Direct electrical measurement of the conversion of metal acetates to metal sulfides by hydrogen sulfide

Copper acetate and related metal salt films react directly with hydrogen sulfide at room temperature to form metal sulfides, resulting in conductivity changes as large as 108. The observed changes in conductivity are related to the solubility product constant (Ksp) and the difference in conductivity between the metal salt and the resulting metal sulfide. A smaller Ksp indicates a more stable metal sulfide and, therefore, greater metal salt reactivity. Polyaniline nanofiber/metal salt composites were also examined and show metal sulfide conversion with changes in resistance up to 106. The direct electrical measurement of the conversion of metal salt to metal sulfide has the potential to be the basis of a new type of sensitive, thin-film chemical sensor.     

Simple adaptive output-feedback lag-synchronization of multiple time-delayed chaotic systems

In this letter, a simple adaptive output-feedback controller is designed for lag-synchronization of two multiple time-delayed chaotic systems in the presence of uncertainty, external disturbances, and input nonlinearity. Based on Lyapunov stability theorem and adaptive techniques, sufficient conditions for lag-synchronization of these two systems are achieved. To deal with the existence of unknown time-delays in the system dynamics, the novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are used. Finally, a numerical simulation is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed chaos lag-synchronization scheme.     

A novel one-pot pseudo-five-component condensation reaction towards bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds: synthesis of 1H-tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2,3-dicarbonitriles and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepines

A novel and efficient method has been developed for the one-pot synthesis of bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds. 1H-Tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2, 3-dicarbonitrile and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepine derivatives were synthesized in good yields using 2,3-diaminomaleonitrile or an aromatic diamine, ketones, trimethylsilyl azide, and an isocyanide in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid as a catalyst in methanol at room temperature.     

Electrical and optical characteristics of porous silicon impregnated with LaF3 by a novel chemical bath technique

The structural, electrical and optical characteristics of porous silicon (PS) due to the impregnation of LaF₃ into PS by a novel chemical-bath deposition (CBD) technique have been investigated in this article. Without removing the PS from the anodization chamber the impregnation with LaF₃ has been done by reacting LaCl₃ with HF in the same chamber at room temperature. The impregnation of LaF₃ was confirmed by the SEM on the cross-section of the LaF₃/PS/Si system and EDX. The modification of PS surface by LaF₃ had direct influence on the electrical and optical properties of PS. Electrical properties of Ag/LaF₃/PS/p-Si/Ag structures were studied through the current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Formation of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diode was evident whose forward current increased with annealing. A diode factor of about 2.4 has been obtained for the annealed heterostructure indicating a high density of trap states. The C⁻²-V curves of all samples showed negative flat band voltage of around −2 V confirming a large number of fixed positive charges in the LaF₃. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the LaF₃-impregnated PS showed aging for the as-deposited samples, but when annealed PS structure recovered the PL intensity. Experimental results show that the optimized chemical bath passivation process for the LaF₃ on porous silicon could enable the porous silicon to be an important material for photonic application.     

Phase proportioning in CuAlBe shape memory alloys during thermomechanical loadings using electric resistance variation

The microstructure of shape memory alloys changes with the thermomechanical history of the material. During thermomechanical loading, austenite, thermally-induced martensite or stress-induced martensite can be simultaneously present in the material. In applications integrating SMA parts, utilization conditions seriously affect the microstructure and can generate macroscopic strain or stress. Consequently, during thermomechanical loadings, it is important to be able to proportion the different phases and consequently to understand the kinetic transformation. This is very useful in the development of constitutive equations. This study shows, by a series of tests, that the proposed experimental method, based on the measurement of the variation of electric resistance of CuAlBe wires, permits to determine the volume fraction of the different phases present in the material (i.e., austenite, stress-induced martensite and thermally-induced martensite). The proposed method is applied to the most common thermomechanical behavior met in engineering applications of shape memory alloys: pseudoelasticity, pseudoplasticity, recovery-stress and stress-assisted two-way shape memory effect. The proportioning method based on a mixture law integrating the resistivity of pure phases present in the SMA is first performed on different two-phase mixture cases and then applied to a three phase mixture case.     

Microwave-assisted asymmetric ring opening of meso-epoxides with aromatic amines catalyzed by a Ti-S-(−)-BINOL complex

Catalytic asymmetric ring opening of cyclohexene oxide and meso-stilbene oxide with anilines was catalyzed by a Ti-(S)-(−)-BINOL complex to afford β-amino alcohols in high yield (up to 95%) and good enantioselectivities (ee up to 55%) under microwave irradiation. The reaction using a microwave was found to be 10 times faster than traditional oil-bath heating with retention of enantioselectivity.     

