Glycol-based sol-gel process for the fabrication of ferroelectric PZT thin films

A new sol-gel system using ethylene glycol was developed for the fabrication of PZT thin films with compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃. Ethylene glycol was used as both a chelating agent and a solvent to replace the highly toxic methoxyethanol used in previous formulations. Thin films were deposited by spin coating the solutions onto platinized silicon substrates. Films were completely crystallized by about 600°C and contained the ferroelectric perovskite phase. A dielectric constant of about 750–800 at 1 KHz was obtained for thin films of 0.3 µm thickness. The hysteresis measurements revealed a remanent polarization of 15 mC/cm² with a coercive field of 60 kV/cm.     

Role of axial ligand on the electronic structures of active intermediates in cytochrome P-450, peroxidase and catalase

DFT method (B3LYP) with 6-31G^* basis set was utilized in the computation of a fully optimized structure, net atomic charges and spin densities of the intermediate of cytochrome P-450-oxoiron(IV) porphyrin cation radical, compound I – in the presence of axial ligand such as thiolate (SMe⁻) imidazole (IM), phenoxide (OPh⁻), methoxide (OMe⁻) and chloride (Cl⁻). The results show doublet states in compound I are about 2–4 kcal/mol more stable than quartet states for all aforementioned ligands, and the doublet state is the ground state in all cases. However, electron donor ability of the ligands are in the order of SMe⁻ > IM > OMe⁻ > OPh⁻ > Cl⁻. Also the active oxidant intermediate of cytochrome P-450 between different mesomeric structures select sulfur oxygen radical type structure and can be viewed as (RS^↓)Fe^↑(IV)(O^↑)(Por). In horseraddish peroxidase (HRP) and peroxidase with histidine axial ligand π cation radical character of porphyrin ring is preferred (Im)Fe^↑(IV)(O^↑)(Por^↓). For the ligands such as OMe⁻, OPh⁻ and Cl⁻ oxidation mainly took place on the iron and the active intermediate can be viewed as (L)Fe^↑(V)(O)(Por) with one unpaired electron localized on the iron.     

Reducing Occupational Noise Propagated from Centrifugal Fan through Dissipative Silencers: A Field Study

Acoustic performance of dissipative silencer was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of perforated duct porosity and absorbent material density in reducing occupational noise exposure propagated from centrifugal fan. Design charts were applied to predict noise reduction and length of a dissipative silencer. Dissipative silencers with various punched duct porosity (14%, 30% and 40%) and sound absorbent density (80 Kg/m³, 120 Kg/m³, and 140 Kg/m³) were designed and fabricated. According to ISO9612 and ISO11820, noise level was measured before and after installing all nine test silencers at fixed workstations around the discharge side of a centrifugal fan in a manufacturing plant. On average, the noise level at the discharge side of a fan without silencer was measured to be 93.6 dBA, whereas it was significantly mitigated by 67.4 dBA to 70.1 dBA after installing all silencers. Dynamic insertion loss for a dissipative silencer with 100 cm length was predicted to be 27.9 dB, which was in agreement with experimental ones. Although, there was no significant differences between insertion loss of silencers, the one with 30% porosity and 120 Kg/m³ rock wool density had the highest insertion loss of 26.2 dBA. Dissipative silencers noticeably reduced centrifugal fan noise exposures. Increasing sound absorbent density and duct porosity up to a certain limit could probably be effective in noise reduction of dissipative silencers.     

Determination of lead (II) ion by highly selective and sensitive lead (II) membrane electrode based on 2-(((E)-2-((E)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl) methyliden)hydrazono)metyl)phenol

A PVC (poly vinyl chloride) membrane electrode for lead ion based on 2-(((E)-2-((E)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)methyliden)hydrazono)metyl)phenol (HMHMP) as a membrane carrier was prepared. This electrode exhibited linear response with Nernstian slope of 29.2?±?0.2?mV per decade within the concentration range of 2.0?×?10^?7–1.0?×?10^?1?M lead ion. The limit of detection, as determined from the intersection of the extrapolated linear segments of the calibration plot, was 8.0?×?10^?8 M. The electrode exhibited high selectivity for Pb (II). The response time of the electrode was about 5–10?s for different concentrations. The electrode is suitable for use in aqueous solutions in a pH range of 5.0–7.5. It was used as an indicator electrode in a titration of Pb (II) with chromate at constant pH. This electrode was used for the determination of lead in ore samples, and the results were in agreement with those obtained with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method. Also lead selective electrode was used for monitoring of lead in spiked samples of the Zayanderud River and waste water by the potentiometry technique.     

