An aqueous medium synthesis and tautomerism study of 3(5)-amino-1,2,4-triazoles

A catalyst-free highly efficient synthesis of 3(5)-amino-5(3)-(het)aryl-1,2,4-triazoles in aqueous medium was performed using conventional heating and microwave irradiation. The tautomerism in the products was investigated using NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The effects of the substitution, temperature, solvents, and concentration on the tautomerism were studied. The triazoles were found to exist in 1H-forms, the 4H-form was not observed either in solid state or in solution. In general, 5-amino-1,2,4-triazoles were electronically preferred in the tautomeric equilibrium, but some exceptions from the established relationship were also identified.     

Effect of the Water Quenched Slag‐epoxy Resin Composite on Microwave Absorbing Properties

Although in recent years, the ash residues produced from municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) in Taiwan have been decreased gradually due to the public awareness of waste classification, it is still necessary to find a suitable landfill site to dispose these wastes safely and economically. For this reason, the plasma melting technology was selected to convert the unwanted ash residues into harmless water quenched slag. More importantly, the effect of the dielectric and magnetic properties of microwave absorber composed of water quenched slag‐epoxy resin composite was studied. The absorbing performance of water quenched slag‐epoxy composites at same sample thickness and at various sample thickness were also studied by measuring complex permittivity, complex permeability and reflection loss in the 2–18 and 18–40 GHz microwave frequency range using the free space method. It was found that the optimum thickness of absorber needed to yield the best reflection loss could be obtained and an absorption frequency range shifting at the frequency range of 2–18 and 18–40 GHz.     

Fabry-Perot optical fiber tip sensor for high temperature measurement

We propose a novel Fabry-Perot optical fiber tip sensor for high temperature measurement. The sensor consists of a short section of a special all-silica photonic crystal fiber spliced at one end to a silica single-mode fiber. Because of its all-silica structure, the sensor allows linear and stable measurements of temperature up to 1200 °C with a high sensitivity. The sensor is easy and inexpensive to fabricate and could find wide applications in mechanics, aeronautics, and metallurgy.     

A margin scheme that advises on when to change required margin

The purpose of a margin requirement is to protect a clearinghouse from members’ defaults resulting from big losses due to adverse movement of futures prices. To decide on how much a margin is required, a clearinghouse may refer to a benchmark margin defined as a constant multiple of the forecasted volatility. However, a benchmark margin only advises on a desirable margin level. It gives no advice on whether a clearinghouse should alter existing required margin. This paper proposes a margin scheme that can advise on when to change the required margin and if a change is recommended, to what level it should be changed. The proposed margin scheme can be devised so that the coverage probability and change frequency are controlled at target levels deemed appropriate by the clearinghouse. The proposed margin scheme needs a volatility forecast as input. This paper shows that among a large number of volatility forecasts, implied volatility gives the best results. This confirms a conjecture that implied volatility may have more information content than other volatility forecasts as far as margin setting is concerned.     

Strongly Phosphorescent Neutral Rhenium(I) Isocyanoborato Complexes: Synthesis,Characterization, and Photophysical,Electrochemical, and Computational Studies

A new series of neutral isocyanoborato rhenium(I) diimine complexes [Re(CO)₃(N^N)(CNBR₃)], where N^N=bpy, 4,4′‐Me₂bpy, phen, 4,7‐Me₂phen, 2,9‐Me₂phen, 3,4,7,8‐Me₄phen; R=C₆F₅, C₆H₅, Cl, 4‐ClC₆H₄, 3,5‐(CF₃)₂C₆H₃, with various isocyanoborate and diimine ligands of diverse electronic and steric nature have been synthesized and characterized. The X‐ray crystal structures of six complexes have also been determined. These complexes displayed intense bluish green to yellow phosphorescence at room temperature in dichloromethane solution. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these complexes had been investigated. To elucidate the electronic structures and transitions of these complexes, DFT and TD‐DFT calculations have been performed, which revealed that the lowest‐energy electronic transition associated with these complexes originates from a mixture of MLCT [dπ(Re)→π*(N^N)] and LLCT [π(CNBR₃)→π*(N^N)] transitions.     

