Acid activated montmorillonite and vermiculite clays as dehydration and cracking catalysts

Treatment of montmorillonite and vermiculite with hydrochloric acid results in an overall increase in acidity and acidic sites. IR and DSC studies of base adsorbed catalysts have revealed the heterogeneity of surface acidity on the activated catalysts. Clay catalysts have been found to dehydrate 1-butanol to 1-butene, which directly isomerizes tocis- andtrans-2-butenes, confirming the presence of Lewis and Brönsted acid sites. Cumene cracking studies using the clay catalyst also confirm the presence of Brönsted acid sites. The temperature and concentration of acid have been found to have a significant influence on the catalytic activity.     

Stress Field Evolution under Mechanically Simulated Hull Slamming Conditions

The effect of repeated loading from mechanically simulated hull slamming on foam core sandwich composites was investigated utilizing a novel technique that simultaneously measured temperature and displacement while cyclic loading occurred. Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) techniques were combined using a single infrared camera for characterization of the foam core. Improved stress fields with TSA results were found through deformation compensation. Initial work approximating hull slamming conditions mechanically utilizing a custom device were performed. Mechanically loading offers several benefits over water impact investigations, including easy access to the sample during the slamming event, an unobstructed optical path, and accelerated testing. Evolving stress fields under long-duration, repeated simulated hull slamming loading were observed around a growing delamination crack between the foam core and skin.     

Dual-path handheld system for cornea and retina imaging using optical coherence tomography

Optical Review - A dual-path handheld system is proposed for cornea and retina imaging using spectral domain optical coherence tomography. The handheld sample arm is designed to acquire two images...     

Chemometric and trend analysis of water quality of the South Chennai lakes: an integrated environmental study

In order to bring out the nature of the factors influencing lake water composition, multivariate statistical analysis and trend analysis were performed based on the hydrochemical data of the study area, namely, South Chennai. Change in land use pattern and settlements along the banks of the lakes alters the quality and quantity of the surface water. In the present study, the R‐mode factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied to the geochemical parameters of the water to identify the factors affecting the chemical composition of the lake water. Dendograms of both the seasons give three major clusters, reflecting the groups of unpolluted to moderately polluted, polluted, and heavily polluted stations. The movement of stations from one cluster to another clearly brings out the seasonal variation in the chemical composition of the lake water. The complex hydrochemical data of the surface water were interpreted by condensing them into three major factors. Factor score analysis was used successfully to delineate the stations under study and the role of the contributing factors, and the nature of factors responsible for the variation in chemical composition of the water has been clearly brought out. Results of trend analysis using ArcGIS clearly indicate that the trend in water quality is deteriorating at a faster rate in the eastern part of the study area. It is understood that although natural shifts probably can account for some of the variation, it is most likely that human activities play a major role in affecting the water quality on a regional scale. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Horseradish Peroxidase Catalyzed Synthesis of Polycardanol Microcapsules

Polymers synthesized from naturally derived monomers are valuable since they decrease the reliance on petroleum based feed stocks. Cashew nut shell oil (CNSL) is a side-product from processing of edible Cashew nuts of Annacardium occidentale. One of the major components of CNSL is cardanol, which is a phenol derivative having an unsaturated pentadecyl substituent in the ‘meta’ position with varying amount of unsaturation (no double bonds to three double bonds). The substituent in the meta position can also be hydrogenated to yield completely saturated hydrogenated cardanol. Cardanol can be utilized to stabilize the dispersions of oil in water and vice versa since it displays amphiphilic behavior owing to the phenolic head and the C15 aliphatic tail. Here we report the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) catalyzed polymerization of cardanol at oil water interface to obtain polycardanol microcapsules. A synthetic analogue of hydrogenated cardanol, 3-pentadecylphenol (3PDP), was also oxidatively polymerized at the oil-water interface to obtain Poly(3-pentadecylphenol) microcapsules.     

Inhibition of mild steel corrosion by Morinda tinctoria leaves extract in sulphuric acid medium

The corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 0.5 M sulphuric acid by aqueous and acid extracts of leaves of Morinda tinctoria was studied using weight loss, colorimetric and electrochemical techniques. Results obtained indicate that both the extracts are effective in sulphuric acid medium and the efficiency decreases with increase in temperature. Added halide additives improve the efficiency of the inhibitor. From the thermodynamic, spectral, and surface analyses, the nature of adsorption has been found out.     

Recent study of nanomaterials prepared by inert gas condensation using ultra high vacuum chamber

The ultra high vacuum chamber was developed in the Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras with the funding from DST, India. This UHV chamber is used to prepare nanocrystalline materials by inert gas condensation technique (IGCT). Nanocrystalline materials such as PbF₂, Mn²⁺-doped PbF₂, Sn-doped In₂O₃ (ITO), ZnO, Al₂O₃, Ag₂O, CdO, CuO, ZnSe:ZnO etc., were prepared by this technique and characterized. Results of some of these materials will be presented in this paper. In solid-state²⁰⁷Pb NMR on PbF₂ a separate signal due to the presence of grain boundary has been observed. The structural phase transition pressure during the phase transformation from the cubic phase to orthorhombic phase under high pressure shows an increase with the decrease in grain size. Presence of electronic centres in nanocrystalline PbF₂ is observed from Raman studies and the same has been confirmed by photoluminescence studies. Al₂O₃ was prepared and⁵⁶Fe ions were implanted. After implantation segregation of⁵⁶Fe ions was examined by SEM. The oxidation properties of ITO were studied by HRTEM. As against the expectation of oxide coating on individual nanograins of In-Sn alloy, ITO nanograins grew into faceted nanograins on heat treatment in air and O₂ atmosphere. The growth of ITO under O₂ atmosphere showed pentagon symmetry. The PMN was initially prepared by solid-state reaction. Further, this PMN relaxor material will be used to convert into nanocrystalline PMN by IGCT with sputtering and will be studied     

A complex two unit system

This paper discusses the availability of a two-unit standby redundant repairable system in which the pdf of the life time of the online unit depends on the time it has spent in the standby state before it is switched online. Explicit expressions for the Laplace transforms of the availability and reliability of the system are obtained by identifying suitable regeneration points.

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Zusammenfassung In dieser Arbeit wird die Verfügbarkeit eines redundanten 2-Komponentensystems mit heißer Reserve und Reparatur betrachtet. -Die Lebensdauerverteilung der Betriebskomponente hängt von der Länge der Zeit ab, die sie vorher als Reservekomponente verbracht hat. Es werden explizite Ausdrücke der Laplacetransformierten für die Verfügbarkeit und Zuverlässigkeit des Systems ermittelt, indem geeignete Regenerationspunkte verwendet werden.