Synthesis of a PEG-PNIPAm thermosensitive dendritic copolymer and investigation of its self-association

A Novel thermosensitive dendritic copolymer based on polyethylene glycol(PEG) and poly(Nisopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAm) with a cloud point(CP) around 36 ?C was successfully synthesized by preparation of a dendritic polyol and followed by atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP) of N-isopropylacrylamide. The dendritic copolymer was characterized using gel-permeation chromatography(GPC), FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The selfassociation behavior of the copolymer in aqueous medium was investigated by dynamic light scattering(DLS) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). These investigations confirmed that the dendritic copolymer showed different association behaviors at various temperatures.     

Methyl Methacrylate–Ethyleneglycol Dimethacrylate–Acrylic Acid Surface as Stationary Phase for Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction

A novel poly(methyl methacrylate–ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate–acrylic acid) film has been introduced for coating on stir bars to sorptive extraction (SBSE). The effects of different contents of porogen, monomer, cross-linker, modifier and initiator during the solvent or bulk polymerization step on the mechanical property and solvent resistant of prepared sorptive stir bars were investigated. The evaluation of results were caused to obtain the four prepared sorptive stir bars with good mechanical stability and excellent resistance to organic solvents. The extraction efficiency of these prepared sorptive stir bars were investigated by liquid desorption-liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (LD-LC-UV) using N-Nitrosodiphenylamine as target analyte. SBSE assays showed the sorptive stir bar that prepared using solution polymerization method had the better recovery for N-Nitrosodiphenylamine in water samples. This sorptive stir bar showed good linearity and acceptable recoveries, as well as advantages such as sensitivity, simplicity, low cost and high feasibility. Based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) results, the average pore size of optimum prepared stir bar using solvent polymerization method was obtained ~9 nm. The thermal gravity (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results showed this polyacrylate film has high thermal stability.     

Fluidized-bed Fenton-like oxidation of a textile dye using natural magnetite

Degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) as a model azo dye was investigated in a recirculating pilot fluidized-bed reactor by a Fenton-like process using natural magnetite (NM) and potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈). Scanning electron microscopy was performed to characterize the magnetite sample. The heterogeneous Fenton-like process (NM/\({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\)) is a modified method owing to its enhanced mass transfer. It can be operated reliably and simply by reducing the produced iron oxide sludge in the conventional Fenton process. Degradation efficiency (DE %) of AO7 by NM/ \({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\) process was affected by operational parameters. The DE % of 75 % was obtained for the AO7 treatment (15 mg/L) at the desired conditions, such as pH 5, 0.2 mM \({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\), and 0.5 g/L NM after 120 min of reaction time. The dye degradation rate in all the experiments followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic with high correlation coefficients (R ² ≥ 0.98). The low released iron concentration, successive reusability at milder pH and the recirculation mode with the proper mixing are the significant advantages of the NM/\({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\) process.     

Investigation of the Electroreduction Behavior,Electroreduction Mechanism and Voltammetric Determination of Medetomidine on the Graphene Paste Electrode

This paper presents a method for the construction of a graphene paste electrode (GPE) from reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The GPE was successfully used for the determination of medetomidine. The influence of some experimental variables such as pH, supporting electrolyte, scan rate, and possible interferences were studied. Differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) peak currents of medetomidine increased linearly with its concentration in the range from 0.009 to 2.5 µM. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) values for the determination of medetomidine were 2.8 and 9.2 nM, respectively. Also, for the first time, the electroreduction behavior of medetomidine was investigated.     

A Simple and Convenient One-Pot Synthesis of Benzimidazole Derivatives Using Cobalt(II) Chloride Hexahydrate as Catalyst

A simple and efficient method for the convenient synthesis of 2-arylbenzimidazole has been described on reaction with o-phenylenediamine and various aromatic aldehydes using cobalt(II) chloride hexahydrate as a catalyst. The method is cost-effective, high-yielding, clean, and selective.