Gas solubility of carbon dioxide in poly(lactic acid) at high pressures: Thermal treatment effect

The sorption of carbon dioxide in glassy Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films was studied by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) at high pressures. Two thermal treatments, melted and quenched, were performed in PLA with two different L:D contents, 80:20 and 98:2, films and compared with a third thermal protocol, annealed, and used in a previous work. The results obtained show that for pressures higher than 2 MPa, the carbon dioxide solubility is larger in PLA 80:20 than in PLA 98:2, indicating that the L:D plays a dominant role on this property. The thermal treatments only affect the gas solubility in PLA 98:2. Sorption isotherms at temperatures 303, 313, and 323 K, below the glass transition temperature of the polymer, and pressures up to 5 MPa were measured and analyzed with three different models, the dual‐mode sorption model, the Flory–Huggins equation, and a modified dual‐mode sorption model where the Henry's law term was substituted by the Flory–Huggins equation. This last model performs especially well for CO₂ in PLA 80:20, due to the convex upward curvature of the solubility isotherms for that system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 616–625, 2007     

Additions of enantiopure alpha-sulfinyl carbanions to (S)-N-sulfinimines: asymmetric synthesis of beta-amino sulfoxides and beta-alphamino alcohols

The addition of the lithium anions derived from (R)- and (S)-methyl and -ethyl p-tolyl sulfoxides to (S)-N-benzylidene-p-toluenesulfinamide provides an easy access route to enantiomerically pure beta-(N-sulfinyl)amino sulfoxides. Stereoselectivity can be achieved when the configurations at the sulfur atoms of the two reagents are opposite (matched pair), thus resulting in only one diastereoisomer, even for the case in which two new chiral centers are created. The N-sulfinyl group primarily controls the configuration of the carbon bonded to the nitrogen, whereas the configuration of the alpha-sulfinyl carbanion seems to be responsible for the level of asymmetric induction, as well as for the configuration of the new stereogenic C-SO carbon in the reactions with ethyl p-tolyl sulfoxides. An efficient method for transforming the obtained beta-(N-sulfinyl)amino sulfoxides into optically pure beta-amino alcohols, based on the stereoselective non-oxidative Pummerer reaction, is also reported.     

Progress in the realisation of an autonomous environmental monitoring device for ammonia

Progress in the development of a micro-fluidic system for colorimetric monitoring of ammonia in drinking and wastewater is described. The ultimate goal is to have a miniaturised instrument that can produce accurate, reliable measurements, is easy to operate, has minimal power consumption, and can operate autonomously for a year. In this study, the indophenol reaction is incorporated into a simple, reliable analytical micro-fluidic system. Absorbance measurements for the blue ammonia-indophenol complex formed in the micro-fluidic system are shown. A key issue is the limiting stability of hypochlorite, a reagent used in the assay. The effects of hypochlorite concentration and impurities on the stability of hypochlorite are investigated and discussed. Decomposition is shown to be very dependent on the presence of heavy-metal impurities. With low levels of these catalytic metals and careful storage, hypochlorite has been shown to be stable for over a year.     

(Z)-3-p-tolylsulfinylacrylonitrile as a chiral dienophile: diels-alder reactions with furan and acyclic dienes

The behavior of (Z)-3-p-tolylsulfinylacrylonitrile (1) as a chiral dienophile has been evaluated from its reactions with furan and acyclic dienes. Electrostatic interactions of the cyano group with the sulfinyl one restrict the conformational mobility around the C-S bond, thus controlling the pi-facial selectivity, which is almost complete in all cases, the approach of the diene from the less-hindered face of the dienophile (that bearing the lone electron pair) in the predominant rotamer being the favored one. The regioselectivity is also completely controlled by the cyano group. Additionally, the reactivity of compound 1 as well as its endo-selectivity are both higher than those observed for the corresponding (Z)-3-sulfinylacrylates, thus proving the potential of sulfinylnitriles as chiral dienophiles.     

Planar microcoil-based microfluidic NMR probes

Microfabricated small-volume NMR probes consisting of electroplated planar microcoils integrated on a glass substrate with etched microfluidic channels are fabricated and tested. 1H NMR spectra are acquired at 300 MHz with three different probes having observed sample volumes of respectively 30, 120, and 470 nL. The achieved sensitivity enables acquisition of an 1H spectrum of 160 microg sucrose in D2O, corresponding to a proof-of-concept for on-chip NMR spectroscopy. Increase of mass-sensitivity with coil diameter reduction is demonstrated experimentally for planar microcoils. Models that enable quantitative prediction of the signal-to-noise ratio and of the influence of microfluidic channel geometry on spectral resolution are presented and successfully compared to the experimental data. The main factor presently limiting sensitivity for high-resolution applications is identified as being probe-induced static magnetic field distortions. Finally, based on the presented model and measured data, future performance of planar microcoil-based microfluidic NMR probes is extrapolated and discussed.     

Spin-singlet clusters in the ladder compound NaV2O5

The space group of alpha(')-NaV2O5 turns below T(c) = 34 K from Pmmn with all V sites equivalent, into Fmm2 with three independent vanadium sites per layer. This is incompatible with models of charge ordering into V4+ and V5+. Our structure determination indicates that the phase transition consists of a charge ordering with three distinct valence states, formally V4+, V4.5+, and V5+. The singlet formation is not associated with dimerization on the spin ladder, but with the formation of spin clusters. Finally, we ascribe the quadrupling of the c axis to the large polarizability of the V2O5 skeleton.     

Dependence of pulser driving responses on electrical and motional characteristics of NDE ultrasonic probes

Acoustic performance in ultrasonic transmitters can be improved by means of a suitable electrical driving response and matching/tuning networks. It is important to predict this electrical response, but doing so is not easy because it departs notably from the nominal pattern with the loading probes. In practice, the analysis of HV pulser spikes in NDE applications requires fairly complex models in the transient regime and, in addition, non-linear problems could arise, especially in the case of tuned transmitters. In this paper, the most relevant influences of loading characteristics of NDT ultrasonic probes on the pulser electrical driving responses are evaluated in time and frequency domains. Conventional pulse generators and typical NDE pulsers are considered. Driving responses are analysed across commercial ultrasonic probes and, alternatively, across similar purely electrical loads. Distinct influences on pulser responses from electrical and motional sections of the probes are identified. All these aspects are studied on the basis of experimental and computer results.     

Heat Capacity of a Synthetic Distillation Cut+n-Hexane System under Pressure

Isobaric heat capacities of synthetic mixtures were determined up to 40 MPa with a modified C-80 Setaram calorimeter equipped with cells designed for high pressures. The system investigated was a pseudo-binary hexane+synthetic cut, the latter consisting of compounds of the three chemical families that occur most frequently in natural effluents (paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics). The additional knowledge of density vs. pressure and temperature affords the specific heat γ ratio.     

Thermodynamic investigation of yield-stress models for amorphous polymers

A thermodynamic study of the yield process in amorphous polymers is proposed to investigate four yield theories: the Eyring model and its linearized form, the cooperative model and the Argon model. For a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and a polycarbonate (PC), the corresponding apparent activation volumes and apparent activation energies are calculated and compared for a wide range of temperatures and strain rates. For the cooperative model, we show that the secondary molecular relaxation is a key parameter in the explanation of the specific mechanical behaviour of glassy polymers at low temperatures and at high strain rates. For the three other models, thermodynamic inconstancies were found and these are discussed.