Selecting green suppliers based on GSCM practices: Using fuzzy TOPSIS applied to a Brazilian electronics company

Due to an increased awareness and significant environmental pressures from various stakeholders, companies have begun to realize the significance of incorporating green practices into their daily activities. This paper proposes a framework using Fuzzy TOPSIS to select green suppliers for a Brazilian electronics company; our framework is built on the criteria of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. An empirical analysis is made, and the data are collected from a set of 12 available suppliers. We use a fuzzy TOPSIS approach to rank the suppliers, and the results of the proposed framework are compared with the ranks obtained by both the geometric mean and the graded mean methods of fuzzy TOPSIS methodology. Then a Spearman rank correlation coefficient is used to find the statistical difference between the ranks obtained by the three methods. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to examine the influence of the preferences given by the decision makers for the chosen GSCM practices on the selection of green suppliers. Results indicate that the four dominant criteria are Commitment of senior management to GSCM; Product designs that reduce, reuse, recycle, or reclaim materials, components, or energy; Compliance with legal environmental requirements and auditing programs; and Product designs that avoid or reduce toxic or hazardous material use.     

La détermination rapide du calcium et du magnésium dans l'eau de mer

A rapid method is described for the determination of calcium and magnesium in sea. water. The classical gravimetric methods are very lengthy and are susceptible to errors if used for sea-water. The two alkaline earths are determined by complexometric titration using complexen III (disodium ethylenediaminetetra-acetate) as reagent and two indicators (murexide and ériochrome black T) for the determination of calcium and for the sum of Ca⁺² and Mg⁺² ions. The quantity of magnesium is obtained by difference. While the classical gravimetric methods take at least 24 hours, these two determinations can be effected in 1 hour, giving satisfactory accuracy.     

Klein bottles and simple currents

The standard Klein bottle coefficient in the construction of open descendants is shown to equal the Frobenius-Schur indicator of a conformal field theory. Other consistent Klein bottle projections are shown to correspond to simple currents. These observations enable us to generalize the standard open string construction from C-diagonal parent theories to include non-standard Klein bottles. Using (generalizations of) the Frobenius-Schur indicator we prove positivity and integrality of the resulting open and closed string state multiplicities for standard as well as non-standard Klein bottles.     

On the Mechanical Properties of Popgraphene-Based Nanotubes: a Reactive Molecular Dynamics Study

Carbon-based tubular materials have sparked a great interest in future electronics and optoelectronics device applications. In this work, we computationally studied the mechanical properties of nanotubes generated from popgraphene (PopNTs). Popgraphene is a 2D carbon allotrope composed of 5-8-5 rings. We carried out fully atomistic reactive (ReaxFF) molecular dynamics for PopNTs of different chiralities ( and ) and/or diameters and at different temperatures (from 300 up to 1200 K). Results showed that the tubes are thermally stable (at least up to 1200 K). All tubes presented stress/strain curves with a quasi-linear behavior followed by an abrupt drop of stress values. Interestingly, armchair-like PopNTs ( ) can stand a higher strain load before fracturing when contrasted to the zigzag-like ones ( ). Moreover, it was obtained that Young's modulus (Y_Mod) (750–900 GPa) and ultimate strength (σ_US) (120–150 GPa) values are similar to the ones reported for conventional armchair and zigzag carbon nanotubes. Y_Mod values obtained for PopNTs are not significantly temperature-dependent. While the σ_US values for the showed a quasi-linear dependence with the temperature, the exhibited no clear trends.     

Zinc(II), cadmium(II), mercury(II), and ethylmercury(II) complexes of phosphinothiol ligands

Neutral zinc, cadmium, mercury(II), and ethylmercury(II) complexes of a series of phosphinothiol ligands, PhnP(C6H3(SH-2)(R-3))3-n (n = 1, 2; R = H, SiMe3) have been synthesized and characterized by IR and NMR ((1)H, (13)C, and (31)P) spectroscopy, FAB mass spectrometry, and X-ray structural analysis. The compounds [Zn{PhP(C6H4S-2)2}] (1) and [Cd{Ph2PC6H4S-2}2] (2) have been synthesized by electrochemical oxidation of anodic metal (zinc or cadmium) in an acetonitrile solution of the appropriate ligand. The presence of pyridine in the electrolytic cell affords the mixed complexes [Zn{PhP(C6H4S-2)2}(py)] (3) and [Cd{PhP(C6H4S-2)2}(py)] (4). [Hg{Ph2PC6H4S-2}2] (5) and [Hg{Ph2PC6H3(S-2)(SiMe3-3)}2] (6) were obtained by the addition of the appropriate ligand to a solution of mercury(II) acetate in methanol in the presence of triethylamine. [EtHg{Ph2PC6H4S-2}] (7), [EtHg{Ph2P(O)C6H3(S-2)(SiMe3-3)}] (8), [{EtHg}2{PhP(C6H4S-2)2}] (9), and [{EtHg}2{PhP(C6H3(S-2)(SiMe3-3))2}] (10) were obtained by reaction of ethylmercury(II) chloride with the corresponding ligand in methanol. In addition, in the reactions of EtHgCl with Ph2PC6H4SH-2 and with the potentially tridentate ligand PhP(C6H3(SH-2)(SiMe3-3)) 2, cleavage of the Hg-C bond was observed with the formation of [Hg{Ph2PC6H4S-2}2] (5) and [Hg(EtHg) 2{PhP(O)(C6H3(S-2)(SiMe3-3))2}2] (11), respectively, and the corresponding hydrocarbon. The crystal structures of [Zn3{PhP(C6H4S-2)2}2{PhP(O)(C6H4S-2)2}] (1*), [Cd2{Ph2PC6H4S-2}3{Ph2P(O)C6H4S-2}] (2*), 3, 5, 6, [EtHg{Ph2P(O)C6H4S-2}] (7*), 8, 9, [{EtHg}2{PhP(O)(C6H3(S-2)(SiMe3-3))2}] (10*), and 11 are discussed. The molecular structures of 1, 2, 4, 7, and 10 have also been studied by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations.     

