Biodegradable polycaprolactone–polyanhydrides blends

Biodegradable polymers based on a blend of polycaprolactone (PCL) and aliphatic polyanhydrides with various monomer lengths were prepared to obtain desired polymer blends for use as drug carriers. The physicochemical, mechanical, and drug‐release properties of these blends were investigated by various techniques to evaluate the uniformity degree of the polymer blends to establish their potential applications in drug delivery. The results demonstrated that the heat of fusion (ΔH) of the polyanhydride or the blend is increased in relation to the length of the aliphatic chain. However, the blends had different properties than pure polyanhydride, and the crystallization degree of the blends, as expressed by the ΔH, decreased in relation to the ΔH of the pure polyanhydride. Drug‐release studies from blends of PCL and aliphatic polyanhydrides demonstrated first‐order kinetics of the release rate. Polymer degradation was independent at the polyanhydride monomer length. On the basis of theoretical calculation of the interaction factor, a blend of PCL and poly(dodecanedeoic anhydride) was chosen for further elucidation of its thermal, mechanical, and degradation properties. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3781–3787, 2003     

Structure and properties of blends containing ethylene-methacrylate copolymers

The preparation, melting point, degree of crystallinity, mechanical properties, and morphology of a family of blends composed of a transition-metal-neutralized carboxylate semicrystalline ionomer (metal-neutralized ethylene-methacrylate copolymer) and an amorphous copolymer (styrene-4-vinyl pyridine copolymer) are described. These polymeric materials contain low levels (≤ 10.0 mol %) of interacting groups which are capable of forming interpolymeric complexes. These interactions are best described as transition metal-pyridine coordination complexes. A general characteristic of these blend systems is that the mechanical properties and morphology are directly influenced by the nature of the counterion and the specific composition ratio of amorphous to semicrystalline component. A nontransition metal counterion (sodium) is weakly interacting at best, while a transition metal counterion (zinc) is strongly interacting. Morphological studies (polarized-light microscopy and small-angle light-scattering measurements) confirm that the glassy component, if nonassociating, resides primarily in the interspherulite region, while the associating species will behave in a similar manner only after the stoichiometric ratio is reached. The morphology directly influences the stress-strain behavior of these blends. It is noteworthy that the spherulite size remains unchanged with nonassociating blends while a 50% reduction is noted in the associating blends. Thermal and wide-angle x-ray scattering measurements confirm the lamellar structure is unaffected by these associations. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Direct Statistical Simulation of a Supersonic Flow of a Binary Mixture of Rarefied Gases around a Transversely Positioned Cylinder

A supersonic flow of a binary mixture of gases in a wide range of rarefaction (from a flow with a Knudsen number K _n = 0.1 to a free-molecular flow) around a cylinder is studied by means of direct statistical Monte Carlo simulations (DSMC method). The influence of a small fraction of heavy particles in a light gas flow on the region of significant nonequilibrium near the cylinder and on the heat flux is considered.__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 53–59, September–October, 2005.     

Bitumen/polyethylene blends: using m-LLDPEs to improve stability and viscoelastic properties

The stability and the rheological properties of blends of a 60/70 penetration-grade bitumen with conventional HDPEs and metallocene catalysed LLDPEs (m-LLDPE) are investigated. Considerably better stability results are obtained using m-LLDPEs instead of conventional polyethylenes, allowing one to avoid phase separation of the emulsion-like system during storage at high temperature. Thermodynamical interaction between bitumen and polyethylene is discarded as a cause of the observed difference, because the solubility parameter is practically the same for all the investigated polyethylenes. The result is explained on the basis of the lower melt elasticity of m-LLDPEs (attributed to their narrow molecular weight distribution), which facilitates the drop breakup during mixing process. The modification of bitumen with any of the m-LLDPEs considered in this work gives a new material with considerably improved viscoelastic properties.     

低温燃料电池的纳米电催化材料:综述(英文)

Low temperature fuel cells are an attractive technology for transportation and residential applica‐tions due to their quick start up and shut down capabilities. This review analyzed the current status of nanocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells and alkaline membrane fuel cells. The preparation process influences the performance of the nanocatalyst. Several synthesis methods are covered for noble and non‐noble metal catalysts on various catalyst supports including carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, nanowires, and graphenes. Ex situ and in situ characterization methods like scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and fuel cell testing of the nanocatalysts on various supports for both proton exchange and alkaline membrane fuel cells are discussed. The accelerated durability estimate of the nanocat‐alysts, predicted by measuring changes in the electrochemically active surface area using a voltage cycling method, is considered one of the most reliable and valuable method for establishing durabil‐ity.     

Stainless Steel Electrodes to Determine Biodiesel Content in Petroleum Diesel Fuel by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

The blending ratio of biodiesel in petroleum diesel has become one of the most important parameters to ensure the quality of diesel/biodiesel blend. This paper presents a fast and simple method based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to determine the biodiesel content in diesel fuel. Different from the method reported in the literature, using a pair of two identical screen printed carbon paste electrodes, in the present work we used two electrodes made from 304 stainless steel with dimensions of 0.8×0.3 cm for the EIS measurements. Improved results were obtained in terms of sensitivity, stability of measurements, electrode reuse, and cost. In this procedure the charge transfer resistance is proportionally related to the biodiesel content, which is used to construct a calibration curve for the analysis of biodiesel content. The procedure was validated by an official method, using two samples, being one of them, certified through an official interlaboratory program of the Brazilian government (Interlaboratory Program for Biodiesel of National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (PIB)/ANP). Good results were obtained in terms of recovery (102.6 %‐102.8 %), precision (coefficient of variation lower than 2.3 %), limit of detection (0.24 %) and limit of quantification (0.80 %). These results indicate that this method is sufficiently suitable as an alternative method to the official method for determining biodiesel content in commercial diesel fuel.