Combined effects of clay modifications and compatibilizers on the formation and physical properties of melt‐mixed polypropylene/clay nanocomposites

The melt mixing technique was used to prepare various polypropylene (PP)‐based (nano)composites. Two commercial organoclays (denoted 20A and 30B) served as the fillers for the PP matrix, and two different maleated (so‐called) compatibilizers (denoted PP‐MA and SMA) were employed as the third component. The results from X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) experiments revealed that 190 °C was an adequate temperature for preparing the nanocomposites. Nanocomposites were achieved only if specific pairs of organoclay and compatibilizer were simultaneously incorporated in the PP matrix. For example, PP/20A(5 wt %)/PP‐MA(10 wt %) and PP/30B(5 wt %)/SMA(5 wt %) composites exhibited nanoscaled dispersion of 20A or 30B in the PP matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicated that the organoclays served as nucleation agents for the PP matrix. Generally, their nucleation effectiveness increased with the addition of compatibilizers. The thermal stability enhancement of PP after adding 20A was confirmed with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The enhancement became more evident as a suitable compatibilizer was further added. However, for the 30B‐included composites, thermal stability enhancement was not evident. The dynamic mechanical properties (i.e., storage modulus and loss modulus) of PP increased as the nanocomposites were formed; the properties increment corresponded to the organoclay dispersion status in the matrix. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4139–4150, 2004     

Limit distribution of the number of consecutive records

A succinct series expression is derived for describing the limit distribution of the number of times r consecutive elements are all records (in a sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables with a common continuous distribution) for all r ≥ 2. Previously, only the limit distributions for r = 1, 2, and 3 were known. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2005     

Surface characterization and barrier properties of plasma‐modified polyethersulfone/layered silicate nanocomposites

This study describes the preparation of polyethersulfone (PES)/layered silicate nanocomposites (PLSNs) by mixing PES polymer chain into organically‐modified layered silicate in 1‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP) solution. Both X‐ray diffraction data and transmission electron microscopy images of PLSNs indicate that the silicate layers were almost exfoliated and randomly distributed into the PES matrix. The mechanical and barrier properties of PLSNs show remarkable enhancement in the storage modulus and water/oxygen permeability when compared with that of neat PES matrix. Surfaces modification of PES and PLSN films with various treated times, system pressures, and radio frequency (RF) powers were performed using a mixture of oxygen (O₂) and nitrogen (N₂) plasmas. The topographical and physical properties of plasma‐modified PES and PLSN surfaces were investigated using scanning probe microscopy (SPM), contact‐angle measurements, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These results indicate that the surface roughness of PLSNs with the same condition of plasma modification is lower than that of neat PES matrix and is probably due to the increase of stiffness with the presence of inorganic layered silicates in PES matrix. The surface properties of the PES and PLSNs are also changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. The XPS spectra suggest that the exposure of the PES and PLSNs to the plasmas led to the combination of etching reactions of polymer surface initiated by plasma and the following addition reactions of new oxygen‐ and nitrogen‐containing functional groups onto polymer surfaces to change their surface properties. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3185–3194, 2006     

Photoisomerization and photodissociation of aniline and 4-methylpyridine

Photoisomerization and photodissociation of aniline and 4-methylpyridine at 193 nm were studied separately using multimass ion imaging techniques. Photofragment translational energy distributions and dissociation rates were measured. Our results demonstrate that more than 23% of the ground electronic state aniline and 10% of 4-methylpyridine produced from the excitation by 193 nm photons after internal conversion isomerize to seven-membered ring isomers, followed by the H atom migration in the seven-membered ring, and then rearomatize to both methylpyridine and aniline prior to dissociation. The significance of this isomerization is that the carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen atoms belonging to the alkyl or amino groups are involved in the exchange with those atoms in the aromatic ring during the isomerization.     

Determination of Levofloxacin in Human Urine with Capillary Electrophoresis and Fluorescence Detector

In this study, we developed an analytical method for the enantioseparation of ofloxacin, using capillary electrophoresis with fluorescence detection. The optimum background electrolyte was obtained to be 60 mM hydroxylpropyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (HP‐β‐CD) in 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.30. Under these conditions, the (+) and (‐) ofloxacin were completely separated, with the detection limit of 10 nM when the sample was prepared in deionized water. The linear ranges of levofloxacin in deionized water and untreated urine were 10^?7 to 5 × 10^?3 M with R² = 0.9989 and 5 × 10^?6to 5 × 10^?3 M with R² = 0.9943, respectively. We also applied this method to investigate the purity of a commercial drug. The results revealed that the ratio between (+)‐ofloxacin and (‐)‐ofloxacin (levofloxacin) was 99.9:0.1, and there is about 93 mg levofloxacin per tablet (200 mg). The concentration of levofloxacin in patient's urine was founded to be 7.9 × 10^?4M, and the ratio between the two optical isomers was 99.3:0.7.     

Classifying Structural Characteristics to Enhance Computation of Enthalpy of Formation of Halohydrocarbons

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are made and least squares calibration performed for various halohydrocabons, which were 27 straight‐chain alkyl halides, 20 branch‐chain alkyl halides and 19 aromatic halides, to determine their enthalpies of formation (ΔH_f). The mean absolute error (M. |A.E.|) in ΔH_f across 66 molecular computations was only 7.8 kJ/mol (1.9 kcal/mol). Grouping the molecules by their structural characteristics improved M. |A.E.| of ΔH_f by 0.2–2.2 kJ/mol over that obtained using corresponding modified data for the same 66 unclassified molecules.     

Improved modification for the density-functional theory calculation of thermodynamic properties for C-H-O composite compounds

A three-parametric modification equation and the least-squares approach are adopted to calibrating hybrid density-functional theory energies of C(1)-C(10) straight-chain aldehydes, alcohols, and alkoxides to accurate enthalpies of formation DeltaH(f) and Gibbs free energies of formation DeltaG(f), respectively. All calculated energies of the C-H-O composite compounds were obtained based on B3LYP6-311++G(3df,2pd) single-point energies and the related thermal corrections of B3LYP6-31G(d,p) optimized geometries. This investigation revealed that all compounds had 0.05% average absolute relative error (ARE) for the atomization energies, with mean value of absolute error (MAE) of just 2.1 kJ/mol (0.5 kcal/mol) for the DeltaH(f) and 2.4 kJ/mol (0.6 kcal/mol) for the DeltaG(f) of formation.     

Theoretical study of the unimolecular decomposition mechanisms of energetic TNAD and TNAZ explosives

Calculation methods based on hybrid Density Functional Theory (DFT) with the basis sets of the B3LYP/6‐31+G(d)//B3LYP/4‐31G(d) method and the differential overlap (INDO) program were used to derive reasonable decomposition mechanisms of 1,4,5,8‐tetranitro‐1,4,5,8‐tetraazadecalin (TNAD) and 1,3,3‐trinitroazetidine (TNAZ) explosives. All possible decomposition species and transition states, including intermediates and products, were identified and their corresponding enthalpy of formation and Gibbs free energy of formation were obtained using polyparametric modification equations. INDO bond energy calculation results reveal the weakest bonding site for reference and determine where cleavage can occur easily. This work is concerned mainly with eliminating HONO (cis or trans form). The activation energy for trans‐form HONO elimination is lower than that of cis‐form HONO elimination in the initial steps of both TNAD and TNAZ decomposition, being 18.5 kJ/mol and 33.3 kJ/mol, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005