Fabrication of Al/AlN nano‐composite layers by friction stir processing of 6061 Al‐T6 substrate

Friction stir processing was employed for the production of Al/AlN nano‐composite layers on a 6061 Al‐T6 substrate. Nano‐sized AlN powder was inserted in a groove in the middle length of the substrate. Defect‐free layers were achieved using tool rotation and substrate advancing speeds in the range of 900–1400 rpm and 63–310 mm/s, respectively. Subsequent passes were conducted to break‐up AlN clusters that formed in a non‐uniform fashion after initial pass. The grain size of aluminum matrix was found to decrease by the introduction of AlN powder. A nano‐composite layer with near uniform dispersion of nano‐sized AlN reinforcements with a ~9.6% volume fraction was achieved in a matrix of fine dynamically restorated Al grains with a mean size of ~2.5 µm after three subsequent passes. This layer showed an average micro hardness value of ~164 HV (much greater than ~103 HV of the underlying substrate). In addition, the nano‐composite layer exhibited superior dry sliding wear performance against hardened steel compared to that of 6061‐T6 substrate. Increasing tool rotation and substrate advancing speeds were found to decrease the AlN content of the processed layer possibly due to increasing in powder scattering by the pin tool. This was associated with a decrease and increase in hardness values and wear‐loss data, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radar Absorption Properties of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4/PANI/epoxy Nanocomposites

A nitrate? citrate gel was prepared from metallic nitrates and citric acid by sol? gel process and was further used to synthesize Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanocrystalline powder by auto‐combustion. Then, two novel 15 and 35% (w/w) magnetic Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ containing polyaniline nanocomposites, named as PANI‐Ni15 and PANI‐Ni35, respectively, were prepared via in‐situ polymerization of aniline in an aqueous solution containing proper amount of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ magnetic powder. The incorporation of the nanopowders to PANI matrix was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), IR and SEM. Synthesized PANI‐NiZn ferrite composite particles were subsequently added to an epoxy resin matrix to produce related nanocomposites. The morphological properties of these nanocomposite materials were investigated by SEM and TEM. The electromagnetic‐absorbing properties were studied by measuring the reflection loss in the frequency range of 8.0 to 12.0 GHz. Results showed the reflection loss of the PANI‐Ni35 composite is higher than pure polyaniline and PANI‐Ni15. The good reflection loss of the nanocomposites suggests their potential applicability as radar absorber.     

Co3O4 nanoparticles prepared by oxidative precipitation method: an efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for N-formylation of amines

Research on Chemical Intermediates - N-formylation of different amines was carried out with formic acid in the presence of the Co3O4 nanoparticles as an efficient, stable heterogeneous catalyst to...     

A Note on Ranking Fuzzy Numbers with an Area Method using Circumcenter of Centroids

In this study, we show that ranking fuzzy numbers with the area method using circumcenter of centroids presented by Rao and Shankar failed to rank effectively the generalized fuzzy numbers. By proving a theorem and using some numerical examples, we demonstrate that their proposed method cannot rank consistently some fuzzy numbers or is not consistent with human intuition.     

Aptamer based fluorometric acetamiprid assay using three kinds of nanoparticles for powerful signal amplification

The authors describe an aptamer-based fluorometric assay for the insecticide acetamiprid. It is based on target-induced release of the fluorescein-labeled complementary strand of the aptamer (CS) from the aptamer/CS conjugate (dsDNA). Three kinds of nanoparticles with opposite effects on the fluorophore (FAM) were used. These include gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) coated with streptavidin. In the presence of acetamiprid, FAM-labeled CS is released from the dsDNA-modified SNP-streptavidin complex and accumulates in the supernatant (phase I) after centrifugation. Fluorescence intensity decreases on addition of the supernatant to the SWNTs and AuNPs because they act as quenchers (phase II). In the absence of acetamiprid, the dsDNA-modified SiNP-streptavidin complex remains intact and no labeled CS is present in the supernatant containing the AuNPs and SWNTs. So, the relative fluorescence intensity is quite low. The assay is highly selective for acetamiprid and has a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 127 pM. The method was successfully applied to the determination of acetamiprid in spiked serum and water where it gave LODs of 198 and 130 pM, respectively.

