Investigation of Electrochemical Oxidation of Methanol at a Carbon Paste Electrode Modified with Ni(II)‐BS Complex and Reduced Graphene Oxide Nano Sheets

In the present research, the electro oxidation of methanol was investigated by different electrochemical methods at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with bis(salicylaldehyde)‐nickel(II)‐dihydrate complex (Ni(II)‐BS) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) (which named Ni(II)‐BS/RGO/CPE) in an alkaline solution. This modified electrode showed very efficient activity for oxidation of methanol. It was found that methanol was oxidized by NiOOH groups generated by further electrochemical oxidation of nickel (II) hydroxide on the surface of the modified electrode. The rate constant and electron transfer coefficient were calculated to be 2.18 s^?1 and 0.4, respectively. The anodic peak currents revealed a linear dependency with the square root of scan rate. This behaviour is the characteristic of a diffusion controlled process, so the diffusion coefficient of methanol was found to be 1.16×10^?5 cm² s^?1 and the number of transferred electron was calculated to be 1. Moreover, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) investigations showed that the peak current values were proportional to the concentration of methanol in two linear ranges. The obtained linear ranges were from 0.5 to 100.0 µM (R²=0.991) and 400.0 to 1300.0 µM (R²=0.992), and the detection limit was found to be 0.19 µM for methanol determination. Generally, the Ni(II)‐BS/RGO/CPE sensor was used for determination of methanol in an industrial ethanol solution containing 4.0 % methanol.     

Development of a new strategy for the synthesis of graphene oxide-alumina nanocomposite as an efficient adsorbent for dispersive solid-phase extraction of parabens

The present study investigates the synthesis and application of the graphene oxide-alumina nanocomposite as a new adsorbent for the dispersive solid-phase extraction of three parabens and their determination using high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. The characterization of the synthesized material was accomplished and its size, morphology, chemical composition, porosity, and thermal stability were studied. Application of the proposed strategy for the synthesis of the nanocomposite resulted in the incorporation of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles into graphene oxide nanosheets, further resulting in the exfoliation of graphene oxide nanosheets increasing their surface area. An orthogonal rotatable central composite design was used to optimize the extraction. Under the optimum conditions, the analytical performance of the method showed a suitable linear dynamic range (0.2–100.0 μg/L), reasonable limits of detection (0.03–0.05 μg/L), and preconcentration factors ranging from 128 to 173. Finally, the new validated method was applied for the determination of parabens in some real samples including wastewater, cream, toothpaste, and juice samples with satisfactory recoveries (88%–109%), and relative standard deviations less than 8.7% (n = 3). Results demonstrated that inserting alumina nanoparticles into graphene oxide nanosheets improved the extraction efficiency of parabens, as polar acidic compounds, by providing additional efficient interactions including hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole, and Brønsted and Lewis acid-base interactions.     

Effect of a novel green modification of alumina nanoparticles on the curing kinetics and electrical insulation properties of epoxy composites

A novel green surface modification was successfully implemented on alumina nanoparticles using chitosan (CS) to prevent nanoparticles' aggregation. To evaluate the surface changes of nanoparticles, FTIR, TGA, TEM, and SEM analyses were used. The cure kinetics of the uncured samples was analyzed by DSC. Different methods such as KAS, Friedman, Starink, and FWO were applied to measure the activation energy. The activation energy of epoxy reinforced with chitosan-functionalized alumina (epoxy/[CS-EPO-alumina]) was less than that of epoxy reinforced with alumina (epoxy/alumina), which was a confirmation of the positive effect of CS on curing reaction kinetics. Using the Malek method, the Sestak-Berggren autocatalytic equation was chosen to investigate the cure kinetics of the epoxy. It was found that the Sestak-Berggren equation is well matched with the experimental data and the model was suitable to predict the epoxy curing reaction reliably. Moreover, the glass transition temperatures of all samples were approximately the same. The effect of surface modification of alumina on the electrical insulating behavior of epoxy was also studied. It was found that CS functionalized alumina (CS-EPO-alumina) increased volume resistivity of epoxy at a temperature range of 30 to 80°C more than that of alumina. Electric stability and breakdown strength of epoxy/alumina and epoxy/(CS-EPO-alumina) also enhanced, where epoxy/(CS-EPO-alumina) experienced a further increase compared to epoxy.     

