Enhanced Physical and Mechanical Properties of Nitrile-Butadiene Rubber Composites with N-Cetylpyridinium Bromide-Carbon Black

The physical and mechanical properties of nitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) composites with N-cetylpyridinium bromide-carbon black (CPB-CB) were investigated. Addition of 5 parts per hundred rubber (phr) of CPB-CB into NBR improved the tensile strength by 124%, vulcanization rate by 41%, shore hardness by 15%, and decreased the volumetric wear by 7% compared to those of the base rubber-CB composite.     

Solubility of Anthraquinone Derivatives in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: New Correlations

Solubility of several anthraquinone derivatives in supercritical carbon dioxide was readily available in the literature, but correcting ability of the existing models was poor. Therefore, in this work, two new models have been developed for better correlation based on solid–liquid phase equilibria. The new model has five adjustable parameters correlating the solubility isotherms as a function of temperature. The accuracy of the proposed models was evaluated by correlating 25 binary systems. The proposed models observed provide the best overall correlations. The overall deviation between the experimental and the correlated results was less than 11.46% in averaged absolute relative deviation (AARD). Moreover, exiting solubility models were also evaluated for all the compounds for the comparison purpose.     

Lemon Oils Attenuate the Pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Quorum Sensing Inhibition

The chemical composition of three Citrus limon oils: lemon essential oil (LEO), lemon terpenes (LT) and lemon essence (LE), and their influence in the virulence factors production and motility (swarming and swimming) of two Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains (ATCC 27853 and a multidrug-resistant HT5) were investigated. The main compound, limonene, was also tested in biological assays. Eighty-four compounds, accounting for a relative peak area of 99.23%, 98.58% and 99.64%, were identified by GC/MS. Limonene (59–60%), γ-terpinene (10–11%) and β-pinene (7–15%) were the main compounds. All lemon oils inhibited specific biofilm production and bacterial metabolic activities into biofilm in a dose-dependent manner (20–65%, in the range of 0.1–4 mg mL⁻¹) of both strains. Besides, all samples inhibited about 50% of the elastase activity at 0.1 mg mL⁻¹. Pyocyanin biosynthesis decreases until 64% (0.1–4 mg mL⁻¹) for both strains. Swarming motility of P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was completely inhibited by 2 mg mL⁻¹ of lemon oils. Furthermore, a decrease (29–55%, 0.1–4 mg mL⁻¹) in the synthesis of Quorum sensing (QS) signals was observed. The oils showed higher biological activities than limonene. Hence, their ability to control the biofilm of P. aeruginosa and reduce the production of virulence factors regulated by QS makes lemon oils good candidates to be applied as preservatives in the food processing industry.     

Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes with “Green” Detergents

Solubilization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is a fundamental technique for the use of CNTs and their conjugates as nanodevices and nanobiodevices. In this work, we demonstrate the preparation of CNT suspensions with “green” detergents made from coconuts and bamboo as fundamental research in CNT nanotechnology. Single-walled CNTs (SWNTs) with a few carboxylic acid groups (3–5%) and pristine multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs) were mixed in each detergent solution and sonicated with a bath-type sonicator. The prepared suspensions were characterized using absorbance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Among the eight combinations of CNTs and detergents (two types of CNTs and four detergents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the standard), SWNTs/MWNTs were well dispersed in all combinations except the combination of the MWNTs and the bamboo detergent. The stability of the suspensions prepared with coconut detergents was better than that prepared with SDS. Because the efficiency of the bamboo detergents against the MWNTs differed significantly from that against the SWNTs, the natural detergent might be useful for separating CNTs. Our results revealed that the use of the “green” detergents had the advantage of dispersing CNTs as well as SDS.     

