An Experimental Investigation into the Acoustic Characteristics of Fluid-filled Porous Structures—A Simplified Model of the Human Skull Cancellous Structure

In nature, shape and structure evolve from the struggle for better performance. Often, biological structures combine multiple beneficial properties, making research into mimicking them very complex. Presented here is a summary of observations from a series of experiments performed on a material that closely resembles the human skull bone’s cancellous structure under acoustic loads. Transmission loss through flat and curved open-cell polyurethane foam samples is observed using air and water as the two interstitial fluids. Reduction in strength and stiffness caused by porosity can be recovered partially by filling the interstitial pores with a fluid. The test findings demonstrate the influence of the interstitial fluid on the mechanical characteristics of a porous structure in a quantitative manner. It is also demonstrated that the transmission loss does not depend only on the mass per unit area of the structure as predicted by acoustic mass law. Current tests also demonstrate that the transmission loss is more sensitive to the interstitial fluid than the shape and support conditions of the structures. Test observations thus support the concepts of “moisture-sensitivity of biological design” and the “law of hierarchy in natural design”.     

Modification of multiwalled carbon nanotubes by carboxy groups and determination of the degree of functionalization

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes were modified by carboxy groups. Four independent methods for the determination of the degree of functionalization of the surface were proposed: ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, titrimetry, and fluorimetry. The first two methods show the total content of carboxy groups in the sample, and the latter two methods give information about the content of the surface groups only. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 291–295, February, 2008.     

The design of molecules containing planar tetracoordinate carbon

A novel preference for planar tetracoordination was observed over the conventional tetrahedral arrangement in a new series of C₅H₂, C₅H₄, C₅H₄^1+/2+ and related compounds. The stability of these molecules is assessed with the ring-opening barriers, HOMO-LUMO gap, singlet-triplet energy differences and nucleus independent chemical shift values.     

Electrooxidation of carbo/thiocarbohydrazide and their hydrazone derivatives at a glassy carbon electrode

Electrochemical oxidation of thio/carbohydrazide and their hydrazone derivatives Benzaldehyde thiocarbohydrazone [BTCH] diacetylene thiocarbohydrazone [DATCH] have been studied in Brit-ton Robinson buffer in aqueous and nonaqueous media at a glassy carbon electrode. The effects of pH, sweep rate, concentration, temperature and surfactants have been studied. The complex bis (carbo/thiocabohydrazide) Zn(II) chloride was also subjected to voltammetric analysis in order to understand the reactivity both in free and metal bound states. The reaction conditions were optimized for the determination of above compounds in micrograms quantities by differential pulse voltammetry, analytical utility of this investigation is also highlighted.     

Hydroxyapatite coating on porous silicon substrate obtained by precipitation process

Hydroxyapatite Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ (HAP) is known as a bioactive and biocompatible material, HAP coatings were used to improve the biocompatible of substrate by many researcher, In this work, HAP thin films on porous silicon (PS) substrates have been prepared by aqueous precipitation method with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes. The HAP films had been prepared under the annealing temperature ranging from 300 to 1000 °C. By the measurement of X-ray diffraction (XRD), it was found that for the crystallinity optimization, the heat-treatment at 850–950 °C for 1 h would be favorable. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements reveal a dense and smooth surface of the HAP film, and tightly adherence of the coating on porous silicon substrate after sintered. Thus, by this method, porous silicon could be increased its bioactivity and so that could be used in the biomedical area.     

SPE电极上Pt单组分及Pt-Au双组分还原态CO_2阳极剥离电化学氧化行为研究

采用循环伏安法，对ＳＰＥＰｔ电极以及ＳＰＥＡｕ－Ｐｔ电极上还原态ＣＯ２的电化学氧化行为研究表明，此类电极的电化学特性与光滑Ｐｔ电极一致：ＣＯ２在氢原子吸附电位区０～２５０ｍＶ（ｖｓ．ＲＨＥ）处，可与电极上化学吸附的氢反应，生成还原态的ＣＯ２，通过线性扫描，还原态ＣＯ２即发生一不可逆电化学氧化过程（阳极剥离）．在ＳＰＥＰｔ系列及ＳＰＥＡｕ－Ｐｔ系列上ＣＯ２的电化学行为表明，当ＳＰＥＰｔ系列上Ｐｔ的载量为２．５ｍＬ的０．０１ｍｏｌ·Ｌ－１Ｈ２ＰｔＣｌ６的Ｐｔ时，对还原态ＣＯ２的电催化活性最好，当Ｐｔ的载量相同时，在ＳＰＥＡｕ－Ｐｔ上，催化剂对还原态ＣＯ２的电化学氧化行为比ＳＰＥＰｔ电极更强，这是由于预先沉积的Ａｕ对后沉积的Ｐｔ有调制作用．     

A Study on Stripping Voltammetric Determination of Osmium(IV) at a Carbon Paste Electrode Modified In Situ with Cationic Surfactants

This article deals with the development of a method for the determination of osmium at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with cationic surfactants of the quaternary ammonium salt type; namely, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and 1‐(ethoxycarbonyl)‐pentadecyltrimethyl‐ammonium bromide (Septonex); both being added in situ and serving for preconcentration of osmium via its hexachloroosmate(IV) anion. The proper electrochemical detection was performed by cathodic scanning in the differential pulse voltammetric mode. Optimization studies concerning important experimental parameters also included a specially performed potentiometric titration, helping to define the actual stoichiometry for the ion‐pairing process, the main principle and driving force of the accumulation step. In a chloride/acetate buffer based supporting medium and with Septonex as the modifier of choice, the reduction signal for osmium was found to be proportional to the Os(IV) concentration in a range from 5×10^?9 to 5×10^?7 mol L^?1 with a limit of detection close to 5×10^?9 mol L^?1 (with preconcentration for 60 s). The method capable to determine Os(IV) in the presence of both Pt(IV) and Ir(III) was tested on model solutions as well as with real sample of industrial waste water (spiked with the analyte); both yielding the recovery rates within 88–99%.