Alizarin-modified sulfonate carbon nanoparticles in vanadium sensing

The adsorption processes of alizarin onto hydrophilic carbon nanoparticles (Emperor 2000?) are investigated. The significant increase in voltammetric responses for pre-adsorbed alizarin compared with those for solution confirms high affinity of alizarin to carbon nanoparticles (possibly due to π–π stacking interaction between aromatic rings of alizarin and surface-sulfonated carbon nanoparticles). To obtain the optimum of adsorption conditions, the effects of pH, agitation rate, and adsorption time are investigated. Under square wave voltammetry conditions, the peak current for the reduction of alizarin shows a linear relationship with concentration in the range from 2.0 to 10.0 nM. The limit of detection is estimated 5.8?×?10^?9 mol L^?1. Next, alizarin is applied as a receptor for sensing of trace vanadium in acetate buffer pH 5. Linear calibration curves are obtained for vanadium in the range of 1.0?×?10^?6 to 1.0?×?10^?4 mol L^?1 and the limit of detection is estimated 9.6?×?10^?8 mol L^?1. Determination of vanadium in real samples such as sea and tap water is demonstrated.     

Particle size effects in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis by Co catalyst supported on carbon nanotubes

The effect of Co particle size on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) activity of carbon nanotube (CNT)-supported Co catalysts was investigated. Microemulsion (using water-to-surfactant molar ratios of 2 to12) and impregnation techniques were used to prepare catalysts with different Co particle sizes. Kinetic studies were performed to understand the effect of Co particle size on catalytic activity. Size-dependent kinetic parameters were developed using a thermodynamic method, to evaluate the structural sensitivity of the CNT-supported Co catalysts. The size-independent FTS reaction rate constant and size-independent adsorption parameter increased with increasing reac-tion temperature. The Polani parameter also depended on catalyst particle size, because of changes in the catalyst surface coverage.     

Some remarks on the Hodge conjecture for abelian varieties

We show how the classical Hodge conjecture for the middle cohomology of an abelian variety is equivalent to the general Hodge conjecture for the middle cohomology of a smooth ample divisor in the abelian variety. This is best suited to abelian varieties with actions of imaginary quadratic fields.     

Top local cohomology modules and Gorenstein injectivity with respect to a semidualizing module

Let ${(R, \mathfrak{m})}$ be a commutative Noetherian local ring of Krull dimension d, and let C be a semidualizing R-module. In this paper, it is shown that if R is complete, then C is a dualizing module if and only if the top local cohomology module of ${R, H _{\mathfrak{m}} ^{d} (R)}$ , has finite G _C -injective dimension. This generalizes a recent result due to Yoshizawa, where the ring is assumed to be complete Cohen-Macaulay.     

Uniqueness of the entanglement measure for bipartite pure states and thermodynamics

We apply the axiomatic approach to thermodynamics presented by Giles to derive a unique measure of entanglement for bipartite pure states. This implies that local manipulations of entanglement in quantum information theory and adiabatic transformations of states in thermodynamics have the same underlying mathematical structure. We discuss possible extensions of our results to mixed and multipartite states.     

Particle plasmon‐induced charge trapping at heterointerfaces in PCDTBT:PC70BM blends

We investigate the influence of particle plasmons on exciton and charge generation and recombination processes in the blend of poly (9‐(1‐octylnonyl)‐9H‐carbazole‐benzothiadiazole‐4,7‐diyl‐2,5‐thiophenediyl) (PCDTBT) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₇₀butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₀BM). The particle plasmons are generated from gold nanoparticles, which are embedded into PCDTBT:PC₇₀BM blend. For the blend with gold nanoparticles, we observe enhance light harvesting. Despite the enhanced light collection, we find that the quasi‐steady‐state charge generation has not been influenced by the particle plasmons. However, the generation and recombination of long‐lived (sub‐millisecond) polaron paris have been significantly enhanced: from untrapped state in the pristine blend to the trapped state in the gold nanoparticle‐embedded blend. This result implies that the plasmon‐influenced polarons are trapped at the broadband geminate polaron pair (GPP) state. This state acts as an intermediate state, which either leads to the formation of charge transfer excitons (CTXs) or free charge carriers. In our case, the particle plasmon‐influenced polarons are trapped in the GPP state, which leads to the formation of CTXs. For this reason, we do not observe the enhanced charge generation in PCDTBT:PC₇₀BM blend with particle plasmon resonance. Finally, we revealed that the long‐lived polarons mainly resulted from the localization by particle plasmons. The macroscopic modification in the blend film made negligible contributions to this influence. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 940–947     

