Developing Novel Antimicrobial and Antiviral Textile Products

In conjunction with an increasing public awareness of infectious diseases, the textile industry and scientists are developing hygienic fabrics by the addition of various antimicrobial and antiviral compounds. In the current study, sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and triclosan are applied to cotton fabrics in order to gain antimicrobial and antiviral properties for the first time. The antimicrobial activity of textiles treated with 3 % sodium pentaborate pentahydrate, 0.03 % triclosan, and 7 % Glucapon has been investigated against a broad range of microorganisms including bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Moreover, modified cotton fabrics were tested against adenovirus type 5 and poliovirus type 1. According to the test results, the modified textile goods attained very good antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Thus, the results of the present study clearly suggest that sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and triclosan solution-treated textiles can be considered in the development of antimicrobial and antiviral textile finishes.     

Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert electrochemical energy into electrical energy immediately and have a big potential usage for the same time wastewater treatment and energy recovery via electro-active microorganisms. However, MFCs must be efficiently optimized due to its limitations such as high cost and low power production. Finding new materials to increase the cell performance and reduce cost for MFC anodes is mandatory. In the first step of this study, different inoculation sludges such as anaerobic gum industry wastewater, anaerobic brewery wastewater and anaerobic phosphate were tested, and MFC that was set up with anaerobic gum industry wastewater inoculation sludge exhibited the highest performance. In the second step of this study, various wastewaters such as chocolate industry, gum industry and slaughterhouse industry were investigated for anode bacteria sources. Several electrochemical techniques have been employed to elucidate how wastewaters affect the MFCs’ performance. Among all the mentioned wastewaters, the best performance was achieved by the MFCs fed with slaughterhouse wastewater; this device produced a maximum power density of 267 mW·m^?2.     

Facile and convenient synthesis of new thieno[2,3-b]-thiophene derivatives

A facile and convenient synthesis of bis(2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ylidene)-3-oxopropanenitrile), bis((3-amino-5-(methylthio)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)methanone) and bis(2-thioxo-1,2-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile) derivatives incorporating a thieno- [2,3-b]thiophene moiety via versatile, readily accessible diethyl 3,4-dimethylthieno-[2,3-b]thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate is described.     

Enhanced optical absorption in nanopatterned silicon thin films with a nano-cone-hole structure for photovoltaic applications

In this paper, the optical properties of the silicon nano-cone-hole (NCH) structure array are studied. The ultimate efficiency of the optimized NCH array is enhanced by 23.11% compared to an optimized nanohole array of the same thickness. The absorptance enhancement of the NCH arrays is attributed to its lowered reflectance, more supported resonant modes, and enhanced mode interaction. The angular dependence of ultimate efficiency is also investigated.     

Palladium(II)?NHC complexes containing benzimidazole ligand as a catalyst for C?N bond formation

The reaction of 2‐(2‐bromoethyl)‐1,3‐dioxane with 1‐alkylbenzimidazole derivatives results in the formation of the new benzimidazolium salts (1). The reaction of Pd(OAc)₂ with 1,3‐dialkylbenzimidazolium salts (1a–c) yields palladium N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes (2a–c). All synthesized compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³ C NMR, IR and elemental analysis techniques which support the proposed structures. As catalysts, these new palladium complexes offer a simple and efficient methodology for the synthesis of triarylamines and secondary amines from anilines and amines and in a single step with potassium tertiary butoxide as a base. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metastable states at low temperature in spin crossover compounds in the framework of the atom-phonon coupling model

In the current study we report on the unusual results obtained in the framework of the atom-phonon coupling model: two metastables states at low temperatures. These results can explain the experimental results reported by Ould Moussa et al. [9] and Matsumoto et al. [10]. This type of SCO behavior is due to the competition between the Light-Induced Excited Spin State Trapping (LIESST) effect, the elastic interaction between the molecules and the thermal activation. In order to determine the stability of the states founded at low temperature, the free energy F is presented for the case of the two step spin transition of a SCO compound.     

Theoretical model for the transverse interference pattern of GRIN optical fiber using a laser sheet of light

A new technique (El-Ghandoor et al., Opt. Laser Technol. 31(7) (1999) 481–488) has been applied to study the shape of transverse interference fringes, instead of multiple beam Fizeau fringes (Marhic, Stein, Appl. Phys. Lett. 35 (1975) 1678–1682), from a GRIN optical fiber. In this technique, a laser light sheet is used to illuminate and pass directly through the optical fiber. Theoretical expressions are derived for the optical path differences of three groups of interference beams. The first one passes through the cladding, the core, and then the cladding once again; the second passes through the cladding only, and the third passes through the surrounding air. Theoretical expressions for the shape of transverse interference fringes formed across isotropic non-absorbing optical fibers are also calculated.     

Urea dimethacrylates functionalized with bisphosphonate/bisphosphonic acid for improved dental materials

Incorporation of bisphosphonate/bisphosphonic acid groups in dental monomer structures should increase interaction of these monomers with dental tissue as these groups have strong affinity for hydroxyapatite. Therefore, new urea dimethacrylates functionalized with bisphosphonate (1a, 1b) and bisphosphonic acid (2a, 2b) groups are synthesized and evaluated for dental applications. Monomers 1a and 1b are synthesized from 2‐isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (IEM) and two bisphosphonated amines (BPA1 and BPA2), prepared as reported elsewhere. Selective dealkylation of the bisphosphonate ester groups of 1a and 1b using trimethylsilyl bromide (TMSBr) gives monomers (2a and 2b) with bisphosphonic acid functionality. X‐ray diffractometer (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses of monomer‐treated HAP particles show that 2a induces formation of stable monomer‐calcium salts, similar to 10‐methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP), with higher chemical interaction than 2b. The photopolymerization studies indicate good copolymerizability with commercial dental monomers. In vitro studies on NIH 3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast cells have clearly shown that the tested monomers (1b and 2b) are not toxic according to the MTT standards. All these properties make these monomers suitable as biocompatible cross‐linkers/adhesives for dental applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3195–3204     

A New Class of Kernels Leading to an Arbitrary Decay in Viscoelasticity

A new assumption on the relaxation in a viscoelastic problem ensuring uniform stability in an arbitrary rate is established. This assumption replaces a usual condition and allows for a much wider class of kernels. As consequences several earlier results are extended and improved.     

Asymmetric benzoin reaction catalyzed by benzoylformate decarboxylase

Aromatic aldehydes are converted into benzoins by benzoylformate decarboxylase catalyzed C–C bond formation. The reaction affords (R)-benzoins with high enantiomeric excess and in good chemical yields. A broad range of aromatic aldehydes can be used as substrates in aqueous buffer or buffer/DMSO-solutions.