Critical micelle concentration and self-aggregation of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide in aqueous glycine and glycylglycine solutions at different temperatures

Conductivities, densities and ultrasonic speeds measurements of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) in aqueous solutions of glycine (Gly) and glycylglycine (Gly-Gly) have been made at various temperatures. The critical micelle concentration (CMC), the degree of ionization (??) of the micelles, standard free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the micellization process (??G _m ^° , ??H _m ^° , and ??S _m ^° ) for the present systems were estimated at different temperatures. The CMC values of HTAB in aqueous Gly and Gly-Gly were also evaluated by density and ultrasonic speed measurements. Apparent molar volumes, (V _?), apparent molar volumes at infinite dilution, (V _? ^° ), apparent molar compressibilities, (K _?), of HTAB in the pre- and post-micellar regions, and volume change on micellization (??V _? ^m ) were also estimated. Large positive values of T??S _m ^° and small negative values of ??H _m ^° suggest that micellization process is driven primarily by entropy increase. The increase in ??V _? ^m and K _? with rise in temperature is indicative of less compact micellar structure of HTAB in presence of amino acid additives. These data suggest that amino acids are solubilised probably in the palisade layer of the micelle.     

Polypropylene/carbon nanotube magnetic composites obtained using carbon nanotubes from sawdust

Magnetic polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites with different loadings (from 0.5 to 20 wt %) of carbon nanotubes with iron (CNT‐Fe) were fabricated using the melt‐mixing method. The carbon nanotubes were synthesized by pyrolysis of sawdust from the furniture industry. The morphological characterization shows homogenous dispersion of the filler in the polymer matrix. The addition of only 0.5 wt % CNT‐Fe already results in ferromagnetic behavior in the diamagnetic polymer matrix. The thermal properties were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The results show an increase in the maximum degradation, crystallization, and melting temperatures of the nanocomposites compared with neat PP. The nanocomposites showed improvement in terms of mechanical and oxygen permeability properties. A very significant result of the work is the high remnant magnetization and coercivity values of the nanocomposites at room temperature whereas most of the works on similar systems show magnetic properties only at very low temperatures.     

Laser irradiation effects on the surface,structural and mechanical properties of Al–Cu alloy 2024

Laser irradiation effects on surface, structural and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Mg alloy (Al–Cu alloy 2024) have been investigated. The specimens were irradiated for various fluences ranging from 3.8 to 5.5 J/cm² using an Excimer (KrF) laser (248 nm, 18 ns, 30 Hz) under vacuum environment. The surface and structural modifications of the irradiated targets have been investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD), respectively. SEM analysis reveals the formation of micro-sized craters along the growth of periodic surface structures (ripples) at their peripheries. The size of the craters initially increases and then decreases by increasing the laser fluence. XRD analysis shows an anomalous trend in the peak intensity and crystallite size of the specimen irradiated for various fluences. A universal tensile testing machine and Vickers microhardness tester were employed in order to investigate the mechanical properties of the irradiated targets. The changes in yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and microhardness were found to be anomalous with increasing laser fluences. The changes in the surface and structural properties of Al–Cu alloy 2024 after laser irradiation have been associated with the changes in mechanical properties.     

Effect of targets on plasma focus dynamics

Shadowgraphs were taken of a 3-kJ plasma focus in the presence of a flat disc target placed downstream of the anode and a 1-mm wire target inserted along the axis at the anode. It was found that: (i) the flat disc target does not affect the dynamics of the focus proper when it is placed downstream at a distance greater than the anode radius; (ii) the current sheet moves over the disc and forms a pinch beyond it as though the disc had become a new anode; and (iii) the plasma focuses strongly onto a 1-mm wire on-axis. These observations may be used to design beam-target experiments in a plasma focus machine. They indicate the possibility of focus-fiber experiments, and also raise the possibility of and indicate the guidelines for designing a sequential focus device     

Performance estimation of 100 GB/s hybrid SACOCDMA-FSO-MDM system under atmospheric turbulences

Optical and Quantum Electronics - A D-shape elliptical stoma photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on surface plasmon resonance is proposed and investigated with finite element method. The gold film...     

A highly selective fluorescent chemosensor for guanosine-5'-triphosphate via excimer formation in aqueous solution of physiological pH

A new water-soluble and fluorescent imidazolium-anthracene cyclophane 1 effectively recognizes and differentiates the biologically important GTP and ATP in 100% aqueous solution of physiological pH 7.4. Fluorescence, (1)H-NMR spectra and ab initio calculations demonstrate that excimer formation and fluorescence enhancement occur upon GTP and ATP binding, respectively, through (C-H)(+)···A(-) hydrogen bond interactions.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the gas-phase thermal decomposition of cis-2-methylcyclopropane methanol

The kinetics of the gas-phase thermal decomposition of cis-2-methylcyclopropane methanol was studied in the temperature range of 483–597 K and pressures between 5–24 Torr in aged Pyrex reactions vessels. Cis-2-methylcyclopropane methanol underwent first order, reversible geometric isomerization in competition with structural isomerization. The structural isomerization products were identified as 2-peten-1-ol and a mixture of cis and trans-2-methyl-buten-1-ol. Arrhenius parameters were determined for homogeneous, unimolecular formation of the isomeric products and for the overall loss of reaction. The formation of isomeric products and the observed Arrhenius parameters are consistent with a biradical mechanism. For the overall reaction, E_a = 173.8 ± 15.5 (kJ/mol) and log10 (A, s⁻¹) = 13.3 ± 1.5. These values are in good agreement with previously reported values for similar studies of 1,2, disubstituted cyclopropanes.     

Measurement of the eta-meson mass using psi(2S) --> etaJ/psi

We measure the mass of the eta meson using psi(2S) --> etaJ/psi events acquired with the CLEO-c detector operating at the CESR e(+)e(-) collider. Using the four decay modes eta --> gamma gamma, 3pi(0), pi(+)pi(-)pi(0), and pi(+)pi(-)gamma, we find M(eta) = 547.785 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.057 MeV, in which the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This result has an uncertainty comparable to the two most precise previous measurements and is consistent with that of NA48, but is inconsistent at the level of 6.5 sigma with the much smaller mass obtained by GEM.     

Hole mediated coupling in Sr2Nb2O7 for visible light photocatalysis

The band gap reduction and effective utilization of visible solar light are possible by introducing the anionic hole-hole mediated coupling in Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7). By using the first principles calculations, we have investigated the mono- and co-anionic doping (S, N and C) in layered perovskite Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) for the visible-light photocatalysis. Our electronic structure and optical absorption study shows that the mono- (N and S) and co-anionic doped (N-N and C-S) Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) systems are promising materials for the visible light photocatalysis. The calculated binding energies show that if the hole-hole mediated coupling could be introduced, the co-doped systems would be more stable than their respective mono-doped systems. Optical absorption curves indicate that doping S, (N-N) and (C-S) in Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) can harvest a longer wavelength of the visible light spectrum as compared to the pure Sr(2)Nb(2)O(7) for efficient photocatalysis.