Effects of different composition ratio on the dielectric relaxation and dynamic mechanical properties of poly(ω‐dodecalactam‐co‐ε‐caprolactam‐co‐propylene oxide) copolymers

The molecular dynamics of new poly (ω‐dodecalactam‐co‐ε‐caprolactam‐co‐propylene oxide) copolymers (DL/CL/PAC) has been investigated by using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) measurements. The copolymers were synthesized via anionic polymerization of relevant lactams activated with carbamoyl derivatives of telechelic hydroxyl terminated polypropylene oxide with isophorone diisocyanate (PAC). The calorimetric, X‐ray diffraction, and DMTA measurements were performed to recognize the influence of the composition ratio and the type of PAC on the physical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the synthesized copolymers. The DRS was used to study the frequency dependence of the dielectric permittivity of some isotherms from ?110 to 145 °C. Copolymerization of ε‐caprolactam with about 10 wt % ω‐dodecalactam results in a copolymer that has lower water absorption, a melting point close to that of polyamide 6 and has a high enough degree of crystallinity in respect to high storage modulus. Five dielectric relaxations have been observed in the dielectric spectra, three at lower temperature and two at higher temperature. The copolymers have two glass transition temperatures for polyamide segments and polyether blocks, indicating microphase separation in the copolymers. Other studies directed toward molecular dynamics of polyamide DL/CL/PAC copolymers have not been reported. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Topological studies related to molecular systems formed during the Big Bang: H3+ as an example

In the present article are analyzed the non-adiabatic coupling terms (NACT) for two molecular systems, namely H₃⁺ and H₃. In contrast to previous occasions in which the NACTs are studied along (closed) circular contours usually surrounding conical intersections (ci), in the present article are studied distribution of the NACTs in (planar) configuration spaces (CS). The motivation for this study has to do with a novel idea being mentioned earlier (Molec. Phys., 116, 2435 [2018]; ArXiv:1801.00103) that NACTs are like a Glue (eventually) associated with the ability of creating molecules and/or protecting them from breaking up. It was found that the distributions of the NACTs due to the two molecules are similar as long as the attention is given to regions close to their equilateral cis, but then they behave significantly different in other regions. In case of H₃⁺, the NACTs are distributed rather uniformly whereas, in case of H₃ they become spiky the closer they approach the diatom axis. The main conclusion of this study is that the glue which has its origin in the NACTs is most likely to be effective in case of H₃⁺ that explains the creation and later survival of this molecule.     

Estimation of slow diffusion rates in confined systems: CCl4 in zeolite NaA

Often the rate of passage of gaseous molecules through model zeolites is too small to be computed directly. An estimate for the rate of passage of CCl₄ through the 8-ring window in a model of zeolite A has been obtained by combining a direct evaluation of the free energy profile and an adaptation of the rare events method. First the free energy profile is found from a direct evaluation of the canonical partition function at high dilution and the transition state theory rate constant obtained. The dynamic correction factor is then estimated from molecular dynamics runs and used to compute the actual rate k_eff. The method is used to estimate the rate of passage through the 8-ring window in a rigid model of zeolite A, and the results are compared with those obtained from rigid models with expanded windows and from the flexible model. Even a small expansion in the 8-ring window diameter increases the rate significantly, but the changes associated with a flexible cage are small.     

Antibacterial Activity and Synergistic Effect of Biosynthesized AgNPs with Antibiotics Against Multidrug-Resistant Biofilm-Forming Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci Isolated from Clinical Samples

Silver nanoparticles form promising template for designing antimicrobial agents against drug resistant pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, the development of a reliable green approach for the synthesis of nanoparticles is an important aspect of current nanotechnology research. In the present investigation, silver nanoparticles synthesized by a soil Bacillus sp. were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, and EDS. The antibacterial potential of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles, standard antibiotics, and their conjugates were evaluated against multidrug-resistant biofilm-forming coagulase-negative S. epidermidis strains, S. aureus, Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella Paratyphi, and V. cholerae. Interestingly, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) showed remarkable antibacterial activity against all the test strains with the highest activity against S. epidermidis strains 145 and 152. In addition, the highest synergistic effect of AgNPs was observed with chloramphenicol against Salmonella typhi. The results of the study clearly indicate the promising biomedical applications of biosynthesized AgNPs.     

Quantum chromodynamics results from HERA and JLAB

Recent QCD results from electron?Cproton interactions at HERA and JLAB are presented. Inclusive cross-section measurements as well as studies of the hadronic final state like jet production or the production of heavy quarks are discussed. The results are compared with perturbative QCD predictions and their impact on the determination of the parton density functions of the proton as well as of the strong coupling ?? _s is discussed.     

A new internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction method

We present a new internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) method which, at the same time, efficiently handles large active orbital spaces, long configuration expansions, and many closed-shell orbitals in the reference function. This is achieved by treating the closed-shell orbitals explicitly, so that all required coupling coefficients and density matrices only depend on active orbital labels. As a result, closed-shell orbitals are handled as efficiently as in a closed-shell single-reference program, and this opens up the possibility to perform high-accuracy MRCI calculations for much larger molecules than before. The enormously complex equations are derived using a new domain-specific computer algebra system and semi-automatically implemented using a newly developed integrated tensor framework. The accuracy and efficiency of the MRCI method is demonstrated with applications to dioxygen-copper complexes with different ligands, some of which involve more than 30 atoms, and to spin-state splittings of ferrocene.     

Two Different Pathways in the Reduction of [(S=)PCl(μ‐NtBu)]2 with Na

Reduction of the cyclodiphosphazane [(S=)ClP(μ‐NtBu)]₂ ( 1 ) with sodium metal in refluxing toluene proceeds via two different pathways. One is a Wurtz‐type pathway involving elimination of NaCl from 1 followed by head‐to‐tail cyclization to give the hexameric macrocycle [(μ‐S)P(μ‐NtBu)₂P(=S)]₆ ( 2 ). The other pathway involves reduction of the P=S bonds of 1 to generate colorless singlet biradicaloid dianion trans‐[S?P(Cl)(μ‐NtBu)]₂^2?, which is observed in the polymeric structures of three‐dimensional [{(S?)ClP(μ‐NtBu)₂PCl(S)}Na(Na ? THF₂)]_n ( 3 ) and two dimensional [{(S?)ClP(μ‐NtBu)₂PCl(S)} (Na ? THF)₂]_n ( 4 ).