FT‐IR characterization and hydrolysis of PLA‐PEG‐PLA based copolyester hydrogels with short PLA segments and a cytocompatibility study

A series of the biodegradable copolyester hydrogels was prepared using a redox‐initiated polymerization with a constant 1:9 mole ratio of the Boltorn‐based acrylate and diacrylate triblock comacromonomers. The Boltorn® macromonomer was derived from the hyperbranched polyester Boltorn H20, which was functionalized at each terminus with poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate, and the diacrylate triblock macromonomer was poly (lactide‐b‐ethylene glycol‐b‐lactide) diacrylate. The hydrolysis of the copolyesters at pH 7.4 in a phosphate buffered saline solution at 37 °C was studied using ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy. It was found that the presence of the Boltorn, the PEG, and lactide block lengths both play vital roles in determining the structure‐property relationships in these materials. The ATR‐FTIR studies showed that with increasing lactide segment length, the rate of ester hydrolysis increased due to the increased concentration of the hydrolytically sensitive poly(lactic acid) (PLA) ester groups in the network. However, incorporation of Boltorn into the PLA‐PEG‐PLA copolymer did not significantly change the kinetic rate constant for hydrolysis of the PLA segments. The cytocompatibility of a typical one of these materials in the presence of its degradation by‐products was assessed using cultured osteoblasts from the rat. The hydrogel was degraded for 28 days and found to be cytocompatible with osteoblasts over days 23 to 28 of the hydrolysis period. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5163–5176     

Plasma-induced grafting of polydimethylsiloxane onto polyurethane surface: Characterization and in vitro assay

Plasma-induced grafting of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) onto the surface of polyurethane (PU) film. The virgin, plasma treated, and PDMS grafted PU films were characterized by means of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, water drop contact angle measurements, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ATR-FTIR spectrogram of the grafted film showed the new characteristic peaks of PDMS. These grafted surfaces exhibited higher hydrophobicity and homogenous morphology. In vitro cell culture study showed that modified surfaces as well as virgin film were compatible with fibroblast cells. The formation of graft polymers combines the biostability of silicone with excellent physical and mechanical properties of PU.     

On the Maximal and Minimal Left Ideals of Certain Banach Algebras on Locally Compact Groups

Let ${L_0^\infty(G)}$ be the Banach space of all essentially bounded measurable functions on a locally compact group G vanishing at infinity. In this paper, we describe maximal and minimal left ideals in the Banach algebra ${L_0^\infty(G)^*}$ equipped with an Arens type product. We also investigate some spectral properties of ${L_0^\infty(G)^*}$ .     

Volumetric and Viscometric Studies of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>′-Bis(salicylaldehyde)-1,3-diaminopropane Schiff Base (Salpr) in Ionic Liquid + DMF solutions

The apparent molar volumes and viscosities of N,N′-bis(salicylaldehyde)-1,3-diaminopropane Schiff base (Salpr) have been determined in ionic liquid {1-pentyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([PnMIm]Br)} + N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solutions at 298.15 K from density and viscosity measurements using a vibrating tube densimeter and übbelohde type viscometer, respectively. These data have been used to calculate standard partial molar volumes, V_f ⁰V_{\phi} ^{0}, transfer partial molar volumes, Δ_tr V ⁰, and viscosity B-coefficients of the solutions. The transfer partial molar volumes are negative, and decrease with increasing the concentration of ionic liquid for all of the investigated solutions. It found that this ionic liquid interacts strongly with the Schiff base (Salpr) and has desolvation effect on the Schiff base molecules.     

The double negation of the intermediate value theorem

In the context of intuitionistic analysis, we consider the set F consisting of all continuous functions ? from [0,1] to R such that ?(0)=0 and ?(1)=1, and the set I₀ consisting of ?’s in F where there exists x∈[0,1] such that . It is well-known that there are weak counterexamples to the intermediate value theorem, and with Brouwer’s continuity principle we have I₀≠F. However, there exists no satisfying answer to . We try to answer to this question by reducing it to a schema (which we call ) about intuitionistic decidability that asserts “there exists an intuitionistically enumerable set that is not intuitionistically decidable”. We also introduce the notion of strong Specker double sequence, and prove that the existence of such a double sequence is equivalent to the existence of a function ?∈F_mon where .     

The study of the weibel electromagnetic instability growth rate in the presence of the body stress

Body stress flow can be expected in the fast ignition imploding of the inertial fusion process that strongly damps small‐scale velocity structures. The Weibel instability is one of the plasma instabilities that require anisotropy in the distribution function. The body stress effect was neglected in the calculation of the Weibel instability growth rate. In this article, the propagation condition of impinging waves and the growing modes of the Weibel instability on the plasma density gradient of the fuel fusion with the body stress flow are investigated. Calculations show that the minimum value of the body stress rate threshold in the linear polarization is about 2.96 times greater than that of the circular polarization. Increasing 10 times of the density gradient and decreasing 2 times of the wavelength in the linear polarization and the circular polarization, respectively, lead to about 1.78 × 10⁶ times increment and 0.019 times decrement in the maximum of the Weibel instability growth rate. Also, the Weibel instability growth rate maximum in the circular polarization is about 10⁷ times greater than that of the linear polarization. The body stress flow and the density gradient tend to stabilize the Weibel instability in the circular polarization and act as a destabilizing source in the linear polarization. Therefore, by increasing steps of the density gradient plasma near the relativistic electron beam‐emitting region, in the circular polarization, the Weibel instability occurs at a higher stress flow.