Digestion of crosslinked poly(vinylpyridinium halide) by activated sludge,and application to make poly(methyl methacrylate) biodegradable by incorporation of a pyridinium group into the main chain

Crosslinked poly(N-benzyl-4-vinyipyridinium bromide) has been found to be digested by activated sludge obtained from sewage works. As an extension of this work, the authors attempted to make poly(methyl methacrylate) biodegradable by incorporation of a pyridinium group. Poly(methyl methacrylate) containing a small amount of N-benzyl-4-vinylpyridinium chloride in the main chain showed remarkable reduction in molecular weight and gravimetric weight when placed in an aeration tank of a sewage works. Molecular weight reduction by activated sludge was more conspicuous when content of the pyridinium group was larger and the original molecular weight before the biological treatment was lower. Since insoluble pyridinium-type polymer captures microbial cells alive, this biodegradation appears to be facilitated by enhancement of affinity of the synthetic hydrophobic polymer with cells of microogranisms. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Observation of 3‐D Structure of Bubbles in a Fluidized Catalyst Bed

The interface area between the bubble and emulsion phases in a fluidized catalyst bed is one of the important parameters used to analyze and design the fluidized bed reactor. We used a fast‐scanning X‐ray CT system to observe the bubble shape and structure. We then obtained the transient 2‐dimensional cross sectional gas‐phase distribution in a fluidized catalyst bed. Using image‐processing techniques, pseudo 3‐dimensional images of the bubbles were reconstructed. The bubble structure was studied based on the 3‐dimensional images and the previously obtained results in a 2‐dimensional fluidized bed. It was found that the bubble shape was not spherical but complicated, and that the bubbles ascending in a fluidized catalyst bed consisted of some smaller bubbles.     

Effective Coke Removal in Methane to Benzene (MTB) Reaction on Mo/HZSM-5 Catalyst by H2 and H2O Co-addition to Methane

The catalytic dehydro-aromatization reaction over Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst was drastically stabilized by the co-addition of 5.4% H₂ and 1.8% H₂O to methane feed at 750 °C, 0.3 MPa and methane space velocity of 3000 mL g⁻¹ h⁻¹, suppressing the coke formation effectively, compared with single hydrogen or steam addition.     

Optimal synthesis of process systems Necessary condition for optimal system and its use in synthesis of systems

The necessary condition for the optimal process system structure which includes both the optimal interconnection and optimal design of processing units is derived in terms of the structural parameters. The structural parameters are essentially splitting factors of process streams connecting processing units. The necessary condition requires the structural parameters and the design vectors to satisfy the weak maximum condition of the Hamiltonian type scalar functions. On the basis of the condition, a search method, evolutionary search for optimal structure (ESOS), for attaining the optimal structure starting from a simple structure is developed and its convergence is proved. An example of synthesizing a reactor-separator system illustrates its use.     

Monodisperse nanoparticles of poly(ethylene glycol) macromers and N‐isopropyl acrylamide for biomedical applications

Poly(ethylene glycol)‐based nanoparticles have received significant attention in the field of biomedicine. When they are copolymerized with pH‐ or temperature‐sensitive comonomers, their small size allows them to respond very quickly to changes in the environment, including changes in the pH, ionic strength, and temperature. In addition, the high surface‐to‐volume ratio makes them highly functionalized. In this work, nanoparticles composed of temperature‐sensitive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide), poly(ethylene glycol) 400 dimethacrylate, and poly(ethylene glycol) 1000 methacrylate were prepared by a thermally initiated, free‐radical dispersion polymerization method. The temperature‐responsive behavior of the hydrogel nanoparticles was characterized by the study of their particle size with photon correlation spectroscopy. The size of the nanoparticles varied from 200 to 1100 nm and was a strong function of the temperature of the system, from 5 to 40°C. The thermal, structural, and morphological characteristics were also investigated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 1678–1684, 2003     

Development of a high‐resolution RGBW flexible display using a white organic light‐emitting diode with microcavity structure and that of a side‐roll touch panel

In this study, white organic electroluminescent devices with microcavity structures were developed. A flexible high‐resolution active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode display with low power consumption using red, green, blue, and white sub‐pixels formed by a color‐filter method was fabricated. In addition, a side‐roll touch display was developed in combination with a capacitive flexible touch screen.     

