Studies of the rate of water evaporation through adsorption layers using drop shape analysis tensiometry

With modified measuring procedure and measuring cell design in the drop profile tensiometer PAT, it became possible to study the rate of water evaporation through adsorbed or spread surface layers. This method was employed to measure the rate of water evaporation from drops covered by adsorbed layers of some proteins and surfactants, in particular n-dodecanol. It was shown that the formation of dense (double or condensed) adsorbed layers of protein and the formation of 2D-condensed n-dodecanol layer decrease the water evaporation rate by 20-25% as compared with pure water. At the same time, the adsorbed layers of ordinary surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulfate and nonionic ethoxylated surfactant C(14)EO(8)) do not affect the water evaporation rate remarkably.     

Ensemble Effects in the Temperature-Dependent Photoluminescence of Silicon Nanocrystals

In this work the temperature-dependent photoluminescence of alkyl-capped silicon nanocrystals with mean diameters of between 3 and 9 nm has been investigated. The nanocrystals were characterized extensively by FTIR, TEM, powder XRD, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy prior to low-temperature and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy experiments. The photoluminescence (PL) properties were evaluated in the temperature range of 41–300 K. We found that the well-known temperature-dependent blueshift of the PL maximum decreases with increasing nanocrystal diameter and eventually becomes a redshift for nanocrystal diameters larger than 6 nm. This implies that the observed shifts cannot be explained solely by band-gap widening, as is commonly assumed. We propose that the luminescence of drop-cast silicon nanocrystals is affected by particle ensemble effects, which can explain the otherwise surprising temperature dependence of the luminescence peak.     

Molybdenum Schiff base-polyoxometalate hybrid compound: A heterogeneous catalyst for alkene epoxidation with tert-BuOOH

The hybrid compound consisting of molybdenum(salen) [salen = N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylnediamine] complex covalently linked to a lacunary Keggin-type polyoxometalate, K₈[SiW₁₁O₃₉] (POM), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H NMR and diffuse reflectance UV–Vis spectroscopic methods and BET analysis. The complex, [Mo(O)₂(salen)–POM], was studied, for the first time, in the epoxidation of various alkenes with tert-BuOOH and in 1,2-dichloroethane as solvent. This catalyst can catalyze epoxidation of various olefins including non-activated terminal olefins. The effect of the other parameters such as solvent, oxidant and temperature on the epoxidation of cyclooctene was also investigated. The interesting characteristic of this catalyst is that, in addition to being a heterogeneous catalyst, it gives higher yields towards epoxidation of olefins in comparison to the corresponding homogeneous [Mo(O)₂(salen)] complex.     

High refractive index materials: A structural property comparison of sulfide‐ and sulfoxide‐containing polyamides

High‐refractive‐index polyamides (PAs) are developed by incorporation of sulfide‐ or sulfoxide linkages and chlorine substituents. The PAs are synthesized through the polycondensation of two novel diamine monomers, 2,2′‐sulfide‐bis(4‐chloro‐1‐(4‐aminophenoxy) phenyl ether (3a) and 2,2′‐sulfoxide‐bis(4‐chloro‐1‐(4‐aminophenoxy) phenyl ether (3b), with various aromatic diacids (a–e). The ortho‐sulfide or sulfoxide units, pendant chlorine groups, and flexible ether linkages in the diamine monomers endowed the obtained PAs with excellent solubilities in organic solvents. The resulting PAs showed high thermal stability, with 10% weight loss temperatures exceeding 415 °C under nitrogen and 399 °C in air atmosphere. The combination of chlorine substituents, sulfide or sulfoxide linkages, and ortho‐catenated structures provided polymers with high transparency along with high refractive index values of up to 1.7401 at 632.8 nm and low birefringences (<0.0075). The structure–property relationships of the analogous PAs containing sulfide or sulfoxide linkages were also studied in detail by comparing the results. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2867–2877     

Supplier selection and order allocation problem using a two-phase fuzzy multi-objective linear programming

The aim of this paper is to solve a supplier selection problem under multi-price level and multi-product using interactive two-phase fuzzy multi-objective linear programming (FMOLP) model. The proposed model attempts to simultaneously minimize total purchasing and ordering costs, a number of defective units, and late delivered units ordered from suppliers. The piecewise linear membership functions are applied to represent the decision maker’s fuzzy goals for the supplier selection and order allocation problem, and can be resulted in more flexibility via an interactive decision-making process. To demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed model, results of applying the proposed model are shown by a numerical example. The analytical results show that the proposed approach is effective in uncertain environments and provide a reliable decision tool for integrated multi-objective supplier selection problems.     

