Antistatic PVC-graphene Composite through Plasticizer-mediated Exfoliation of Graphite

Multilayer graphene was prepared by mechanical exfoliation of natural graphite with dioctyl phthalate(DOP) as milling medium without solvent. The obtained mixture could be directly mixed with poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC) for melt-forming, with DOP acting as plasticizer and graphene acting as conductive filler for antistatic performance. The composite showed surface resistance of 2.5 ×10~6 Ω/□ at 1 wt% carbon additive, significantly lower than approx. 7 wt% of raw graphite required for achieving the same level. This value is low enough for practical antistatic criterion of 3 × 10~8 Ω/□. The effect of filler addition on mechanical performance was minimal, or even beneficial for the milled carbon in contrast to the case of raw graphite.     

Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Arylation of Benzofurans with Triarylantimony Difluorides for the Synthesis of 2-Arylbenzofurans

Pd-catalyzed regioselective C–H arylation is a useful tool for the chemical modification of aromatic heterocycles and 2-arylbenzofuran derivatives are of interest as biologically active substances. Herein, the reaction of triarylantimony difluorides with benzofurans under aerobic conditions in 1,2-DCE, using 5 mol% Pd (OAc)₂ and 2 eq. of CuCl₂ at 80 °C, produced a variety of 2-arylbenzofurans in moderate-to-high yields. The reaction is sensitive to the electronic nature of the substituents on the benzene ring of the triarylantimony difluorides: an electron-donating group showed higher reactivity than an electron-withdrawing group. Single crystal X-ray analysis of tri(p-methylphenyl) antimony difluoride revealed that the central antimony atom exhibits trigonal bipyramidal geometry.     

Construction of an electron analyzer with a wide acceptance solid angle

We have developed a new electron energy analyzer with a large solid angle of 0.14π, which is comparable to that of cylindrical mirror analyzer. Typical energy resolution was ΔE/E₀ ∼ 0.016 for the aperture of 1 mm and central radius of 100 mm, and typical angular resolution was less than 0.5°.     

Cloning and characterization of the gene cluster encoding arthrofactin synthetase from Pseudomonas sp. MIS38

Arthrofactin is a potent cyclic lipopeptide-type biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas sp. MIS38. In this work, an arthrofactin synthetase gene cluster (arf) spanning 38.7 kb was cloned and characterized. Three genes termed arfA, arfB, and arfC encode ArfA, ArfB, and ArfC, containing two, four, and five functional modules, respectively. Each module bears condensation, adenylation, and thiolation domains, like other nonribosomal peptide synthetases. However, unlike most of them, none of the 11 modules possess the epimerization domain responsible for the conversion of amino acid residues from L to D form. Possible L- and D-Leu adenylation domains specifically recognized only L-Leu. Moreover, two thioesterase domains are tandemly located at the C-terminal end of ArfC. These results suggest that ArfA, ArfB, and ArfC assemble to form a unique structure. Gene disruption of arfB impaired arthrofactin production, reduced swarming activity, and enhanced biofilm formation.     

Uniform boundedness of the solutions for a one-dimensional isentropic model system of compressible viscous gas

This paper studies an initial boundary value problem for a one-dimensional isentropic model system of compressible viscous gas with large external forces, represented by v _t –u _x =0,u _t +(av ^–) _x =(u _x /v) _x +f( ₀ ^x vdx,t), with (v(x, 0),u(x, 0))= (v ₀(x),u ₀(x)),u(0,t)=u(1,t)=0. Especially, the uniform boundedness of the solution in time is investigated. It is proved that for arbitrary large initial data and external forces, the problem uniquely has an uniformly bounded, global-in-time solution with also uniformly positive mass density, provided the adiabatic constant (>1) is suitably close to 1. The proof is based on L ²-energy estimates and a technique used in [9].     

Rotation sets of surface homeomorphisms

We consider the rotation setR of a homeomorphismf, isotopic to the identity, of a closed surface of genusg2. We show if Int(R) is nonempty and contains an element which is realized by an asymptotic measure, then all the rational points of Int(R) are realized by periodic orbits. We raise an example to show that the second condition above is indispensable ifg2. We also show that ifR contains a (g+1)-simplex whose vertices are realizable by periodic orbits, then the topological entropy off is positive.     

The simple solvent-free synthesis of 1H-quinazoline-2,4-diones using supercritical carbon dioxide and catalytic amount of base

Only supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) as a reactant and a solvent, and catalytic amount of base (DBU (1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene), DBN (1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene), Dabco^® (1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane), and triethylamine) afforded 1H-quinazoline-2,4-diones in good to excellent yields from 2-aminobenzonitriles. 6,7-Dimethoxy-1H-quinazoline-2,4-dione, which is a key intermediate of medicines (Prazosin, Bunazosin, and Doxazosin) was synthesized successfully in a 97% yield, using 0.1 equiv of DBU under scCO₂ (10 MPa) at 80 °C.     

Noncovalent wrapping of chemically modified graphene with π-conjugated disk-like molecules

A facile and scalable preparation of dispersion of isolated graphene in various organic solvents has been developed by combining between covalent and noncovalent functionalizations of the graphene surface. Covalently functionalized graphene (FRG) was prepared by the reaction of partially reduced graphene oxide with aryl diazonium salts, followed by the graphene oxide being completely reduced with hydrazine. The resulting FRG disperse readily in organic solvents such as N,N′-dimethylformamide (DMF) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone and the functionalization of graphene was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric thermogram, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The hydrophobic surface of FRG was noncovalently wrapped with aromatic hexakis-dodecylhexa-peri-benzocorone (HBC) by simply mixing of dispersion of FRG in DMF with toluene solution of HBC. The complexation of FRG and HBC was monitored by viewing the absorption and fluorescence spectral changes. Atomic force microscopic images confirmed that graphene was covalently and noncovalently functionalized, while keeping a two-dimensional sheet shape.