Investigation of the Electrochemical Behavior of Mesalazine on the Surface of a Glassy Carbon Electrode Modified with CNT/PPY Doped by 1,5‐Naphthalenedisulfonic Acid

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with a thin layer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and subsequently, electrochemically deposited poly‐pyrrole. The electrochemical behavior of mesalazine was studied on the surface of the modified electrode by applying linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The electropolymerization process and the electrochemical response toward mesalazine were investigated in the presence of different aromatic anion dopants including, benzenesulfonic acid (BSA), 1,3‐benzenedisulfonic acid (1,3‐BDSA), 1,5‐naphthalenedisulfonic acid (1,5‐NDSA) and new coccine (NC). By using 1,5‐NDSA as dopant, a significant increase (～418 times) in the peak current of mesalazine was observed, in comparison to the bare GCE. Experimental variables such as drop size of the cast MWCNTs suspension, pH of the supporting electrolyte, accumulation conditions and the number of scans in the electropolymerization process were optimized by monitoring the LSV responses of mesalazine. Under the optimum conditions, two linear dynamic ranges of 0.01–0.1 µmol L^?1 and 0.1–1.0 µmol L^?1 with a detection limit of 3 nmol L^?1 were resulted for the voltammetric determination of mesalazine. The prepared electrode showed high sensitivity, stability and good reproducibility for determination of mesalazine. These properties made the prepared sensor suitable for the determination of mesalazine in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.     

Polyimide-silica Hybrids: Structural and Morphological Investigations

Polyimide (PI) containing pendant hydroxyl functional groups have been employed for preparation of PI-silica hybrids through the sol-gel process. A stoichiometric amount of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) was reacted with a mixture of oxydianiline (ODA) and 3,3′-diamino-4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl (DAHP) in dimethylacetamide (DMAc) solvent to prepare the precursor poly(amic acid) (PAA) solution for the PI. Various proportions of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) were mixed with PAA to prepare PI-silica hybrids through sol-gel process. The structure and morphology of these hybrids were investigated with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), optical surface profilometery, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and compared with the one in which the matrix was prepared from PMDA and ODA with no pendant hydroxyl functionalities. Formation of silica lean and silica rich phases (SLP and SRP) as a result of formation of nano-sized silica clusters with diffused boundaries, dispersed in the matrix and their agglomerates, respectively, along with totally different morphology suggest a strong influence of hydroxyl groups in controlling the morphology of PI-silica hybrids. A model namely “Retain and React” has been introduced to explain observed structure.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrogel Nanoparticles Through Inverse Microemulsion Polymerization of 2-Acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic Acid

Nanosized hydrogel particles prepared through inverse microemulsion polymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, using the combination of an oil soluble emulsifier (SPAN80) with a water soluble emulsifier (TWEEN 80), and precise determination of HLB range related to the formation of stable single phase microemulsions.

The effect of crosslink density, water phase to oil phase ratio, and the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value on polymerization rate, particle size, and swelling ratio were investigated. It found that polymerization rate and particle size are strongly dependent on the water phase to oil phase ratio. Hydrogel samples prepared using oil soluble and water soluble initiators and the results showed that the initiator type had a great influence on monomer conversion and particle size. Effect of pH on equilibrium swelling of hydrogels was studied by dynamic light scattering and hydrogels showed pH-independent swelling behavior in a broad range of pH values. We also reported and discussed the crosslink density distribution in nanogels prepared by inverse microemulsion polymerization.     

Computational study of a latent heat thermal energy storage system enhanced by highly conductive metal foams and heat pipes

Numerical simulations are performed to analyze the thermal characteristics of a latent heat thermal energy storage system with phase change material embedded in highly conductive porous media. A network of finned heat pipes is also employed to enhance the heat transfer within the system. ANSYS-FLUENT 19.0 is used to create a transient multiphase computational model to simulate the thermal behavior of the storage unit. Copper foam is the porous medium used to enhance the heat transfer and is impregnated with the phase change material, potassium nitrate (KNO₃). The effects of the porosity of the metal foam and the quantity of heat pipes on the thermal characteristics of storage unit have been investigated. The results indicated that increasing the quantity of the embedded heat pipes leads to drastic acceleration of both charging and discharging process. Impregnating the copper foam with potassium nitrate phase change material significantly affects the total charging and discharging times of the storage unit. It was shown that the porosity of the metal foam plays a key role in the thermal behavior of the system during the charging and discharging processes.

     

Investigation of the effect of using various HFC refrigerants in geothermal heat pump with residential heating applications

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present investigation, the impact of various refrigerants on the efficiency of the geothermal heat pump operation is investigated. Appropriate...     

Synthesis of 1-amidoalkyl-2-naphthol derivatives using a magnetic nano-Fe3O4@SiO2@Hexamethylenetetramine-supported ionic liquid as a catalyst under solvent-free conditions

Hexamethylenetetramine-functionalized silica-coated nano-Fe₃O₄ particles (MNPs@Hexamethylenetetramine) were prepared as a reusable heterogeneous catalyst using a facile process. The catalyst was synthesized and characterized using infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and vibrating sample magnetometer. This magnetic nanocatalyst was employed as an efficient, reusable, and environmentally benign heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of amidoalkylnaphthol derivatives from a one-pot three-component condensation reaction of beta-naphthol, aldehydes, and amides in good to excellent yields, Moreover, this catalyst can be easily recovered by using a magnetic field and directly reused for at least seven runs without sign ificant loss of its activity.     

