Interaction of Polyacrylamide with Conventional Anionic and Gemini Anionic Surfactants

The interaction of polyacrylamide (PAM) with conventional anionic (sodium lauryl sulphate, NaLS) and gemini anionic (sodium salt of bis(1-dodecenyl succinimic acid), represented as NaBDS) surfactants has been studied in alkaline medium by electrical conductance and surface-tension measurements at 35⁰C in order to compare the behavior of two surfactants toward the polymer. The surface parameters and thermodynamic parameters have been evaluated and compared. The results indicate more readily interaction of anionic gemini surfactant with the polymer (PAM).     

Taguchi method optimization of wax production from pyrolysis of waste polypropylene

Present research deals with the conversion of waste commodity plastics to valuable commercial product in the form of wax by pyrolysis. Optimization of both processes yield and produced wax quality was performed by means of a statistical tool originally proposed by G. Taguchi, using temperature, catalyst, carrier gas, and dwell time as the parameters. The obtained wax was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. Yield of wax was found to be maximum when the parameters were 600 °C, Fe catalyst, nitrogen gas atmosphere, and 15 min time. However, stability of the wax was found to be optimum at 700 °C. Calorific value of the wax thus obtained was ~43 MJ kg^?1, which supports its suitability as fuels like other petroleum products.     

TLC Densitometric Method for the Quantification of Eugenol and Gallic Acid in Clove

Eugenol and gallic acid are reported from the flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & Perry (clove). Both the compounds have been shown to give interesting biological activities and hence serve as biomarkers. We report a simple TLC densitometric method for the quantification of eugenol and gallic acid in clove. The method was validated for precision, repeatability and accuracy. The method was found to be precise with RSD of 0.61 and 1.3 (intraday) and 0.96 and 0.24 (interday) for different concentrations of eugenol and gallic acid respectively. Instrumental precision was 0.24 and 0.21 (% CV) for eugenol and gallic acid respectively. Accuracy of the method was checked by conducting recovery study at two different levels for eugenol and gallic acid and the average percentage recoveries were found to be 99.79% and 97.90% respectively. The contents of eugenol and gallic acid in different samples of clove, as estimated by the proposed method, were found to be in the range of 12.9–14.6% and 0.31–0.61% respectively. The proposed HPTLC method for the estimation gallic acid and eugenol was found to be simple, precise, specific, sensitive and accurate and can be used for routine quality control of clove.     

Network Design for Express Shipment Delivery

Service network design problems arise at airlines (passenger and cargo), trucking companies, railroads, etc., wherever there is a need to determine cost minimizing routes and schedules, given constraints on resource availability and level of service. We focus on a particular service network design application, namely, the express shipment delivery problem, and we develop models and a solution technique designed specifically for large-scale express delivery problems with time windows. Using data from an express delivery company, we demonstrate that our approach can produce savings in total operating costs and provide a valuable tool for making decisions at strategic and tactical levels.     

Bio‐based high‐performance waterborne hyperbranched polyurethane thermoset

Tannic‐acid‐based low volatile organic compound‐containing waterborne hyperbranched polyurethane was prepared. In order to improve the performance, it was modified in an aqueous medium using a glycerol‐based hyperbranched epoxy and vegetable‐oil‐based poly(amido amine) at different wt%. The combined system was cross‐linked by heating at 100°C for 45 min. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and swelling study were used to confirm the curing. A dose‐dependent improvement of properties was witnessed for the thermoset. Thermoset with 30 wt% epoxy showed excellent improvements in mechanical properties like tensile strength (~3.4 fold), scratch hardness (~2 fold), impact resistance (~1.3 fold), and toughness (~1.7 fold). Thermogravimetric analysis revealed enhancement of thermal properties (maximum 70°C increment of degradation temperature and 8°C increment of T_g). The modified system showed better chemical and water resistance compared with the neat polyurethane. Biodegradation study was carried out by broth culture method using Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the test organism. An adequate biodegradation was witnessed, as evidenced by weight loss profile, bacterial growth curve, and scanning electron microscope images. The work showed the way to develop environmentally benign waterborne polyurethane as a high‐performance material by incorporating a reactive modifier into the polymer network. Use of benign solvent and bio‐based materials as well as profound biodegradability justified eco‐friendliness and sustainability of the modified system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deacetylation-induced changes in thermal properties of Sterculia urens gum

The thermal and mechanical properties of polystyrene (PS) modified with esters derivatives of 3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ol were investigated. The influence of the content of esters on the glass transition temperature, dynamic mechanical properties, flexural properties, hardness and thermal stability of PS has been examined. It was found that the PS/ester compositions were characterized by lower stiffness, lower values of T _g, lower hardness, lower stress at break, lower thermal stability and higher values of tg delta height and strain at break as compared to pure PS. The obtained results proved that esters derivatives of 3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ol can find their place as an environmentally friendly, external plasticizers of PS.     

