Surface Pretreatments of AA5083 Aluminum Alloy with Enhanced Corrosion Protection for Cerium-Based Conversion Coatings Application: Combined Experimental and Computational Analysis

The effects of surface pretreatments on the cerium-based conversion coating applied on an AA5083 aluminum alloy were investigated using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), polarization testing, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Two steps of pretreatments containing acidic or alkaline solutions were applied to the surface to study the effects of surface pretreatments. Among the pretreated samples, the sample prepared by the pretreatment of the alkaline solution then acid washing presented higher corrosion protection (~3 orders of magnitude higher than the sample without pretreatment). This pretreatment provided a more active surface for the deposition of the cerium layer and provided a more suitable substrate for film formation, and made a more uniform film. The surface morphology of samples confirmed that the best surface coverage was presented by alkaline solution then acid washing pretreatment. The presence of cerium in the (EDS) analysis demonstrated that pretreatment with the alkaline solution then acid washing resulted in a higher deposition of the cerium layer on the aluminum surface. After selecting the best surface pretreatment, various deposition times of cerium baths were investigated. The best deposition time was achieved at 10 min, and after this critical time, a cracked film formed on the surface that could not be protective. The corrosion resistance of cerium-based conversion coatings obtained by electrochemical tests were used for training three computational techniques (artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and support vector machine regression (SVMR)) based on Pretreatment-1 (acidic or alkaline cleaning: pH (1)), Pretreatment-2 (acidic or alkaline cleaning: pH (2)), and deposition time in the cerium bath as an input. Various statistical criteria showed that the ANFIS model (R² = 0.99, MSE = 48.83, and MAE = 3.49) could forecast the corrosion behavior of a cerium-based conversion coating more accurately than other models. Finally, due to the robust performance of ANFIS in modeling, the effect of each parameter was studied.     

A Robust,Precious-Metal-Free Dye-Sensitized Photoanode for Water Oxidation: A Nanosecond-Long Excited-State Lifetime through a Prussian Blue Analogue

Herein, we establish a simple synthetic strategy affording a heterogeneous, precious metal-free, dye-sensitized photoelectrode for water oxidation, which incorporates a Prussian blue (PB) structure for the sensitization of TiO₂ and water oxidation catalysis. Our approach involves the use of a Fe(CN)₅ bridging group not only as a cyanide precursor for the formation of a PB-type structure but also as an electron shuttle between an organic chromophore and the catalytic center. The resulting hetero-functional PB-modified TiO₂ electrode demonstrates a low-cost and easy-to-construct photoanode, which exhibits favorable electron transfers with a remarkable excited state lifetime on the order of nanoseconds and an extended light absorption capacity of up to 500 nm. Our approach paves the way for a new family of precious metal-free robust dye-sensitized photoelectrodes for water oxidation, in which a variety of common organic chromophores can be employed in conjunction with CoFe PB structures.     

Quantum Dot-Based Biosensor for the Detection of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus-1

A method was developed to identify human T-lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1) using cadmium–tellurium quantum dots. Two probes including the biotin-labeled acceptor and NH2-reporter probes with target DNA were hybridized. The resulted sandwich complex was immobilized on a well containing streptavidin. The quantum dot solution was added to the sandwich complex, conjugated with the amine group of reporter probe, and emission spectra of the quantum dots were recorded. The biosensor response was linear with HTLV-1 concentrations from 10 pg/µl to 0.24?ng/µl, with a detection limit of 19.5 pg/µl. The assay may be successfully used for detection of long nucleic acids.     

