Magnetically separable CoFe2O4/CoxFey/activated carbon composites for Cd(II) removal from wastewater

CoFe₂O₄ and Co_x Fe_y were anchored into activated carbon (AC) to synthesize CoFe₂O₄/Co_x Fe_y /AC composites using the sol–gel method for Cd(II) adsorption from wastewater. The results indicated that CoFe₂O₄ and Co_x Fe_y nanoparticles existed in the pores of AC. The magnetic properties of CoFe₂O₄/Co_x Fe_y /AC indicated it could be separated and retrieved easily using an external magnet after Cd(II) adsorption. The effects of solution pH, temperature and initial Cd(II) concentration on the Cd(II) adsorption of AC and CoFe₂O₄/Co_x Fe_y /AC were investigated. The standard free energy, enthalpy change and entropy change were evaluated. The kinetic parameters of Langmuir and Freundlich isothermal equation were analyzed, and the Freundlich kinetic model was feasible for describing the Cd(II) adsorption process of CoFe₂O₄/Co_x Fe_y /AC composites.     

Fast and flexible gpu accelerated binding free energy calculations within the amber molecular dynamics package

Alchemical free energy (AFE) calculations based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are key tools in both improving our understanding of a wide variety of biological processes and accelerating the design and optimization of therapeutics for numerous diseases. Computing power and theory have, however, long been insufficient to enable AFE calculations to be routinely applied in early stage drug discovery. One of the major difficulties in performing AFE calculations is the length of time required for calculations to converge to an ensemble average. CPU implementations of MD‐based free energy algorithms can effectively only reach tens of nanoseconds per day for systems on the order of 50,000 atoms, even running on massively parallel supercomputers. Therefore, converged free energy calculations on large numbers of potential lead compounds are often untenable, preventing researchers from gaining crucial insight into molecular recognition, potential druggability and other crucial areas of interest. Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) can help address this. We present here a seamless GPU implementation, within the PMEMD module of the AMBER molecular dynamics package, of thermodynamic integration (TI) capable of reaching speeds of >140 ns/day for a 44,907‐atom system, with accuracy equivalent to the existing CPU implementation in AMBER. The implementation described here is currently part of the AMBER 18 beta code and will be an integral part of the upcoming version 18 release of AMBER. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Luminescent Metal–Organic Framework Thermometer with Intrinsic Dual Emission from Organic Lumophores

A new mixed‐ligand metal–organic framework (MOF), ZnATZ‐BTB, has been constructed as a luminescent ratiometric thermometer by making use of the intrinsic dual emission at cryogenic temperatures. Its twofold interpenetrated network promotes the Dexter energy transfer (DET) between the mixed organic lumophores. The temperature‐dependent luminescent behavior arises from the thermal equilibrium between two separated excited states coupled by DET, which is confirmed by Boltzmann distribution fitting. The small excited‐state energy gap allows ZnATZ‐BTB to measure and visualize cryogenic temperatures (30–130 K) with significantly high relative sensitivity (up to 5.29 % K^?1 at 30 K). Moreover, it is the first example of a ratiometric MOF thermometer the dual emitting sources of which are widely applicable mixed organic ligands, opening up new opportunities for designing such devices.     

Free energy and states of fractional-order hereditariness

Complex materials, often encountered in recent engineering and material sciences applications, show no complete separations between solid and fluid phases. This aspect is reflected in the continuous relaxation time spectra recorded in cyclic load tests. As a consequence the material free energy cannot be defined in a unique manner yielding a significative lack of knowledge of the maximum recoverable work that can extracted from the material. The non-uniqueness of the free energy function is removed in the paper for power-laws relaxation/creep function by using a recently proposed mechanical analogue to fractional-order hereditariness.     

Elastic behavior of composites containing multi-layer coated particles with imperfect interface bonding conditions and application to size effects and mismatch in these composites

This paper proposes a procedure to deal with n-layered inclusion based composites with imperfect interfaces (which conditions consist of displacement or stress vector jumps) respecting spherical symmetry. For that purpose, “discontinuity matrices” have been introduced. These matrices have been derived for several classical interface-models and an asymptotic method has been used to determine some of them. A self-consistent condition based on a strain-energy equivalence in the case of inclusion-matrix type composite materials is restated for n-layered inclusions with imperfect interfaces and applied to get estimates of such composites materials. The remarkable feature of the presently self consistent approach is that it does not need any tedious algebra providing the attached interface models respect the spherical symmetry. The present Generalized Self Consistent Model (GSCM) is then used to study size effects and mismatch in composites reinforced by coated inclusions.     

