Thioxanthone based water-soluble photoinitiators for acrylamide photopolymerization

The two water-soluble thioxanthone-based 2-(carboxymethoxy) thioxanthone, 1A and 2-thioxanthone-thioacetic acid sodium salts, 2A were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The quantum yield for fluorescence emission (φ_f) in water was found to be 0.50 for 1A and 0.05 for 2A. The long phosphorescence lifetime, that is 201 and 114 ms in a matrix at 77 K for 1A and 2A, respectively, indicates a π-π∗ nature of the lowest triplet state. The triplet lifetimes were determined by laser flash photolysis as 12 and 12.6 μs for 1A and 2A. Polymerization of acrylamide (AAm) was initiated by both initiators in water. Decarboxylation of initiators was achieved during 20 min of irradiation. It was found that 2A initiated polymerization of AAm in water more efficiently than 1A.     

A comparative study of Artificial Bee Colony algorithm

Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is one of the most recently introduced swarm-based algorithms. ABC simulates the intelligent foraging behaviour of a honeybee swarm. In this work, ABC is used for optimizing a large set of numerical test functions and the results produced by ABC algorithm are compared with the results obtained by genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm, differential evolution algorithm and evolution strategies. Results show that the performance of the ABC is better than or similar to those of other population-based algorithms with the advantage of employing fewer control parameters.     

A physical model for dimensional reduction and its effects on the observable parameters of the universe

We construct a physical model to study the effects of dimensional reduction that might have taken place during the inflationary phase of the universe. The model we propose is a (1 + D)-dimensional (D > 3), nonsingular, spatially homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann model. We consider dimensional reduction to take place in a stepwise manner and interpret each step as a phase transition. Independent of the details of the process of dimensional reduction, we impose suitable boundary conditions across the transitions and trace the effects of dimensional reduction to the currently observable parameters of the universe. In order to exhibit the cosmological features of the proposed model, we construct a (1 + 4)-dimensional toy model for both closed and open cases of Friedmann geometries. It is shown that in these models the universe makes transition into the lower dimension when the critical length parameter l _4,3, which signals dimensional reduction, reaches the Planck length in D = 3. The numerical models we present in this paper have the capability of making definite predictions about the cosmological parameters of the universe such as the Hubble parameter, age and density.     

Kinetic modeling of liquid-phase adsorption of phosphate on dolomite

The adsorption of phosphate from aqueous solution on dolomite was investigated at 20 and 40 degrees C in terms of pseudo-second-order mechanism for chemical adsorption as well as an intraparticle diffusion mechanism process. Adsorption was changed with increased contact time, initial phosphate concentration, temperature, solution pH. A pseudo-second-order model and intraparticle diffusion model have been developed to predict the rate constants of adsorption and equilibrium capacities.The activation energy of adsorption can be evaluated using the pseudo-second-order rate constants. The adsorption of phosphate onto dolomite are an exothermically activated process. A relatively low activation energy and a model highly fitting to intraparticle diffusion suggest that the adsorption of phosphate by dolomite may involve not only physical but also chemisorption. This was likely due to its combined control of chemisorption and intraparticle diffusion. However, for phosphate/dolomite system chemical reaction is important and significant in the rate-controlling step, and for the adsorption of phosphate onto dolomite the pseudo-second-order chemical reaction kinetics provides the best correlation of the experimental data.     

Photoinitiated polymerization of β-cyclodextrin/methyl methacrylate host/guest complex in the presence of water soluble photoinitiator, thioxanthone-catechol-O,O′-diacetic acid

β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used to complex the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA), yielding a water-soluble host/guest complex. Photoinitiated polymerization of β-CD/MMA complex was achieved in the presence of thioxanthone-catechol-O,O′-diacetic acid (TX-Ct), a one component water soluble photoinitiator. Photodecarboxylation of TX-Ct in water seems to be an important reaction mechanism. Therefore, resulting alkyl radicals are able to initiate the polymerization of β-CD/MMA host/guest complex in water.     

Existence of positive solutions for fourth‐order impulsive integral boundary value problems on time scales

This paper is devoted to the existence of positive solutions for a fourth‐order impulsive boundary value problem with integral boundary conditions on time scales. Existence results of at least two and three positive solutions are established via the double fixed point theorem and six functionals fixed point theorem, respectively. Also, an example is given to illustrate the theoretical results. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single-Chain Folding Nanoparticles as Carbon Nanotube Catchers

This contribution describes a simple method for preparing polymeric nanoparticles using photodimerization of anthracene moieties on the side chain of terpolymers in dilute regime and transformation of obtained polymeric nanoparticles into pyrene functional nanoparticles via Menschutkin quaternization procedure. Subsequently, pyrene possessing polymeric nanoparticles are attached onto multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) surfaces by π–π stacking strategy. Gel permeation chromatography, thermal gravimetric analysis, ultraviolet–visible, and fluorescence spectroscopies are used to analyze modified nanoparticles and their precursors. Electron microscopy and dispersion studies show that pyrene-modified polymeric nanoparticles are able to interconnect various CNTs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2709–2714     

Effects of Atmospheric Plasma Pretreatments on Pectinase Efficiency in Bioscouring of Linen Fabrics

Pectinase enzyme treatment subsequent to atmospheric air- or argon-plasma surface modification was applied in linen fabric preparation. Wettability by water drop test, wickability by thin layer wicking experiment, residual pectin content and colour of the fabrics were characterized. Results clearly proved that the efficiency of pectinase in improving linen water absorbency can be significantly enhanced by plasma pretreatment. Argon-plasma pretreatment followed by a Beisol PRO enzyme treatment reduced the wetting time considerably and resulted in a fabric surface that has been characterized by the lowest water contact angle (86.6??). All the applied treatments increased the energy of the fibre surface. The alkaline scoured, the argon-plasma treated and the argon-plasma-pectinase treated samples have been characterized by the highest $ \gamma_{S}^{total} $ values. Plasma treatment significantly decreased the whiteness and increased the yellowness of the raw fabrics. However, the enzyme treatment applied after the plasma treatment has overcome the colour differences.