Relationship between the molybdenum phases and the conversion of n-butane over Mo/HZSM-5

The conversion of n-C₄H₁₀ was undertaken on MoO₃/HZSM-5 catalyst at 773–973 K and the phases of molybdenum species were detected by XRD. The XRD results show that bulk MoO₃ on HZSM-5 can be readily reduced by n-C₄H₁₀ to MoO₂ at 773 K and MoO₂ can be gradually carburized to molybdenum carbide above 813 K. The molybdenum carbide formed from the carburization of MoO₂ with n-C₄H₁₀ below 893 K is -MoC_1−x with fcc-structure, while hcp-molybdenum carbide formed above 933 K. During the evolution of MoO₃ to MoO₂ (>773 K) or the carburization of MoO₂ to molybdenum carbide (>813 K), deep oxidation, cracking and coke deposition are serious, in particular at higher reaction temperatures, these lead to the poor selectivity to aromatics. Aromatization of n-C₄H₁₀ can proceed catalytically on both Mo₂C/HZSM-5 and MoO₂/HZSM-5, the distribution of the products for the two catalysts is similar below 813 K, but the activity for Mo₂C/HZSM-5 is much higher than that for MoO₂/HZSM-5.     

Radiationless transitions in electron donor-acceptor complexes: selection rules for S1 → T intersystem crossing and efficiency of S1 → S0 internal conversion

Evidence is presented which indicates that singlet → triplet intersystem crossing from the charge-transfer singlet state of electron donor-acceptor complexes is efficient only when a locally excited triplet state of a component molecule (donor or acceptor) lies below the charge-transfer singlet state.     

Gel-assisted synthesis of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles and application for electrochemical determination of L-tryptophan

Anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂-NPs) were synthesized with and without gelatin via the sol-gel method. The TiO₂-NPs were characterized by a number of techniques, such as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The particle sizes of the TiO₂-NPs prepared with and without gelatin were ～13 and ～17 nm, respectively. The main advantage of using gelatin as a stabilizing agent is that it provides long-term stability for nanoparticles by preventing particles agglomeration. The results indicated that gelatin was a reliable green stabilizer, which can be used as a polymerization agent in the sol-gel method for synthesis of tiny size TiO₂-NPs. Moreover, the composite film was prepared by synthesized TiO₂-NPs nanoparticles and multi wall carbon nanotube (MWNT) on glassy carbon electrode (TiO₂-MWNT/GCE). The TiO₂-MWNT/GCE responded linearly to L-tryptophan (L-Trp) in the concentration of 1.0 × 10^?6 to 1.5 × 10^?4 M with detection limit of 5.2 × 10^?7 M at 3 using amperometry. The studied sensor exhibited good reproducibility and long-term stability.     

Reynolds number effects on flow/acoustic mechanisms in spherical windscreens

There is a practical need to fully understand the mechanisms involved in the flow/pressure fluctuations around a screened microphone. A stream of uniform flow with low-frequency turbulence encountering a rigid, impermeable spherical windscreen is considered in this study. Pressure distributions on the surface of the sphere are determined by the flow structure. Pressure fluctuations at the center of the sphere are then calculated based on the integration of surface pressure distributions. Because of the low-frequency assumption, results from steady-state laminar flows can be used to investigate the Reynolds number effects on wind noise reduction. Three types of flow have been studied in this paper: an inviscid case, a low-Reynolds-number Stokes flow, and intermediate- and high-Reynolds-number flows. A Reynolds-number/wind-noise-reduction correlation shows that the wind noise reduction increases with decreasing Reynolds number.     

Functionalization of Graphene Oxide with 3‐Mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and Its Electrocatalytic Activity in Aqueous Medium

In this work, a highly dispersed graphene oxide (GO) was successfully functionalized with 3‐mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTS) molecule by silanization method. The chemically generated GO and MPTS functionalized GO (MPTS‐GO) were structurally characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray (EDAX), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV‐Vis) techniques. The MPTS‐GO is highly suspensable in water. The thermal and conductivity results for MPTS‐GO are significantly increased compared to GO. Moreover, glassy carbon electrode modified with MPTS‐GO hybrid (MPTS‐GO/GCE) was prepared by casting of the MPTS‐GO solution on GCE. The MPTS‐GO/GCE showed an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards methionine (Met). This was understood from the observed less positive oxidation potential and higher oxidation current when compared to bare GC electrode. The MPTS‐GO has excellent electrocatalytic activity, making it an ideal candidate for sensor applications.     

A Cross-Entropy Approach to the Estimation of Generalized Linear Multilevel Models

In this article, we use the cross-entropy method for noisy optimization for fitting generalized linear multilevel models through maximum likelihood. We propose specifications of the instrumental distributions for positive and bounded parameters that improve the computational performance. We also introduce a new stopping criterion, which has the advantage of being problem-independent. In a second step we find, by means of extensive Monte Carlo experiments, the most suitable values of the input parameters of the algorithm. Finally, we compare the method to the benchmark estimation technique based on numerical integration. The cross-entropy approach turns out to be preferable from both the statistical and the computational point of view. In the last part of the article, the method is used to model the probability of firm exits in the healthcare industry in Italy. Supplemental materials are available online.     

Facial characterization of simplexes

After providing a survey of the pertinent known literature, this paper defines the notion of a face of class B of a compact convex set and provides necessary and sufficient conditions on the class of all such faces in order that the given convex set be a Choquet simplex.     

Importance of nanostructured vanadia for selective oxidation of propane to acrylic acid

Highly dispersed nanostructured vanadia supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15, prepared by controlled grafting/ion-exchange, has been found to exhibit high selectivities in propane partial oxidation to acrylic acid demonstrating its unique potential for mixed metal oxide catalyst development.     

A Novel Niobium Cluster Aqua Ion with Capping μ4‐Se Ligand

The aqueous solution chemistry of niobium is underexplored, and well characterized aqua complexes are scarce. In this contribution, a new niobium aqua complex was obtained by treatment of Zn‐reduced ethanolic solution of NbCl₅ with HCl in the presence of a selenide source (ZnSe). This is the first example of selenium containing aqua complex of niobium. The yellow‐green aqua complex was isolated by cation‐exchange chromatography and transformed into corresponding isothiocyanate complex by ligand exchange, which was crystallized as (PyH)_4.5[H_1.5Nb₄SeO₅(NCS)₁₀] · 0.5H₂O. X‐ray structural analysis revealed a metal‐metal bonded tetranuclear {Nb₄(μ₄‐Se)(μ₂‐O)₅}⁴⁺ core with a capping μ₄‐Se ligand.