Palladium nanoparticles immobilized on EDTA‐modified Fe3O4@SiO2 nanospheres as an efficient and magnetically separable catalyst for Suzuki and Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions

In this study, a novel heterogeneous palladium catalyst was synthesized by anchoring palladium onto ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)‐coated Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ magnetic nanocomposite and used for the Suzuki and Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions. The properties of the magnetic catalyst were characterized by FT‐IR, XRD, TEM, FE‐SEM, DLS EDX, XPS, N₂ adsorption‐desorption isotherm analysis, TGA, VSM, elemental analysis and the loading level of Pd in catalyst was measured to be 0.51 mmol/g by ICP. The catalyst was used in Suzuki cross‐coupling reactions of various aryl halides, including less reactive chlorobenzenes with phenylboronic acid without any additive or ligand under green conditions. Furthermore, we have reported this recyclable catalytic system for Sonogashira cross‐coupling reactions of various aryl halides (I, Br, Cl) under copper and ligand‐free conditions in the presence of DMF/H₂O (1:2/v:v) as a solvent. The magnetic catalyst could also be separated by an external magnet and reused six times without any significant loss of activity.     

Prediction of the acid value,peroxide value and the percentage of some fatty acids in edible oils during long heating time by chemometrics analysis of FTIR-ATR spectra

Edible oils are used in the preparation of foods as a part of their recipe or for frying. So to ensure of food safety, checking the quality of the oils before and after usage is an important subject in food control laboratories. In this study, edible oils from four different sources (canola, corn, sunflower and frying) were heated for 36 h at 170 °C and sampling was done every 6 h. The free fatty acid, peroxide value and the content of some fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3) of the oil samples were determined by standard methods. Then, the ATR-FTIR spectra of the samples were collected. The partial least squares (PLS) regression combined with genetic algorithm was performed on the spectroscopic data to obtain the appropriate predictive models for the simultaneous estimation of acid value, peroxide value and the percentage of five kinds of fatty acids. The effect of some preprocessing methods on these models was also investigated. Preprocessing of data by orthogonal signal correction (OSC) resulted in the best predictive models for all oil properties. The correlation coefficients of calibration set (>0.99) and validation set (>0.86 and in most case >0.94) of the OSC–PLS model suggested suitable predictive modeling for all studied parameters in the oil samples. This method could be suggested as a rapid, economical and environmental friendly technique for simultaneous determination of seven noted parameters in the edible oils.     

Simple design of an aligned transparent biofilm by magnetic particles and its cellular study

The aim of this study was to produce aligned biodegradable films. In this study, we used magnetic microparticles and strong magnetic field for orientation of gelatin gels. The samples were evaluated by microscopic analyses and cell culture assays with Schwann cells. Results of structural analyses showed a good arrangement and orientation of films under strong magnetic field with movement of magnetite particles. Cellular experiments showed a good cell adhesion and orientation on the designed films compared with those on unmodified ones. This aligned guide appears to have the right organization for testing in vivo nerve tissue engineering studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Treated carbon felt as electrode material in vanadium redox flow batteries: a study of the use of carbon nanotubes as electrocatalyst

Electrodes for large-scale usage in vanadium redox flow battery are usually fabricated without any electrocatalyst due to the lack of good, viable options. The best performance is achieved of carbon-based materials. Recently, some researchers have been reported regarding the use of carbon nanotube as the electrocatalyst in the vanadium redox flow batteries. However, these researches have been carried out without making any comparison between the performance of the traditional method and the carbon nanotube electrocatalyst. In the present study, the loading of multi-walled carbon nanotube, the acid–heat treatment, and their combination were used to modify the carbon felt electrode to be applied in the vanadium redox flow battery. The obtained results showed better electrochemical properties for acid–heat-treated carbon felt electrode compared to the carbon nanotube-loaded one. The best electrode was obtained for using in a vanadium redox flow battery in terms of electrochemical and surface properties after applying a combination of two modification strategies. Applying this proposed method in modification of the carbon felt electrode increased its hydrophilicity more than 17 times and its capability to absorb VOSO₄ solution more than eight times. Also, the charge transfer resistance of a modified electrode, by the combination of the carbon nanotube and the acid–heat treatment, significantly decreased in both positive and negative poles of vanadium redox flow battery. Consequently, the exchange current density enhanced more than 100- and 175-fold in positive and negative poles, respectively, in comparison with carbon felt electrode.     

Comments on “On the Indefinite Quadratic Fractional Optimization with Two Quadratic Constraints”

In this note, with reference to a paper by the same authors, we add an extra assumption, correct the statement of Lemma 2.1 and subsequently correct the proof of this lemma.