Electromagnetic interference shielding and radiation absorption in thin polypyrrole films

Results of permittivity measurements, electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness, and heat generation due to microwave absorption in conducting polymer coated textiles are reported and discussed. The intrinsically conducting polymer, polypyrrole, doped with anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid (AQSA) or para-toluene-2-sulfonic acid (pTSA) was applied on textile substrates and the resulting materials were investigated in the frequency range 1-18 GHz. The 0.54 mm thick conducting textile/polypyrrole composites absorbed up to 49.5% of the incident 30-35 W microwave radiation. A thermography station was used to monitor the temperature of these composites during the irradiation process, where absorption was confirmed via visible heat losses. Samples with lower conductivity showed larger temperature increases caused by microwave absorption compared to samples with higher conductivity. A sample with an average sheet resistivity of 150 Ω/sq. showed a maximum temperature increase of 5.27 °C, whilst a sample with a lower resistivity (105 Ω/sq.) rose by 3.85 °C.     

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.     

Catalytic study of the copper-based magnetic nanocatalyst on the aerobic oxidation of alcohols in water

A copper-based magnetic nanocatalyst has been prepared by co-precipitation method and characterized by FESEM, EDS, TEM, XRD, XRF, ICP–OES, FTIR, and BET analysis. This new nanocatalyst displays a good activity toward the aerobic oxidation of a wide range of alcohols in water. Moreover, it is recyclable up to five following runs by simple filtration without any significant loss of its catalytic activity.

     

Silver nanoparticle decorated poly(2-aminodiphenylamine) modified carbon paste electrode as a simple and efficient electrocatalyst for oxidation of formaldehyde

This work describes the promising activity of silver nanoparticles on the surface of a poly(2-amino diphenylamine) modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) towards formaldehyde oxidation. Electrodeposition of the conducting polymer film on the CPE was carried out using consecutive cyclic voltammetry in an aqueous solution of 2-aminodiphenylamine and HCl. Nitrogen groups in the polymer backbone had a Ag ion accumulating effect, allowing Ag nanoparticles to be electrochemically deposited on the surface of the electrode. The electrochemical and morphological characteristics of the modified electrode were investigated. The electro-oxidation of formaldehyde on the surface of electrode was studied using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry in aqueous solution of 0.1 mol/L NaOH. The electro-oxidation onset potential was found to be around -0.4 V, which is unique in the literature. The effect of different concentrations of formaldehyde on the electrocatalytic activity of the modified electrode was investigated. Finally, the diffusion coefficient of formaldehyde in alkaline media was calculated to be 0.47 × 10^-6 cm²/s using chronoamperometry.     

Hardness and refractive index of Ca–Si–O–N glasses

Vickers hardness and refractive index was determined for Ca–Si–O–N glasses with 14.6–58 e/o N and 19–42 e/o Ca. By applying slow cooling rates, transparent glasses were obtained for compositions near Ca_9.94Si₁₀O_17.73N_8.14, while the majority of the glasses were opaque due to small inclusions of elemental Si and/or Ca-silicide. Determined glass densities varied between 2.80 and 3.25 g/cm³. Hardness was found to vary from 7.3 to 10.1 GPa at a load of 500 g and, respectively increase and decrease linearly with N and Ca content. The refractive index was found to increase linearly with N content from 1.62 to 1.95 and showed no significant dependence on Ca content.     

Spectrophotometric Study of the Complexation of Some Lanthanide (III) Ions with a Series of 18-Crowns-6 in DMSO Solution Using Murexide as a Metallochromic Indicator

The complexation of La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III) and Er(III) with 18-crown-6(18C6), dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6), dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DCY18C6) anddibenzopyridino-18-crown-6 (DBPY18C6) has been studied in dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO) by means of a competitive spectrophotometric method using murexide asa metal ion indicator. The formation constants of the 1 : 1 complexeswere found tovary in the order La(III) > Ce(III) > Pr(III) > Er(III). It was foundthat the structure influences the formation and stability of the resultingcomplexes. The effects ofvarious parameters on complexation are discussed. The order of the stabilityconstants of each lanthanide ion with these macrocycles are18C6 > DC18C6 > DB18C6 > DBPY18C6.     

Surface thermodynamic functions of dilute solutions of methylcyclohexanols in ethylene glycol

Surface thermodynamic functions (surface entropy, surface enthalpy, and surface composition) of dilute solutions of 2-, 3-, and 4-methylcyclohexanol in ethylene glycol were obtained using surface tension measurements at various temperatures. Surface excess values and surface mole fractions were obtained from Gibbs equation and extended Langmuir model respectively. The results show that all methylcyclohexanols are surface active in ethylene glycol. The lyophobicity of solutes decreases with increasing temperature. The presence of a maximum point in the surface entropy diagram in all systems is explained by the formation of clathrate-like solvates at the surface of these systems.     