Porous shape memory polymers: Design and applications

Porous shape memory polymers (SMPs) exhibit geometric and volumetric shape change when actuated by an external stimulus and can be fabricated as foams, scaffolds, meshes, and other polymeric substrates that possess porous three-dimensional macrostructures. These materials have applications in multiple industries such as textiles, biomedical devices, tissue engineering, and aerospace. This review article examines recent developments in porous SMPs, with a focus on fabrication methods, methods of characterization, modes of actuation, and applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1300–1318     

Defect Chemistry of Singly and Doubly Doped Ceria: Correlation between Ion Transport and Energetics

Earlier studies have shown a strong correlation between the enthalpy of formation, ΔH_f,ox, and the ionic conductivity, σ_i, near room temperature in doped ceria systems, which are promising solid electrolytes for intermediate‐temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT‐SOFCs). The present work demonstrates that this correlation holds at the operating temperature of IT‐SOFCs, 600–700 °C. Solid solutions of Ce_1?xNd_xO_2?0.5x, Ce_1?xSm_xO_2?0.5x, and Ce_1?xSm_0.5xNd_0.5xO_2?0.5x are studied. The ΔH_f,ox at 702 °C is determined by considering the excess heat content between 25 and 702 °C combined with the value of ΔH_f,ox at 25 °C. Both σ_i and ΔH_f,ox show maxima at x=0.15 and 0.20 for the singly and doubly doped ceria, respectively, suggesting that the number of mobile oxygen vacancies in these solid solutions reaches a maximum near those compositions. An increase in temperature results in a shift of the maximum in both ΔH_f,ox and σ_i towards higher concentrations. This shift results from a gradual increase in dissociation of the defect associates.     

Rapid reduction of titanium dioxide nano-particles by reduction with a calcium reductant

Micro-, submicron-, and nano-scale titanium dioxide particles were reduced by reduction with a metallic calcium reductant in calcium chloride molten salt at 1173 K, and the reduction mechanism of the oxides by the calcium reductant was explored. These oxide particles, metallic calcium as a reducing agent, and calcium chloride as a molten salt were placed in a titanium crucible and heated under an argon atmosphere. Titanium dioxide was reduced to metallic titanium through a calcium titanate and lower titanium oxide, and the materials were sintered together to form a micro-porous titanium structure in molten salt at high temperature. The reduction rate of titanium dioxide was observed to increase with decreasing particle size; accordingly, the residual oxygen content in the reduced titanium decreases. The obtained micro-porous titanium appeared dark gray in color because of its low surface reflection. Micro-porous metallic titanium with a low oxygen content (0.42 wt%) and a large surface area (1.794 m² g⁻¹) can be successfully obtained by reduction under optimal conditions.     

Study of electron-vibrational interaction and concentration quenching effect of Cu+ ions in lithium based sulphate phosphors

The objective of this work is to study electron-vibrational interaction (EVI) and concentration quenching and their manifestation in experimental photoluminescence spectra of Cu⁺ ion in various lithium based phosphors namely, Li₂SO₄, LiNaSO₄ and LiKSO₄. The main parameters of EVI, such as the Stokes shift, Huang-Rhys factor and zero-phonon line positions, were estimated. The studied systems shows strong electron lattice coupling. The validity of results was established by modeling the shape of the emission spectra, which was found to be in good agreement with experimental photoluminescence spectra. The concentration quenching study is also carried out for these compounds. The studied systems correspond to the nearest neighbor energy transfer mechanism.     

Green solvent approach for printable large deformation thermoplastic elastomer based piezoresistive sensors and their suitability for biomedical applications

Composites based on biocompatible thermoplastic elastomer styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene (SEBS) as matrix and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as nanofillers show excellent mechanical and piezoresistive properties from low to large deformations. The MWCNT/SEBS composites have been prepared following a green solvent approach, to extend their range of applicability to biomedical applications. The obtained composites with 2, 4, and 5 wt % MWCNT content provide suitable piezoresistive response up to 80% deformation with a piezoresistive sensibility near 2.7, depending on the applied strain and MWCNT content. Composite sensors were also developed by spray and screen printing and integrated with an electronic data acquisition system with RF communication. The possibility to accurately control the composites properties and performance by varying MWCNT content, viscosity, and mechanical properties of the polymer matrix, shows the large potential of the system for the development of large deformation printable piezoresistive sensors. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2092–2103