A new reverse mode light shutter from silica-dispersed liquid crystals

Nanoparticle dispersions in liquid crystalline materials at low concentrations allow both investigating the formation of defects in liquid crystal (LC) and enhancing the light-scattering properties of LC optical devices. Reverse mode LC dispersions are LC devices, which look like transparent in their OFF state, when no electric field is applied, and opaque in their ON state. In this paper, a new reverse mode device, formed by a dispersion of a LC mixture in a silica nanoparticle crosslinked network, is presented. The morphology and the electro-optical properties of these silica nanoparticle/LC composites were investigated for two different LC mixtures with a negative dielectric anisotropy. The observed transmittances and relaxation times were found to depend strongly on the silica amount and chemical–physical properties of LC used in the sample preparation.     

Energy-efficient dehydrogenation of methanol in a membrane reactor: a mathematical modeling

A two-dimensional non-isothermal stationary mathematical model of the catalytic membrane reactor for the process of methanol dehydrogenation is described. Copper supported on the carbonaceous support was considered as a catalyst. The reaction of methanol dehydrogenation was thermodynamically conjugated with a reaction of hydrogen oxidation taking place in a shell side of the membrane reactor. The effects of various parameters on the methanol conversion and the methyl formate yield have been calculated with the developed model and discussed. Two different types of heating the gas flow were considered and compared. In the case of conjugated dehydrogenation process, the methyl formate yield reaches 77%, when the reactor outer wall was heated up to 150 °C. When the inlet gas flows in the tube and shell sides were heated up to 100 and 83 °C, correspondingly, the yield was 72%.     

On the resonance energy in new all-metal aromatic molecules

We have recently advanced the aromaticity concept into all-metal molecules containing Al(4)(2-), XAl(3)(-), Ga(4)(2-), In(4)(2-), Hg(4)(6-), Al(3)(-), and Ga(3)(-) aromatic units. All these systems are electron deficient species compared to the corresponding aromatic hydrocarbons. The electron deficiency results in an interesting new feature in all-metal aromatic systems, which should be considered as having both pi- and sigma-aromaticity, and that should result in their additional stability. In this work, we obtain crude evaluations of the resonance energies for Na(2)Al(4) and Na(2)Ga(4) all-metal aromatic molecules. The resonance energies were found to be unusually high: 30 kcal/mol (B3LYP/6-311+G*) and 48 kcal/mol (CCSD(T)/6-311+G(2df)) for Na(2)Al(4) and 21 kcal/mol (B3LYP/6-311+G*) for Na(2)Ga(4) compared to 20 kcal/mol in benzene. We believe that the high resonance energies in Na(2)Al(4) and in Na(2)Ga(4) are due to the presence of three completely delocalized bonds, one pi-bond and two sigma-bonds, thus confirming the presence of pi- and sigma-aromaticity.     

Spontaneous adsorption of viscous and viscoelastic fluids by capillaries and porous substrates

We have developed a new technique to monitor spontaneous adsorption of fluids by porous substrates. The method is based on an optical electronic measuring system providing millisecond resolution. The method capabilities are demonstrated with the example of the absorption of millimeter-size droplets of water and aqueous solutions of polyethylene oxide and polyacrylamide by capillaries. It is shown that polymer additives even in a small amount reduce significantly the rate of adsorption. We have introduced a generalized Lucas-Washburn equation to account for the fluid elasticity. This equation is shown to explain the observed kinetics quantitatively without invoking adjustable parameters. We have derived a modified Bosanquet equation for the initial velocity of penetration, which accounts for the fluid elasticity. This simple formula gives a reasonable estimate of the rate of absorption of small droplets. We report visualization experiments on absorption of water and polymer solutions by sugar cubes as an example of porous substrates. Although the kinetics of droplet adsorption by porous substrates is similar to the kinetics of droplet adsorption by capillaries, the interpretation of experimental data is more complex and requires a plausible hydrodynamic model for lateral spreading in pores.     

Design of materials for solid oxide fuel cells,permselective membranes,and catalysts for biofuel transformation into syngas and hydrogen based on fundamental studies of their real structure,transport properties,and surface reactivity

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Conformational analysis of polymethine dyes derived from the 2-azaazulene

A systematic investigation of the conformational structure was performed for the series of symmetrical and unsymmetrical mono-, tri-, pentamethine cyanines, and styryl dyes bearing 2-azaazulenium terminal group. The rotation energy barriers of terminal groups were determined via the dynamic variable temperature NMR experiments. The conformational transformation energy was calculated by quantum chemical methods (B3LYP and M05-2X) both for the cases of considering the solvent influence and not tacking it into account. Based on the comparison of theoretical and experimental data, relative electron-donating abilities and geometrical features of the heterocyclic terminal groups in 2-azaazulenium dyes were estimated. The arrangement of certain heterocyclic nuclei in order of basicity by considering the results of the dynamic NMR investigations was proposed. Influence of the conjugated chain length and the solvent nature on the conformational lability of the investigated dye molecules was discussed.     

Efficient synthesis and structure peculiarity of macrocycles with bi-indolizinylquinoxalinone moieties

Monoindolizinylquinoxalinepodands, easily available from indolizinylquinoxalines and various dihalides, undergo smooth oxidative dimerization in the presence of molecular iodine to afford corresponding macrocycles in good yields in a short reaction time. The use of inexpensive and readily available molecular iodine makes this method quite simple, more convenient, and practical. In solution the title macrocycles exist in an equilibrium of several conformations arising from restricted rotation around the Ind–Qx bonds (ca. C₂ symmetrical and nonsymmetrical forms). The population of the forms and exchange rate between them depends strongly on the spacer type (length).     

Magnetic field effects on the initiation of chain oxidation

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