Cholesteric states of micellar solutions

The effects of optically active compounds on amphiphilic nematics are reported. The following systems have been studied : (1) caesium decylsulphate, decanol, water plus tartaric acid ; (2) ammonium decylsulphate, ammonium sulphate, decanol, water plus brucine sulphate ; and (3) decylammonium chloride, water plus cholesterol. Phase transitions to cholesteric states are induced by the optically active compounds in all systems. Brucine sulphate has the highest twisting power ; tartaric acid the lowest. The results are analysed on the basis of intermolecular interactions and an explanation is proposed for the observed differences in twisting power.     

Hybrid sol–gel coatings doped with transition metal ions for the protection of AA 2024-T3

The protective capabilities of sol–gel coatings are determined by their physical barrier properties. For an effective protection, a homogenous crack-free material is required, which prevents from attacks of corrosive species. When the coating is damaged, active corrosion protection is usually achieved by the use of inhibitors. Among the different inhibitors rare earth ions and especially cerium have shown effective inhibiting properties. Due to the complexity of the corrosion processes, a combination of inhibitors is expected to be superior to a monocomponent inhibiting. The aim of this study was to prove which other ions, used in combination with cerium, can improve the corrosion protection abilities of hybrid silica based inorganic–organic sol–gel coatings applied on aluminium alloy 2024 substrates. Mixtures of cerium nitrate with two other potential inhibitor substances were incorporated into a sol–gel matrix and their behaviour in neutral salt spray test and during EIS measurements was investigated. The Ce–P–Pr inhibitor combination (Ce³⁺, PO₄ ³⁻, Pr³⁺) has shown the best long-term corrosion protection properties at low doping levels.     

Zero-sum problems with congruence conditions

For a finite abelian group G and a positive integer d, let s _dℕ(G) denote the smallest integer ℓ∈ℕ₀ such that every sequence S over G of length |S|≧ℓ has a nonempty zero-sum subsequence T of length |T|≡0 mod d. We determine s _dℕ(G) for all d≧1 when G has rank at most two and, under mild conditions on d, also obtain precise values in the case of p-groups. In the same spirit, we obtain new upper bounds for the Erdős–Ginzburg–Ziv constant provided that, for the p-subgroups G _p of G, the Davenport constant D(G _p ) is bounded above by 2exp  (G _p )−1. This generalizes former results for groups of rank two.     

Activated carbon obtained from sapelli wood sawdust by microwave heating for o-cresol adsorption

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Activated carbon (AC) was prepared from sapelli wood sawdust using a microwave heating process. The biomass was mixed with inorganic components...