Sol-gel based alumina powders with catalytic applications

The sol-gel process provides a new approach to the preparation of oxide materials and offers many advantages for making catalysts. Since homogeneous mixing can be achieved at the molecular scale, the chemical reactivity of the oxide surface can be greatly enhanced; thus powders with high surface area and optimized pore size distribution can be obtained at low temperatures. In the present work NiO/Al₂O₃ sol-gel catalysts were obtained by simultaneous gelation of aluminium isopropoxide and nickel nitrate. A comparative study with pure sol-gel alumina was also realized. By physical-structural studies the changes induced by the introduction of the Ni precursor, before and after aluminium alkoxide hydrolysis were highlighted. The introduction of Ni at the beginning of the reaction favors γ-Al₂O₃ crystallization. When Ni is added at the end of reaction, it delays the alumina crystallization and induces the disorder of the lattice. The obtained Ni doped sol-gel derived alumina has been used as catalyst in the finished form for glycerol reforming to generate H₂ for fuel cell applications. Some evaluation results of Ni-doped alumina combined with TiO₂ in photocatalytic glycerol reforming reaction have been included.     

Analytical performance of an r.f. capacitively coupled plasma for atomic emission with tip-ring electrode geometry

A low to medium power radiofrequency capacitively coupled plasma is characterized as spectral source for atomic emission. The signal to background ratio and the limits of detection were determined for 19 elements as a function of the plasma torch geometry and the observation point.     

Studies on polyvinyl chloride compatibility with other polymers—V Polyvinyl chloride blends with ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers

Application of methods involving dielectric and physico-mechanical properties and also thermal analysis shows that PVC is compatible with EVA (with 45 per cent vinyl acetate). There is a good agreement between the results of various methods for determination of compatibility.     

Compatibility study between ibuprofen and excipients in their physical mixtures

The thermal techniques of analysis were used to assess the compatibility between ibuprofen (IB) and some excipients used in the development of extended released formulations. This study is a part of a systematic study undertaken to find and optimizes a general method of detecting the drug–excipient interactions, with the aim of predicting rapidly and assuring the long-term stability of pharmaceutical product and speeding up its marketing. The thermal properties of IB and its physical association as binary mixtures with some common excipients were evaluated by thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry (TG/DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry. FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) were used as complementary techniques to adequately implement and assist in interpretation of the thermal results. Based on their frequent use in preformulations nine different excipients: starch; microcrystalline cellulose (PH 101 and PH 102); colloidal silicon dioxide; lactose (monohydrate and anhydre); polyvinylpyrrolidone; magnesium stearate and talc were blended with IB. The samples were prepared by mixing the analyte and excipients in a proportion of 1:1 (w:w). The TG/DSC curves of the IB have shown a single stage of mass loss between 175 and 290 °C, respectively, an endothermic peak at 78.5 °C, which corresponds to the melting (literature T _m = 75–78 °C).     

Electronic and Optical Properties of Some Polysulfone-Polydimethylsiloxane Copolymers in Thin Films

Polysulfone (PSF)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) block copolymers (PSF-b-PDMS) with various compositions were prepared by condensing chloro-terminated polysulfone oligomers with α, ω -dihydrogensilyl-polydimethylsiloxane in refluxing chlorobenzene solution in the presence of urea as a hydrogen chloride acceptor. The temperature dependences of the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power (Seebeck coefficient) of copolymers were studied using thin films deposited from a dimethylformamide solution (spin coating method) onto glass substrates. It was established that the various copolymers showed typical semiconducting properties. Some correlations between these properties (activation energy, ratio of carrier mobilities, etc) and molecular structure of the copolymers were found. A model based on band gap representation was found to be suitable for explanation of the electronic transport mechanism through the studied copolymers in thin films. The study of the transmission and absorption spectra (in the spectral range from 300 nm to 1400 nm) evidenced that the indirect allowed optical transitions were predominant. The values of the optical energy band gap (ranged between 1.50 eV and 1.70 eV) are in agreement with values of width of the forbidden band calculated from the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity.     