Experimental Investigation on the Mass Diffusion Behaviors of Calcium Oxide and Carbon in the Solid-State Synthesis of Calcium Carbide by Microwave Heating

Microwave (MW) heating was proven to efficiently solid-synthesize calcium carbide at 1750 °C, which was about 400 °C lower than electric heating. This study focused on the investigation of the diffusion behaviors of graphite and calcium oxide during the solid-state synthesis of calcium carbide by microwave heating and compared them with these heated by the conventional method. The phase compositions and morphologies of CaO and C pellets before and after heating were carefully characterized by inductively coupled plasma spectrograph (ICP), thermo gravimetric (TG) analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The experimental results showed that in both thermal fields, Ca and C inter-diffused at a lower temperature, but at a higher temperature, the formed calcium carbide crystals would have a negative effect on Ca diffusion to carbon. The significant enhancement of MW heating on carbon diffusion, thus on the more efficient synthesis of calcium carbide, manifested that MW heating would be a promising way for calcium carbide production, and that a sufficient enough carbon material, instead of CaO, was beneficial for calcium carbide formation in MW reactors.     

Growth of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes on Substrates Using Carbon Monoxide as Carbon Source

The growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs) on substrates has attracted great interests because of the potential applications in various fields. Carbon monoxide(CO) was used as the carbon source for the growth of SWCNTs on silicon substrates. Random or oriented SWCNTs can be produced by varying the CO flow rate. When the flow rate of CO was as low as 20 sccm(sccm:standard cubic centimeter per minute), dense SWCNT networks with clean surface were produced. When the flow rate was above 50 sccm, vertically aligned SWCNT(VA-SWCNT) arrays were grown. Well-aligned VA-SWCNT arrays were obtained in the temperature range of 650-800℃ and the content of large-diameter(above 1.7 nm) tubes in the array increased with the temperature. The height of the array was affected by the growth temperature, the CO flow rate, and the growth time. These findings indicate CO can be used as an efficient carbon source for the growth of SWCNTs on substrates under low flow rates.     

AgNP-decorated SBA-15 for MWCNT Paste Modified Electrode: A Sensor for Simultaneous Voltammetric Determination of Paracetamol and Sulfamethoxazole

A new electrochemical sensor based on a carbon nanotube paste electrode modified with a Santa Barbara Amorphous material (SBA-15) decorated with silver nanoparticles, namely CNT/SBA/Ag-PE, was developed. It was successfully applied for individual and simultaneous determination of both paracetamol (PC) and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) medicines. The electrode exhibited a linear dynamic range of 0.12–110 μmol L⁻¹ for paracetamol and 0.06–70 μmol L⁻¹ for sulfamethoxazole, and detection limits of 38 and 19 nmol L⁻¹, respectively. The proposed sensor offered high sensitivity, fast response time and the potential for detecting both drugs simultaneously. The CNT/SBA/Ag-PE enabled the simultaneous determination of PC and SMZ in urine samples with high recovery rates.     

Selective sensing of CrVI and FeIII ions in aqueous solution by an exceptionally stable TbIII-organic framework with an AIE-active ligand

We herein report a new lanthanide metal-organic framework (MOF) that exhibits excellent chemical stability, especially in the aqueous solution over a wide pH range from 1 to 14. In contrast to many reported lanthanide MOFs, this Tb-based MOF emits cyan fluorescence inherited from the integrated AIE-active ligand, rather than Ln³⁺ ions. More remarkably, its fluorescence signal features a highly selective and sensitive “turn-off” response toward CrO₄²⁻, Cr₂O₇²⁻ and Fe³⁺ ions, highlighted with the low detection limits down to 68.18, 69.85 and 138.8 ppm, respectively. Thus, the exceptional structural stability and sensing performance render this material able to be a superior luminescent sensor for heavy metal ions in wastewater.     

过渡态理论在化学体系中的2个应用实例*

在大学本科一二年级的物理化学教学中,化学动力学章节的学习涉及到对不同时间尺度的认识。本文利用过渡态理论得到的速率常数表达公式,以乙烷分子碳/碳单键旋转和水分子氢键交换的动力学过程为例,对这2个应用实例的动力学过程所发生的时间尺度做出估算。这些时间尺度的估算对于学生理解不同动力学过程的物理图像至关重要,同时也有助于加强学生对重要公式的理解并能够将这些公式在化学体系中灵活运用。     

二氧化碳催化加氢及其研究进展*

综述了二氧化碳热催化加氢的现状和研究进展,为进一步开展二氧化碳催化加氢的研究提供参考