Demulsification of Solids‐Stabilized Emulsions Under Microwave Radiation

Experimental data are presented to show the influence of solid particles on demulsification. It was found that the solid particles could effectively resist demulsification. Compared with conventional heating, microwave radiation can enhance the demulsification rate by an order of magnitude and increase the demulsification effectiveness. The demulsification effectiveness of the emulsions stabilized by graphite powder can reach 82%–89% in a very short time under microwave radiation, whilst that of the emulsions stabilized by barium sulfate can attain 100% under similar conditions.     

Composition heterogeneity of tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene random copolymers characterized by successive self-nucleation and annealing

In the present work, successive self-nucleation and annealing (SSA) was applied to a series of tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene random copolymers (FEPs). Multiple melting peaks were observed for all FEP samples after SSA thermal treatment. The lamellar crystal thicknesses were calculated from the melting temperatures, and the mass percentages of the crystals of specific thickness were obtained from the areas of the melting peaks. As a result, distributions of the lamellar thickness, which can be correlated to the composition distribution, were determined. It was found that the composition distribution of the FEP samples tended to become more heterogeneous as the content of hexafluoropropylene (HFP) comonomer increases. Samples with the same HFP content might also have different composition distributions.     

Magnesium boride sintered as high-energy fuel

Boron was chosen as fuel owing to its excellent thermodynamic values for combustion. The difficulty of the boron in combustion is the formation of a surface oxide layer, which postpones the combustion process, reducing the performance of the rocket engine. In this paper, magnesium boride was sintered as high-energy fuel as a substitute for boron. The combustion heat and efficiency of magnesium boride and boron were determined using oxygen bomb calorimeter. The combustion characteristics of magnesium boride were investigated by thermal analysis, chemical analysis, XRD, and EDS. Results show that the combustion performance of magnesium boride are better than that of amorphous boron in oxygenated environments. The evaporation of magnesium in magnesium boride combustion process prevent the formation of a closed oxide layer, leading to higher combustion efficiency.     

IPET:测定独个生物大分子三维空间结构的实验方法

蛋白质的动态特性和结构活性对于蛋白质功能的调控具有根本意义。传统的结构确定方法(包括X射线和电子显微镜单颗粒分析技术等)往往需要成千上万不同蛋白质分子的平均信号,因此难以确定蛋白质分子的动态结构。而电子显微断层成像技术是一种对独个生物个体结构从不同的观测角度照相、并计算来恢复该个体的三维结构密度图的方法。传统的冷冻电子断层成像重构方法采用整个大尺寸电镜图像进行重构计算,通常用来研究细菌、细胞切片等大尺寸生物个体在较低分辨率下的结构;由于分辨率的限制,不足以获得小尺寸的蛋白质分子的结构细节。最近,任罡研究小组提出一种独个生物颗粒的电子显微断层成像方法(individual-particle electron tomography,IPET)。该方法通过减小图像尺寸(直至所选区域只包含单个蛋白质分子)的策略,运用提出的FETR(focused electron tomography reconstruction)算法来提高独个大分子重构的分辨率。此方法不需要初始模型和大量分子的平均信号,同时能够容忍一定的测角误差。本文综述了IPET/FETR方法在确定独个分子结构过程中的具体步骤以及如何应用该方法来研究蛋白动态特性和结构变化特征。期望通过该综述和国内同行交流,分享最新的前沿研究,为赶超世界科技前沿的建设添砖加瓦。     

Efficient Method for Synthesis of the Derivatives of 5‐Arylidene Barbituric Acid Catalyzed by Aminosulfonic Acid With Grinding

Aminosulfonic acid is an environmentally friendly catalyst. Grinding a mixture of aromatic aldehydes, barbituric acid, and H₂NSO₃H at room temperature (without any solvent) gave 5‐arylidene barbituric acid in high yields, providing a simple and efficient route to synthesis of these compounds.     

Clean,One‐Pot Synthesis of Naphthopyran Derivatives in Aqueous Media

A general and practical one‐pot synthesis of naphthopyran derivatives using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTMAB) as catalyst (10 mol%) is described. This method provides several advantages such as neutral conditions, high yields and simple workup procedure. The catalyst is low cost, facile, active, environmentally friendly, and reusable. In addition, water is chosen as a green solvent.     

Cascade reaction for 3-pyrrolines and pyrroles from nitroallylic acetates and N-mesyl 2-aminoethanones

Cascade reactions of nitroallylic acetates with methanesulfonyl 2-aminoethanones affords either the 3-pyrrolines or the pyrroles in one pot depending on reaction solvents and temperature. A possible mechanism for the entire sequence is proposed.     

Microstructural evolution during oxidative ablation in air for polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers with different graphite degrees

Polyacrylonitrile‐based carbon fibers with different graphite degrees were oxidative ablated at 500 and 600 °C in air. By Thermal gravimetric (TG), Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and SEM, the mass loss, microstructure, and surface morphology of carbon fibers were investigated. The mass loss of carbon fiber increases linearly with increasing oxidative ablated time under 500 and 600 °C. The carbon fiber with higher graphite degree shows higher oxidative resistance, and the surface roughness increases gradually because of chemical ablation during the whole oxidation. A gloss morphology appears on the surface primarily because of physical denudation for carbon fibers with lower graphite degree and then burn off according to carbon and oxygen reaction. The crystallite size (La) decreases significantly, while interlayer spacing(d₀₀₂) remains nearly unchanged. SEM observation suggests the two kinds of ablation mechanisms for carbon fibers with different graphite degrees indicating that CC band in sp³ hybridization prefers to be attacked by oxygen molecule more than that in sp² hybridization during oxidation ablation in air. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.