Efficiency enhancement with chloride to iodide ion exchange of benzimidazolium salt as a redox mediator

The new benzimidazolium derivative (SM-1) salt with ion exchange from the (SM-0) was fabricated and characterized by proton-nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), carbon-nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C-NMR), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), electrospray ionization (EIS-MS), thermal analysis (TG), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), for electrolytes (liquid or dried) in the DSSC charge transportation mechanism. Also, the influence of ion exchange from chloride to iodine in the synthesized electrolytes, compared to other electrolytes (conventional or commercial), was investigated about DSSC performance efficiency. When using as a liquid electrolyte (SM-1), the power conversion efficiency (ƞ) of the working DSSC device was recorded as 1.980% and it was observed that the performances of DSSCs increased up to 56% when comparing dried electrolyte for SM-1 without conventional redox material (I^-/I₃^-). In the future, different molecular modifications of this type of benzimidazole derivatives or mixtures with conventional redox couples may further improve the performance of DSSC devices.     

Phenothiazine-based chalcones as potential dual-target inhibitors toward cholinesterases (AChE,BuChE) and monoamine oxidases (MAO-A,MAO-B)

Chalcones targeting neurodegenerative diseases have been known as attractive structures in drug design and discovery. In this study, phenothiazine-based chalcones as ChEs and MAOs inhibitors were designed and synthesized via base-catalyzed Claisen-Schmidt condensation, and chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated by NMRs and HRMS. Compounds 3 and 9 showed promising inhibition potency against AChE enzyme with IC₅₀ values of 0.221 μM and 0.053 μM while compound 9 displayed remarkable inhibition potency toward MAO-B enzyme with IC₅₀ value of 0.048 μM. Compound 9 , as a dual-target inhibitor, selectively inhibited AChE and MAO-B enzymes. This promising behavior is an advantage for the compound since MAO-B and AChE inhibition have a role in Alzheimer's disease. Fused tricyclic ring systems such as phenothiazine incorporated with chalcone moiety being multitargeting ligands may help scientists for the rational design of novel lead compounds targeting neurodegenerative illnesses.     

Enhanced sedimentation and coalescence of petroleum crude oil emulsions by the new generation of environmentally friendly yellow chemicals

This study compares by means of new and advanced destabilization protocols the efficiency of new chemistry environmentally friendly (yellow) demulsifiers with already commercially available red demulsifiers in destabilizing two types of water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions: petroleum crude oil emulsions and model dense packed layers (DPLs). Oil–water separation profiles were measured by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which allows monitoring the water content as well as the mean droplet size in the emulsion as function of the sample height and the time. Separation profiles measured by NMR depicted an increase of the free water release kinetics as the concentration of demulsifier as well as the sedimentation rate increased. The water resolution was not substantially improved by increasing the concentration further while the water quality was worse, most likely due to adsolubilization. There was no observation of DPL formation in these crude oil emulsions. Four different demulsifiers were tested on a model DPL and compared with normal crude oil emulsions. One chemical showed higher efficiency in destabilizing DPL than destabilizing crude oil emulsion. The interfacial rheological properties for one of the systems showed a slight increase in the elastic modulus (E′), as the concentration of demulsifier increased. The increment of the elastic modulus is not totally understood. The most central parameters were represented by principal component analysis (PCA). PCA did not contribute in a better characterization of the chemicals. The new-generation yellow demulsifiers did not reproduce the efficiency of commercially available, less environmentally friendly, (red) demulsifiers.     

A new approach to liquid penetrant inspection: radiolabeled QDots

Penetrant technique is a sensitive non-destructive testing (NDT) method for detecting and locating the presence of cracks in sample surface. Today, NDT is used in a wide range of industries including aerospace, biotechnology, defence, marine, oil–gas and energy plants. This work focuses on potential use of radiolabeled ZnS coated CdTe quantum dots (QDots) as a penetrant for liquid penetrant testing. The synthesized QDots as a precursor were tested for surface defects detection in welded joints. The experimental results show the highest activities were found in defects on the sample surface. These finding are consistent with the sample NDT inspection test report.     

Computing the integer programming gap

We determine the maximal gap between the optimal values of an integer program and its linear programming relaxation, where the matrix and cost function are fixed but the right hand side is unspecified. Our formula involves irreducible decomposition of monomial ideals. The gap can be computed in polynomial time when the dimension is fixed. Partially supported by the National Science Foundation (DMS-0200729).     

A new perspective to stress–strength models

The stress–strength models have been widely used for reliability design of systems. In these models the reliability is defined as the probability that the strength is larger than the stress. The analysis is then based on the binary reliability theory since there are two possible states for the system. In this paper, we study the stress–strength reliability in a different framework assigning more than two states to the system depending on the difference between strength and stress values. In other words, the stress–strength reliability is studied under multi-state system modeling. System state probabilities are evaluated and estimated under various assumptions on the system. The multicomponent form is also studied and some results are provided for large systems.     

Determination of the second critical micelle concentration of benzyldimethyltridecylazanium chloride in aqueous solution by acoustic and conductometric measurements

Density, speed of sound, and conductivity of benzyldimethyltridecylazanium chloride as a cationic surfactant in aqueous solutions have been measured as a function of concentration at atmospheric pressure and at five temperatures (293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K. Isentropic compressibility values have also been calculated from the experimental density and speed of sound results. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) values of investigated cationic surfactant were evaluated by using conductivity measurements. The speed of sound, isentropic compressibility and also the conductivity values of the solutions have been employed to determine the second critical micelle concentrations (2nd cmc). The temperature dependence of the speed of sound and isentropic compressibility is shown to be sensitive to the aggregation process. The 2nd cmc values of the surfactant obtained at different temperatures by conductivity, speeds of sound and isentropic compressibility data are in agreement with each other.     

Improvement of catalytic properties of Candida rugosa lipase by sol-gel encapsulation in the presence of magnetic calix[4]arene nanoparticles

Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was encapsulated within a chemically inert sol-gel support prepared by polycondensation with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and octyltriethoxysilane (OTES) in the presence of N-methylglucamine based calix[4]arene magnetic nanoparticles. The results indicate that the magnetic calix[4]arene based encapsulated lipase particularly has shown high conversion and enantioselectivity. It has also been noticed that the magnetic calix[4]arene based encapsulated lipase has excellent enantioselectivity (E = 460) as compared to the free enzyme (E = 166) with an ee value of >98% for S-Naproxen.     

Catalytic effect of calix[n]arene based sol–gel encapsulated or covalent immobilized lipases on enantioselective hydrolysis of (R/S)-naproxen methyl ester

In this paper the catalytic performance of the immobilized lipases was investigated in the presence of calixarene based polymers using different immobilization techniques. For this reason, Candida rugosa lipase was encapsulated in sol–gel matrices using alkoxysilane precursors and calix[n]arene based silica polymers as additives. The hydrolytic activities of encapsulated lipases were evaluated and compared with the free lipase and covalently immobilized lipases (CnP-L). These encapsulated lipases were also used in the kinetic resolution of the R/S-Naproxen methyl ester. The results indicated that the C6P encapsulated lipase has significantly higher conversion and enantioselectivity as compared to the free lipase; other encapsulated lipases and CnP-L. The optimal pH and temperature region of the C6P encapsulated lipase in the kinetic resolution of the R/S-naproxen methyl ester were 7.0 and 55?°C. Nevertheless, the encapsulated lipases have good stability, adaptability and reusability in comparison with the free enzyme.