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Graphical abstract In the absence of acetamiprid, the dsDNA-modified silica nanoparticle (SiNP)-streptavidin conjugate remains intact, leading to a very weak relative fluorescence intensity. In the presence of target, the dsDNA-modified SiNP-streptavidin complex is disassembled and FAM-labeled CS is released from the aptamer (Apt), resulting in a very strong relative fluorescence intensity.

     

Effects of Various Amounts of New Hepta-Ether as the Internal Donor on the Polymerization of Propylene with and without the External Donor

The new hepta-ether compound as the internal donor was synthesized using the Williamson reaction of dipentaerythritol with sodium hydride as the strong base and iodomethane as the alkyl halide. The hepta-ether compound was characterized by NMR, FTIR, and GC techniques. The MgCl₂-supported catalysts incorporated with different amounts of hepta-ether compound as the internal donor and without the internal donor were synthesized and characterized. The propylene polymerization was carried out using these catalysts in the presence of triethylaluminum as a co-catalyst and hydrogen as a chain transfer agent, with and without the external donor. The effect of a new internal donor on propylene polymerization using prepared MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts was investigated.     

Are Pro<Superscript>8</Superscript>/Pro<Superscript>18</Superscript> really critical for functional dynamic behavior of human endostatin N-terminal peptide? A comparative molecular dynamics study

Endostatin which is derived from the non-collagenous domain 1 of collagen XVIII and is a recently identified broad spectrum anti-angiogenesis agent, inhibits 65 different tumor types. The N-terminal fragment of endostatin protein (ES) has the same antitumor, antimigration and antipermeability effects as the entire protein. In the current study, we modeled two mutant variants of ES with two mutation sites (M1-ES (Pro⁸ → Ala) and M2-ES (Pro¹⁸ → Ala)) and tried to understand proline’s effect on the peptide structure/stability by introducing P⁸A/P¹⁸A mutations, and then in order to gain functional insight into mutation caused by amino acid substitution to the peptide structure/function, these effects were predicted using computational tools. From the RMSD analyses, it can be concluded that dynamic behavior of wild-type and mutant structures was not significantly different from each other and all systems reached equilibrium. The RMSF analysis also revealed that the M2-ES has smaller overall flexibility than the WT-ES and M1-ES structures. The radius of gyration analysis then confirmed the structure of M2-ES compared to wild-type and M1 variant becomes more compact during simulation of our systems. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation analysis shows that replacement of Pro residue with Ala is able to induce a distinct β-sheet in both mutant structures. Indeed, the docking analysis shows the WT-ES and M2-ES bind to the same region of α_vβ₃ integrin, suggesting similar interaction pattern with a relatively equal binding energy into this receptor. Our results speculated that the P⁸A/P¹⁸A replacements confer no improvement (or no tangible weakness) in the peptide biological activity although is able to change structural conformation of N-terminal fragment of human endostatin protein.     

PbS nanoparticles stabilized on HPG-modified FeNi3 as catalyst for synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromene under mild conditions

FeNi₃\SiO₂\HPG\PbS magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) catalyst was readily prepared from inexpensive starting materials in aqueous media which catalyzed the synthesis 2-amino-4H-chromene via intermittent microwave irradiation. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron micrographs, and scanning electron micrographs were employed to characterize the properties of the synthesized FeNi₃\SiO₂\HPG\PbS MNPs. High catalytic activity and ease of recovery from the reaction mixture using external magnet and several reuse times without significant losses in performance are additional eco-friendly attributes of this catalytic system.     

Rapid,efficient and selective reduction of aromatic nitro compounds with hydrazine hydrate in the presence of the plain and supported platinum nanoparticles as catalysts

The current study aimed at application of the plain and supported platinum nanoparticles as a heterogenous catalyst for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds. Monodispersed platinum nanoparticles were synthesized by reduction of H₂PtCl₆ by ethanol in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone as a stabilizer, and then were immobilized on four types of zeolites. The obtained catalyst granules were characterized by X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. The study then focused on elaboration of the catalytic activity of the nano catalysts under different operational conditions. It was found that reaction is adequately rapid at ambient temperature, and by utilizing a sufficient amount of catalyst, can be completed in nearly 30 min. Among the utilized zeolitic supports, zeolite 4A had the highest performance, but the mechanism of its synergetic effect on the activity of platinum nano catalyst was not found and requires more investigation.