Polyfluorene Thin Films Synthesized by a Novel Plasma Polymerization Method

The synthesis of polyfluorene (PF) thin films by simultaneously superposing a continuous and pulsed discharge and the characterizations of these samples are presented. The double discharge plasma system is constructed by superposing two discharges; namely, a low pressure dc glow one and a high current pulsed one. The fluorene monomer in powder form was vaporized in the system at argon plasma without any modification, at 0.5 mbar operating pressure. The structure of the thin films was investigated via XPS, UV–visible, FTIR, XRD and SEM. The FTIR and the UV–visible results revealed that the fluorene structure was retained at the produced samples. Semi-conducting behavior was established, and upon the iodine doping, the optical energy band gap (E _g ) dropped down from 3.7 to 2.4 eV. The morphology of the synthesized PF thin films was amorphous, with granular structures of different sizes depending on the location of the substrate.     

Photopolymerization of enzymatically synthesized methacrylated poly(caprolactone) with poly(ethylene glycol) macromonomer

Polycaprolactone (PCL) based α,ω-methacrylated macromonomer (DMPCL) was synthesized via enzymatic ring-opening polymerization (eROP) by using Novozyme 435 as the enzyme immobilized catalyst. DMPCL was further photopolymerized with monofunctional poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA-950) macromonomer and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) as tri-functionalized crosslinking agent in glass vials when CHCl₃ was the solvent and Irgacure 819 was the photoinitiator. Ultraviolet (UV) Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs enabled photoinduced reactions at room temperature with low heat generation and high reaction efficiency. The obtained gels were characterized with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). DMPCL participated as an effective crosslinking agent in the photopolymerization of PEGMA-950. Combined usage of DMPCL and PEGMA-950 resulted in significantly more effective polymerization than the separate photopolymerizations of these macromonomers.     

Resonant production of color octet muons at Future Circular Collider-based muon-proton colliders

We investigate the resonant production of color octet muons in order to explore the discovery potential of Future Circular Collider(FCC)-based μp colliders.It is shown that the search potentials of μp colliders essentially surpass the potential of the LHC and would exceed that of the FCC pp collider.     

Carrier‐Mediated Transport of Hg(II) through Bulk and Supported Liquid Membranes

The transport of Hg (II) ions from an aqueous solution into an aqueous receiving solution through bulk and supported liquid membranes containing a calix[4]arene derivative 1 as a carrier was examined. The kinetic parameters of bulk liquid membrane studies were analyzed assuming two consecutive, irreversible first‐order reactions. The influence of temperature, stirring rate, carrier concentration and solvent on the kinetic parameters (k₁, k₂, R_m ^max, t_max, J_d ^max, J_a ^max) has also been investigated. The membrane entrance rate, k₁, and the membrane exit rate, k₂, increased with increasing temperature and stirring rate. The activation energy values are calculated as 4.87 and 48.63 kj mol^?1 for extraction and reextraction, respectively. The values of calculated activation energy indicate that the process is diffusionally controlled by species. Also, the transport behavior of Hg²⁺ from aqueous solution through a flat‐sheet supported liquid membrane has been investigated by the use of calix[4]arene derivative 1 as carrier and Celgard 2500 as the solid support. A Danesi mass transfer model was used to calculate the permeability coefficients for each parameter studied. The highest values of permeability were obtained with 2‐nitrophenyloctyl‐ether (NPOE) solvent and the influence was found to be in the order of NPOE>chloroform>xylene.     

A novel synthesis of (3,6-bis(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-9-(4-vinylbenzyl)-9H-carbazole), alternating polymer formation, characterization, and capacitance measurements

In this work, (3,6-bis(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-9-(4-vinylbenzyl)-9H-carbazole) (EDOTVBCz) comonomer was chemically synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance, and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. EDOTVBCz was electrocoated on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in various initial molar concentrations ([EDOTVBCz]₀?=?1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0) in 0.1 M lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄)/acetonitrile (CH₃CN). P(EDOTVBCz)/GCE was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, FTIR reflectance-attenuated total reflection spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray analysis, atomic force microscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). EIS was used to determine the capacitive behaviors of modified GCE via Nyquist, Bode magnitude, Bode phase, and admittance plots. The highest low-frequency capacitance value was obtained as C _LF?=?～2.35 mF cm^?2 for [EDOTVBCz]₀?=?3.0 mM. Double-layer capacitance of the polymer/electrolyte system was calculated as C _dl?=?～2.78 mF cm^?2 for [EDOTVBCz]₀?=?1.0 and 3.0 mM. The maximum phase angle was obtained as θ?=?～76.7^o for [EDOTVBCz]₀?=?1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 mM at the frequency of 20.6 Hz. AC impedance spectra of P(EDOTVBCz)/LiClO₄/CH₃CN was obtained by performing electrical equivalent circuit model of R(Q(R(CR))) with linear Kramers–Kronig test.

Synthesis, characterization and some properties of epoxy resins containing azomethine bonding

New epoxy resins were prepared from hydroxyl substituted Schiff base monomers in two steps. The first step is based on the synthesis of hydroxyl substituted Schiff base monomers via condensation reaction. The second step includes the reaction between Schiff base monomers with epichlorohydrine (EPC) to obtain epoxy resins. The structures of resulting compounds were confirmed by FTIR and ¹H-NMR. TG-DTA and DSC measurements were made for thermal characterizations of the compounds. Chemical resistances of the cured epoxy-amine systems in acidic, alkaline and organic solvents were determined for coating applications. HCl (aqueous solution, 10%), NaOH (aqueous solution, 10%), DMSO, DMF, N-methylpyrrolidone, ethanol, THF and acetone were used for corrosion tests. Chemical resistance data show that the synthesized resins have good chemical resistance against various acid, alkaline and common organic solvents.     

Corrosion prevention of mild steel in acidic medium by 2-Pyrrolidin-1-yl-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid: Theoretical and experimental approach

The inhibition efficiency of 2-Pyrrolidin-1-yl-1,3-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid (PTCA) against mild steel (MS) corrosion was investigated in acidic solution by using quantum chemical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) method and electrochemical measurements. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic, potential zero charge (pzc) analysis and electrochemical noise (EN) measurements at various concentrations (from 0.1 to 10 mM) and immersion times were utilized in experimental part. The surface analysis was achieved scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle measurements in the absence and presence of 10 mM PTCA. According to DFT results, PTCA exhibited 3.737 eV band gap and 8.130 Debye dipole moment which were a signal of potentially convenient corrosion inhibitor properties. PTCA has a remarkable corrosion inhibition capability to mild steel, which inhibited both anodic and cathodic corrosion rates, relying on it's physically adsorption on the metal solution interface and protection ability was increased with increasing PTCA concentration. The obtained adsorption equilibrium constant was 11.11 × 10³ M^-1 and calculated standard free energy of adsorption was ?33.03 kJ mol^?1. The determined activation energy values were 55.58 kJ mol^?1 and 96.86 kJ mol^?1 in 0.5 M HCl in the absence and presence of 10 mM PTCA, respectively. PTCA demonstrated a strong inhibition efficiency of 98.3%, after 168 h immersion, according to the EIS results. As a consequently, we recommend that PTCA is a convenient inhibitor in 0.1 M HCl for mild steel protection against corrosion.