A capillary force model for interactions between two spheres

Based on the method of energy principle, an analytical approach for computing the capillary force for sphere/sphere geometry is presented in this paper. In modeling the capillary force, we consider spheres with both equal and non-equal radii, for both symmetric and asymmetric configurations at liquid/solid interfaces. We use numerical analysis to investigate the validity and efficiency of the derived model. The effect of various parameters including humidity, distance between two spheres, radii of spheres and contact angles on the meniscus force are investigated. Finally the results obtained from the model are compared with experimental measurements, and the accuracy and precision of the presented approach is verified.     

Heterogenization of a molybdenum Schiff base complex as a magnetic nanocatalyst: An eco-friendly,efficient, selective and recyclable nanocatalyst for the oxidation of alkenes

A Schiff base ligand derived from 5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 2,2′-dimethylpropylenediamine (H₂L) and its corresponding dioxomolybdenum(VI) complex (Mo(O)₂L) has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The adsorption of Mo(O)₂L on the surface of silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles via hydrogen bonding led to the formation of (α-Fe₂O₃)–MCM-41–Mo(O)₂L as a heterogeneous catalyst. FT-IR and atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize and investigate the new nanocatalyst. A practical catalytic method for the efficient and highly selective oxidation of a wide range of olefins with hydrogen peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide in ethanol over the prepared molybdenum nanocatalyst was investigated. Under reflux conditions, the oxidation of cyclooctene with tert-butyl hydroperoxide or hydrogen peroxide led to the formation of epoxide as the sole product. The catalyst was reused at least six times without a significant decrease in catalytic activity or selectivity, and without detectable leaching of the catalyst.     

Impossibility of Local State Transformation via Hypercontractivity

Local state transformation is the problem of transforming an arbitrary number of copies of a bipartite resource state to a bipartite target state under local operations. That is, given two bipartite states, is it possible to transform an arbitrary number of copies of one of them into one copy of the other state under local operations only? This problem is a hard one in general since we assume that the number of copies of the resource state is arbitrarily large. In this paper we prove some bounds on this problem using the hypercontractivity properties of some super-operators corresponding to bipartite states. We measure hypercontractivity in terms of both the usual super-operator norms as well as completely bounded norms.     

Neutronic calculations for CANDU thorium systems using Monte Carlo techniques

In this paper,we have investigated the prospects of exploiting the rich world thorium reserves using Canada Deuterium Uranium(CANDU)reactors.The analysis is performed using the Monte Carlo MCNP code in order to understand how much time the reactor is in criticality conduction.Four different fuel compositions have been selected for analysis.We have obtained the infinite multiplication factor,k∞,under full power operation of the reactor over 8 years.The neutronic flux distribution in the full core reactor has already been investigated.     

Gas chromatographic detection of some nitro explosive compounds in soil samples after solid‐phase microextraction with carbon ceramic copper nanoparticle fibers

In this research, a new solid‐phase microextraction fiber based on carbon ceramic composites with copper nanoparticles followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection was applied for the extraction and determination of some nitro explosive compounds in soil samples. The proposed method provides an overview of trends related to synthesis of solid‐phase microextraction sorbents and their applications in preconcentration and determination of nitro explosives. The sorbents were prepared by mixing of copper nanoparticles with a ceramic composite produced by mixture of methyltrimethoxysilane, graphite, methanol, and hydrochloric acid. The prepared sorbents were coated on copper wires by dip‐coating method. The prepared nanocomposites were evaluated statistically and provided better limits of detection than the pure carbon ceramic. The limit of detection of the proposed method was 0.6 μg/g with a linear response over the concentration range of 2–160 μg/g and square of correlation coefficient >0.992. The new proposed fiber has been demonstrated to be a suitable, inexpensive, and sensitive candidate for extraction of nitro explosive compounds in contaminated soil samples. The constructed fiber can be used more than 100 times without the need for surface generation.     

Synthesis and characterization of copper(II) and cobalt(II) complexes with two new potentially hexadentate Schiff base ligands. X-ray crystal structure determination of one copper(II) complex

Two new potentially hexadentate N₂O₄ Schiff base ligands 2-((z)-(2-(2-(2-((z)-3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino) phenoxy) phenoxy) phenylimino) methyl)-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol [H₂L¹] and 2-((z)-(2-(2-(2-((z)-3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino) phenoxy)-5-tert-butylphenoxy) phenylimino) methyl)-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol [H₂L²] were prepared from the reaction of 3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxy benzaldehyde with 1,2-bis(2′-aminophenoxy)benzene or 1,2-bis(2′-aminophenoxy)-4-t-butylbenzene, respectively. From the direct reaction of ligands [H₂L¹] and [H₂L²] with copper(II) and cobalt(II) salts in methanolic solution and in the presence of N(Et)₃ the neutral [CuL¹], [CuL²], [CoL¹] and [CoL²] complexes were prepared. All complexes were characterized by IR spectra, elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility, mass spectra, molar conductance (Λ_m), UV-Vis spectra and in the case of [CuL²] with X-ray diffraction. X-ray crystal structure of [CuL²] showed that the complex contains copper(II) in a distorted square planar environment of N₂O₂ donors. Three CH/π interactions were observed in the molecular structure of latter complex.