A green,efficient and recyclable poly(4-vinylpyridine)-supported copper iodide catalyst for the synthesis of coumarin derivatives under solvent-free conditions

Poly(4-vinylpyridine)-supported copper iodide is reported as a green, efficient and recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of coumarin derivatives by the Pechmann reaction under solvent-free conditions. This catalyst can be recovered by simple filtration and recycled up to eight consecutive runs without any loss of their efficiency.     

Effect of Functionalized Benzene Derivatives as Potential Hole Scavengers for BiVO4 and rGO-BiVO4 Photoelectrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Sustainable hydrogen production is one of the main challenges today in the transition to a green and sustainable economy. Photocatalytic hydrogen production is one of the most promising technologies, amongst which BiVO₄-based processes are highly attractive due to their suitable band gap for solar-driven processes. However, the performance of BiVO₄ alone in this role is often unsatisfactory. Herein we report the improvement of BiVO₄ performance with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as a co-catalyst for the photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC-WS) in the presence of simple functionalized benzene derivatives (SFBDs), i.e., phenol (PH), benzoic acid (BA), salicylic acid (SA), and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) as potential photogenerated hole scavengers from contaminated wastewaters. Linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry, along with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were utilized to elucidate PEC-WS performance under illumination. rGO has remarkably improved the performance of BiVO₄ in this role by decreasing photogenerated charge recombination. In addition, 5-ASA greatly improved current densities. After 120 min under LED illumination, 0.53 μmol of H₂ was produced. The type and concentration of SFBDs can have significant and at times opposite effects on the PEC-WS performance of both BiVO₄ and rGO-BiVO₄.     

Fabrication of a Novel Electrochemical Sensor for Determination of Riboflavin in Different Drink Real Samples

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - In the present study an electrochemical sensor has been produced for measuring riboflavin with high sensitivity and selectivity. Deferential pulse technique...     

GFV solution on UTE mesh for transient modeling of concrete aging effects on thermal plane strains during construction of gravity dam

Considering variation of the material properties during early ages of construction, the strain–stress fields due to cement hydration induced transient temperature field in a section of a concrete dam are computed. The 2D matrix free Galerkin Finite Volume (GFV) method is utilized to solve temperature and plane-strain equations in a sequential manner on an Unstructured Triangular Elements (UTE) meshes. For the computed temperature field at each time step some iterative solutions are performed until the force equilibrium equations are converged. In the developed numerical model, a novel method to impose gradient boundary condition is introduced that is suitable for the GFV solution on UTE meshes. The results of the developed model is verified by comparing the computed results with the experimental measurements of some bench mark test cases, and good agreement is observed. To present the ability of the introduced model to model real problems, modeling time dependent thermal stress profiles during gradual construction of a concrete dam on a natural foundation is performed for both constant and variable mechanical properties conditions.     

A general synthetic route to indenofluorene derivatives as new organic semiconductors

A series of 2,6-disubstituted indenofluorene derivatives were obtained in high purity via a general route involving the Suzuki coupling reaction. The potential of these conjugated indenofluorenes as new organic semiconductors was demonstrated by the light-emitting diode reaching a high luminance of 1400 Cd/m(2) below 10 V. [structure: see text]     

Synergistic effect of graphene oxide nanoplatelets and cellulose nanofibers on mechanical,thermal, and barrier properties of thermoplastic starch

In recent years, because of the limited availability of oil resources and the increasing concerns regarding environment protection, much attention has been drawn to produce packaging films based on degradable biopolymers instead of synthetic polymers. On the other hand, because of the high costs of oil extraction, raw materials and film production, and disposing of the waste products of synthetic films, the need to replace these films with less pollutant and more cost‐effective films is growing globally. In this study, to answer the need for replacing synthetic polymer films, nanocomposite films based on thermoplastic starch reinforced with cellulose nanofibers and graphene oxide nanoplatelets were produced and characterized. The results implied that the synergistic effect of cellulose nanofibers and graphene oxide nanoplatelets has played an important role in improving the mechanical properties of the films. The results showed that with the addition of cellulose nanofibers and graphene oxide nanoplatelets, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of starch film were increased from 3 and 32 MPa to 13 and 436 MPa, which corresponds to 438% and 1435% improvement, respectively. In addition, the oxygen permeability resistance and the water vapor transmission for samples containing 3 wt% of graphene oxide nanoplatelets was decreased by 78% and 30% compared with the thermoplastic starch film, respectively. The permeability coefficient of the samples containing 3 wt% graphene oxide nanoplatelets for oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide have proved to be 0.051, 0.054, and 0.047 barrer, which shows that these films can perform well as packaging films.     

An Efficient Isocyanide‐Based Three‐Component Diastereoselective Synthesis of Chromane‐3,4‐dicarboxamides

An efficient method for the diastereoselective synthesis of chromane‐3,4‐dicarboxamides via the three‐component reaction of 2‐oxo‐2H‐chromene‐3‐carboxylic acids, amines, and isocyanides in MeCN is reported.     

Cotton fabric incorporated with β-cyclodextrin/ketoconazole/Ag NPs generating outstanding antifungal and antibacterial performances

Cellulose - The influence of ketoconazole and β-CD/ketoconazole on cotton fabric as fungal skincare was previously reported however the impact of nanosilver on the antifungal and antibacterial...     

Isocyanide-based four-component synthesis of 1,3-indandionylamidinium betaines

An efficient approach for the synthesis of novel 1,3-indandionylamidinium betaines via four-component reaction of 1,3-indandione, aldehydes, amines, and isocyanides, without assistance of any catalyst and under mild reaction conditions has been reported. The structures of these compounds were confirmed by IR, mass spectroscopic, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.