Solution processable polyamides containing thiazole units and thioether linkages with high optical transparency,high refractive index,and low birefringence

A series of new organic‐soluble polyamides (PAs) bearing flexible thioether linkages and heteroaromatic thiazole units were synthesized from a novel thioether‐bridged diamine monomer (DA) and various commercially available aromatic dicarboxylic acids (1–5) via a direct polycondensation method. The resulting polymers were obtained in high yields and possessed inherent viscosities in the range of 0.41–0.80 dL g^?1. All of the polymers were amorphous in nature, exhibited good solubility and could be easily dissolved in amide‐type polar aprotic solvents and even dissolved in less polar solvents (e.g., tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, and acetone). They showed excellent thermal stability with glass transition temperatures between 207 and 239 °C and 10% weight loss temperatures in excess of 424 °C in nitrogen and 469 °C in air atmosphere. The optical transmittances of the PA films at 450 nm were higher than 85% for the thickness of ～10 μm. The combination of the thiazole moieties and flexible thioether linkages provided PAs with high average refractive indices (n_av) of 1.7414–1.7542 and low birefringences (Δn) of 0.0061–0.0087 at 632.8 nm. In particular, the n_av of PA‐5 derived from DA and 2,2′‐dithiodibenzoic acid exhibited the highest refractive index (1.7542) in the high refractive index PAs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3505–3515     

Demonstration of tunable complex refractive index of graphene covered one dimensional photonic crystals

Here, we report tunable complex optical properties of one dimensional photonic crystal covered by graphene layer, as a new optical material, in the visible spectral range. For this purpose, we fabricate two different structure as one dimensional photonic crystal, with photonic band gap which centered at 650 nm, by electron gun deposition method and the chemical vapor deposition has been used to synthesize graphene top layer. To demonstrate the optical properties of our two photonic crystals affected by graphene layer, we use the reflectance spectra of the samples as a function of incidence angle. Because the sufficient sensitivity of the refractive indices of the samples, we extract the real and imaginary part of these parameters in all of visible region as a tunable complex refractive index. Our results show that we have sufficient change due to excited plasmons in graphene layer by Bloch wave of photonic crystal which is very useful for sensor applications.     

An experimental and theoretical mechanistic analysis of thermal degradation of polypropylene/polylactic acid/clay nanocomposites

Polypropylene/polylactic acid (PP/PLA) blends containing 5 wt% of nanoclay in presence and absence of an ethylene‐butylacrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer as compatibilizer were prepared by melt‐mixing process. A matrix‐droplet–type morphology confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies is formed in presence and absence of the compatibilizer in which the clay platelets were mainly localized in the polylactic acid (PLA) dispersed phase. Degradation studies by means of thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and analysis of degradation activation energy (E_a), T_max (maximum degradation temperature), and ΔT (difference between initial and final degradation temperatures) parameters for each polymer component of the system revealed that incorporation of less stable PLA phase to polypropylene (PP) decreases E_a and T_max parameters, and hence, reduces the thermal stability of PP phase, while incorporation of clay nanoplatelets to the neat blend further reduces its thermal stability attributed to their lack of localization in PP phase. Compatibilization of the filled system results in migration of clay nanoplatelets toward PP and improves E_a and T_max of PP phase. On the other hand, the E_a and T_max of PLA phase of the blend were increased with incorporation of clay and its localization within that phase, while compatibilization of the filled system slightly reduces thermal stability of PLA phase due to migration of clay toward PP. A correlation was found between E_a and intensity of the thermogravimetry analysis Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA‐FTIR) peaks of the evolved products. Using the Criado method, a detailed analysis on degradation mechanism of each component was performed, and the changes in the degradation mechanism of the developed systems were determined.