Agro-Waste Generated Pd/CAP-Ash Catalyzed Ligand-Free Approach for Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling Reaction

Catalysis Letters - We converted agro-waste Custard Apple Peels (CAP) to ash via thermal treatment, on which Pd(OAc)2 was immobilized easily that produced a low-cost, highly efficient Pd/CAP-ash...     

A new controller for boost dc–dc converters based on a novel sliding surface

ABSTRACT

In this paper, two control schemes for boost converters affected by uncertainties in input voltage and load are proposed. The boost converter dynamics is redefined in terms of new state variables to facilitate the use of a disturbance observer that can estimate matched and unmatched disturbances. A sliding surface, which is new in the context of boost converters, is proposed to enable tracking and regulation of output voltage without requiring measurement of input voltage and load current. The stability of the overall system including the disturbance observer, the sliding variable and the output is proved. The performance of the schemes is assessed for regulation of output voltage and tracking of reference voltage by simulation as well as experimentation in which various types of uncertainties and various types of reference voltages are considered.     

Photoactive Earth‐Abundant Iron Pyrite Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Reaction

The generation of ammonia, hydrogen production, and nitrogen purification are considered as energy intensive processes accompanied with large amounts of CO₂ emission. An electrochemical method assisted by photoenergy is widely utilized for the chemical energy conversion. In this work, earth‐abundant iron pyrite (FeS₂) nanocrystals grown on carbon fiber paper (FeS₂/CFP) are found to be an electrochemical and photoactive catalyst for nitrogen reduction reaction under ambient temperature and pressure. The electrochemical results reveal that FeS₂/CFP achieves a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of ≈14.14% and NH₃ yield rate of ≈0.096 µg min^?1 at ?0.6 V versus RHE electrode in 0.25 m LiClO₄. During the electrochemical catalytic reaction, the crystal structure of FeS₂/CFP remains in the cubic pyrite phase, as analyzed by in situ X‐ray diffraction measurements. With near‐infrared laser irradiation (808 nm), the NH₃ yield rate of the FeS₂/CFP catalyst can be slightly improved to 0.1 µg min^?1 with high FE of 14.57%. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the N₂ molecule has strong chemical adsorption energy on the iron atom of FeS₂. Overall, iron pyrite‐based materials have proven to be a potential electrocatalyst with photoactive behavior for ammonia production in practical applications.     

Optimized mobility management protocol for the IoT based WBAN with an enhanced security

Wireless Networks - Today, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is widely used for general purposes. With the propagation of the Internet of Things (IoT), security issues arise wherever the healthcare...     

Hydrotreatment of jatropha oil over noble metal catalysts

Jatropha oil is a promising nonedible feedstock for producing renewable diesel. In this work, the hydrotreatment processing of jatropha oil was investigated. Instead of using conventional alumina-supported Co–Mo, Ni–Mo, and Ni–W catalysts that need sulfidation pretreatment, noble metals such as Pd and Ru were chosen. Trials were performed in an isothermal trickle-bed reactor and the reaction conditions were as follows: temperature 603–663?K, weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) 1 to 4/h, pressure 1.5–3?MPa, and H₂/oil ratio 200–800 (v/v). Yield of n-C₁₅ to n-C₁₈ hydrocarbons was maximized (70.3 and 43.8% for Pd/Al₂O₃ and Ru/Al₂O₃, respectively) at the following conditions: T?=?663 K, WHSV?=?2/h, P?=?3?MPa, and H₂/oil ratio?=?600 (v/v). Since Ru favored cracking reactions to a larger extent than Pd, the yield of C₁₅ to C₁₈ hydrocarbons over Ru/Al₂O₃ was lowered. Using simple first-order plots for oil conversion, activation energies for the hydrotreating process over Pd/Al₂O₃ and Ru/Al₂O₃ were found and they were equal to 109 and 121?kJ/mol, correspondingly.     

