Synthesis and aqueous solution properties of aliphatic double chain end-capped poly(ethylene glycol)

Summary A PEG-based amphiphilic polymer bearing two aliphatic double chain moieties was prepared. Its diluted aqueous solution properties were studied by viscometry, dye solubilization and rheology. At concentrations lower than (6–8)×10⁻³ g/mL ring-shaped macromolecules were formed due to intrachain hydrophobic interactions. At concentrations about (6–8)×10⁻³ g/mL a formation of "flower" type aggregates took place. 1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene solubilization was used to prove the existence of hydrophobic domains and a critical aggregation concentration of 7×10⁻³ g/mL was determined. The peculiar viscosity profile and the rheopectic behavior of the amphiphilic polymer were attributed to the existence of aggregates and to a temporary network formation during deformation, respectively. Received: 13 February 2001/Revised version: 15 June 2001/Accepted: 15 June 2001     

Morphological control of porous membranes based on aromatic polyether/water soluble polymers

This work describes the development of porous membranes based on blends of an aromatic polyether bearing main and side chain pyridine units (AP) with hydrophilic ionic polymers, like poly(sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate) (PSSNa) and its acid form (PSSH), or non‐ionic like polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol. Porous membranes were obtained after the removal of the water soluble polymers from the respective blend. The effect of various parameters such as water soluble polymer used (pore former), blend composition, casting solvent, and solvent evaporation level on porous structure formation was studied thoroughly. Specifically, SEM examination for the aforementioned systems indicated various porous morphologies depending on experimental conditions as well as thermodynamic and kinetic parameters occurring during their formation. The thermal properties of the membranes were influenced by the kind of the pore former, as revealed by thermogravimetric analysis. Special attention was paid to the systems AP/PSSNa and AP/PSSH to evaluate their miscibility via dynamic mechanical analysis and ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy. AP/PSSNa membranes have been preliminary used to test the water permeability for water purification. The tests revealed high water flux values at increased PSSNa concentrations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44539.     

Transport phenomena in the electrodeionization of cesium from AMP-PAN

Electrodeionization (EDI) of cesium from cesium-sorbed ammonium molybdophosphate-polyacrylonitrile (AMP-PAN) was investigated by passing eluant through the packed bed of ion-exchange resin in an electrodialysis cell. The deionized cesium from the packed bed was recovered in catholyte by migration and in the eluant by convection. Recovery percentage of Cs by migration increased while the recovery by convection decreased with increase in current density from 20 to 40 mA/cm². Increased eluant concentration resulted in low migration percentage of cesium. Increased catholyte concentration had a negligible effect on total recovery. Apparent diffusion coefficients evaluated using the Nernst–Plank relation increased with increase in current density and catholyte concentration while a decreasing trend was observed with increase in eluant concentration.     

Structure and conductivity of carbon materials produced from coal pitch with carbon additives

Attention focuses on the structure and electrical conductivity of carbon materials obtained by the carbonization of coal pitch in the presence of additives (nanotubes, graphite foam, and graphite), at temperatures up to 900°C. In some cases, ultrasonic mixing is used on introducing the additives to the pitch. Ultrasonic mixing is found to change the properties of the pitch and affect the properties of the carbon material produced. In particular, the proportion of carbon with an ordered structure is increased; the electrical conductivity at temperatures below 40 K is increased; and the energy barrier E _g between individual crystallites is reduced almost fourfold. At higher temperatures, the electrical conductivity is practically unchanged. Adding nanotubes to the pitch reduces the content of ordered carbon structures in the carbon material produced and lowers its electrical conductivity. Adding graphite foam and graphite to the pitch increases the order and electrical conductivity of the carbon material produced and lowers the energy barrier E _g between individual crystallites in the samples. The electrical conductivity of all the carbon materials below 16 K is described by the characteristic formula for fluctuation-induced tunneling conduction. This indicates that contacts between individual crystallites are mainly responsible for the electrical conductivity.     

Graphitic Carbon in Snow

We collected several samples of fresh snow from the areas of southern New Mexico and western Texas. Samples were analyzed to determine graphitic carbon content of snow in rural and urban areas and to compare these present values with those obtained from deep ice core samples several thousand years old. To model the optical properties of snow grains containing carbon we used several different versions of effective medium approximations. Calculations are compared with microwave analog measurements to determine which of these approximations can reasonably well predict the properties of mixtures such as snow and carbon. Suggestions regarding which of the effective medium approximations that should not be used are presented.     