Association and physical gelation of ABA triblock copolymer in selective solvent

Association behavior and physical gelation mechanism of ABA triblock copolymer dissolved in B-selective solvent have been studied systematically from dilute to moderately concentrated solutions. Static and dynamic light scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements for dilute solutions of poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(tert-butyl acrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-PtBuA-PMMA) in 1-butanol (PtBuA selective solvent) indicated that PMMA-PtBuA-PMMA chains are molecularly dissolved above 50 °C. With decreasing temperature, the triblock copolymers form associated micelles consisting PMMA associated core and PtBuA shell. Linear dynamic viscoelastic measurements for solutions with moderate concentration (3.9-12.0 wt%) revealed that the system was viscous sol state at 60 °C. Drastic increase of shear storage modulus (G′) occurred with decreasing temperature, and at 25 °C, G′ showed rubbery plateau with weak frequency dependency, means the formation of elastic physical gel. The consistency between the temperature for micelle formation and that at the increase in G′ indicates that the physical gelation is owing to the network formation as the result of the association of PMMA chains and the bridging PtBuA chains connecting the PMMA cores. Master curves for the dynamic moduli were derived by time-temperature superposition along the frequency axis. Just above sol-gel transition concentration (C_gel), the master curves suggest the existence of fairy amount of aggregate that is not incorporated in the macroscopic network. With the increase in polymer concentration, the master curves become to reveal Maxwell-type viscoelasticity with narrow relaxation time distribution, suggesting the formation of transient network with easily generation and destruction of crosslinks. Concentration dependency of the plateau modulus is stronger than the theoretically expected, means the macroscopic transient network grows with polymer concentration by increasing the fraction of elastically effective bridging PtBuA chain above C_gel.     

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate and random copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate and styrene and methyl methacrylate mediated by monospiro- and dispiropiperidinyl-N-oxyl radicals

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) and random copolymerizations of styrene (St) and BA and St and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of 7-aza-15-hydroxydispiro[5.1.5.3]hexadecane-7-yloxyl (1) and 1-aza-2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxyspiro[5.6]dodecane-1-yloxyl (2) were carried out. Radical polymerization of BA at 120 °C in the presence of 1 gave poly(BA) with M_n=20200 and M_w/M_n=1.30 at 23% conversion. The termination of polymerization observed around ∼20% conversion was solved to a certain extent by an addition of small amounts of dicumyl peroxide, and poly(BA) with M_n=37400 and M_w/M_n=1.33 was obtained in 46% yield. Random copolymerizations of St and BA and St and MMA in the presence of 1 and 2 at 80 °C gave the corresponding random copolymers with narrow polydispersities of 1.12-1.38 at the molar fraction above 0.30 of St in feed. The kinetic study for the NO-C bond homolysis of the corresponding alkoxyamines prepared from 1 and 2 were carried out, and evaluation of the preexponential factors (A_act) and the activation parameters (E_act) showed that the steric factors of the nitroxides are reflected mainly on E_act.     

Application of the Solvothermal Process in the Synthesis of High-performance Ag/γ-Al_2O_3 Catalysts

1 INTRODUCTION Since Cu-ZSM-5 was reported as an effective catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by hydrocarbons in the presence of excess oxygen, the SCR of NOx has received much attention as a kind of potential technology for cleaning NOx in various oxygen-rich exhausts of diesel engine, lean burning gasoline engine and gas engine. Although a number of catalysts have been tested, to date, it still seems to be difficult to find a catalyst that is completely suit…     

Measurement of self-diffusion coefficients in Li ionic conductors by using the short-lived radiotracer of 8Li

For the effective use of short-lived radioactive beams, soon to be available at the Tokai Radioactive Ion Accelerator Complex, the authors have developed a radiotracer method for diffusion studies in solids. The experimental test was performed by the measurement of the diffusion coefficients of Li in a sample of the compound βLiAl using an α-emitting radiotracer of ⁸Li (T_1/2=0.84 s). It was found that the time-dependent yields of the α particles from the diffusing ⁸Li that was initially implanted in the sample could be used as a measure of the diffusivity of the tracer in a nondestructive way. The method was applied to measure the self-diffusion coefficients of Li in βLiGa, and for investigating how the Li diffusion in the Li ionic conductors is affected by the concentration of atomic defects (i.e., the existence of the atomic vacancies of Li and the defects in Ga sites that are replaced by Li).