Aqueous nonionic copolymer-functionalized laponite clay. A thermodynamic and spectrophotometric study to characterize its behavior toward an organic material

The affinity of functionalized Laponite clay toward an organic material in the aqueous phase was explored. Functionalization was performed by using triblock copolymers based on ethylene oxide (EO) and propylene oxide (PO) units that are EO(11)PO(16)EO(11) (L35) and PO(8)EO(23)PO(8) (10R5). Phenol (PhOH) was chosen as organic compound, which represents a contaminant prototype. To this purpose, densities and enthalpies of mixing as well as PhOH UV-absorption spectra were determined. The enthalpy and the spectrophotometry revealed PhOH-Laponite interactions whereas the volume did not. It emerged that the area occupied by PhOH on the Laponite surface is equal to that computed from the partial molar volume of PhOH in water, corroborating the insensitivity of the experimental volumes to the adsorption process. The situation where both PhOH and copolymer are simultaneously present in the aqueous Laponite suspension was also investigated. It turned out that the copolymer replaces PhOH from the water/Laponite clay interface, resulting in L35 being the more efficient. Moreover, the lateral copolymer-phenol interactions enhance the anchoring of PhOH to the solid surface. The reverse copolymer exercises the most important relevant effect. The UV-absorption spectra of PhOH in the water + copolymer + Laponite mixtures provided information that is consistent with those given by the calorimetric experiments. In conclusion, the aqueous copolymer-functionalized Laponite presents surface properties very different from the bare Laponite, favoring the removal of the organic compound from the solid surface.     

Aqueous block copolymer-surfactant mixtures and their ability in solubilizing chlorinated organic compounds. A thermodynamic and SANS study

Within the topic of surfactant enhanced solubilization of additives sparingly soluble in water, volumetric, solubility, conductivity, and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments on mixtures composed of alpha,omega-dichloroalkane, surfactant, copolymer, and water were carried out at 298 K. The triblock copolymers (ethylene oxide)132(propylene oxide)50(ethylene oxide)132 (F108) and (ethylene oxide)76(propylene oxide)29(ethylene oxide)76 (F68) were chosen to investigate the role of the molecular weight keeping constant the hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio. The selected surfactants are sodium decanoate (NaDec) and decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DeTAB) with comparable hydrophobicity and different charged heads. The alpha,omega-dichloroalkanes were chosen as contaminant prototypes. For the water + surfactant + copolymer mixtures, both the volume and the SANS results straightforwardly evidenced that (1) monomers of NaDec and copolymer unimers generate small mixed aggregates, (2) monomers of DeTAB combined with copolymer unimers do not form aggregates, and (3) unimeric copolymer is solubilized into NaDec and DeTAB micelles. The alpha,omeaga-dichloroalkanes presence induces the F108 aggregation even at very low copolymer composition. The addition of surfactant disintegrates the F108 aggregates and, consequently, the additive is expelled into the aqueous phase. Once F108 is in the unimeric state, it forms copolymer-micelle aggregates which incorporate the oil. In the case of F68 both the volumetric and the SANS data reveal that the additive does not alter the copolymer unimeric state. Moreover, they show that for the aqueous DeTAB-F68 system the additive trapping in both the copolymer-micelle aggregate and the pure micelles takes place being enhanced in the former aggregate in agreement with solubility experiments. For the NaDec-F68 mixtures, an additional solubilization process in the premicellar copolymer-surfactant microstructures occurs. SANS and conductivity data show that the additive incorporation into the mixed and the pure micelles does not essentially influence the structural properties of the aggregates.     