Indole‐3‐acetic acid and N‐acetyltryptophan corrosion inhibition effects on mild steel in 1 M hydrochloric acid solution

Corrosion inhibition of indole‐3‐acetic acid and N‐acetyl tryptophan on carbon steel was investigated using polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Polarization results revealed that corrosion inhibitors could reduce the rate of cathodic and anodic reactions on metal surface. EIS analysis showed inhibition efficiency of indoles increases by increasing the inhibitor concentration. The maximum inhibition efficiency was 97% and 80% in solutions containing 10 mM indole‐3‐acetic acid and 10 mM N‐acetyl tryptophan, respectively. The adsorption of inhibitors was found to follow Langmuir isotherm. Adsorption and film formation of inhibitors on the metal substrate were confirmed by calculating thermodynamic adsorption parameter (ΔG⁰_ads) and characterization of exposed metals' surface through contact angle measurements. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First Electroanalytical Methodology for the Determination of Hordenine in Dietary Supplements using a Boron‐doped Diamond Electrode

The present work describes the first electrochemical investigation and a simple, rapid and modification‐free electroanalytical methodology for quantification of hordenine (a potent phenylethylamine alkaloid) using a boron‐doped diamond electrode. At optimized square‐wave voltammetric parameters, the observed oxidation peak current in 0.1 M HClO₄ at +1.33 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) increased linearly from 5.0 to 100 μg mL^?1 (3.0×10^?5–6.1×10^?4 M), with detection limit of 1.3 μg mL^?1 (7.8×10^?6 M). The applicability of the developed method was tested with the determination of hordenine in the commercial dietary supplement formulations.     

Matrices based on meso antibacterial framework

In this paper, the synthesis of three types of porous materials (PMs) (porous Fe₃O₄, MIL-101 metal-organic framework (MOF), and MCM-41 mesoporous silica) by hydrothermal method was performed. The incorporation of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) was carried out after the synthesis reaction of supports in MCM-41 and MIL-101 MOF. Ag core@ porous Fe₃O₄ core–shell system was prepared via a one-pot hydrothermal method. Ag-MIL-101 was obtained using Urtica dioica leaf extract as the green solvent and reducing agent. The antibacterial activity of Ag-PM nanocomposites (NCs) was investigated on both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The size of the silver NPs was determined to be 12 and 30 nm in MCM-41 and MIL-101 MOF, respectively. The diameter of Ag core in Ag@Fe₃O₄ shell was ~135 nm. The antibacterial activity of Ag-PMs was in the order Ag-MCM-41 > Ag-MIL-101 > Ag core@Fe₃O₄ shell. The loading percent of Ag NPs in MCM-41 (84%) was more than that in MIL-101 (53%) and Fe₃O₄ (31%). The release of Ag⁺ ions from Ag-MCM-41, Ag-MIL-101, and Ag@Fe₃O₄ NCs was 46, 2, and 1 ppm, respectively. The release of the Ag⁺ ions and, consequently, the antibacterial activity of NCs depend on the uniform distribution, particles size, and the absence of aggregation of Ag NPs in PMs.     

Synthesis of functional polyethylene graft copolymers by nitroxide‐mediated living radical polymerization

This paper describes a new method to prepare graft copolymers, such as polyethylene‐g‐polystyrene (PE‐g‐PS), with a relatively well‐controlled reaction mechanism. The chemistry involves a transformation process from the metallocene copolymerization of ethylene and m,p‐methylstyrene (m,p‐MS) to nitroxide‐mediated “living” free radical polymerization (LRFP) of styrene. The metallocene catalysis produces ethylene‐co‐m,p‐methylstyrene (EMS) random copolymers. Next, 1‐hydroxyl‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine (HO‐TEMPO) was synthesized by the reduction of TEMPO with sodium ascorbate. The macroinitiator (EMS‐TEMPO) was synthesized with the bromination reaction of EMS, and the following nucleofilic reaction with this functional nitroxyl compound. The resulting macroinitiator (EMS‐TEMPO) for LRFP was then heated in the presence of styrene to form graft copolymer. DSC, ¹H‐NMR, FTIR spectroscopy were employed to investigate the structure of the polymers. The results of Molau test showed that PE‐g‐PS could be a potential good compatilizer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.