The Processing of Pyrolysis Fuel Oil by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Torch

In present paper, an atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma treatment of pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO) was investigated in dielectric barrier discharge plasma torch reactor. The effect of the applied voltage and the volume of feedstock, as the main parameters, on the cracking of PFO were studied. By increasing the applied voltage from 10 to 16 kV, the production rate of hydrocarbons containing methane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, propylene, and C₄ rise 18 times. In this case, the production rate of hydrogen increases by approximately 14 times and reaches 7.27 × 10^?3 mol/min for 16 kV. In the feedstock volume investigation, based on limitation of reactor volume, the production rate of hydrocarbons decreased from 0.44 × 10^?3 to 0.15 × 10^?3 mol/min by increasing volume of feedstock from 1 to 5 cc.     

Preparation,characterization, and assessment of cytotoxicity,antioxidant, antibacterial,antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing properties of titanium nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam leaves

In recent decades, nanotechnology is growing rapidly owing to its widespread application in science and industry. The aim of the experiment was chemical characterization and evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing activities of titanium nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam leaves (TiNPs@Ziziphora). These nanoparticles were characterized by fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV–visible spectroscopy. The synthesized TiNPs@Ziziphora had great cell viability dose‐dependently (Investigating the effect of the plant on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cell line) and revealed this method was nontoxic. Then, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging test was done to assess the antioxidant properties, which indicated similar antioxidant potentials for TiNPs@Ziziphora and butylated hydroxytoluene. Agar diffusion tests were applied to determine the antibacterial and antifungal characteristics. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) were specified by macro‐broth dilution assay. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software (Duncan post‐hoc test). TiNPs@Ziziphora indicated higher antibacterial and antifungal effects than all standard antibiotics (p ≤ 0.01). Also, TiNPs@Ziziphora inhibited the growth of all bacteria at 2‐16 mg/ml concentrations and removed them at 2‐32 mg/ml concentrations (p ≤ 0.01). In case of antifungal properties of TiNPs@Ziziphora, they prevented the growth of all fungi at 2‐8 mg/ml concentrations and destroyed them at 2‐16 mg/ml concentrations (p ≤ 0.01). In vivo experiment, after creating the cutaneous wound, the rats were randomly divided into six groups: untreated control, treatment with Eucerin basal ointment, treatment with 3% tetracycline ointment, treatment with 0.2% TiO₂ ointment, treatment with 0.2% Z. clinopodioides ointment, and treatment with 0.2% TiNPs@Ziziphora ointment. These groups were treated for 10 days. For histopathological and biochemical analysis of the healing trend, a 3 × 3 cm section was prepared from all dermal thicknesses at day 10. Use of TiNPs@Ziziphora ointment in the treatment groups substantially reduced (p ≤ 0.01) the wound area, total cells, neutrophil, and lymphocyte and remarkably raised (p ≤ 0.01) the wound contracture, hydroxyl proline, hexosamine, hexuronic acid, fibrocyte, and fibrocytes/fibroblast rate compared to other groups. In conclusion, the results revealed the useful non‐cytotoxic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing effects of TiNPs@Ziziphora.     

Nickel(II) Schiff base complex supported on nano‐titanium dioxide: A novel straightforward route for preparation of supported Schiff base complexes applying 2,4‐toluenediisocyanate

For the first time, a novel, straightforward and inexpensive route for immobilization of metals in Schiff base complex form is reported applying 2,4‐toluenediisocyanate as a precursor of primary amine group. A nickel(II) Schiff base complex supported on nano‐TiO₂ was designed and synthesized as an effective heterogeneous nanocatalyst for organic reactions, and well characterized using various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The catalytic efficiency of the complex was evaluated in selective oxidation of sulfide to sulfoxide by hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant under solvent‐free conditions at room temperature, which successfully resulted in high yield and high conversion of products. Effective factors including solvent type, oxidant and catalyst amount were also optimized. The catalyst shows outstanding reusability and could be impressively recovered for six consecutive cycles without significant change of its catalytic efficiency.