Applications of B‐bounded nonlinear semigroups to particle transport problems

In this paper we study an application of nonlinear B‐bounded semigroups introduced in a previous paper. The application is similar to the particle transport problem which led to B‐bounded linear semigroups. We deal with a nonlinear particle transport problem, which can be solved by using B‐bounded nonlinear semigroups. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heuristics for container loading of furniture

We consider a container loading problem that occurs at a typical furniture manufacturer. Each furniture item has an associated profit. Given container dimensions and a set of furniture items, the problem is to determine a subset of items with maximal profit sum that is loadable in the container. In the studied company, the problem arises hundreds of times daily during transport planning. Instances may contain more than one hundred different items with irregular shapes. To solve this complex problem we apply a set of heuristics successively that each solve one part of the problem. Large items are combined in specific structures to ensure proper protection of the items during transportation and to simplify the problem. The solutions generated by the heuristic has an average loading utilization of 91.3% for the most general instances with average running times around 100 seconds.     

A Volumetric Study of Water–Decyltrimethylanimonium Bromide–Pentanol Ternary System from 25 to 130°C at 2 and 19 MPa

Density measurements on decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DeTAB)–water and pentanol (PentOH)–DeTAB–water systems as functions of both alcohol and surfactant m _S concentrations were carried out at 2 and 19 MPa from 25 to 130°C. From experimental data for the water–DeTAB binary system, the standard (infinite dilution) partial molar volumes, expansibilities, and compressibilities of DeTAB, and the corresponding properties in the micellar phase are calculated. The trends of the standard partial molar volumes of PentOH V _R ^o in DeTAB micellar solutions as functions of m _S reflect the transfer of PentOH from the aqueous to the micellar phase, except at 130°C and 19 MPa. On the basis of an equation previously used, the distribution constant of PentOH between the aqueous and the micellar phases and the standard partial molar volume of alcohol in the aqueous and the micellar phases are obtained from V _R ^o data. Comparisons with data for PentOH in dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide are made.     

Heat capacity of transfer of (Ethylene oxide)13-(propylene oxide)30-(ethylene oxide)13 from water to the aqueous anionic surfactant solutions at 298 K. A quantitative treatment

Heat capacities of transfer (DeltaCpt) of unimeric (ethylene oxide)13-(propylene oxide)30-(ethylene oxide)13 from water to the aqueous surfactant solutions as functions of the surfactant concentrations (mS) were determined at 298 K. The surfactants investigated are sodium hexanoate, sodium heptanoate, sodium octanoate, sodium undecanoate, and sodium dodecanoate. For short alkyl chain surfactants, the profiles of the DeltaCpt versus mS curves show maxima and minima; for long alkyl chain surfactants, the maximum becomes sharper and moved to lower mS values whereas the minimum tends to disappear. These experimental trends are different from those of the enthalpy in agreement with the fact that heat capacity, being the derivative of enthalpy with respect to temperature, reflects additional terms generated by temperature change on the equilibria in solution. On the basis of a thermodynamic model recently proposed by us for properties first derivatives of Gibbs free energy, a quantitative treatment of the experimental data was done. Such an approach assumes that even in the dilute surfactant region monomers of surfactant associate with unimeric copolymer generating surfactant-copolymer aggregation complexes and, whenever the surfactant achieves the conditions for the micellization, the formation of copolymer-micelle mixed aggregates takes place. The equation derived for the heat capacity of transfer is more complex than that for the enthalpy because it contains five additional terms due to the shift of the equilibria induced by the temperature change. It turned out that these contributions, evaluated by using the equilibrium constants and the associated enthalpies, cannot be neglected for a quantitative treatment of the experimental data. The minimizing procedure provided the heat capacity changes for the formation of the surfactant-copolymer aggregation complexes and the copolymer-micelle mixed aggregates.     

Thermal behaviour of high surface area V2O5/TiO2 catalysts

Thermal analysis (TG and DTA) was employed for the characterization of V₂O₅/TiO₂ catalysts supported on high surface area TiO₂. The results obtained are consistent with a uniform spreading of vanadium oxide on TiO₂ surface for V₂O₅ content less than 15% by weight.The presence of V₂O₅ on the surface of TiO₂ affects the anatase-rutile phase transition lowering the temperature at which it occurs.DTA measurements, performed on catalysts after many months from the preparation, show the appearance of an exothermic peak in the range 280°–340°C. This signal has been related to the oxidation of V(IV) to V(V) on the catalyst surface.Catalysts characterization, performed by chemical analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy, has confirmed this interpretation.It has been suggested that a slow modification of the catalyst occurs, leading to an increase of the V(IV) content during the time.

