A study on the effects of ozone treatment on the properties of raw and degummed mulberry silk fabrics

Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent and is widely used in various applications, which includes bleaching of cotton. Its application on the processing of silk is non-existent. Research studies on degumming and bleaching of silk reveal that almost no work involving ozone has been carried out. Therefore a study was carried out to understand the effects of process parameters namely wet pickup, pH and time in the ozone treatment of raw and degummed mulberry and tassar silk fabrics on their properties. This paper reports on the effects of ozone treatment on the mulberry silk fabrics. The study was extended with a view to compare the ozone treatment with soap degumming and hydrogen peroxide treatment carried out on raw and degummed mulberry silk fabrics, respectively. The treatment results in increase in yellowness index and amino group content and decrease in breaking strength and elongation, weight and flexural rigidity. The results obtained are substantiated with tyrosine content, scanning electron micrographs and infrared spectroscopy of the treated materials. The effect of pH on the treatment is maximum up to pH 4 and then decreases. The treatment is more severe when the wet pickup used is 50% compared to that of 10 and 100%. With respect to treatment time, though the severity increases with time, it is maximum during the first 10 min of the treatment. Soap degumming of raw silk fabric results in lower yellowness index and flexural rigidity and lesser loss in breaking strength and elongation compared to that of ozone treated material. There is not much of difference between ozone and hydrogen peroxide treatments of degummed silk fabric except for the lower yellowness index obtained in the latter case.     

New palladium carbene catalysts for the Heck reaction of aryl chlorides in ionic liquids

[reaction: see text] The Heck reaction of aryl chlorides was investigated in the presence of defined monocarbenepalladium(0) complexes. Activated and nonactivated aryl chlorides provide the corresponding cinnamic esters and stilbenes in (n)Bu(4)NBr as a ionic liquid in good to excellent yields.     

Solid-State Isolation of Cyclic Alkyl(Amino) Carbene (cAAC)-Supported Structurally Diverse Alkali Metal-Phosphinidenides

Cyclic alkyl(amino) carbene (cAAC)-supported, structurally diverse alkali metal-phosphinidenides 2 – 5 of general formula ((cAAC)P-M)_n(THF)_x [ 2 : M=K, n=2, x=4; 3 : M=K, n=6, x=2; 4 : M=K, n=4, x=4; 5 : M=Na, n=3, x=1] have been synthesized by the reduction of cAAC-stabilized chloro-phosphinidene cAAC=P-Cl ( 1 ) utilizing metallic K or KC₈ and Na-naphthalenide as reducing agents. Complexes 2 – 5 have been structurally characterized in solid state by NMR studies and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The proposed mechanism for the electron transfer process has been well-supported by cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The solid state oligomerization process has been observed to be largely dependent on the ionic radii of alkali metal ions, steric bulk of cAAC ligands and solvation/de-solvation/recombination of the dimeric unit [(cAAC)P-M(THF)_x]₂.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Thermal Properties of Imide-Containing Phthalonitrile Polymers

A series of novel imide-containing phthalonitrile polymers with flexible aryl ether units have been synthesized and characterized. Bisphenol monomers were synthesized by a multi-step synthesis involving a condensation reaction between aromatic aldehydes and 2,6-dimethyl phenol, respectively. The bisphenols obtained were reacted with 4-nitrophthalonitrile to form aryl ether linkage containing bisphthalonitriles. These products were hydrolyzed to tetra carboxylic acid, which were subsequently converted into corresponding dianhydrides. The obtained dianhydrides were reacted with synthesized 4-(4′-aminophenoxy) phthalonitrile by thermal imidization leading to the formation of imide-containing phthalonitrile monomers. The synthesized monomers were cured with 3.5 wt% of aromatic diamine, 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulphone(DDS). The structure and properties of all compounds synthesized were confirmed by using elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, DSC, TGA and rheometric studies. The cure temperatures are found to be in the range of 283–302°C, the temperature of 5% and 10% weight loss from TGA are in the range of 433–492°C in N₂ and 424–478°C in air, char yield at 800°C is 40–51%.     

Experimental analysis on nano scale flash powder composition in fireworks manufacturing

The flash powder composition is used in the fireworks industry to manufacture the firecrackers which consist of potassium nitrate, aluminium and sulphur in 75 μm range. This study focuses on the synthesis of nano and micro flash powders with different trials of composition. The particle sizes of the nanochemicals are 142.8, 93.10 and 91.28 nm for KNO₃, Al and S, respectively. The nano flash powder is mixed with micron flash powder in different ratios to manufacture the crackers and thus the noise level for the crackers are found. Thermal analysis was conducted in differential thermal and thermo gravimetric analyser. Also, impact sensitivity and friction sensitivity of the nano flash powder are analysed. The nano flash powder shows low ignition temperature compared to micron and also has high mechanical sensitivity. Fire crackers which contains one gram of 100 % nano flash powder emits the threshold noise level of 125 dB(AI) in spite of 4 g of 10 % nano flash powder for the same composition.     

A Highly Sensitive and Selective Enzymatic Biosensor Based on Direct Electrochemistry of Hemoglobin at Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Modified Activated Screen Printed Carbon Electrode

A sensitive enzymatic biosensor has been developed for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), nitrite ( ) and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) by using hemoglobin (Hb) immobilized on activated screen printed carbon electrode (ASPCE) and zinc oxide (ZnO) composite. A pair of well defined redox peaks is observed with a heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (K_s) of 5.27 s^?1 for Hb at ASPCE/ZnO. The biosensor exhibits the detection of H₂O₂, TCA and in the concentration range of 0.5–129.5 µmol L^?1, 2.5–72.5 mmol L^?1 and 0.2–674 µmol L^?1 with the detection limit of 0.083 µmol L^?1, 0.12 mmol L^?1 and 0.069 µmol L^?1, respectively.     

Nonlinear optical response of fullerenes

A critical review of nonlinear optical properties of fullerenes is presented. We explore structure property relationships for optical nonlinearities of these unusual π electron systems from two complementary angles: (i) to explore the possibility of obtaining structural information from nonlinear optical experiments and (ii) to assess the potential of fullerenes, fullerites and their derivatives for the practical nonlinear optical devices. In particular we show that substituted fullerenes form an interesting class of molecules for nonlinear optics. We will also show that third harmonic generation of circularly polarised light in the solid fullerites should yield some information on the intermolecular interactions in these solids.

We critically examine the various calculations indicating that the screening of the optical fields due to electron-electron interaction may reduce the optical susceptibilities of these molecules by a large factor and suggest experiments that may clarify the issue.     

A mild and efficient CAN mediated oxidation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts of 5-methyl-N-alkylisatin to 5-formyl-N-alkylisatin

A simple, mild and efficient CAN mediated oxidation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts of 5-methyl-N-alkylisatins 1a-13a to 5-formyl-N-alkylisatins 1b-13b under ambient reaction conditions is reported. Simple and isomerized 5-methyl-N-alkylisatin derivatives 1-4 have also been tested and failed to provide the corresponding formylated products. A plausible reaction mechanism has been proposed.