Characterization and Catalytic Properties of Combustion Synthesized Au/CeO2 Catalyst

Ceria-supported Au catalyst has been synthesized by the solution combustion method for the first time and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Au is dispersed as Au⁰ as well as Au³⁺ states on CeO₂ surface of 20-30 nm crystallites. On heating the as-prepared 1% Au/CeO₂ in air, the concentration of Au³⁺ ions on CeO₂ increases at the expense of Au⁰. Catalytic activities for CO and hydrocarbon oxidation and NO reduction over the as-prepared and the heat-treated 1% Au/CeO₂ have been carried out using a temperature-programmed reaction technique in a packed bed tubular reactor. The results are compared with nano-sized Au metal particles dispersed on -Al₂O₂ substrate prepared by the same method. All the reactions over heat-treated Au/CeO₂ occur at lower temperature in comparison with the as-prepared Au/CeO₂ and Au/Al₂O₂. The rate of NO + CO reaction over as-prepared and heat-treated 1% Au/CeO₂ are 28.3 and 54.0 mol g^-1 s^-1 at 250 and 300 °C respectively. Activation energy (E _a) values are 106 and 90 kJ mol^-1 for CO + O₂ reaction respectively over as-prepared and heat-treated 1% Au/CeO₂ respectively.     

Reversible,repeatable and low phase transition behaviour of spin coated nanostructured vanadium oxide thin films with superior mechanical properties

Smooth, uniform and crystalline vanadium oxide thin films were deposited on quartz by spin coating technique with four different rpm i.e., 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 and subsequently post annealed at 350, 450 and 550?°C in vacuum. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were utilized for microstructural characterizations and phase analysis, respectively, for vanadium oxide powder and deposited film. Nanorods were observed to be grown after vacuum annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was utilized to study the elemental oxidation state of deposited vanadium oxide films. Thermo-optical and electrical properties such as solar transmittance (τ_s), reflectance (ρ_s), absorptance (α_s), infrared (IR) emittance (ε_ir) and sheet resistance (R_s) of different thin films were evaluated. Based on the optical characteristics the optimized condition of the film processing was identified to be spin coated at 3000?rpm. Subsequently, the nanoindentation technique was utilized to measure hardness and Young's modulus of the optimized film. The measured nanomechanical properties were found to be superior to those reported for sputtered vanadium oxide films. Finally, temperature dependent phase transition characteristics of optimized vanadium oxide films were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. Reversible and repeatable phase transition was found to occur in the range of 44–48?°C which was significantly lower than the phase transition temperature (i.e., 68?°C) of bulk VO₂.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and drug release study of acrylamide‐co‐itaconic acid based smart hydrogel

A new kind of pH and temperature responsive poly(acrylamide‐co‐itaconic acid) hydrogel was prepared by free radical polymerization using ammonium persulfate as initiator and different comonomer ratios. The hydrogels were characterized in terms of chemical composition, swelling‐deswelling behavior, morphology, crystallographic behavior, and drug release properties. All the hydrogels showed high swelling ability in aqueous solutions, the maximum being at pH 7. Swelling decreased on either side of pH 7 (i.e., both in acidic and alkaline region) and increased with increase in temperature. The hydrogel with 10 mol% itaconic acid (IA) absorbed maximum water among the copolymer gels. The cellular structures of the hydrogels were clearly revealed by microscopic analysis and SEM pictures. Swelling of the gels in water followed non‐Fickian type of diffusion principle. The hydrogel was proved to be a controlled release vehicle, for example in drug delivery by using its smart properties. The hydrogel with 10 mol% IA also absorbed maximum amount of drug (ascorbic acid) under study. Incorporation of drug in hydrogel matrix was established from XRD peak analysis. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:113–122, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Enantioselective Synthesis of α‐Amino‐γ‐sulfonyl Phosphonates with a Tetrasubstituted Chiral α‐Carbon via Quinine‐Squaramide‐Catalyzed Michael Addition of Nitrophosphonates to Vinyl Sulfones

α‐Nitro‐γ‐sulfonyl phosphonates with a key tetrasubstituted chiral α‐carbon center have been synthesized for the first time in high yield and enantioselectivity through a quinine‐squaramide‐catalyzed conjugate addition of α‐nitro phosphonates to aryl vinyl sulfones. Representative examples presented here for the transformation of nitrosulfonyl phosphonates to aminosulfonyl phosphonates, alkylation at the α‐position of the sulfonyl group followed by desulfonation and scale‐up of the conjugate addition highlight the practical applications of the methodology.     