Electrosynthesis of cinnamic acid by electrocatalytic carboxylation of phenylacetylene in the presence of [NiII(Me4-NO2Bzo[15]tetraeneN4)] complex: An EC′CCC′C mechanism

A Ni(II) complex, [Ni^II(Me₄-NO₂Bzo[15]tetraeneN₄)], was used for electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ in acetonitrile solvent. Then, the reduced form of CO₂ (CO₂^?) was used for selective carboxylation of phenylacetylene to produce cinnamic acid at room temperature. The potential of the process is significantly less negative in comparison with those reported earlier. Using sacrificial magnesium electrode as anode, controlled potential coulometry was carried out in an undivided glass cell. The spectral characterizations of FTIR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR demonstrated that cinnamic acid was the main product of the electrolysis. With respect to other catalysts, which have been previously reported in the literature, application of the Ni(II) complex in carboxylation of unsaturated compounds has three advantages: (1) the selectivity in the production of cinnamic acid; (2) more increase in the reduction current indicating that the carboxylation of phenylacetylene is fast; and (3) the potential shift of electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to less negative values showing that the Ni(II) complex has an excellent electrocatalytic activity for CO₂ reduction. According to the voltammetric and coulometric results, an EC′CCC′C mechanism was proposed for the electrocatalytic synthesis of cinnamic acid.     

Thermodynamic Studies on the Interaction of Cobalt with Alpha-Amylase

The interaction of α-amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens with divalent cobalt ion was studied by equilibrium dialysis and isothermal titration microcalorimetry methods at 27 °C in neutral solution at pH = 7.0. A new equation with a useful graphical method, very similar to the Scatchard plot was introduced to obtain a dissociation equilibrium constant using microcalorimetric data. The constant is remarkably like that obtained from a normal Scatchard plot, which uses equilibrium dialysis data. The enzyme activity increased significantly with an increasing concentration of cobalt; however, the temperature of denaturation of the enzyme decreased.     

Simultaneous Spectrophotometric Determination of Benzyl Alcohol and Diclofenac in Pharmaceutical Formulations by Chemometrics Method

Diclofenac sodium (DS) is a drug with analgesic, antipyretic, and anti‐inflammatory properties. It is present in numerous pharmaceutical preparations. In injectable forms, it is usually accompanied by benzyl alcohol (BA) as an excipient, which is used as a blocking anesthetic (4%) and an antiseptic (4–10%). In this work a spectrophotometric methodology was applied in order to determine benzyl alcohol and diclofenac in injectable formulations by applying a multivariate calibration method. By a multivariate calibration method such as partial least squares (PLS), it is possible to obtain a model adjusted to the concentration values of the mixtures used in the calibration range. In this study, the concentration model is based on absorption spectra in the 230–320 nm range for 25 different mixtures of benzyl alcohol and diclofenac. Calibration matrix contains 10–95 and 1–50 μg mL^?1 for benzyl alcohol and diclofenac, respectively. The root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) for benzyl alcohol and diclofenac were 3.0776 and 1.7557, respectively. The proposed method was validated by using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and subsequently applied to simultaneous determination of benzyl alcohol and diclofenac in two different pharmaceutical formulations.     

Theoretical Performance Analysis of Sparse System Identification Using Incremental and Diffusion Strategies Over Adaptive Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - This paper is dedicated to the complete theoretical analysis of the distributed sparsity aware algorithms in the sparse system estimation and identification...     

Heat transfer and pressure drop in a spiral square channel

Heat transfer and pressure drop in a spiral square channel is examined experimentally and analytically. The spiral channel was fabricated on a copper plate. The cross-section of the channel is square with 1-mm sides. A copper cap plate was bolted tight to seal the channel. Water and four silicone oils (0.65, 1, 3, and 10 cSt) were used as the working fluid; thus, Prandtl numbers from 5 to 110 were examined. The experiments were done once with the fluids entering from the side of the spiral channel and exiting from the middle of the spiral channel, and once with the fluids entering from the middle and exiting from the side. Heat transfer behavior over a wide range of flow rates from laminar to turbulent has been examined. Heat transfer enhancement due to the spiral geometry was observed, and a slight difference was reported between the side and middle inlet condition. The dimensionless mean wall flux and the dimensionless thermal flow length were used to analyze the experimental data instead of Nusselt and Reynolds numbers. The spiral channel has been discretized so that a single Dean number can be assumed in each cell, and an existing correlation was applied to calculate the average Nusselt number. The model prediction is compared with the experimental points. Pressure drop tests have only been conducted with water as the working fluid.