Amphiphilic polymeric particles with core–shell nanostructures: emulsion-based syntheses and potential applications

The design and synthesis of amphiphilic nano- to micro-sized polymeric particles with core–shell nanostructures have attracted more and more attention because of their wide applicability in modern material science and their technological importance in the areas of colloid and interface science. Many synthetic strategies have been developed for the preparation of amphiphilic core–shell particles that consist of hydrophobic polymer cores and hydrophilic polymeric shells. In this review, we focus on emulsion-based approaches and properties of particles produced. These methods are: (1) grafting to functionalized particle that produces a corona-like particle, (2) grafting from reactive seed particle that produces a brush-like particle, (3) copolymerization of reactive macro-monomer with hydrophobic monomer that produces a corona-like particle, (4) emulsion polymerization in the presence of block or comb-like copolymer containing controlled free-radical moiety that produces a multi-layered particle, and (5) redox-initiated graft polymerization of vinyl monomer from a water-soluble polymer containing amino groups that produces a hairy-like particle. Potential applications of some of these particles in drug and gene deliveries, enzyme immobilization, colloidal nanocatalyst, chemical sensing, smart coating, and thermal laser imaging will be discussed.     

Modified Electrodes with Switchable Selectivity for Cationic and Anionic Redox Species

The modified electrode functionalized with a mixed‐polymer brush composed of poly(2‐vinylpyridine) and polyacrylic acid tethered to the surface demonstrated switchable interfacial properties discriminating negatively and positively charged redox species. The switchable electrochemical process was characterized by differential pulse voltammetry and Faradaic impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical system was discussed as a model of an electrochemical multiplexer with two chemical redox inputs, the pH input operating as the selecting signal and one electronic output signal readable by the impedance spectroscopy in the form of the interfacial resistance. The modified electrode represents a novel component for integration with biocatalytic and biocomputing systems aiming at biochemically and electronically controlled actuators.     

A new method for solving equilibrium problem fixed point problem and variational inequality problem with application to optimization

In this paper, we introduce a new iterative scheme for finding a common element of the set of solutions of an equilibrium problem, the set of common fixed point for a family of infinitely nonexpansive mappings and the set of solutions of the variational inequality for α$\alpha$-inverse-strongly monotone mappings in a Hilbert space. Under suitable conditions, some strong convergence theorems for approximating a common element of the above three sets are obtained. As applications, at the end of the paper we utilize our results to study the optimization problem and some convergence problem for strictly pseudocontractive mappings. The results presented in the paper extend and improve some recent results of Yao and Yao [Y.Y. Yao, J.C. Yao, On modified iterative method for nonexpansive mappings and monotone mappings, Appl. Math. Comput. 186 (2) (2007) 1551–1558], Plubtieng and Punpaeng [S. Plubtieng, R. Punpaeng, A new iterative method for equilibrium problems and fixed point problems of nonlinear mappings and monotone mappings, Appl. Math. Comput. (2007) doi:10.1016/j.amc.2007.07.075], S. Takahashi and W. Takahashi [S. Takahashi, W. Takahashi, Viscosity approximation methods for Equilibrium problems and fixed point problems in Hilbert spaces, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 331 (2006) 506–515], Su, Shang and Qin [Y.F. Su, M.J. Shang, X.L. Qin, An iterative method of solution for equilibrium and optimization problems, Nonlinear Anal. (2007) doi:10.1016/j.na.2007.08.045] and Chang, Cho and Kim [S.S. Chang, Y.J. Cho, J.K. Kim, Approximation methods of solutions for equilibrium problem in Hilbert spaces, Dynam. Systems Appl. (in print)].     

Use of a ruthenium-containing conjugated polymer as a photosensitizer in photovoltaic devices fabricated by a layer-by-layer deposition process

Multilayer polymer films composed of a ruthenium terpyridine complex containing poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (Ru-PPV) and sulfonated polyaniline (SPAN) were prepared by a layer-by-layer electrostatic self-assembly deposition. The deposition process was carried out from SPAN solution in water and Ru-PPV in dimethylformamide (DMF). Optical-quality multilayer thin films were obtained. The film growth process was monitored by quartz crystal microbalance, and the surface morphology of the films was studied by atomic force microscopy. It was found that the properties of the multilayer films were dependent on deposition conditions such as the pH of the SPAN solution, the presence of salt in the polymer solutions, and the post-film-forming thermal annealing process. Cross-section transmission electron microscopic images suggested that there was no stratified structure formed in the multilayer films. Photovoltaic cells were fabricated by sandwiching the multilayer films between indium-tin-oxide and aluminum electrodes. The device performances were examined by illumination with AM 1.5 simulated solar light. The power conversion efficiencies of these devices were on the order of 10(-3)%. The maximum incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of the devices was found to be approximately 2% at 510 nm, which is consistent with the absorption maximum of the ruthenium complex. This indicates that the photosensitization process is due to the electronic excitation of the ruthenium complex.