Decreasing Filter Cake Resistance by Using Packing Structures

Packed beds used in absorption columns are evaluated to determine whether they can also be beneficial for cake‐forming filtrations. To assess this, model systems are characterized and separated by using a dead‐end filter cell. Filtrations are conducted with different packings; the filtrate amount over time and resulting turbidity are evaluated. Packings increase the filter cake resistance and the separation time of the cakes formed with approximately incompressible solids. However, they exhibit a positive effect on the filtration of a more complex, compressible substance; the process is not only accelerated, but also the quality of the obtained filtrate is not compromised. These results demonstrate potential in the use of packed beds for the filtration of complex biogenic suspensions.     

Identification and Optimization of 4‐Anilinoquinolines as Inhibitors of Cyclin G Associated Kinase

4‐Anilinoquinolines were identified as potent and narrow‐spectrum inhibitors of the cyclin G associated kinase (GAK), an important regulator of viral and bacterial entry into host cells. Optimization of the 4‐anilino group and the 6,7‐quinoline substituents produced GAK inhibitors with nanomolar activity, over 50 000‐fold selectivity relative to other members of the numb‐associated kinase (NAK) subfamily, and a compound (6,7‐dimethoxy‐N‐(3,4,5‐trimethoxyphenyl)quinolin‐4‐amine; 49 ) with a narrow‐spectrum kinome profile. These compounds may be useful tools to explore the therapeutic potential of GAK in prevention of a broad range of infectious and systemic diseases.     

Soybean‐Oil‐Based Thermosetting Resins with Methacrylated Vanillyl Alcohol as Bio‐Based,Low‐Viscosity Comonomer

A novel, bio‐based, aromatic monomer (methacrylated vanillyl alcohol, MVA) is synthesized using vanillyl alcohol and methacrylic anhydride in the absence of solvents. The resulting MVA is used as a sustainable comonomer to replace styrene in a maleinated acrylated epoxidized soybean‐oil (MAESO) resin to produce novel thermosets via free radical polymerization. The influence of MVA loading on the viscosity, gelation time, curing extent, thermomechanical properties, and tensile properties of the MAESO–MVA thermoset is investigated. The synthesized MVA exhibits very low volatility, which is beneficial for the development of construction material with low or zero emission. The viscosity of the MAESO–MVA system can be tailored to meet the commercial requirements. Increasing the MVA content accelerates the crosslinking reaction rate and improves thermal and mechanical properties of the MAESO–MVA system. The glass transition temperature increases with increasing MVA content. Soxhlet extraction experiments show that more than 90% of the components are incorporated into the crosslinking network. Overall, the developed MVA monomer shows promising properties to be used as an effective, green comonomer to replace styrene.     

Photopinking of white PVC products: A kind of magic

Short‐term photoeffects like photograying, photobluing, and photopinking are well‐known in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry. While photobluing and photograying are well understood regarding their mechanisms of occurrences there are still some missing facts. Furthermore, there are three different types of pinking effects with three different mechanisms and consequently three different ways to avoid this discoloration of mainly white PVC products. The recent paper is focusing on one hand of the photopinking of PVC products, which are stabilized with nitrogen‐containing, organic stabilizer whose mechanism was not explained until today. In the past there was neither a method to analyze nor to simulate this type of photopinking. However, the discovery of a charge transfer complex between the nitrogen‐containing substance and nitric acid gave the basic idea to investigate this phenomenon by photo‐electromotive force investigations of titanium dioxide and the nitrogen‐containing substance and by cyclo voltammetry. On the other hand, the authors are attempting to supplement the findings regarding the mechanism of the photopinking of white window profiles which are lead stabilized and which were installed north‐facing in cooler areas with high humidity. Again, a simulation and the analysis of the color‐giving substance of the north‐faced photopinking were impossible in the past. The authors assumed that antioxidants might play an important rule for this type of discoloration. They supported their hypothesis by synthesis of quinoid structures based on antioxidants, spectroscopic investigations, artificial weathering, and electrochemical calculations. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 24:195–207, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Bismuth niobate thin films for dielectric energy storage applications

Low‐temperature processed bismuth niobate (BNO) thin films were explored in this work as a potential candidate for high‐energy density capacitors. The BNO samples were fabricated by the chemical solution deposition method followed by a series of ultraviolet (UV) exposure and heat treatments. A UV treatment prior to the final pyrolysis step was found to be useful in eliminating bound carbon. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) demonstrated that the residual carbon could be effectively removed at 350°C after UV exposure. Following a heat treatment at 450°C, the energy storage density of the BNO thin film reached 39 J/cm³ with an efficiency of 72%. Furthermore, 350°C and 375°C treated BNO samples showed high‐temperature stability such that the efficiencies of the films remained above 97% up to 150°C at 10 kHz under 1 MV/cm applied field.     

Chiral control of enantiomers through crystallization: Moving from ternary phase diagrams to design spaces

Although chiral purity is a critical quality attribute for many synthetic drugs, current industrial strategies for establishing chiral purity control are underdeveloped. Such strategies have relied on the construction of ternary phase diagrams, system classification, and case‐specific operating policies. These policies have been developed to provide enantiopure solids, regardless of product specification or target. In this article, new operating policies are developed for obtaining solids that meet, but do not exceed, chiral purity specifications for arbitrary systems. These policies can provide significant yield improvements over the current practice. Additionally, this work provides an approach for the creation of design spaces based on the collection of limited, small scale data. This approach has been extended to sequential re‐crystallizations and can be used to determine “global” optimal policies within a synthetic route. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3323–3331, 2018     

Thin water films and particle morphology evolution in nanocrystalline MgO

A key question in the field of ceramics and catalysis is how and to what extent residual water in the reactive environment of a metal oxide particle powder affects particle coarsening and morphology. With X‐ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), we investigated annealing‐induced morphology changes on powders of MgO nanocubes in different gaseous H₂O environments. The use of such a model system for particle powders enabled us to describe how adsorbed water that originates from short exposure to air determines the evolution of MgO grain size, morphology, and microstructure. While cubic nanoparticles with a predominant abundance of (100) surface planes retain their shape after annealing to T = 1173 K under continuous pumping with a base pressure of water p(H₂O) = 10^?5 mbar, higher water partial pressures promote mass transport on the surfaces and across interfaces of such particle systems. This leads to substantial growth and intergrowth of particles and simultaneously favors the formation of step edges and shallow protrusions on terraces. The mass transfer is promoted by thin films of water providing a two‐dimensional solvent for Mg²⁺ ion hydration. In addition, we obtained direct evidence for hydroxylation‐induced stabilization of (110) faces and step edges of the grain surfaces.