Water-in-Hydrocarbon Emulsions Stabilized by Asphaltenes at Low Concentrations

The role of Athabasca asphaltene particles and molecules in stabilizing emulsions was examined by measuring the surface area of water-in-toluene/hexane emulsions stabilized by various asphaltene fractions, each with a different proportion of soluble and insoluble asphaltenes. The stabilized interfacial area was found to depend only on the amount of soluble asphaltenes. Furthermore, the amount of asphaltenes on the interface was consistent with molecular monolayer coverage. Hence, at low concentrations, asphaltenes appear to both act as a molecular surfactant and stabilize emulsions. The effect of the hexane : toluene ratio on emulsion stability was examined as well. At lower hexane : toluene ratios, more asphaltenes were soluble but the surface activity of a given asphaltene molecule was reduced. The two effects oppose each other but, in general, a smaller fraction of asphaltenes appeared to stabilize emulsions at lower hexane : toluene ratios. The results imply that the emulsifying capacity of asphaltenes is reduced but not eliminated in better solvents. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

The optical theorem and forward glory effects in heavy-ion scattering

A detailed discussion of the optical theorem for heavy-ion scattering is given. It is pointed out that a careful application of this theorem to light heavy-ion systems may yield information about the nuclear interaction at distances corresponding to forward glory trajectories. Applications to several cases are presented.     

Low-lying levels of 140Pr

The doubly odd nucleus ¹⁴⁰Pr has been investigated by means of the ¹⁴¹Pr(d, t)¹⁴⁰Pr and ¹⁴⁰Ce(p, nγ)¹⁴⁰Pr reactions. Twenty-eight levels, up to 1300 keV excitation, were observed in the pickup study. DWBA analysis was used to determine l-values and spectroscopic factors for all but a few which are very weakly populated. Gamma-ray angular distributions, measured at E_p = 4.78 MeV for the five strongest γ-rays, show appreciable nuclear alignment and demonstrate the feasibility of such experiments in this mass region. Taken together, the two studies have permitted the identification of the 12 levels expected from the low-lying ($\text{π2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{ν2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$), ($\text{π2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{ν3}\text{s}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$), ($\text{π1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{ν2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$) and (π1g_{$\text{7}\text{2}$}ν3s_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}^?1) configurations. Tenta assignments for the strong odd-parity states are suggested on the basis of their spectroscopic factors.     

Synthesis and characterization of polystyrene‐graphite nanocomposites via surface RAFT‐mediated miniemulsion polymerization

Graphite oxide (GO) was prepared and immobilized with dodecyl isobutyric acid trithiocarbonate (DIBTC) reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent. The hydroxyl groups of GO were attached to the DIBTC RAFT agent through an esterification process. The resultant modified GO was used for the preparation of polystyrene (PS)/graphite nanocomposites in miniemulsion polymerization. The RAFT‐grafted GO (GO‐DIBTC) at various loadings was dispersed in styrene monomer, and the resultant mixtures were sonicated in the presence of a surfactant (sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate) and a hydrophobe (hexadecane) to form miniemulsions. The stable miniemulsions thus obtained were polymerized using azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator to yield encapsulated PS‐GO nanocomposites. The molar mass and polydispersity index of PS in the nanocomposites depended on the amount of RAFT‐grafted GO in the system, in accordance with the features of the RAFT polymerization method. The PS‐GO nanocomposites were of exfoliated morphology, as confirmed by X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements. The thermal stability and mechanical properties of the PS‐GO nanocomposites were better than those of the neat PS polymer. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were dependent on the modified GO content (i.e., the amount of RAFT‐grafted GO). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Pore growth in heavy ion-irradiated PET foils using a constructed ECE unit

A well performance Electrolytic Controlled Etching (ECE) unit has been designed and constructed in our laboratory. Low electric field strength of few volts and a 2 kHz wave signals has been applied across the electrodes that confined the 9 and 12 μm thick PET foils in the ECE unit. PET foils were exposed to fission fragments (FF_S) using ²⁵²Cf source. The dependence of different measurable parameters such as FF_S fluence (Φ), applied voltage (V), etching temperature (T) and etching concentration (C) on both track etch rate (V _T) and breakthrough time (T _B) have extensively been studied using the FF_S-irradiated PET foils. Various empirical relationships connecting the results of the present work have been extracted. Moreover, the constructed ECE technique has proven to be an encouraged time saving method in the development of trusting measurements comparing with others that might involve expensive sophisticated tools.     

High Energy Nucleus–Nucleus Collisions in View of the Multi-Peripheral Model

The hypothesis of the ulti-peripheral odel is extended to the hadron –nucleus interactions and then generalized to the nucleus –nucleus case. The processing of the odel depends on input parameters that are extracted fro the features of the experiments in this .eld.The number of encountered nucleons from both target and projectile are estimated according to the eikonal scattering approach.The screening effect due to the interaction of the projectile nucleons in successive manner with the target nucleus is considered.The rapidity distributions of fast particles are reproduced for the successive collisions in p –S and 32 S –32 S interactions at 200 A GeV.A global fair agreement is found in comparison with data of the experi ent CERN-NA-035.