Basic alumina supported one-pot synthesis of structurally diverse pyridine/quinolinine-fused novel diazepanium, diazocanium, imidazodilinium and tetrahydro-pyrimidiniums

Basic alumina supported solvent-free one-pot synthesis of pyridine-fused polycyclic diazepaniums was achieved under microwave irradiation. The process was successfully extended to the synthesis of pyridine-fused bicyclic imidazolidiniums and tetrahydro-pyrimidiniums and also of tri- and tetracyclic diaza-heterocycle-fused quinoliniums. The dual characteristic of basic alumina, a solid support as well as a base, was successfully employed in the current investigation. The method emerged to be an effective route in terms of product yield, reaction time, and ease of purification and most importantly for environment friendly protocols.     

Modeling and experimental studies on combustion characteristics of porous coal char: Volume reaction model

A generalized single‐particle model for the prediction of combustion dynamics of a porous coal char in a fluidized bed is analyzed in the present work using a volume reaction model (VRM). A fully transient nonisothermal model involving both heterogeneous and homogeneous chemical reactions, multicomponent mass transfer, heat transfer with intraparticle resistances, as well as char structure evolution is developed. The model takes into account convection and diffusion inside the particle pores, as well as in the boundary layer. By addressing the Stefan flow originated due to nonequimolar mass transfer and chemical reactions, this work enables a more realistic analysis of the combustion process. The model, characterized by a set of partial differential equations coupled with nonlinear boundary conditions, is solved numerically using the implicit finite volume method (FVM) with a FORTRAN code developed in‐house. The use of a FVM for solving such an elaborate char combustion model, based on the VRM, was not reported earlier. Experiments consisting of fluidized‐bed combustion of a single char particle were carried out to determine the internal surface area of a partially burned char particle and to enable model validation. Predicted results are found to compare well with the reported experimental results for porous coal char combustion. The effects of various parameters (i.e., bulk temperature and initial particle radius) are examined on the dynamics of combustion of coal char. The phenomena of ignition and extinction are also investigated. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 299–315, 2010     

Separation of lignosulfonate from its aqueous solution using supported liquid membrane

This paper presents an experimental and theoretical study on facilitated transport of lignosulfonate (LS) through a flat sheet supported liquid membrane using trioctylamine (TOA) as carrier and dichloroethane as diluent. The studies were carried out with various support materials and operating conditions (viz. carrier concentration, strip phase concentration, salt concentration, etc.) and their effects on the transport of LS. The results were analyzed to identify a suitable combination of support and operating condition that would yield best performance of the supported liquid membrane (SLM) in terms of fast and efficient transport of LS. The stability of the SLM was assessed in terms of loss of liquid from the pores of membrane support. The SLM is found to be stable till 10 h. Co-transport mechanism has been adopted in this work by using NaOH as the strip phase. It was observed that extraction of LS is increased with increase in concentration of NaOH up to a limiting value of 0.5 M NaOH. Difference of salt concentration between feed and strip phase considerably affect the separation process. The diffusional resistances of organic membrane (Δorg) and aqueous solution (Δaq) calculated from the permeation model, which is again a combination of three unique mechanisms viz., diffusion through a feed aqueous layer, a fast interfacial chemical reaction, and diffusion of carrier–complex through the organic membrane, are found to be 609.9 and 176.6 s cm⁻¹, respectively. The values of the diffusion coefficient in the membrane (D_org) and in the bulk organic phase (D_complex) are 1.67×10⁻⁹ and 6.68 × 10⁻⁸ m²s⁻¹, respectively. The extraction of LS is about 90%. Nearly 43% of LS can be recovered at optimum condition.     

Fe(III) chloride catalyzed conversion of epoxides to acetonides

A mild and efficient method for the preparation of acetonides from epoxides catalyzed by iron(III) chlorides has been developed.     

Dynamical analysis of a delayed ratio-dependent Holling-Tanner predator-prey model

In this paper, a delayed Holling-Tanner predator-prey model with ratio-dependent functional response is considered. It is proved that the model system is permanent under certain conditions. The local asymptotic stability and the Hopf-bifurcation results are discussed. Qualitative behaviour of the singularity (0,0) is explored by using a blow up transformation. Global asymptotic stability analysis of the positive equilibrium is carried out. Numerical simulations are presented for the support of our analytical findings.     

Characterization of the Hf-NTA complex

Hafnium ion forms a strong complex with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA). But there is a controversy about the nature of the complex on whether it is a 1:1 or a 1:2 complex. We have carried out an electrophoresis experiment and supplemented data to establish the nature of the complex. Our data indicates that it is a 1:2 complex i.e. [Hf(NTA)₂]^2- in which the coordination number 8 has been satisfied for hafnium.     

Bandgap widening in highly conducting CdO thin film by Ti incorporation through radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique

Transparent and highly conducting thin films of cadmium oxide (CdO) with titanium doping were synthesized by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The thin films were deposited on glass and silicon substrates with different percentages of titanium at a fixed substrate temperature 473 K and a fixed pressure of 0.1 mbar in Ar atmosphere. The deposited films were characterized by studying their crystallographic structure, optical and electrical properties. X-ray diffractometer, atomic force microscope, UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometer were used for different characterizations. All the films have a rock-salt structure. A systematic increase in the optical bandgap was found for the CdO thin films with Ti doping, so that it can be considered as a candidate material for different optoelectronic device applications. Electrical conductivity was also found to increase with Ti doping concentration.