Role of sodium decoration on the methane storage properties of BC3 nanosheet

First-principles calculations including dispersion correction are carried out to investigate pristine and Na-decorated graphene-like BC₃ (h-BC₃) for their application as methane storage materials. Structural optimization shows that the methane is physisorbed on the pristine sheet via van der Waals forces with adsorption energy of ?2.7 kcal/mol. It was found that unlike the pristine graphene, sodium decorated sheet can effectively interact with the CH₄ molecule, so that each metal atom bound on sheet may adsorb up to four CH₄. Furthermore, no bond dissociation was observed for the adsorption of CH₄ on Na-decorated h-BC₃, which means that decorated sheet can act as a storage device for methane safety storage. The results indicate that decoration of the Na atom on surface of sheet induces significant changes in electronic properties of the sheet and its E _g is unchanged after adsorption of CH₄ molecules. Theoretical methane storage capacity of Na-decorated BC₃ nanosheet could approach 18.1 wt%.     

Mercuric chloride adsorption on sulfur-containing BC2N nanotube: toward HSAB concept

Electronic sensitivity of pristine and sulfur-containing BC₂N nanotubes to mercuric chloride (HgCl₂) molecule was investigated by utilizing density functional theory. It was found that HgCl₂ is weakly adsorbed on the tube, releasing energy of 6.4–8.1 kcal/mol, and electronic properties of the tube are not significantly changed. To overcome this problem, carbon atoms of the tube were substituted by sulfur atom. Of interest are sulfur derivative functional adsorbents because of their strong affinity toward mercury. This observation may be explained based on the Pearson’s hard–soft acid–base theory. It was demonstrated that the S-doped tube can not only strongly adsorb the HgCl₂ molecule, but also may effectively detect its presence due to drastic increment of the tube electrical conductivity.     

Synthesis of 2-(2-Fluorophenyl)-2-methylamino-Cyclohexanone as a New Ketamine Derivative

The main goal of this article is to the present research on the development of ketamine derivatives. The target molecule was a fluoroderivative of ketamine, for which a multistep synthesis has been reported. This novel ketamine derivative, 2-(2-fluorophenyl)-2-methylamino-cyclohexanone, has been called fluoroketamine by our research group. The starting fluorobenzonitrile was reacted with the appropriate Grignard reagent followed by the bromination reaction to obtain α-bromocyclopentyl-(2-fluorophenyl)-ketone. The reaction of the obtained ketone with methylamine at ?40 °C then resulted in the formation of α-hydroxycyclopentyl-(2-flourophenyl)-N-methylamine. Finally, the five-memberd ring cyclopentanol was expanded to the cyclohexylketone by a thermal rearrangement reaction. The HCl salt of the target molecule, which is soluble in water, was obtained by the acidification of the free fluoroketamine with HCl. Preliminary animal tests on mice have shown that the resulting fluoroketamine has some advantages over ketamine in terms of the effective dose and the recovery time.     

Solid-phase extraction of Pb2+ ion from environmental samples onto L-AC-Ag-NP by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS)

The development of a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for the pre-concentration of trace amounts of Pb²⁺ ion on 2-furan-2-yl-1-furan-2-ylmethyl-1H-benzoimidazole loaded on activated carbon modified with silver nanoparticles (L-AC-Ag-NP) was presented. The metal ion retained on the sorbent was quantitatively determined via complexation with the ligand. The complexed metal ion was efficiently eluted using 10 mL of 4 mol L^?1 sulphuric acid in 10 w/v% acetone. The influences of the analytical parameters, including pH, amounts of the ligand and the solid phase, eluent conditions and sample volume, on the recoveries of the metal ion were optimised. Using the optimised parameters, the linear response of the SPE method for Pb²⁺ ion were in the ranges of 0.2–160 µg L^?1, and the detection limit for Pb²⁺ ion was 0.034 µg L^?1. The proposed method exhibits a pre-concentration factor (PF) of 80 and an enhancement factor of 30 for Pb²⁺ ion. The presented results demonstrate the successful application of the proposed method for the determination of Pb²⁺ ion in some real samples with high recoveries (>93%) and reasonable relative standard deviation (RSD < 2%).     