A triptycene derived hypercrosslinked polymer for gas capture and separation applications

This work describes facile synthesis of a porous polymeric material ( T-HCP ) using readily available reagents. Specifically, T-HCP is a thermally stable and hypercrosslinked polymer (HCP) that is essentially microporous with a high BET specific surface area (940 m² g^?1). Triptycene based polymers are known to feature internal free volume. Thus, the incorporation of triptycene units and extensive crosslinking by an external cross-linker in T-HCP makes it a promising adsorbent for small gas capture applications. Experimental results show that T-HCP demonstrated good CO₂ capture capacity of 132 mg g^?1 (273 K, 1 bar). Molecular hydrogen storage capacity of T-HCP is estimated to be 17.7 mg g^?1 (77 K, 1 bar). T-HCP revealed high CO₂/N₂ selectivity (up to 63) as well as promising CO₂/CH₄ (up to 9.1) selectivity suggesting its potential applicability for CO₂ separation from flue and natural gases.     

Synthesis of SBA 15 graphene oxide composite membrane using phenol–formaldehyde resin pore modifier for CO2 separation

Present study highlights the development of carbon-loaded SBA 15 membrane on clay-alumina tubular support and its performance on the CO₂ separation efficiencies from different mixture gases. To modify the large pores of SBA 15 by graphitic carbon, low molecular weight phenol–formaldehyde (PF) resin was incorporated into the mesoporous channel followed by calcination under inert atmosphere. The modified ordered pore structure of the membrane has been characterized by low-angle XRD, TEM, and pore size distribution analysis. The chemical state of the deposited carbon phase into the SBA 15 pores was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy. Carbon having graphitic nature mainly in graphene oxide has been deposited into the mesopore of SBA 15 resulting decrease in pore size from 8.9 to 1.0 nm. Finally, the developed SBA 15 carbon membranes were characterized by CO₂ permeation and separation selectivity of CO₂/CH₄, CO₂/CO. Highest CO₂/CH₄ separation factor was achieved as 16.9 with CO₂ permeance 13.6 × 10^–8 mol/m²/s/Pa at 200 kPa feed pressure by the 20% resin with 2 times coated membrane. In flue gas analysis, highest CO₂/CO separation factor of 32.8 was achieved. This study offers an observation on CO₂ separation from simulated BF gas for the first time and the results show the potential of the developed SBA 15/C composite membranes in commercial application.     

Synthesis,structure, CO oxidation,and H2 production activities of CaCu3−xMnxTi4−xMnxO12 (x = 0, 0.5, and 1.0)

Synthesis of nanocrystalline pristine and Mn-doped calcium copper titanate quadruple perovskites, CaCu_3?xMn_xTi_4?xMn_xO₁₂ (x = 0, 0.5, and 1.0) by modified citrate solution combustion method has been reported. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns attest the phase purity of the perovskite materials. Average particle sizes of all the materials obtained from the Scherrer's formula are in the range of 55–70 nm. The specific surface areas for all the perovskites obtained from BET isotherms are found to be low as expected for the condensed oxide systems and fall in the range of 13–17 m² g^?1. Transmission electron microscopy studies show a reduction in particle size of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ with increase in Mn doping. Ca and Ti are present in +2 and +4 oxidation states in all the materials as demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. Cu²⁺ gets reduced in CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ with higher Mn content. Mn is observed to be present only in +3 oxidation state. All the materials have been examined to be active in CO oxidation as well as H₂ production from methanol steam reforming. CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ with ~14 at.% Mn is found to show best catalytic activities among these materials. A comprehensive analysis of the catalytic activities of these perovskites toward CO oxidation and H₂ production from MSR reveal the cooperative activity of copper-manganese in the doped perovskites and it is more effective at lower manganese content.     

Shear strength response of reinforced pond ash

Reinforced pond ash is a composite material, which can be used as an alternative construction material in the field of geotechnical engineering. To study the shear strength response of reinforced pond ash, a series of unconsolidated undrained (UU) triaxial test has been conducted on both unreinforced and reinforced pond ash. In the present investigation the effects of confining pressure (σ₃), number of geotextile layers (N), and types of geotextiles on shear strength response of pond ash are studied. The results demonstrate that normal stress at failure (σ_1f) increases with increase in confining pressure. The rate of increase of normal stress at failure (σ_1f) is maximum for three layers of reinforcement, while the corresponding percentage increase in σ_1f is around (103%), when the number of geotextile layers increases from two layers to three layers of reinforcement. With increase in confining pressure the increment in normal stress at failure, Δσ increases and attains a peak value at a certain confining pressure (threshold value) after that Δσ becomes more or less constant. The threshold value of confining pressure depends on N, dry unit weight (γ_d) of pond ash, type of geotextile, and also type of pond ash.     

Strain and electric field-modulated indirect-to-direct band transition of monolayer GaInS2

Journal of Computational Electronics - The strain- and electric field-dependent electronic and optical properties of monolayer GaInS2 have been calculated using density functional...