Facile synthesis of PtSnZn nanosheet thin film at oil–water interface by use of organometallic complexes: An efficient catalyst for methanol oxidation and p‐nitrophenol reduction reactions

PtSnZn nanosheet thin film with stable and high activity towards methanol electro‐oxidation was synthesized via a simple reduction of organometallic precursors including [PtCl₂(cod)] (cod = cis,cis‐1,5‐cyclooctadiene) and [Sn(CH₃)₄] complexes, in the presence of [Zn(acac)₂] (acac = acetylacetonate) complex at toluene–water interface. Catalytic activities of PtSnZn nanosheets were investigated in the p‐nitrophenol (p‐Nip) reduction and methanol oxidation reactions. The obtained results demonstrate that PtSnZn nanosheets exhibit a good electrocatalytic performance for methanol oxidation reaction, the catalytic activity of the PtSnZn nanosheets being at least 3.5 times higher than that of Pt nanoparticle thin film. Also, the apparent rate constant obtained for p‐Nip reduction with the PtSnZn nanosheets is at least 2.3 times higher than that for Pt nanoparticle thin film due to the appropriate interaction between platinum, tin and zinc metals and geometric properties of PtSnZn nanosheet thin film. Nanosheets are highly favourable for superior catalytic performances due to their geometric properties. A facile and efficient route was used to synthesize trimetallic alloy thin film at oil–water interface.     

An augmented subgradient method for minimizing nonsmooth DC functions

Computational Optimization and Applications - A method, called an augmented subgradient method, is developed to solve unconstrained nonsmooth difference of convex (DC) optimization problems. At...     

Measurement of isomeric yield ratios of the 104m,g,106m,gAg in the 45- and 55-MeV bremsstrahlung induced reactions of natural silver

The isomeric yield ratios for the ^natAg(γ,xn)^{104m,g,106m,g}Ag reactions with the end-point bremsstrahlung energies of 45- and 55-MeV have been determined by the off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique using 100 MeV electron linac at Pohang accelerator laboratory, Korea. The present data were compared with literature data in comparable compound nucleus from the ^natAg(γ,xn), ^natPd(p,xn), and ¹⁰³Rh(α,xn) reactions to examine the effects of an excitation energy and an input angular momentum. It is observed that the isomeric yield ratios of ^104,106Ag in ^natAg(γ,xn), ^natPd(p,xn) and ¹⁰³Rh(α,xn) reactions increase with the end-point bremsstrahlung energy, proton and alpha energy, which indicate the role of excitation energy. It is also found that for the similar compound nucleus at same excitation energy, the isomeric yield ratio of ^104m,gAg is higher in the ^natPd(p,xn) and ¹⁰³Rh(α,xn) reactions than those in ^natAg(γ,xn) reaction, which indicate the effect of an input angular momentum.     

Carbon-based magnetic nanocomposites in solid phase dispersion for the preconcentration some of lanthanides, followed by their quantitation via ICP-OES

We report on a method for the extraction of the lanthanide ions La(III), Sm(III), Nd(III) and Pr(III) using a carbon-ferrite magnetic nanocomposite as a new adsorbent, and their determination via flow injection ICP-OES. The lanthanide ions were converted into their complexes with 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol, and these were adsorbed onto the nanocomposite. Fractional factorial design and central composite design were applied to optimize the extraction efficiencies to result in preconcentration factors in the range of 141–246. Linear calibration plots were obtained, the limits of detection (at S/N?=?3) are between 0.5 and 10 μg?L^?1, and the intra-day precisions (n?=?3) range from 3.1 to 12.8 %. The method was successfully applied to a certified reference material.

Study of thermomechanical properties of hybrid tire cord

Thermomechanical properties of tire cords, which have a considerable influence on tire functions, were investigated in the current research. The nylon and polyester cords are the most commonly used polymers in the tire. Many efforts have been made to produce a new tire cord having the capability of integrating the desired properties of these two polymers into one cord. In this study, a new cord structure was developed using nylon 6,6 and polyester tire yarns. The effect of thermal treatment was studied at the temperatures of 180°C, 200°C, and 220°C under two different loads of 600 and 1800gf on thermomechanical properties of the nylon 6,6/polyester hybrid tire cord. Shrinkage and shrinkage force as thermal properties, as well as static and dynamic mechanical properties, were investigated. The relationship between the aforementioned properties and variation in the crystal structure and fiber orientation obtained from Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Wide‐Angle X‐Ray Scattering (WAXS) analysis were examined too. The results showed that the higher tension leads to the higher initial modulus and storage modulus due to the crystallization of polymers during heat treatment. The shrinkage and shrinkage force also increased, as the tension increased. In addition, a decrease in residual shrinkage and shrinkage force were acquired because of an enhancement in the temperature.     