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Zusammenfassung Zur Charakterisierung von V₂O₅/TiO₂-Katalysatoren auf hochoberflächigem TiO₂ Trägermaterial wurde die Thermoanalyse (TG und DTA) angewendet. Für einen V₂O₅-Gehalt von weniger als 15 Gew.% entsprechen die erhaltenen Ergebnisse einer gleichmäßigen Verteilung des Vanadiumoxides an der TiO₂-Oberfläche.Die Gegenwart von V₂O₅ an der Oberfläche von TiO₂ beeinflußt die Anatas-Rutil-Phasenumwandlung, indem sie die zugehörige Temperatur verringert.DTA-Messungen an Katalysatoren mehrere Monate nach ihrer Herstellung zeigten das Auftreten eines exothermen Peaks im Bereich 280°–340°C. Dieses Signal wurde der Oxidation von V(IV) zu V(V) an der Katalysatoroberfläche zugeschrieben.Diese Interpretation konnte durch eine Charakterisierung des Katalysatoren durch chemische Analyse und FT-IR-Spektroskopie bestätigt werden.Es wurde angedeutet, daß der Katalysator mit der Zeit einer langsamen Modifikation unterliegt, die zu einem Ansteigen des V(IV)-Gehaltes führt.

     

Enthalpies of solution and dilution of butanol and pentanol in dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar solutions

The enthalpies of solution and of dilution of 1-butanol and 1-pentanol were measured in micellar solutions of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide by systematically changing the concentration of alcohols and surfactant. The enthalpies of solution at infinite dilution of alcohols at each surfactant concentration were evaluated from a linear plot. This quantity increases with surfactant concentration (up to 0.8m) with a curvature which depends on the alcohol alkyl chain length. The difficulties arising for a quantitative treatment of both the enthalpies of dilution and of solution at finite alcohol concentrations are discussed. The dependence on the surfactant concentration of the standard enthalpies of solution and the enthalpies of dilution for m0 are rationalized. From the resulting equations the distribution constant, standard enthalpy of transfer, standard enthalpy of solution, and the alcohol-alcohol interaction parameter in the micellar phase are evaluated. The enthalpies of transfer obtained using this technique agree well with those previously reported from enthalpies of mixing. The distribution constants also agree with those reported in the literature from several approaches: mixing enthalpies, partial molar volumes, and the dependence of the cmc on added alcohol.     

Mass action model for solute distribution between water and micelles. Partial molar volumes of butanol and pentanol in dodecyl surfactant solutions

The densities of 1-butanol and 1-pentanol were measured in aqueous solutions of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide and dodecyldimethylamine oxide and the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution of the alcohols in aqueous surfactants solutions were obtained. The observed trends of this quantity as a function of the surfactant concentration were rationalized using a mass-action model for the alcohol distribution between the aqueous and the micellar phase. At the same time, the model was revised to account for the alcohol effect on the surfactant micellization equilibrium. The partial molar volume of alcohols in the aqueous and in the micellar phases and the ratios between the binding constant and the aggregation number were calculated. These thermodynamic quantities are nearly the same in the two surfactants analyzed in this paper but differ appreciably from those in sodium dodecylsulfate. The apparent molar volume of surfactants in some hydroalcoholic solutions at fixed alcohol concentration were also calculated. In the micellization region the trend of this quantity as a function of the surfactant concentration shows a hump, which depends on the alcohol concentration and on the alcohol alkyl chain length. The alcohol extraction from the aqueous to the micellar phase due to the addition of the surfactant can account for the observed trends.