Crossover Peng-Robinson equation of state with introduction of a new expression for the crossover function

In this research, we use the original Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EOS) for pure fluids and develop a crossover cubic equation of state which incorporates the scaling laws asymptotically close to the critical point and it is transformed into the original cubic equation of state far away from the critical point. The modified EOS is transformed to ideal gas EOS in the limit of zero density. A new formulation for the crossover function is introduced in this work. The new crossover function ensures more accurate change from the singular behavior of fluids inside the regular classical behavior outside the critical region. The crossover PR (CPR) EOS is applied to describe thermodynamic properties of pure fluids (normal alkanes from methane to n-hexane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and R125). It is shown that over wide ranges of state, the CPR EOS yields the thermodynamic properties of fluids with much more accuracy than the original PR EOS. The CPR EOS is then used for mixtures by introducing mixing rules for the pure component parameters. Higher accuracy is observed in comparison with the classical PR EOS in the mixture critical region.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium in ternary ionic liquid systems by UNIFAC: New volume,surface area and interaction parameters. Part I

Ternary liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) data in systems involving ionic liquids has been investigated by several years, mainly due to the innovative role of ionic liquids as extraction solvents. The thermodynamic modeling of these systems has been performed almost invariably with the well-known NRTL model. In recent years, the UNIQUAC model has also been used, with structural parameters for ionic liquids determined either by empirical correlations or, more recently, through quantum mechanics calculations. In this work, the structural group volume and area parameters for the group-contribution UNIFAC method have been calculated for six ionic liquids following the quantum mechanics approach. The Density Functional Theory (DFT) was used to optimize the molecular geometry and the Polarizable Continuum Method (PCM) was used to calculate the area and volume. The obtained parameters were used to correlate LLE data for twenty-four ternary systems, totalizing 169 tie-lines. New interaction parameters were also estimated between the solvent and ionic liquid functional groups. The results are very satisfactory, with root mean square deviations between experimental and calculated compositions about 1.6%.     

The aggregation of sodium dehydrocholate in water

 We used a battery of different methods to study the association in aqueous sodium dehydrocholate (NaDHC) solutions. This salt associates by a stepwise mechanism. Below (9.6 ± 4.2) × 10⁻⁴ mol dm⁻³ there is a molecular solution with some strongly insoluble dehydrocholic acid produced by hydrolysis. Between (9.6 ± 4.2) × 10⁻⁴ and (5.2 ± 2.2) × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³, an aggregate similar to acid soap (NaDHC.HDHC) appears and its amount and the aggregate's size increase with concentration. At =(2.20 ± 0.85) × 10⁻² mol dm⁻³ the aggregates formed have properties usually associated with true micelles, such as solubilisation of water-insoluble dyes. These aggregates increase in size with concentration and change their shape at 8 × 10⁻² mol dm⁻³, giving nonsymmetrical aggregates. The changes in the solution physicochemical properties at these concentrations may be misinterpreted and this explains the different values of the critical micelle concentration reported in the literature for substances with similar structure, such as bile salts. Received: 14 May 2001 Accepted: 10 August 2001     

Rheological properties of viscoelastic biofilm extracellular polymeric substances and comparison to the behavior of calcium alginate gels

In this publication we present a detailed study of viscoelastic biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Sample solutions were extracted from biofilm layers grown on Pseudomonas isolation agar. This aqueous solutions of extracellular polymeric substances exhibit weak elastic effects caused by entanglements and a small number of permanent junction points formed by calcium ions. The cross-linking mechanisms are confirmed by the Cox–Merz rule and dynamic frequency sweep tests, which result in an average lifetime of junction points of the order of 17 ms. The experimental data reveal 3.4×10¹⁷ elastically effective chains per liter of solution and no significant temperature effects in the regime between 2 and 24 °C. This result coincides pretty well with the concentration of dissolved polymer chains (2.9×10¹⁷ molecules/l). Upon addition of calcium ions, one observes the formation of stable supermolecular networks with permanent junction points. These cross-linking points did not show thermal fluctuations in time zones between 10 ms and several hours. The entanglement density of these gels is of the same order as observed in the non-cross-linked sol state (entrapped entanglements). In spite of the different molecular composition alginate gels show the same type of cross-linking mechanism as gels of extracellular polymeric substances.     

Modifying the thermosensitivity of copolymers of sodium styrene sulfonate and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> N</Emphasis>-isopropylacrylamide with dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride

The interactions between copolymers of sodium styrene sulfonate (SSS) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), anionic polyelectrolytes, and dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), a cationic surfactant, were studied in aqueous solutions of various ionic strengths. The copolymers were found to be thermoresponsive, showing a lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The influence of the polymer composition, the surfactant concentration, and the ionic strength on the LCST was studied. The surfactant was found to interact strongly with the polymer, forming mixed polymer-surfactant micelles. The critical aggregation concentration (cac) of the polymer-surfactant system was found from fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene as a fluorescent probe. A strong dependence of the anionic polyelectrolyte-cationic surfactant interactions on the structure of the ionic comonomer was observed.     