T(x) phase diagram of the CuSbS2–CuInS2 system and solubility limit of Sb in CuInS2

The starting ternary compounds CuInS₂ and CuSbS₂ and alloys of the CuSbS₂–CuInS₂ system with the molar fractions of CuInS₂ (x) equal to 0.05, 0.15, 0.25, 0.375, 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.85, and 0.95 were prepared and the phase relations in this system were investigated by X‐ray powder diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and differential thermal analysis. It was shown that the T–x phase diagram of the CuInS₂–CuSbS₂ system has a eutectic character with the eutectic temperature of 807 K. The alloys of the CuSbS₂–CuInS₂ system with the molar fraction of CuInS₂ in the range from 0.038 to 0.941 at room temperature are two‐phased, and the limits of solubility are 0.059 molar fractions for CuSbS₂ in CuInS₂ and 0.038 molar fractions for CuInS₂ in CuSbS₂.     

GROMOS polarisable model for acetone

A polarisable model for acetone, COS/A, is proposed that is based on the charge-on-spring (COS) polarisation model and is compatible with the polarisable COS/D2 and COS/G2 models for liquid water. A series of acetone-water mixtures at different acetone mole fractions was simulated using the new model in conjunction with the mentioned polarisable and the non-polarisable SPC and SPC/E water models. The model was parameterised to reproduce the following liquid acetone properties: density, heat of vaporisation, surface tension, dielectric permittivity, self diffusion and heat capacity and subsequently tested in mixtures with water using different water models. For pure liquid acetone the polarisable COS/A model agrees better with experimental data than the non-polarisable Kirkwood-Buff derived force field (KBFF) model, which was parameterised using experimental data for a 0.5 mole fraction acetone-water mixture. For such mixtures the polarisable models yield better agreement with experiment than the non-polarisable models for the heat of vaporisation and dielectric permittivity, while worse agreement for diffusion. The computational cost of simulating the polarisable acetone-water mixtures is a factor of 3 to 4 higher compared with the non-polarisable models due to the increased number of interaction sites and the multiple iterations required to evaluate self-consistently the positions of the COS sites at every simulation step. The COS/A acetone model can be used in biomolecular simulations in conjunction with the mentioned polarisable water models to solvate biomolecules.     

Generalized Ostrowski–Grüss-type Inequalities

The paper is devoted to inequalities of Ostrowski–Grüss type. The upper bounds of our inequalities involve least concave majorants of the first order moduli of continuity or differences of upper and lower bounds of first order derivatives. Several inequalities available in the literature are generalized, improved or modified.     

Structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited onto ITO/glass substrates

ZnO films were prepared by post deposition thermal oxidation in the ambient atmosphere of metallic Zn films (d = 100–170 nm) vacuum evaporated onto unheated indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrates. To study the effect of the substrate position during the Zn film deposition on the microstructure and optical properties (transmittance, reflectance and absorbance) of as obtained ZnO films, two set of Zn samples simultaneously deposited onto horizontally and obliquely arranged substrates were prepared. The as obtained ZnO films had a polycrystalline wurtzite structure, those obtained from normally deposited Zn films having a higher c-axis preferred orientation and a lower optical transmittance in the visible wavelength range. The optical band-gap was found to be of 3.14 eV for oxidized normally deposited virgin Zn films and of 3.16 eV for those obliquely deposited.     

Carbon Xerogel Nanostructures with Integrated Bi and Fe Components for Hydrogen Peroxide and Heavy Metal Detection

Multifunctional Bi- and Fe-modified carbon xerogel composites (CXBiFe), with different Fe concentrations, were obtained by a resorcinol–formaldehyde sol–gel method, followed by drying in ambient conditions and pyrolysis treatment. The morphological and structural characterization performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption/desorption porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning/transmission electron microscopy (STEM) analyses, indicates the formation of carbon-based nanocomposites with integrated Bi and Fe oxide nanoparticles. At higher Fe concentrations, Bi-Fe-O interactions lead to the formation of hybrid nanostructures and off-stoichiometric Bi₂Fe₄O₉ mullite-like structures together with an excess of iron oxide nanoparticles. To examine the effect of the Fe content on the electrochemical performance of the CXBiFe composites, the obtained powders were initially dispersed in a chitosan solution and applied on the surface of glassy carbon electrodes. Then, the multifunctional character of the CXBiFe systems is assessed by involving the obtained modified electrodes for the detection of different analytes, such as biomarkers (hydrogen peroxide) and heavy metal ions (i.e., Pb²⁺). The achieved results indicate a drop in the detection limit for H₂O₂ as Fe content increases. Even though the current results suggest that the surface modifications of the Bi phase with Fe and O impurities lower Pb²⁺ detection efficiencies, Pb²⁺ sensing well below the admitted concentrations for drinkable water is also noticed.