Functional zinc(II) phthalocyanines bearing Schiff base complexes as oxidation catalysts for bleaching systems

Oxidation catalysis is used to increase the performance of hydrogen peroxide in laundry bleach applications. Bleach catalysts provide cost‐effective, energy‐saving and environmentally friendly bleach systems yielding perfect stain removal at lower temperatures. This comparative study is based on the synthesis of bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)manganese(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 2 ), bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)cobalt(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 3 ) and bis[bis(salicylhydrazonephenoxy)iron(III)] phthalocyaninatozinc(II) ( 4 ) as tri‐nuclear complexes consisting of two Schiff base complexes substituting a zinc phthalocyanine. Complexion on the periphery to obtain complexes 2 , 3 , 4 was performed through the reaction of a Schiff base‐substituted phthalocyanine using MnCl₂?4H₂O, CoCl₂?6H₂O or FeCl₃?6H₂O salts in basic condition in dimethylformamide. Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV–visible, inductively coupled plasma optical emission and mass spectra were applied to characterize the prepared compounds. The bleach performances of the three phthalocyanine compounds 2 , 3 , 4 were examined by the degradation of morin as hydrophilic dye. The degradation progress in the presence of catalysts 2 , 3 , 4 /H₂O₂ combination in aqueous solution was investigated using an online spectrophotometric method. It was found that the catalysts 2 , 3 , 4 exhibited better bleaching performance at 25 °C than tetraactylethylethylenediamine as bleach activator used in powder detergent formulations for stain removal. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Feasibility Exploration of Laser‐based Techniques for Characterization of a Flashing Jet

Two‐phase flows hold an interest in many areas of science and engineering. In the safety field, one such topic is the accidental release of flammable and toxic pressure‐liquefied gases. In case of such a release, a flashing vapor explosion takes place resulting in a very dense two‐phase cloud. If the released substance is flammable, this cloud can be combustible and can lead to deflagration or detonation. For understanding the source processes of flashing and risk assessment, data related to cloud characteristics (i.e. droplet size, velocity etc.) is needed especially in the near region of the release. Due to the non‐equilibrium nature of the near field regions accurate data measurement is not possible with intrusive techniques. Therefore, laser‐based optical techniques (like Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Particle Tracking Velocimetry and Sizing (PTVS), Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) etc.) present the only possibility to obtain information for particle diameter and velocity evolution in this harsh environment.     

Phenol biosensor based on electrochemically controlled integration of tyrosinase in a redox polymer

An amperometric biosensor for the detection of phenolic compounds was developed based on the immobilization of tyrosinase within an Os-complex functionalized electrodeposition polymer. Integration of tyrosinase within the redox polymer assures efficient catechol recycling between the enzyme and the polymer bound redox sites. The non-manual immobilization procedure improves the reproducibility of fabrication process, greatly reduces the desorption of the enzyme from the immobilization layer, and, most importantly prevents fast inactivation of the enzyme by its substrate due to fast redox cycling. A two-layer sensor architecture was developed involving ascorbic acid oxidase entrapped within an electrodeposition polymer in a second layer on top of the redox polymer/tyrosinase layer. Using this sensor architecture it was possible to eliminate the current interference arising from direct ascorbate oxidation up to a concentration of 630 μM ascorbic acid. The effects of the polymer thickness, the enzyme/polymer ratio, and the applied potential were evaluated with respect to optimal sensor properties. The sensitivity of the optimized sensors for catechol was 6.1 nA μM⁻¹ with a detection limit of 10 nM, and for phenol 0.15 nA μM⁻¹ with a detection limit of 100 nM.     

Structural stability and energetics of C,Si, and Ge microclusters: empirical many-body potential energy function calculation

The structural stability and energetics of carbon, silicon, and germanium microclusters containing 3?7 atoms have been investigated by using a recently developed empirical many-body potential energy function (PEF), which comprises two- and three-body atomic interactions. The PEF satisfies both bulk cohesive energy per atom and bulk stability exactly. It has been found that the most stable C_3?4 microclusters are linear withD _∞h symmetry but C_5?7 microclusters are planar withD _nh symmetry. Silicon and germanium microclusters show similar structural stability. TheX _n (X=Si, Ge;n=3?7) microclusters are found to be most stable in the following forms:X ₃ is triangular withD _3h symmetry,X ₄ is tetragonal withT _d symmetry,X ₅ is square pyramidal withD _4h symmetry,X ₆ is bipyramidal square withO _h symmetry, and finallyX ₇ is square pyramidal having two atoms underneath withD _2h symmetry.     