Quantum Monte Carlo study of ground and first excited state of C,N, O,F, and Ne atoms using Slater-Jastrow-Backflow wave function

All-electron fixed-node diffusion quantum Monte Carlo energies of the two lowest-lying states of C, N, O, F, and Ne atoms are reported. The Slater-Jastrow form is used as the trial wave function. We will use single- and multideterminant wave functions as the Slater part. The single-determinant wave function has been computed by the Hartree-Fock method and the multideterminant wave functions have been computed by the complete active space self-consistent field, configuration interaction with single and double excitation, configuration interaction with single, double, triple, and quadruple excitation and second-order configuration interaction. For the ground- and first excited states, the multideterminant wave functions have computed more than 99% of the correlation energy. Significant improvements have been achieved using the backflow transformations and up to 99.8% of the correlation energy has been recovered. A very good agreement with the experimental data has been obtained for the excitation energies.     

Synthesis of novel triazoloquinoxaline-pyrazole hybrids as antiproliferatives,EGFR inhibitors,and apoptosis inducers

Novel triazoloquinoxaline-pyrazole hybrids have been developed and synthesized. All derivatives' anticancer activity has been evaluated using Sulforhodamine-B (SRB) assay for cancer cell lines MCF-7, HepG-2, and HCT-116. Compound 12b was 2-fold more cytotoxic than Doxorubicin, while 12a , c demonstrated comparable cytotoxicity to the reference Doxorubicin. Further investigations on the most active derivatives 12a-c were done to study their inhibitory activity on two EGFR subtypes wild EGFR and mutant EGFR (L858R) tyrosine kinases in MCF-7 cell lines. Compound 12b exhibited potent inhibitory activity toward wild EGFR (IC₅₀: 0.98 μM) when compared to Gefitinib (IC₅₀:18.07 μM). 12b also possessed a marked inhibition against mutant EGFR (L858R-TK) exhibiting (IC₅₀:27.45 μM) in comparison to Lapatinib (IC₅₀: 61.06 μM). Compound 12b improved the active Caspase-3 value and the BAX/Bcl-2 reference. Furthermore, 12b showed G2/M cell cycle arrest induced apoptosis in cell line MCF-7. In addition, the most active derivatives have been orally bioavailable as shown in the in silico determination of the ADME characters. The binding pattern of compound 12b was also studied by molecular docking.     

Novel N-(benzo[d]oxazol-2-yl)alkanamides; synthesis and carbonic anhydrase II inhibition studies

Carbonic anhydrase (CA II) inhibitors are very important therapeutic targets in drug design for treatment of neuropathic pain and in eradication of glaucoma, cancer, epilepsy, ulcer and obesity. In this study, some two2-substituted benzoxazoles ( 3a-j ) were developed as a new family of carbonic anhydrase II inhibitors by employing acyl thiourea chemistry via a simple and expedient protocol and evaluated for CA II inhibitor activity and radical scavenging ability. Compounds 3f and 3j were found to be the most potent inhibitors, with IC₅₀ values of 0.00564 and 0.00596 μM, respectively which are several times better than that of the standard, acetazolamide (IC₅₀ value 0.997 ± 0.0586 μM). Docking experiments were carried out against the carbonic anhydrase II crystal structure to better rationalize the inhibitory activities of these new structures. Moreover, the results of a DPPH radical scavenging assay showed that the antioxidant profile of compound 3i is superior to those of other derivatives. The results have revealed that derivatives 3f and 3j behave as CA-II inhibitors significantly better than standard and 3i has good anti-oxidation potential.     

The New Descriptors Effective on the Detonation Performance of Aluminized Explosives

The relationship between detonation velocity and the elemental composition of components of aluminized explosives are assessed through quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR). Here, two new reliable, simple models are proposed for estimating aluminized explosives detonation heat and velocity based on molecular structure by applying QSPR. In this methodology it is assumed that these two detonation parameters can be presented as a function of elemental composition, density and several structural parameters. This new correlation of heat detonation has determination coefficient of 0.930, root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 324.4 and average absolute deviation (AAD) of 446kJ · kg^–1 for 36 aluminized explosives with different molecular structures as the training set. The predictive power of this new correlation is checked through a cross validation method. Statistical parameters reveal relatively good result for this correlation. Also, the determination coefficient of detonation velocity for the other new model is 0.960 and it has 151.1 (RMSD) and 107.9 m · s^–1 (AAD) for 42 aluminized explosives with different molecular structures as training set. Reliability and validity of new correlation investigated (Q²_Ext = 0.948, Q²_LOO = 0.938, and Q²_LMO = 0.937). The good ability of this new model for prediction detonation velocity of aluminized explosives are confirmed.