Multi-component synthesis of highly substituted imidazoles catalyzed by nanorod vanadatesulfuric acid

Nanorod vanadatesulfuric acid (VSA NRs), as a recyclable and eco-benign catalyst, was used for one-pot synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted imidazoles and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles using aldehydes, benzil, benzoin or 9,10-phenanthrenequinone and ammonium acetate or aniline under solvent-free conditions providing high to excellent yields. VSA is easily prepared by a simple reaction of chlorosulfonic acid and sodium metavanadate in high purity. As compared with the conventional procedures, the present protocol offers several advantages such as simplicity of procedure, short reaction time, high yields, easy workup, recoverability and reusability of the catalyst and simple purification of the products.     

Surface Properties of Low Density Polyethylene upon Low-Temperature Plasma Treatment with Various Gases

The surface of a LDPE was modified by Ar, O₂, N₂, CO₂ gaseous plasma. The changes in surface morphology and surface wettability were investigated using AFM and SEM. The surface chemical changes of LDPE were also characterized by FTIR-ATR. The SEM and AFM results demonstrated variable changes in surface roughness for different types of plasma gas used, the changes being more for the Ar and N₂ plasma treatments. Considering the nature of the LDPE film, XRD studies were carried out to determine changes in the percentage crystalinity. The results showed that all low pressure O₂, Ar, N₂, CO₂ gas plasmas improved the wettability of LDPE films. Contact angles decreased significantly depending on the discharge powers and exposure times. Surface morphology was also found to vary with plasma discharge powers, exposure times, and the type of gas being used. Ar and N₂ gas plasmas in general produced more superior results.     

Asymmetric cross-aldol reaction of isatin and ketones catalyzed by crude earthworm extract as efficient biocatalyst

ABSTRACT

The asymmetric cross-aldol reaction of simple ketones (acetone, cyclohexanone) with isatin derivatives in the presence of crude extract from earthworms as green and effective biocatalyst proceeds easily in MeCN/H₂O (1:1) as solvent to afford 3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles derivatives. Ten compounds were synthesized in high yields (62–88%) and moderate ee (29–42%). Structure of the synthesized compounds has been characterized on the basis of NMR spectra and CHN analysis. The ee of the obtained compounds was determined by chiral phase HPLC analysis.     

An experimental study of the effects of Matricaria chamomilla extract on cutaneous burn wound healing in albino rats

Previous studies conducted on the anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of Matricaria chamomilla (chamomile) extract led us to study the effect of topical chamomile extract on burn wound healing in albino rats. Thirty male albino rats (250-300 g) were randomly divided into three groups, as control, vehicle, and treatment. Second-degree burning was induced in 20% of whole surface area of animal body by placing the back of animal into boiling water for 8s. Animals of control group received no treatment. Animals of vehicle and treatment groups were treated topically by olive oil and extract dissolved in olive oil twice a day respectively from the first day of burn induction to complete wound healing. The percentage of wound healing was calculated weekly. The results showed that there was significant difference (p < 0.05) between vehicle and treatment groups. So we concluded that the chamomile extract in the form of rubbing oil had a good potential for acceleration of burn wound healing in rats.     

Optimization of polymeric triiodide membrane electrode based on clozapine-triiodide ion-pair using experimental design

Central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were developed as experimental strategies for modeling and optimization of the influence of some variables on the performance of a new PVC membrane triiodide ion-selective electrode. This triiodide sensor is based on triiodide-clozapine ion-pair complexation. PVC, plasticizers, ion-pair amounts and pH were investigated as four variables to build a model to achieve the best Nernstian slope (59.9 mV) as response. The electrode is prepared by incorporating the ion-exchanger in PVC matrix plasticized with 2-nitrophenyl octal ether, which is directly coated on the surface of a graphite electrode. The influence of foreign ions on the electrode performance was also investigated. The optimized membranes demonstrate Nernstian response for triiodide ions over a wide linear range from 5.0 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-2)mol L(-1) with a limit of detection 2.0 x 10(-6) mol L(-1) at 25 degrees C. The electrodes could be used over a wide pH range 4-8, and have the advantages of easy to prepare, good selectivity and fast response time, long lifetime (over 3 months) and small interferences from hydrogen ion. The proposed electrode was successfully used as indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of triiodide ions and ascorbic acid.