Hydrothermal synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) Na<Subscript>x</Subscript>TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanostructures

Nanorods of sodium titanium dioxide bronze Na_xTiO₂ were synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of the amorphous TiO₂·nH₂O gel with 10 M NaOH followed by ultrasonication in 0.1 M HCl and thermal treatment (500°C, 10 h). The thermal treatment of the nanorods does not change the morphology of the particles. According to the electron diffraction data, the Na_xTiO₂ nanorods grow along the c axis.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 71–73, January, 2005.     

Biosynthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyalkanoates) by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) consisting of 3-hydroxyalkanoates (3HAs) of 4 to 10 carbon atoms was examined in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains. When the fadA and/or fadB mutant E. coli strains harboring the plasmid containing the Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 phaC2 gene and the Ralstonia eutropha phaAB genes were cultured in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium supplemented with 2 g/L of sodium decanoate, all the recombinant E. coli strains synthesized PHAs consisting of C4, C6, C8, and C10 monomer units. The monomer composition of PHA was dependent on the E. coli strain used. When the fadA mutant E. coli was employed, PHA containing up to 63 mol% of 3-hydroyhexanoate was produced. In fadB and fadAB mutant E. coli strains, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) was efficiently incorporated into PHA up to 86 mol%. Cultivation of recombinant fadA and/or fadB mutant E. coli strains in LB medium containing 10 g/L of sodium gluconate and 2 g/L of sodium decanoate resulted in the production of PHA copolymer containing a very high fraction of 3HB up to 95 mol%. Since the material properties of PHA copolymer consisting of a large fraction of 3HB and a small fraction of medium-chain-length 3HA are similar to those of low-density polyethylene, recombinant E. coli strains constructed in this study should be useful for the production of PHAs suitable for various commercial applications.     

Influence of the texture of chromia catalysts on their activity in synthesis of 2-methylthiophene

The texture of Cr₂O₃-K₂O/Al₂O₃catalysts containing oxides of rare earth elements (REE) was studied. The catalysts are used for the synthesis of 2-methylthiophene by the reaction of H₂S with n-pentane or piperilene. The heterocyclization of n-pentane is a consecutive reaction involving a step of dehydrogenation of initial hydrocarbon. At this step the texture of the catalyst affects the yield of 2-methylthiophene. The yield of 2-methylthiophene obtained from piperilene and I₂S is independent of the catalyst texture.     

Synthesis of New Lithium Ionic Conductor Thio-LISICON—Lithium Silicon Sulfides System

The new lithium ionic conductors, thio-LISICON (LIthium SuperIonic CONductor), were found in the ternary Li₂S-SiS₂-Al₂S₃ and Li₂S-SiS₂-P₂S₅ systems. Their structures of new materials, Li_4+xSi_1−xAl_xS₄ and Li_4−xSi_1−xP_xS₄ were determined by X-ray Rietveld analysis, and the electric and electrochemical properties were studied by electronic conductivity, ac conductivity and cyclic voltammogram measurements. The structure of the host material, Li₄SiS₄ is related to the γ-Li₃PO₄-type structure, and when the Li⁺ interstitials or Li⁺ vacancies were created by the partial substitutions of Al³⁺ or P⁵⁺ for Si⁴⁺, large increases in conductivity occur. The solid solution member x=0.6 in Li_4−xSi_1−xP_xS₄ showed high conductivity of 6.4×10^-4 S cm⁻¹ at 27°C with negligible electronic conductivity. The new solid solution, Li_4−xSi_1−xP_xS₄, also has high electrochemical stability up to ∼5 V vs Li at room temperature. All-solid-state lithium cells were investigated using the Li_3.4Si_0.4P_0.6S₄ electrolyte, LiCoO₂ cathode and In anode.     

Kinetics and mechanism of gold dissolution in thiourea solutions: Effect of sulfide ions

Chronoamperograms for gold in solutions containing 0.1 M thiourea, 0.5 M H₂SO₄, and catalytically active sulfide ions at the concentration c ₁ from 1 × 10^?5 to 4 × 10^?5 M are obtained at different potentials with the aid of an automated setup intended for renewing the electrode surface directly in the solution by cutting off a thin surface layer of the metal. It is shown that the results of measurements of the current practically coincide at a constant value of the product c ₁ t, where t is the time period elapsed after the renewal of the electrode surface. Such a coincidence testifies to a diffusion nature of processes that hamper accumulation of sulfide ions at the gold surface. This fact permitted the use of a procedure developed previously for the calculation of polarization curves at constant values of surface coverage θ by catalytically active ions. At θ = const, the voltammetric curves for gold in sulfide-containing thiourea solutions are shown to correspond to the Tafel equation. With the surface coverage increasing, the effective values of the exchange current i ₀, transfer coefficient α, and anodic reaction order with respect to thiourea P _a increase from the values i }~ 10^?5 A cm^?2, α }~ 0.12, and P _a = 0.2, which are characteristic of pure solutions, to 2 × 10^?4 A cm^?2, α }~ 0.5, and P _a = 1.1 (at θ }~ 0.5). An interpretation to the established regularities is given.     

