Heterograft copolymers of poly(ε‐caprolactone) prepared by combination of ATRA “grafting onto” and ATRP “grafting from” processes

This paper aims at reporting on the synthesis of a heterograft copolymer by combining the “grafting onto” process based on atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) and the “grafting from” process by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The statistical copolymerization of ε‐caprolactone (εCL) and α‐chloro‐ε‐caprolactone (αClεCL) was initiated by 2,2‐dibutyl‐2‐stanna‐1,3‐dioxepane (DSDOP), followed by ATRA of parts of the chlorinated units of poly(αClεCL‐co‐εCL) on the terminal double bond of α‐MeO,ω‐CH₂?CH? CH₂? CO₂‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The amphiphilic poly(εCL‐g‐EO) graft copolymer collected at this stage forms micelles as supported by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The unreacted pendant chloro groups of poly(εCL‐g‐EO) were used to initiate the ATRP of styrene with formation of copolymer with two populations of randomly distributed grafts, that is PEO and polystyrene. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6015–6024, 2006     

Low volume sampling device for mass spectrometry analysis of gas formation in nickel-metalhydride (NiMH) batteries

Rechargeable nickel-metalhydride (NiMH) batteries have major advantages with respect to environmental friendliness and energy density compared to other battery systems. Research on thermodynamics and reaction kinetics is required to study the behaviour of these batteries, especially under severe operating conditions such as overcharging and (over)discharging. During these processes several reactions take place resulting in the formation of oxygen and hydrogen gas. Hence, the recombination processes should be well controlled to guarantee that the partial oxygen and hydrogen pressure inside the battery are kept low.Mass spectrometry is one of the analytical techniques capable of measuring the composition of gases released inside the battery during the charge and discharge processes. However, the sample gas needs to be withdrawn from the battery during the experiment. The gas consumption must be kept to a minimum otherwise the equilibrium inside the battery will be disturbed. A bench-top quadrupole mass spectrometer with a standard capillary by-pass inlet cannot be used for this purpose as its gas consumption is in the 1-10 ml/min range. In this paper, a new gas inlet device is presented that reduces gas consumption to a value <50 μl/h. The use of a capillary by-pass splitter and a discontinuous sampling procedure allow mass spectrometry to be used as a gas analysis tool in many applications in which small amounts of sample gas are involved.Experiments with standard AA-size NiMH batteries show that hydrogen release dominates during (over)charging at increased charging rates. Beside mass spectrometry, evolved gases are also analysed using Raman spectroscopy. Although some differences are observed, the results of similar experiments show a good agreement.     

Etude de la réaction de l'acétylacétone avec les diamines hétéroaromatiques

The inluence of the starting o-diamine on the reaction products is shown in the condensation of heteroaromatic o-diamines with acetylacetone; 2,3- and 3,4-diaminopyridines gave only a crotonic intermediate providing imidazopyridines. On the other hand, 1,5-diaminoimidazoles gave tow types of compounds, imidazotriazepines and imidazopyridines. Triazolopyridazines were formed from 3,4-diaminotriazoles.     

Gamma-ray spectroscopy with relativistic exotic heavy-ions

Feasibility of gamma-ray spectroscopy at relativistic energies with exotic heavy-ions and new generation of germanium detectors (segmented Clover) is discussed. An experiment with such detector array and radioactive is discussed.     

A multipotential hydrolytic reactor using the yeast strainKluyveromyces marxianus

In previous publications, we described the continuous production of D-fructose from enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin with immobilized permeabiliized cells ofKluyveromyces marxianus and the increase of productivity obtained by using a mutant selected by NTG action on the wild-type strain. By improving reactor performance, it has been possible to reach 2000 g/L/d of liberated sugar from an inulin solution with the mutant strain.

In addition, it has been shown that the KF 28 mutant was an invertase and pectinase hyperproducer. These enzymatic activities are also secreted by the speciesKluyveromyces marxianus. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of using immobilized cells of this yeast as a multipotential hydrolysis reactor. A sucrose hydrolysis reactor and a pectin hydrolysis reactor were set up. It is shown here that the majority of the optimized parameters from the inulin hydrolysis reactor can be transported directly to the other reactors. However, some parameters have to be adapted, especially for pectin hydrolysis.