Mutual Separation and Determination of Th(IV) and U(VI) Using Arsenazo III as a Dye Collector Reagent by Flotation‐Spectrophotometric Method

This paper reports a simple and highly selective method for the separation, preconcentration, and determination of trace amounts of thorium and uranium in some complex samples via staircase flotation. The method is based on the initial flotation of the Th(IV)‐arsenazo III complex in the presence of U(VI) from a solution of 5 mol dm^?3 HCl, then reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) and repetition of the flotation step. In both steps, the floated complex was dissolved in a 5‐mL portion of methanol and its absorbance was measured at 655 nm, spectrophotometrically. For a 30‐mL portion of the sample, Beer's law was obeyed over the concentration ranges of 3.40 × 10^?7to 3.06 × 10^?6 mol dm^?3 for Th(IV) and3.40 × 10^?7 to 3.40 × 10^?6 mol dm^?3 for U(IV) with the apparent molar absorptivity of 4.20 × 10⁵ dm³ mol^?1 cm^?1 and 3.59 × 10⁵ dm³ mol^?1 cm^?1, respectively. The RSDs (n = 7) corresponding to 1.7 × 10^?6 mol dm^?3 of Th(IV) and U(IV) were obtained as 1.7% and 1.87%. The detection limits (7 blanks) for both the metal ions were found to be 1.7 × 10^?7 mol dm^?3. The important benefit of the method is that the determinations are free from the interference of almost all cations and anions found in the complex matrixes, such as seawater samples. The proposed method was also applied to reference materials, and the determinations were shown to have good agreement with the certified values.     

An approach to estimate the energy and strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in different conformers of 4‐methylamino‐3‐penten‐2‐one

The molecular structure and intramolecular hydrogen bond energy of 32 conformers of 4‐methylamino‐3‐penten‐2‐one were investigated at MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory using the standard 6–31G** basis set and AIM analyses. Furthermore, calculations for all the possible conformations of 4‐methylamino‐3‐penten‐2‐one in water solution were also carried out at B3LYP/6–31G** level of theory. The calculated geometrical parameters and conformational analyses in gas phase and water solution show that the ketoamine conformers of this compound are more stable than the other conformers (i.e., enolimine and ketoimine). This stability is mainly due to the formation of a strong N? H···O intramolecular hydrogen bond, which is assisted by π‐electrons resonance. Hydrogen bond energies for all conformers of 4‐methylamino‐3‐penten‐2‐one were obtained from the related rotamers method. The nature of intramolecular hydrogen bond existing within 4‐methylamino‐3‐penten‐2‐one has been investigated by means of the Bader theory of atoms in molecules, which is based on topological properties of the electron density. The results of these calculations support the results which obtained by related rotamers method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

Indium‐Bridged [1]Ferrocenophanes

Indium‐bridged [1]ferrocenophanes ([1]FCPs) and [1.1]ferrocenophanes ([1.1]FCPs) were synthesized from dilithioferrocene species and indium dichlorides. The reaction of Li₂fc?tmeda (fc=(H₄C₅)₂Fe) and (Mamx)InCl₂ (Mamx=6‐(Me₂NCH₂)‐2,4‐tBu₂C₆H₂) gave a mixture of the [1]FCP (Mamx)Infc ( 4₁ ), the [1.1]FCP [(Mamx)Infc]₂ ( 4₂ ), and oligomers [(Mamx)Infc]_n ( 4 _n ). In a similar reaction, employing the enantiomerically pure, planar‐chiral (S_p,S_p)‐1,1′‐dibromo‐2,2′‐diisopropylferrocene ( 1 ) as a precursor for the dilithioferrocene derivative Li₂fc^iPr2, equipped with two iPr groups in the α position, gave the inda[1]ferrocenophane 5₁ [(Mamx)Infc^iPr2] selectively. Species 5₁ underwent ring‐opening polymerization to give the polymer 5 _n . The reaction between Li₂fc^iPr2 and Ar′InCl₂ (Ar′=2‐(Me₂NCH₂)C₆H₄) gave an inseparable mixture of the [1]FCP Ar′Infc^iPr2 ( 6₁ ) and the [1.1]FCP [Ar′Infc^iPr2]₂ ( 6₂ ). Hydrogenolysis reactions (BP86/TZ2P) of the four inda[1]ferrocenophanes revealed that the structurally most distorted species ( 5₁ ) is also the most strained [1]FCP.