Large eddy simulation of turbulent horizontal buoyant jets

Large eddy simulations (LESs) of turbulent horizontal buoyant jets are carried out using a high-order numerical method and Sigma subgrid-scale (SGS) eddy-viscosity model, for a number of different Reynolds (Re) and Richardson (Ri) numbers. Simulations at previous experimental flow conditions (Re = 3200, 24, 000 and Ri = 0, 0.01) are carried out first, and the results are found to be qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the experimental results, thus validating the numerical methodology. The effect of varying Ri (values 2×10^?4, 0.001, 0.005, and 0.01) and Re (3200 and 24, 000) is studied next. The presence of stable stratification on one side and unstable stratification on the other side of the jet centreline leads to an asymmetric development of horizontal buoyant jets. It is found that this asymmetry, the total radial spread and the vertical deflection are significantly affected by Ri, while Re affects only the radial asymmetry. The need for developing improved integral models, accounting for this asymmetry, is pointed out. Turbulent production and dissipation rates are investigated, and are found to be symmetric in the horizontal plane, but asymmetric in the mid-vertical plane. A previously proposed model, for correlation between the vertical component of the fluctuating scalar flux vector and the vertical cross-correlation component of the Reynolds tensor, is modified based on the current LES results. Instantaneous scalar and velocity fields are analysed to reveal the structure of horizontal buoyant jets. Similar to the developed turbulent jet, the flow close to the nozzle too is found to be markedly different in the stable and unstable stratification regions. Persistent coherent vortex rings are found in the stable stratification region, while intermittent breakdown of vortex rings into small-scale structures is observed in the unstable stratification region. Similarities and differences between the flow structures in the horizontal buoyant jet configuration and those in the jet in crossflow configuration are discussed. Finally, a dynamic mode decomposition analysis is carried out, which indicates that the flow in the unstable stratification region is more energetic and prone to instabilities, as compared to the flow in the stable stratification region.     

Fabrication of large-area ordered and reproducible nanostructures for SERS biosensor application

We propose a large-area SERS device with efficient fluorescence quenching capability. The substrate is based on anodic porous alumina templates with various pore size and wall thickness as small as 15 and 36 nm, respectively. The nano-patterned SERS substrate, with excellent control and reproducibility of plasmon-polaritons generation, shows very efficient enhanced Raman signal in the presence of intrinsically fluorescent molecules such as cresyl violet, rhodamine, and green fluorescent protein. This work demonstrates that, when the nanostructures are properly designed and fabricated, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy can be used in combination in order to obtain complementary molecular informations. Theoretical simulation shows excellent agreement with the experimental findings. The enhancement factor is found to be 10(3)-10(4), with respect to flat gold surface when the molecules are supposed to be closely packed, with considerable fluorescence suppression, showing a promising disposable biosensor.     

Stochastic finite element nonlinear free vibration analysis of piezoelectric functionally graded materials beam subjected to thermo-piezoelectric loadings with material uncertainties

In this paper, second order statistics of large amplitude free flexural vibration of shear deformable functionally graded materials (FGMs) beams with surface-bonded piezoelectric layers subjected to thermopiezoelectric loadings with random material properties are studied. The material properties such as Young’s modulus, shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio and thermal expansion coefficients of FGMs and piezoelectric materials with volume fraction exponent are modeled as independent random variables. The temperature field considered is assumed to be uniform and non-uniform distribution over the plate thickness and electric field is assumed to be the transverse components E _z only. The mechanical properties are assumed to be temperature dependent (TD) and temperature independent (TID). The basic formulation is based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) with von-Karman nonlinear strain kinematics. A C ⁰ nonlinear finite element method (FEM) based on direct iterative approach combined with mean centered first order perturbation technique (FOPT) is developed for the solution of random eigenvalue problem. Comparison studies have been carried out with those results available in the literature and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) through normal Gaussian probability density function.     

Simultaneous pursuit of out-of-sample performance and sparsity in index tracking portfolios

Index tracking is a passive investment strategy in which a fund (e.g., an ETF: exchange traded fund) manager purchases a set of assets to mimic a market index. The tracking error, i.e., the difference between the performances of the index and the portfolio, may be minimized by buying all the assets contained in the index. However, this strategy results in a considerable transaction cost and, accordingly, decreases the return of the constructed portfolio. On the other hand, a portfolio with a small cardinality may result in poor out-of-sample performance. Of interest is, thus, constructing a portfolio with good out-of-sample performance, while keeping the number of assets invested in small (i.e., sparse). In this paper, we develop a tracking portfolio model that addresses the above conflicting requirements by using a combination of L0- and L2-norms. The L2-norm regularizes the overdetermined system to impose smoothness (and hence has better out-of-sample performance), and it shrinks the solution to an equally-weighted dense portfolio. On the other hand, the L0-norm imposes a cardinality constraint that achieves sparsity (and hence a lower transaction cost). We propose a heuristic method for estimating portfolio weights, which combines a greedy search with an analytical formula embedded in it. We demonstrate that the resulting sparse portfolio has good tracking and generalization performance on historic data of weekly and monthly returns on the Nikkei 225 index and its constituent companies.