Synthesis,spectral properties,and antimicrobial activity of 2-arilamino-2,4,4,6,6-pentachloro-1,3,5,2λ<Superscript>5</Superscript>,4λ<Superscript>5</Superscript>,6λ<Superscript>5</Superscript>-triazatriphosphines and poly[bis(4-fluorophenylamino)phosphazene]

2-(4-Chloro and 4-fluorophenylamino)-2,4,4,6,6-pentachloro-1,3,5,2λ⁵,4λ⁵,6λ⁵-triazatriphosphinines and poly[bis(4-fluorophenylamino)phosphazene] were synthesized by reactions of 4-fluoroaniline and 4-chloroaniline with 2,2,4,4,6,6-hexachloro-1,3,5,2λ⁵,4λ⁵,6λ⁵-triazatriphosphinin and poly(dichlorophosphazene), respectively, in tetrahydrofuran under argon at ?20°C, followed by heating under reflux. The products were isolated by column chromatography and were characterized by FTIR, NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P), and mass spectra, termogravimetry, and high-performance liquid chromatography. Antimicrobial activity of the monomeric compounds and polymer against 9 bacteria and 5 yeast cultures was evaluated by the disk diffusion method in dimethyl sulfoxide relative to a number of commercial antibiotics and antifungal agents. Aminophosphazene derivatives exhibited a broad spectrum of activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial with a magnitude comparable to reference antimicrobial agents. The polymeric product turned out to be more potent than the monomeric compounds.     

Determination of trace elements in Na-bentonitic clay by INAA in Turkey

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied to the determination of trace elements in a Na-bentonitic clay. The irradiation was done in the Triga Mark II type reactor of ITU Nuclear Energy Institute. The sample was irradiated in two steps for short- and long- lived isotopes. After irradiation, spectra were taken using a germanium detector, multichannel analyzer Canberra System 100 and a fitting program called Sampo 90. The spectra of short-lived isotopes were analyzed to determine Al, Mg, Na, K, Ca, Ti elements and Mn, V trace elements. The spectra of long-lived isotopes were analyzed to determine Sc, Br, Sb, Cs, La, Ce, Sm, Yb, Hf, Pa, Np trace elements.     

Kinetic study of the crystallization processes of some decorative ceramic glazes

A kinetic study of the crystallization processes was performed for some decorative ceramic glazes in the PbO-SiO₂-Na₂O-K₂O-CaO(BaO)-Al₂O₃-B₂O₃ system with addition of 10% TiO₂ and ZnO. The crystallization kinetics has been studied in non-isothermal conditions using DTA technique. The apparent activation energies of the crystallization processes were calculated using the Kissinger method. The main crystalline phase, which provides the decorative effect, is rutile. This has been identified by X-ray diffraction and it is clearly visible in the optical microscopy images taken in transmitted light, as needle-like or even prismatic crystals arranged in radial-fibrous aggregates.     

Locally Optimized Crossover for the Traveling Umpire Problem

This paper presents a genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the Traveling Umpire Problem, which is a recently introduced sports scheduling problem that is based on the most important features of the real Major League Baseball umpire scheduling problem. In our GA, contrary to the traditional way of randomly obtaining new solutions from parent solutions, we obtain partially optimized solutions with a Locally Optimized Crossover operator. This operator also presents a link between the evolutionary mechanism on a population of solutions and the local search on a single solution. We present improved results over other methods on benchmark instances.     

Visual detection of Al ions using conjugated copolymer-ATP supramolecular complex

A colorimetric Al³⁺ sensor based on fluorescence recovery of a conjugated copolymer-ATP complex is proposed. An optimized ratio of two polythiophene (PT) monomers is utilized to synthesize copolymer (CP) that yielded maximized colorimetric response for Al³⁺ in deionized (DI) and tap water. The electrostatic disassembly of CP-ATP upon addition of Al³⁺ led to an evident visual color change. The lowest concentration of Al³⁺ for naked eye observation is around 4 μM, which is below the threshold levels in drinking water according to European Economic Community (EEC) standard. Besides, the proposed assay showed a similar response to Al³⁺ in tap water. The proposed methodology showed selective and sensitive detection for Al³⁺ in analytically relevant concentration ranges without involving sophisticated instrumentation, illustrating the applicability for on-site drinking water monitoring.