Improved Determination of Bimodal Size Distributions from Measurements with Diffusional Size Classification

The size distribution of the unattached fraction of the short-lived radon progeny is reported in the literature to have a bimodal structure. Due to the weak size resolution of diffusional size classification, a wide variety of bimodal size distributions yields similar measurement results, obstructing the reconstruction of size distribution parameters from measured data. For example, it could be shown that although 2 of the commonly used nonlinear approximation algorithms per formed well for the reconstruction of a monomodal size distribution, the reproduc tion of parameters of a bimodal size distribution was unsatisfactory. In conse quence, a "random walk" approach is presented. The basic idea for this approach consists of probing the complete parameter space as an ideal method for locating the best set of parameters. Additionally, 2 steps are introduced for the reduction of computation time to render the ideal approach to an applicable method. The range of geometric standard deviations for the calculation was restricted to values between 1 and 5. The range of median diameters was limited according to the penetration functions of the diffusional samplers. This restricted volume of param eter space was subdivided into 10⁴ cells. During the calculation, cells with exceptionally large values of the minimization functional were eliminated from further computation. Compared to the results of EM and Simplex algorithms, this ''random walk'' method was able to retrieve parameters of both monomodal and bimodal size distributions with improved accuracy.     

Modeling of Drying Curves for Some Foodstuffs Using a Kinetic Equation of High Order

ABSTRACT

Non-linear regression was used to fit a high order kinetic model to drying curves for mango and cassava. For comparison purposes, the same experimental data were also adjusted by non-lines regression to a model based on exponential series, and to another exponential model by simple linear regression. The high order model fit the experimental data with higher precision (r2 Al.98) than the other exponential series models. The proposed higher order model is mathematically simple as compared to the exponential series, and could be used for simulation of drying processes.     

Aqueous Gelcasting of Fused Silica Using Colloidal Silica Binder

An aqueous‐based gelcasting of fused silica ceramics by using colloidal silica binder was developed. Fused silica slurries having different volume percentage of solid loading from 63 to 74 vol% in colloidal silica were made and the rheological properties were evaluated. It was found that the slurry with 73 vol% of solid loading with viscosity 0.70 Pa.s is suitable for this gelcasting system. The influence of solid loading on physical and mechanical properties of gelcast green and sintered bodies has been studied. The fabricated green body by using colloidal silica binder exhibited a flexural strength of 9 MPa and 88% of theoretical density with 2.2% of drying shrinkage while the sintered sample exhibited flexural strength of 60 MPa and 95% of theoretical density with 4.3% of sintering shrinkage. It was observed that, the nano silica particles from the colloidal silica binder is filling the interstitial positions in the consolidated fused silica green body and enhancing physical and mechanical properties.     

Hydroxyl end-functionalized poly(2-isopropyl oxazoline)s used as nano-sized colloidal templates for preparation of hollow polymeric nanocapsules

Hollow polymeric nanocapsules with a thermosensitive membrane are prepared and characterized. They reversibly change their dimensions during temperature variations below and above the transition of the membrane. The nanocapsules were prepared by three steps: (i) well-defined mesoglobules prepared from an LCST polymer (hydroxyl end functionalized poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline), PiPOZ-OH) were coated with a thermo-sensitive cross-linked shell formed via seeded radical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and N,N′-bis-methylene acrylamide to produce core–shell nanoparticles (ii), which were subjected to extensive dialysis below the LCSTs of both the core-forming PiPOZ-OH and shell-forming PNIPAM to remove the core (iii). The use of a core-forming polymer of low molecular weight (<8900 g mol⁻¹), narrow dispersity (<1.15) and relatively low T_g (52–68 °C) is beneficial as far as the effectiveness of the removal of the cores is concerned. The inherent immiscibility between PiPOZ-OH and PNIPAM as well as the specific raspberry-like structure of the core–shell particles also contributed for enhancement of the core removal effectiveness.     

Electrochemical reactivity at graphitic micro-domains on polycrystalline boron doped diamond thin-films electrodes

This paper deals with the electrochemical reactivity of boron doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. A comparative study has been carried out to show the influence of the presence of graphitic micro-domains upon the surface of these films. Those graphitic domains are sometimes present on as-grown boron doped diamond electrodes. The effect of doping a pure Csp³ diamond electrode is established by highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) abrasion onto the diamond surface. In order to establish the effect of doping on a pure Csp³ diamond electrode, the amount of graphitic domains was increased by means of HOPG crystals grafted onto the BDD surface. Indeed that method allows the enrichment of the Csp² contribution of the electrode.The presence of graphitic domains can be correlatively associated with the presence of kinetically active redox sites. The electrochemical reactivity of boron doped diamond electrodes shows a distribution of kinetic constants on the whole surface of the electrode corresponding to different active sites. In this paper, we have studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy the kinetics parameters of the ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple in KCl electrolyte. A method is proposed to diagnose the presence of graphitic domains on diamond electrodes, and an electrochemical “pulse cleaning” procedure is proposed to remove them.