High-Pressure Synthesis and Crystal Structure of B2S3

Two new high-pressure phases of binary boron-sulfur compounds, B₂S₃-II and B₂S₃-III, were synthesized at 3-6.2 GPa. A single crystal of B₂S₃-III was grown and the structure was determined (tetragonal, space group I4₁/a, a=16.086(2) Å, c=30.488(4) Å; V=7888(1) ų, Z=100, R=3.0% and R_w=2.8% for 3047 observed data [I>3.00σ(I)]. The structure of B₂S₃-III consists of two kinds of macrotetrahedra built up from 20 and 34 BS₄-tetrahedra. These macrotetrahedra connect each other to form an interpenetrating zincblende-type structure by sharing BS₄-tetrahedra at the corners of those. B₂S₃-III is anticipated having a rather disordered structure. From the UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum, the optical band gap of B₂S₃-III was estimated to be 3.7 eV.     

Preparation and swelling properties of hydrolysis-resistant superabsorbent composite based on acrylic acid and sodium bentonite

Abstract

A novel hydrolysis-resistant superabsorbent composite was prepared via the solution polymerization based on acrylic acid (AA) and sodium bentonite (SBT) as monomers, tetraallylammonium bromine (TAAB) as crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator. The mechanism of polymerization and the structure of the superabsorbent polymer (SAP) were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (X-ray), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The reaction conditions such as different mass ratios of APS to AA, TAAB to AA, SBT to AA, neutralization degree of AA were optimized by orthogonal experiment, and the influence of each reaction condition on the capacity of water absorption at 150?°C was investigated via single-factor controlled experiment. The hydrolysis resistance and swelling kinetics of the SAP were studied in different solutions at 150?°C. Compared to traditional SAPs, the SAP synthesized with TAAB as crosslinker performed a more excellent hydrolysis resistance and water absorbency capacity at high temperatures. The water absorbency in distilled water or 0.1?mol L^?1 NaCl solution could reach 392.6 and 145.2?g g^?1at 150?°C, respectively. The SAP maintaining high swelling capacity in the pH range of 5–9 indicated its wide application values in the acidic or alkaline environment at high temperature. In addition, the SAP exhibited good reusability which could still retain about 73% of its initial water absorbency after reswelling six times at 150?°C.     

Carbon dioxide reduction under visible light: a comparison of cadmium sulfide and titania photocatalysts

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Conductometric study of cationic and anionic complexes in propylene carbonate

Conductivity data are used to determine thermodynamic complex formation constants for cases in which both the initial electrolyte and the complexed electrolyte form ion pairs. Using the method described in the text, the complex formation constants of Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ with the crown ether 18-crown-6 and of Li⁺ with the ligand triphenylphosphine oxide in propylene carbonate have been evaluated from conductance data. The complexation of AgBr in propylene carbonate solutions of n-etrabutylammonium bromide has also been studied by the measurement of molar conductivities. The results of these studies indicate that ion pairing should not be neglected, even in high permittivity solvents such as propylene carbonate, and that the ion pair association constants correlate well with structural studies on cation-crown ether molecular conformations.     

Thermal properties of sodium acetylacetonate

Sodium acetylacetonate was prepared by the interaction of acetyl acetone with sodium hydroxide. The thermal conductivity, phonon velocity, mean free path, Yong's modulus, and the thermal expansion coefficient were studied. The thermal conductivity of the material decreases with increasing temperature due to the thermal lattice scattering of phonons. The velocity of phonons is also decreased due to the perturbation of thermal phonons. The linear thermal expansion coefficient increases with temperature due to the weakness of the attractive forces between the small Na⁺ cations and bulkier acetylacetonate anions in the lattice.

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Zusammenfassung Natriumacetylacetonat wurde durch die Wechselwirkung zwischen Acetylaceton und Natriumhydroxid gewonnen. Es wurde die Wärmeleitfähigkeit, die Phononengeschwindigkeit, die mittlere freie Wegstrecke, das Elastizitätsmodul und der Wärmeausdehnungskoeffizient untersucht. Die Wärmeleitfähigkeit der Substanz nimmt wegen der thermischen Gitterstreuung der Phononen mit steigender Temparatur ab. Die Geschwindigkeit der Phononen nimmt auf Grund der Perturbierung der thermischen Phononen ebenfalls ab. Der lineare Wärmeausdehnungskoeffizient steigt mit zunehmender Temperatur an, was auf die schwachen Anziehungskräfte zwischen den kleinen Na⁺ Ionen und den massigen Acetylacetonat-Anionen im Gitter zurückzuführen ist.