Synthesis of a highly active amino‐functionalized Fe3O4@SiO2/APTS/Ru magnetic nanocomposite catalyst for hydrogenation reactions

An amino‐functionalized silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite (Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/APTS) was synthesized. The Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ microspheres possessed a well‐defined core–shell structure, uniform sizes and high magnetization. An immobilized ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst (Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/APTS/Ru) was obtained after coordination and reduction of Ru³⁺ on the Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/APTS nanocomposite. The Ru nanoparticles were not only ultra‐small with nearly monodisperse sizes but also had strong affinity with the surface of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/APTS. The obtained catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of a variety of aromatic nitro compounds, even at room temperature. Moreover, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂/APTS/Ru was easily recovered using a magnetic field and directly reused for at least five cycles without significant loss of its activity.     

Synergistic effect of thermoplastic phenolic resin and multiwalled carbon nanotubes on the crystallization of polyoxymethylene

To reduce the crystallization rate of polyoxymethylene (POM) to meet the requirement of thick-walled and large-sized articles production, and maintain high crystallinity as well as obtain refined crystalline grains to ensure the strength and stiffness simultaneously, thermoplastic phenolic resin (PF) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as crystal growth inhibitor and nucleating agent, respectively, and their effects on the crystallization of POM were studied in details. The results showed that PF is an effective inhibitor and MWCNTs exhibits excellent nucleation effect on POM. Based on the obtained results, their synergistic influences on the crystallization process of POM were investigated. It is found that the objective of decreasing the crystallization rate while maintaining high crystallinity and forming fine crystalline grains can be realized. The 97/3/1 wt% POM/PF/MWCNTs, compared with those of neat POM, The T _c shifts by 3.3°C to a lower temperature, the crystallization enthalpy increases by 16.1 J/g and the full width at half-maximum widens by 48.5%. The modulation effect of PF and MWCNTs on the crystallization is closely related to the PF content and dispersion, the distribution and dispersion of MWCNTs in the PF and POM phases.     

Family of curves with large unitary summand in the Hodge bundle

Mathematische Zeitschrift - In this note, we construct non-isotrivial families of curves of genus $$g\ge 2$$ , where the rank of the unitary summand contained in the Hodge bundle can be as large as...     

Renormalization Group Analysis of Models of Advection of a Vector Admixture and a Tracer Field by a Compressible Turbulent Flow

Theoretical and Mathematical Physics - Using a quantum field theory renormalization group, we consider models of advection of a vector field and a tracer field by a compressible turbulent flow....     

The spectral analysis and exponential stability of a bi‐directional coupled wave‐ODE system

In this paper, an unstable linear time invariant (LTI) ODE system is stabilized exponentially by the PDE compensato—a wave equation with Kelvin‐Voigt (K‐V) damping. Direct feedback connections between the ODE system and wave equation are established: The velocity of the wave equation enters the ODE through the variable v_t(1,t); meanwhile, the output of the ODE is fluxed into the wave equation. It is found that the spectrum of the system operator is composed of two parts: point spectrum and continuous spectrum. The continuous spectrum consists of an isolated point , and there are two branches of asymptotic eigenvalues: the first branch approaches to , and the other branch tends to ?∞. It is shown that there is a sequence of generalized eigenfunctions, which forms a Riesz basis for the Hilbert state space. As a consequence, the spectrum‐determined growth condition and exponential stability of the system are concluded.     

High Performance of PVA Nanocomposite Reinforced by Janus-like Asymmetrically Oxidized Graphene: Synergetic Effect of H-bonding Interaction and Interfacial Crystallization

Chinese Journal of Polymer Science - Macromolecule nanocrystal network and strong interfacial interaction are always beneficial to enhance the mechanical property of polymer-based nanocomposites....     

Estimating Individual Treatment Effect in Observational Data Using Random Forest Methods

Estimation of individual treatment effect in observational data is complicated due to the challenges of confounding and selection bias. A useful inferential framework to address this is the counterfactual (potential outcomes) model, which takes the hypothetical stance of asking what if an individual had received both treatments. Making use of random forests (RF) within the counterfactual framework we estimate individual treatment effects by directly modeling the response. We find that accurate estimation of individual treatment effects is possible even in complex heterogenous settings but that the type of RF approach plays an important role in accuracy. Methods designed to be adaptive to confounding, when used in parallel with out-of-sample estimation, do best. One method found to be especially promising is counterfactual synthetic forests. We illustrate this new methodology by applying it to a large comparative effectiveness trial, Project Aware, to explore the role drug use plays in sexual risk. The analysis reveals important connections between risky behavior, drug usage, and sexual risk. Supplementary material for this article is available online.     

Microstructural evolution of AZ31 magnesium alloy subjected to sliding friction treatment

Microstructural evolution and grain refinement mechanism in AZ31 magnesium alloy subjected to sliding friction treatment were investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy. The process of grain refinement was found to involve the following stages: (I) coarse grains were divided into fine twin plates through mechanical twinning; then the twin plates were transformed to lamellae with the accumulation of residual dislocations at the twin boundaries; (II) the lamellae were separated into subgrains with increasing grain boundary misorientation and evolution of high angle boundaries into random boundaries by continuous dynamic recrystallisation (cDRX); (III) the formation of nanograins. The mechanisms for the final stage, the formation of nanograins, can be classified into three types: (i) cDRX; (ii) discontinuous dynamic recrystallisation (dDRX); (iii) a combined mechanism of prior shear-band and subsequent dDRX. Stored strain energy plays an important role in determining deformation mechanisms during plastic deformation.