Self-doped polyaniline as new polyaniline substitute for solid-phase microextraction

This work is a first study on extraction efficiency and thermal stability of nano-structured self-doped polyaniline (SPAN) as a coating of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. SPAN-based fibers were prepared using electrochemical deposition on platinum wires. The particle sizes of prepared nano-structure were in the range of 50–100 nm. Extraction properties of the fiber to 1,4-dioxane were examined using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The results have proved higher thermal stability of the proposed fiber compared to common PANI fiber. The SPAN coating was proved to be very stable at relatively high temperatures (up to 350 °C) with high extraction capacity and long lifespan (more than 50 times). Therefore, it can be a good substitute of polyaniline (PANI) as a SPME coating. The extraction procedure was optimized by selecting the appropriate extraction parameters including extraction time, extraction temperature, salt concentration, stirring rate and headspace volume. Calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 1–100 ng mL⁻¹ (R² > 0.993) with detection limit of 0.1 ng mL⁻¹. Single fiber and fiber-to-fiber repeatability were lower than 6.0% and 10.4%, respectively. Different water samples were analyzed as real samples and good recoveries (98–120%) were obtained.     

Synthesis and structure of mono- and di-nuclear complexes of ortho-palladated derived from phosphorus ylides

The phosphorus ylides Ph₃PCHC(O)C₆H₄R (R = 4-Me 1a, 4-Br 1b) react with PdCl₂ in equimolar ratios to give the C,C-orthopalladated [Pd{CHP(C₆H₄)Ph₂CO-C₆H₄-R)}(μ-Cl)]₂ (R = 4-Me 2a, 4-Br 2b) which react with NaClO₄/dppe, NaClO₄/dppm, py and PPh₃ to give the mononuclear derivatives [Pd{CH{P(C₆H₄)Ph₂}COC₆H₄-R}(dppe-P,P′)[(ClO₄) (R = 4-Me 3a, 4-Br 3b), [Pd{CH{P(C₆H₄)Ph₂}COC₆H₄-R}(dppm-P,P′)[(ClO₄ ( (R = 4-Me 4a, 4-Br 4b), [Pd{CH{P(C₆H₄)Ph₂}COC₆H₄-R}Cl(L)] (L = py, R = 4-Me 5a, 4-Br 5b, L = PPh₃, R = 4-Me 6a, 4-Br 6b). The C, C-metalated chelate are demonstrated by an X-ray diffraction study of 3a and 4a. Characterization of the obtained compounds was also performed by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H, ³¹P, and ¹³C NMR.     

Detailed study of the flat bands appeared in two-dimensional magnetic photonic crystals with square symmetry

By virtue of the efficiency of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map method, the details of the band structure of a two-dimensional magnetic photonic crystal having a square array of parallel circular ferrite rods in air background influenced by an external static magnetic field applied in the rod direction has been investigated. We show that there are two sets of flat bands at the band structure of the system for TM-polarization. These flat bands are created around the magnetic surface plasmon frequency and frequency in which the magnetic permeability has singular value. For the frequency around the magnetic surface plasmon, the modes are highly localized at the interface of the cylindrical ferrite rods and air background and also by approaching the modes to the magnetic surface plasmon frequency the localization length decreases and the number of field's nodes increases considerably. Moreover, we realized that the modes with frequencies lying immediately below the singular value act similar to as resonance cavity modes created in a single metallic cylindrical waveguide.     

SO3H-Functionalized Ionic Liquids: Green, Efficient and Reusable Catalysts for the Facile Dehydration of Aldoximes into Nitriles

Easily synthesized aldoximes have been converted to the corresponding nitriles under very mild conditions by a simple reaction using two halogen‐free SO₃H‐functionalized ionic liquids, 3‐methyl‐1‐(4‐sulfonic acid)butylimi‐ dazolium hydrogen sulfate [MIM(CH₂)₄SO₃H][HSO₄] and 1‐(4‐sulfonic acid)butylpyridinium hydrogen sulfate [PY(CH₂)₄SO₃H][HSO₄], as catalyst and reaction medium without any additional organic solvent. The method was equally effective for aromatic aldoximes bearing electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing substituents. Taking into account environmental and economical consideration, the protocol presented here has the merits of environmentally friendly, simple operation, easy work‐up and very good yields. The catalysts could be recycled and reused for several times without noticeably decreasing in their catalytic activities.