Standardization and certification in the area of environmentally degradable plastics

Environmentally degradable polymers and plastics (EDPs) are a group of polymeric materials experiencing a rapid growth in number as well as in their applications and quantities used. The assessment of their key characteristic - degradability, including eventually biodegradability as the ultimate stage, is scientifically and technically a challenging issue and has led to differing interpretations in the past. In order to standardize techniques and criteria a number of standards were established by different standardization bodies which are also used as a basis for certification schemes. An up-to-date inventory of the rapidly growing standardization body is presented with basic interpretation to help guide the non-expert. A basic introduction to EDPs and polymer degradation is added for clarity.     

Mass spectrometric investigations of α‐ and β‐cyclodextrin complexes with ortho‐, meta‐ and para‐coumaric acids by negative mode electrospray ionization

The mass spectrometric characterization of aqueous solutions of α‐ and β‐cyclodextrins (CDs) and o‐, m‐ and p‐coumaric acids (CAs) by negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) indicates that the [CD+CA]^? ions were sourced from the inclusion complex present in solution and from the anion attached to CD molecules formed in the spray processes. The anion adducts formed in the spray process contribute significantly to the signal intensity of an ionized inclusion complex thus overestimating the calculated stability constant (K) of solution‐phase complexes by one to two orders of magnitude. The relative intensities of anion adducts in mass spectra depend on the concentration ratio of the anion and the CD in spray droplets, while the relative intensity of the ionized inclusion complex depends on CD and CA concentrations in solutions and the value of K. Ion Mobility Spectrometry Mass Spectrometry [IMS‐MS] measurements show that the collision cross‐section (Ω) values of the [CD+CA]^? or [(CD)₂₊CA]^2? and [CD+CA] complex ions are 5–6% larger than or equal to CD^? or [CD], respectively. Therefore, in the gas phase the anion adducts [CD+CA^?] on cyclodextrin molecules possess the same conformations as the ionized inclusion complexes [CD+CA]^?. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Concentrating rotaviruses from water samples using monolithic chromatographic supports

Rotaviruses are the leading cause of diarrhoea in infants around the globe and, under certain conditions they can be present in drinking water sources and systems. Ingestion of 10–100 viral particles is enough to cause disease, emphasizing the need for sensitive diagnostic methods. In this study we have optimized the concentration of rotavirus particles using methacrylate monolithic chromatographic supports. Different surface chemistries and mobile phases were tested. A strong anion exchanger and phosphate buffer (pH 7) resulted in the highest recoveries after elution of the bound virus with 1 M NaCl. Using this approach, rotavirus particles spiked in 1 l volumes of tap or river water were efficiently concentrated. The developed concentration method in combination with a real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay detected rotavirus concentrations as low as 100 rotavirus particles/ml.     

Bioaccumulation study of acrylates in algae (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorella kessleri</Emphasis>) by Py-GC and Py-GC/MS

Acrylate monomers methylmethacrylate (MMA) and cyclohexylmethacrylate (CHMA) bioaccumulation has been determined in aquatic organism, algae (Chlorella kessleri). Algae were collected in amount of 0.4 mg and directly injected to the pyrolytical cell. In algae bodies accumulated monomers were analysed by pyrolysis gas chromatography (Py-GC) and pyrolysis gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Traces of the accumulated monomers in algae body can be determined after 1-, 2-, 3-weeks of incubation. Maximum content of MMA was determined after 3-week of experiment, contrariwise in the case of CHMA after 2-week exposition. Relationship with pyrolysis temperature has also been studied.     

The Last Fortress of Tin's Tyranny – Protodenitration of Nitroalkanes

Protodenitration, a direct reduction of nitroalkanes to corresponding alkanes, already spans two centuries and is enabled by various reagents. This mini-review provides a historical development of the fundamental transformation and highlights the governing position of the Ono-Tanner reaction employing tributyltin hydride. Due to the unchallenged dominance of the toxic tributyltin hydride and environmentally unpopular solvents sharply contrasting with modern ecological trends, the current situation was dubbed “the last fortress of tin's tyranny.”     

Ab initio crystal orbital studies on linear chains of H atoms

Anab initio crystal orbital method is used to calculate the energies of an infinite chain of H atoms and of linear arrangements of H₂ molecules with different interatomic distances. The H₂ arrangements are not stable in respect to isolated molecules. The cohesive energy of an optimized arrangement of H atoms chain is 0.0354 a.u.     

Gravitational Stability of the Interface in Water Over Steam Geothermal Reservoirs

Stability of a geothermal system is considered in a case when the water layer lies over the layer of superheated vapor in a stratum having relatively low permeability. This stratum locates between two parallel high permeable layers. Under the assumption of smallness of advective energy transfer as compared with the conductive one, the stationary distribution of the characteristics in the stratum with an interface of phase transition is obtained. The interface separates the domains occupied by water and vapor. Investigation of normal stability of the interface shows, that stable configurations in the geothermal system under consideration exist within the range of permeability values bounded by k 0.6 × 10^–15 m² from above. The most unstable configurations occur to be the quiescent states when the permeability exceeds a certain threshold. A sufficiently high value of permeability, satisfying the criterion of smallness of the advective energy transfer as compared with the conductive one makes it possible to explain the existence of a wide class of stable natural geothermal reservoirs, where the vapor layer underlies the water one.     

Optimal anisotropic three-phase conducting composites: Plane problem

The paper establishes tight lower bound for effective conductivity tensor K₁ of two-dimensional three-phase conducting anisotropic composites and defines optimal microstructures. It is assumed that three materials are mixed with fixed volume fractions and that the conductivity of one of the materials is infinite. The bound expands the Hashin–Shtrikman and translation bounds to multiphase structures, it is derived using a combination of translation method and additional inequalities on the fields in the materials; similar technique was used by Nesi, 1995, Cherkaev, 2009 for isotropic multiphase composites. This paper expands the bounds to the anisotropic composites with effective conductivity tensor K₁. The lower bound of conductivity (G-closure) is a piece-wise analytic function of eigenvalues of K₁, that depends only on conductivities of components and their volume fractions. Also, we find optimal microstructures that realize the bounds, developing the technique suggested earlier by Albin et al., 2007a, Cherkaev, 2009. The optimal microstructures are laminates of some rank for all regions. The found structures match the bounds in all but one region of parameters; we discuss the reason for the gap and numerically estimate it.