space groups P3(1)21 for R1 = Me and P3(2)21 for R1 =Et) are isostructural with each other and also with 1 (R1 = Me, R2 = Ph). Variable-temperature magnetic measurements on all four compounds confirm that they are undimerized S = 1/2 systems, with varying degrees of weak intermolecular antiferromagnetic coupling. Variable-temperature electrical conductivity measurements on the two selenium radicals provide conductivities sigma(300 K) = 7.4 x 10-6 (R1 = Et) and 3.3 x 10-5 S cm-1 (R1 = Me), with activation energies, E(act), of 0.32 (R1 = Et) and 0.29 eV (R1 = Me). The differences in conductivity within the isostructural series is interpreted in terms of their relative solid-state bandwidths, as estimated from Extended Hückel band-structure calculations.     

A novel scheme for nonlinear displacement-dependent dampers

In this paper, a novel scheme for nonlinear displacement-dependent (NDD) damper is introduced. The damper is attached to a simple mass-spring-damper vibration system. The vibration system equipped with a NDD damper is mathematically modeled and the nonlinear governing differential equation of the system is derived. To obtain the displacement of the system, the approximate analytical solution of the governing equation is elaborated using the multiple scales method. The advised approximate analytical algorithm is performed for several case studies and is also verified by the numerical fourth-order Runge?CKutta method. In addition, the performance of the NDD damper is analyzed and compared with the performance of the traditional linear damper. It is found that the proposed NDD damper scheme along with the multiple scales method is not only feasible for vibration reduction but also yields satisfactory response performance rather than the existing traditional linear damper.     

Effect of ZnO nanoparticles on kinetics of thermal degradation and final properties of ethylene–propylene–diene rubber systems

The morphology, thermal degradation behavior in addition to static and dynamic mechanical properties of various ethylene?Cpropylene?Cdiene (EPDM) rubber compounds containing nano-zinc oxide (NZnO) were investigated compared to those of EPDM with ordinary-sized ZnO (OSZnO). The field-emission scanning electron microscopy studies showed that unlike the conventional system, the formation of large size ZnO agglomerates was discouraged for NZnO filled systems. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) revealed that the thermal degradation of EPDM system was delayed upon the inclusion of NZnO instead of OSZnO in the compound. The kinetic analysis of TG data based on Friedman and Kissinger methods showed that the nanocomposite samples exhibited higher activation energy (E _a ) and lower order of reaction (n) over the conventional system, suggesting the enhancement of thermal stability upon decreasing ZnO particle size. The results obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis and static mechanical characterizations in terms of hardness, resilience, and abrasion tests interestingly indicated that NZnO not merely could act as a thermal insulator, but also could perform as a nano-filler to improve the final performance of EPDM elastomers.