Mechanism of copper underpotential deposition at Pt(<Emphasis Type="Italic">hkl</Emphasis>)-electrodes: Quantum-chemical modelling

Mechanism of copper underpotential deposition at stepped faces of platinum single crystals Pt(hkl) is studied using cyclic voltammetry, scanning probe microscopy, and quantum-chemical modelling. It is shown that the first stage of UPD is one-dimensional decoration of the (100)- or (110)-orientated steps, then copper monolayer forms at (111)-terraces. The final stage is the secondary step decoration. Quantum-chemical modelling, with the using of long-distance potentials of the Cu-Pt and Cu-Cu pair interactions, allows estimating the energy of copper adsorption at different structure elements of the substrate (steps, kinks, terraces) and revealing the succession of the adatom monolayer formation; it also provides additional information for the identifying of the nature of voltametric peaks for different stages of the copper adsorption-desorption.     

Synthesis and Study of the Photophysical Properties of a New Eu<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Complex with 3-Hydroxypicolinamide

This work reports on the synthesis and characterization of a new complex of Eu³⁺ with the 3-hydroxypicolinamide ligand (Hhpa). Here we present an approach for obtaining bis[2-carbamoyl(κO)pyridin-3-olato(κO’)] lanthanide complexes, which were characterized through elemental analysis, thermal analysis, infrared and photoluminescence spectroscopies (emission, excitation, luminescence lifetimes, quantum efficiencies, Judd-Ofelt parameters and quantum yields). Although hpa can act as a bidentate ligand in different conformations, the results attest for the occurrence of a unique coordination site of low symmetry for the Eu³⁺ ions, in which two anionic hpa ligands coordinate the cations through an O/O chelating system. The phosphorescence of the synthesized gadolinium complex provides the energy of the triplet state, which is determined to be at 20,830 cm^-1 over the ground state. This makes the Hhpa ligand very adequate for sensitizing the Eu³⁺ luminescence, which leads to a very efficient antenna effect and opens a wide range of applications for the complex in light emitting organic-inorganic devices.     

A systematic density functional theory study of the electronic structure of bulk and (001) surface of transition-metals carbides

A systematic study of the bulk and surface geometrical and electronic properties of a series of transition-metal carbides (TMC with TM = Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, and W) by first-principles methods is presented. It is shown that in these materials the chemical bonding is strongly covalent, the cohesive energies being directly related to the bonding-antibonding gap although the shift of the center of the C(2s) band related peak in the density of states with respect to diamond indicates that some metal to carbon charge transfer does also take place. The (001) face of these metal carbides exhibits a noticeable surface rumpling which grows along the series. It is shown that neglecting surface relaxation results in very large errors on the surface energy and work function. The surface formation induces a significant shift of electronic energy levels with respect to the corresponding values in the bulk. The extent and nature of the shift can be understood from simple bonding-antibonding arguments and is enhanced by the structural rippling of this surface.     

Thermochemical study of some methoxytetralones

The standard (p^° = 0.1 MPa) molar energies of combustion in oxygen, at T = 298.15 K, of 5-, 6- and 7-methoxy-α-tetralone were measured by static bomb calorimetry. The values of the standard molar enthalpies of sublimation were obtained by Calvet microcalorimetry and corrected to T = 298.15 K. Combining these results, the standard molar enthalpies of formation of the compounds, in the gas phase, at T = 298.15 K, have been calculated, 5-methoxy-α-tetralone -(244.8 ± 1.9) kJ · mol^?1, 6-methoxy-α-tetralone ?(243.0 ± 2.8) kJ · mol^?1 and 7-methoxy-α-tetralone ?(242.3 ± 2.6) kJ · mol^?1.Additionally, high-level density functional theory calculations using the B3LYP hybrid exchange–correlation energy functional with extended basis sets and more accurate correlated computational techniques of the MCCM/3 suite have been performed for the compounds. The agreement between experiment and theory gives confidence to estimate the enthalpy of formation of 8-methoxy-α-tetralone. Similar calculations were done for the 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-methoxy-β-tetralone, for which experimental work was not done.