Complexing Polymer Films in The Preparation of Modified Electrodes for Detection of Metal Ions

Summary: The complexing properties of poly (3-(pyrrol-1-yl)propylmalonic acid) (poly1) and poly(N,N′-ethylenebis[N-[(3-(pyrrole-1-yl)propyl) carbamoyl) methyl]-glycine (poly2) coated electrodes (C|poly1 and C|poly2) towards Cu(II), Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cd(II) cations using the open circuit chemical preconcentration-anodic stripping technique were studied. Sorption process of metal cations onto complexing surfaces was readily investigated through the combination of a chemical pre-concentration-anodic stripping technique with a Langmuir isotherm model. The modified electrodes were used for the voltammetric determination of Cu(II), Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cd(II) ions, giving low detection limits for Cu(II) (5 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹) and Pb(II) (5 × 10⁻¹⁰ mol L⁻¹). The ability of the modified electrodes to analyze Cu(II) ions in natural sample has been demonstrated by the analysis of a tap water sample. The results of the preconcentration process under competitive conditions clearly shows that the selectivity of complexing molecular electrode materials can be subtly tuned upon playing on the accumulation time, polymer thickness and/or memory effect of the binding polymers, opening up new avenues towards evolutive and efficient smart sensing materials.     

Microwave Effects Due to Anionic or Cationic Initiators in Emulsion Polymerization Reactions

Summary: Emulsion polymerization reactions were performed under microwave irradiation and conventional heating using anionic or cationic initiators and surfactants. Microwave irradiation promoted higher reaction rates for both initiators and surfactants, in comparison with the conventional heating. The effect of high power microwave irradiation was studied using a method of cycles of heating and cooling, where rapid polymerization reactions were obtained. In the reactions with anionic initiator and surfactant, a decrease in the particle diameters was observed with microwave heating, and even smaller particles were obtained using high power microwave irradiation. Moreover, the decrease in the particle size was acompanied by an increase in the polymer molecular weight. On the other hand, these effects were not observed for reactions with cationic initiator and surfactant.     

Kinetics and Molecular Weight Development of Dithiolactone‐Mediated Radical Polymerization of Styrene

Calculations of polymerization kinetics and molecular weight development in the dithiolactone‐mediated polymerization of styrene at 60 °C, using 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator and γ‐phenyl‐γ‐butirodithiolactone (DTL1) as controller, are presented. The calculations were based on a polymerization mechanism based on the persistent radical effect, considering reverse addition only, implemented in the PREDICI® commercial software. Kinetic rate constants for the reverse addition step were estimated. The equilibrium constant (K = k_add/k_‐add) fell into the range of 10⁵–10⁶ L · mol^?1. Fairly good agreement between model calculations and experimental data was obtained.

     

A Bahri–Lions theorem revisited

In 1988, A. Bahri and P.L. Lions [A. Bahri, P.L. Lions, Morse-index of some min–max critical points. I. Application to multiplicity results, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 41 (1988) 1027–1037] studied the following elliptic problem:

where Ω is a bounded smooth domain of , 2<p<(2N−2)/(N−2) and f(x,u) is not assumed to be odd in u. They proved the existence of infinitely many solutions under an appropriate growth restriction on f. In the present paper, we improve this result by showing that under the same growth assumption on f the problem admits in fact infinitely many sign-changing solutions. In addition we derive an estimate on the number of their nodal domains. We also deal with the corresponding fourth order equation Δ²u=|u|^p−2u+f(x,u) with both Dirichlet and Navier boundary conditions, as well as with strongly coupled elliptic systems.     

Double relaxation processes in the glass system xEu2O3·PbO·2B2O3 studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy

In this work we study the effect of introducing europium oxide in lead borate glasses, in concentrations up to x = 0.20, using the impedance spectroscopy in a large frequency range (0.1 Hz to 9 GHz). Two relaxation processes can be identified. The low frequency process deviates considerably from the Debye type and is modelled by the Cole-Davidson expression. The high frequency relaxation is also a non-Debye type and is fitted by the Cole-Cole expression. These results imply some distribution of relaxation times, due to the interaction between the dipoles.The behaviour of the dielectric strength is similar in the low and high frequency regions, indicating a cluster formation at a critical concentration of europium oxide (x = 0.03).     

DC electrical conductivity of carbon black polymer composites at low temperatures

The understanding of the charge transport mechanism of the conducting polymers and their composites is important for the successful fabrication of semiconductor devices.In this work, the DC electrical conductivity of carbon black particles in a polystyrene matrix, in the temperature range of 80 to 250 K is examined, for concentrations below the critical percolation concentration. We show that three-dimensional variable range hopping is observed, that is, the temperature behavior of the DC conductivity can be expressed by . From the hopping parameter we obtained the mean hopping distance, the density of active centers and the energy associated with it.     

Growth morphology of gypsum in the presence of copolymers

Gypsum is the most abundant natural sulphate, and in industrial application it plays an important role in gypsum based binders. Furthermore, it plays a critical role in the hydration of Portland cement, and then gypsum is one of the most important cement additive. In this paper we investigated the role of two commercial polymeric additives in modifying the crystal habits and size of gypsum, growth in aqueous solution. These two additives belong to the categories of acrylic polymers and they are known only by their commercial names of SP1 and SP3. We found that these substances can act as shape modifiers mainly at concentration over 0.04% by weight, with a shortening in the elongation of gypsum crystal and some change in the characters of {001} form, from stepped to flat, due to a change in the growth mechanism. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The effect of composition and temperature on the amount and type of nanoferrite particles inserted in Fe2O3–ZnO–MgO–SiO2 glass–ceramics

Glass–ceramics with the composition 2Fe₂O₃.1ZnO.1MgO.96SiO₂ [4ZnMgFe] and 2Fe₂O₃.2ZnO.3MgO.93SiO₂ [7ZnMgFe] (mol%) were prepared using the sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron diffraction (ED) and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) were used to investigate the glass–ceramics structure. The samples contain ferrite nanoparticles embedded in a glass matrix. However, zinc ferrite nanoparticles seems to be the preferential crystalline phase formed. The amount of ferrite particles depends on treatment temperature and sample composition. The Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements show that ferrite nanoparticles can exhibit a ferrimagnetic behaviour combined with superparamagnetism.     

Decay of geometry for Fibonacci critical covering maps of the circle

We study the growth of Dfⁿ(f(c)) when f is a Fibonacci critical covering map of the circle with negative Schwarzian derivative, degree d2 and critical point c of order ℓ>1. As an application we prove that f exhibits exponential decay of geometry if and only if ℓ2, and in this case it has an absolutely continuous invariant probability measure, although not satisfying the so-called Collet–Eckmann condition.     

A minmax regret approach to the critical path method with task interval times

The execution of a given project, with a number of interrelated tasks due to precedence constraints, represents a challenge when one must to control the available resources and the compromised due dates. In this paper, we analyse this problem under uncertain individual task completing times, specifically, we will assume that a given range, for the admissible values of each individual completing time, is available. Taking into account that the precedence relations between tasks must be preserved, each realization of the admissible execution times for the set of tasks will define a new scenario determining the ending time for the project and the subset of critical tasks.