Book reviews

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Book reviews

     

Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of indigo carmine by hypohalites

Kinetics of oxidation of indigo carmine (IC) by sodium hypohalites, NaOX (X ? Cl or Br), in alkaline buffer of pH 9–11 has been studied spectrophotometrically at λ = 610 nm. The experimental rate law obtained is ?d[IC]/dt = k[OX^?][IC][OH^?]^x where x <1. Variation of ionic strength or dielectric constant of the medium had no effect on the reaction rate while the addition of halide ions slightly retarded the rate. A most plausible mechanism proposed on the basis of experimental results involves the formation of isatin sulphonate which undergoes further oxidation to anthranilate. Activation parameters have been evaluated.     

Step-strain deformations for viscoelastic fluids: Formulation of a strain-coupling constitutive equation

An integral constitutive equation which includes strain-coupling effects is proposed. The constitutive equation is more general than the K-BKZ equation, and it is shown that this equation can explain various important aspects of double-step stress-relaxation data.     

Intercalated smectic-A structures in a new class of laterally branched substances

X-ray, DSC and optical studies of a new class of substances with aromatic rings in the lateral branches are reported. The thermal behaviour of the substances is discussed. The X-ray measurements lead to a structural model of the SA phases consisting of layer structures with intercalating molecules.     

Use of the Apparent Content Curves for the spectrophotometric identification of substances: identification of amphetamines

The possibility of identification of substances which have similar spectral behaviour by means of Apparent Content Curves has been studied. This study is carried out with absorption, excitation and emission spectra of several amphetamines of widespread pharmaceutical use. Results obtained show that amphetamine, phenylpropanolamine, pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and methoxyamphetamine can be identified with a probability of >95%.     

Stressed states in domain switching of ferroelectric liquid crystal devices

In this paper we show that the director profile of a low pre-tilt surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal passes through quasi-static stressed states during domain switching under direct drive conditions. Using polarized stroboscopic microscopy, we have observed two quasi-static transmission levels during a domain switching transition from dark to light. This is a result of the directors reorienting into stressed profiles both before and after the chevron interface has switched. By modelling the interaction between the elastic forces and the torque from the applied field, we have determined these voltage dependent director profiles and, by calculating their corresponding transmissivities, have shown very good agreement with the experimentally observed values.     

Raman spectroscopic investigations of the structure and phase transitions of liquid crystalline lead(II) alkanoates

Lead(II) alkanoates with even chain lengths from octanoate to octadecanoate have been investigated by Raman spectroscopy. In the low frequency region, transverse and longitudinal acoustical modes (TAM, LAM) have been assigned. It was shown that LAM-1 is the vibration of the double chain with the node of the vibration in the Pb²⁺ layer. A fully extended conformation of the chains in the low temperature phase was confirmed. The frequencies and intensities of the LAMs as compared with those of the alkanes and the fatty acids led to an estimate of the force constant and polarizability of the Pb²⁺ -COO^- bond relative to the C-C bond. The defects at the chain ends were investigated in the ρ(CH₃) and v(CC) region. For the intermediate (CM) phase, both the Pb²⁺ layer distance reduction and the chain length independent enthalpy contributions can be attributed mainly to defects at the chain ends.     

High pressure differential thermal analysis of nematic compounds with different molecular shapes

By means of high pressure differential thermal analysis we measured the pressure/temperature phase diagrams of several nematic compounds with different molecular structures. Using pressures up to about 500 M Pa we found strongly nonlinear clearing curves. This behaviour is interpreted as changes from 'weak' intermolecular potentials to 'hard' potentials, or using thermodynarmic arguments, strong pressure dependence of the volume discontinuity at the clearing transitions.