Cellular Disulfide Bond Formation in Bioactive Peptides and Proteins

Bioactive peptides play important roles in metabolic regulation and modulation and many are used as therapeutics. These peptides often possess disulfide bonds, which are important for their structure, function and stability. A systematic network of enzymes—a disulfide bond generating enzyme, a disulfide bond donor enzyme and a redox cofactor—that function inside the cell dictates the formation and maintenance of disulfide bonds. The main pathways that catalyze disulfide bond formation in peptides and proteins in prokaryotes and eukaryotes are remarkably similar and share several mechanistic features. This review summarizes the formation of disulfide bonds in peptides and proteins by cellular and recombinant machinery.     

Modified Two-Phase Titration Methods to Quantify Surfactant Concentrations in Chemical-Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications

In enhanced oil recovery applications, surfactants are injected into reservoirs along with polymers and salts. The effluents eluted from lab experiments and field tests are analyzed by HPLC methods using an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) detector. When the surfactant concentrations are less than 100 ppm, HPLC methods are inaccurate. A novel two-phase titration method is developed where surfactant concentrations can be quantified using a calibration curve constructed with UV/vis absorption. This method can analyze surfactant concentrations 5–80 ppm where dilution eliminates any high-salinity interferences with the absorption measurements. The method is based on formation of a dye-surfactant complex and the light absorption of the complex has a linear correlation with the surfactant concentration. Anionic surfactant concentrations lower than 100 ppm can be accurately quantified using this method with methylene blue. The method was also developed for low concentrations (<50 ppm) of cationic surfactants using methyl orange and indigo carmine. The indigo carmine method can be used without the use of an organic phase. All methods are applicable at salinities up to 3 wt%. Both the methylene blue method and the methyl orange method can be used to detect zwitterionic surfactants. These methods can be used in the presence of polymers without any prior treatments.     

Tetraphenylthiophene–thiazole-based π-conjugated polyazomethines: synthesis,characterization and gas sensing application

Polymer Bulletin - 2,5-Bis(4-(2-aminothiazole) phenyl)-3 and 4-diphenyltetraphenyl thiophene (TPTPThDA) are fine processed in three steps. A series of polyazomethines containing...     

Optimization of fermentation condition for co-production of ethanol and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from hemicellolosic hydrolysates by Klebsiella oxytoca XF7

Microbial production of ethanol and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from agro-residues has been attracting interest because of their applications in various industries, including generation of biofuel molecules. In the present investigation, the hemicellulosic fraction of corncob was hydrolyzed by indigenous holocellulase from novel psychrotolerant Aspergillus niger SH3 resulting in high xylose release (34.61?g?L^?1), followed by the bioconversion of xylose to ethanol and 2,3-BD. Taguchi design was adopted to optimize the process which resulted in 5.25- and 3.31-fold increase in 2,3-BD (12.18?±?0.53?g?L^?1) and ethanol (4.08?±?0.03?g?L^?1), as compared with un-optimized condition. For the first time, co-production of ethanol and 2,3-BD from the corncob hemicellulosic hydrolysate was performed using a newly isolated Klebsiella oxytoca XF7 strain, under the optimized fermentation conditions. These results suggest that K. oxytoca XF7 is a promising candidate for co-production of ethanol and 2,3-BD, with high xylose conversion efficiency (96.65%), facilitating the economical production of biofuel molecules.     

Soret effects on the mixed convection flow using Robin boundary conditions

An investigation has been undertaken as Soret and Schmidt outcomes on the mixed convection flow using Robin boundary conditions. The results use a vertical channel being kept at constant cold temperature and concentration at the left wall and hot temperature and concentration at the right wall. The exchange of heat is done by help of plates with a fluid. We consider the external fluid with equal and different temperatures. This physical problem is solved by using nondimensional parameters with the corresponding boundary conditions. To find analytical solution, the regular perturbation series method is used, and for finding the numerical solution, the well‐known Runge–Kutta method with shooting technique is employed. Comparison of the current study is favorable with the previous published results. The obtained results depend on the governing parameters such as thermal Grashof number, solutal Grashof number, Biot numbers, symmetric and asymmetric wall temperatures, Schmidt number, Soret number, and Brinkman number. An influence of these parameters on the fields of velocity, temperature, and concentration is reported. Further, the numerical results for the Nusselt number, mean value of the velocity, dimensionless bulk temperature, skin friction, and molecular diffusion coefficient are tabulated for different parametric conditions and explained. For small value of Brinkman number, the obtained values agree with other published results for all considered cases.