Study of the Behavior of an EC Mechanism Using Cyclic and Derivative Chronopotentiometric Techniques with Spherical Electrodes

The theory for an EC mechanism in chronopotentiometric techniques – reversal chronopotentiometry, cyclic chronopotentiometry and reciprocal derivative chronopotentiometry – is developed. The equations of this article are valid for spherical electrodes of any size and present a compact and easy‐to‐manage form. Methods for determining kinetic parameters of the chemical reaction are proposed and the influence of the electrode radius is discussed. We conclude that large errors in the determination of these parameters are committed if electrode sphericity is neglected. Reciprocal derivative chronopotentiometry has been applied in its traditional form (dt/dE vs. E), and in a more recently proposed modality consisting of plotting dt^1/2/dE vs. E. These techniques are very convenient for studying an EC mechanism since the response is obtained in the form of peaks which are quantitatively related to the kinetic parameters of the chemical reaction. A comparison of the chronopotentiometric methods analyzed leads us to conclude that working curves based on the dt^1/2/dE vs. E curves are more suitable to obtain accurate values of the rate constants of the chemical reaction.     

Effect of electrolytes on the surface behavior of rhamnolipids R1 and R2

The surface behavior of solutions of the rhamnolipids, R1 and R2, were investigated in the absence and presence of an electrolyte (NaCl) through surface tension measurements and optical microscopy at pH 6.8. The NaCl concentrations studied are 0.05, 0.5 and 1 M. Electrolytes directly affect the carboxylate groups of the rhamnolipids. The solution/air interface has a net negative charge due to the dissociated carboxylate ions at pH 6.8 with strong repulsive electrostatic forces between the rhamnolipid molecules. This negative charge is shielded by the Na⁺ ions in the electrical double layer in the presence of NaCl, causing the formation of a close-packed monolayer, and a decrease in CMC, and surface tension values. The maximum compaction is observed at 0.5 M NaCl concentrations for R1 and R2 monolayers, with the R1 monolayer more compact than R2. The larger spaces left below the hydrophobic tails of R1 with respect to that of R2, due to the missing second rhamnosyl groups are thought to be responsible for the higher compaction. The rigidity of both R1 and R2 monolayers increases with the electrolyte concentration. The rigidity of the R1 monolayer is greater than that of R2 at all NaCl concentrations due to the lower hydrophilic character of R1. The variation of CMC values as a function of NaCl concentration obtained from the surface tension measurements and critical packing parameter (CPP) calculations show that spherical micelles, bilayer and rod like micelles are formed in the rhamnolipid solutions as a function of the NaCl concentration. The results of optical microscopy supported these aggregation states indicating lamellar nematic liquid crystal, cubic lamellar and hexagonal liquid crystal phases in R1 and R2 solutions depending on the NaCl concentration.     

Surface properties of Reactive Yellow 2 immobilised pHEMA and HEMA/chitosan membranes: characterisation of their selectivity to different proteins

Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), pHEMA, and a composite pHEMA/chitosan networks were synthesized in the membrane form via UV initiated photo-polymerisation in the presence of an initiator ,′-azoisobutyronitrile. Reactive Yellow 2 (RY-2) was covalently immobilised as a dye–ligand onto both membranes. The polarity and surface energy of the investigated membranes were determined by contact angle measurement. The incorporation of chitosan in the pHEMA networks produced more hydrophilic surface, as indicated by contact angle analysis. The binding characteristics of lysozyme, γ-globulins, human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to pHEMA-RY-2 and pHEMA/chitosan-RY-2 affinity membranes have been investigated from aqueous solution and their dye–ligand free forms were used as control systems. When chitosan was incorporated in the pHEMA network as a cationic polymer led to higher adsorption capacity for the lysozyme. Selective adsorption behaviour was also observed in the case of pHEMA/chitosan-RY-2 membrane for the lysozyme. The non-specific adsorptions of the lysozyme on the pHEMA and pHEMA/chitosan membranes were about 1.9 and 7.2 mg/ml, respectively. These were negligible for all others investigated proteins. The lysozyme adsorption data was analysed using the first-order and the second-order models. The first-order equation in both affinity membrane systems is the most appropriate equation to predict the adsorption capacities of the adsorbents. The adsorption isotherms well fitted the combined Langmuir–Freundlich model. A theoretical analysis has been conducted to estimate the thermodynamic contributions (changes in enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy) for the adsorption of lysozyme to both dye–ligand immobilised membranes. The adsorption capacities of both dye–ligand immobilised membranes increased with increasing the temperature while decreased with increasing the NaCl concentration. Both affinity membranes are stable when subjected to sanitization with sodium hydroxide after repeated separation–elution cycles.     

油脂低场核磁(LF-NMR)检测参数的优化试验

适当的低场核磁共振(LF-NMR)检测条件对于保障数据的可靠性具有重要意义.该文研究了大豆油LF-NMR检测过程中仪器参数、样品温度及体积等对检测结果稳定性及重现性的影响.结果表明,将2.5mL油脂样品置于核磁试管中,并在32℃恒温10 min,采样前稳定1min,在TR =2000 ms,τ=200μs,EchoCount=5000个,NS =4次,TD=500050,SW=250 kHz参数条件下采集信号,可保证检测结果稳定可靠.研究结果可为后期应用LF-NMR技术进行油脂品质检测提供适当的检测条件参考.