Thermolysis of acidic aluminum chloride solution and its products

A saturated acidic aluminum chloride solution with a total composition of AlCl₃·HCl·12H₂O was obtained, and its behavior under thermal treatments was studied using thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and mass spectrometry techniques. The thermolysis solid products were characterized with XRD and SEM. Four stages of the thermolysis could be distinguished. Initially, the solution lost free water molecules, and an amorphous precipitate with an approximate composition AlCl₃·HCl·12 H₂O was obtained as a product. The precipitate released eight water molecules in the temperature range 390–425 K. Then, all chlorine atoms in the form of HCl and two water molecules were outgassed at 425–485 K. The product completely lost water up to 650 K. The crystallization of the solid begins with appearance of the phase γ-Al₂O₃ at 1073 K, and the final product, α-Al₂O₃, is observed at 1323 K. The application of the saturated trichloride solutions as a binder and a promoter for activated sintering of composite ceramics on the base of alumina was examined.     

Relevance of the acid–base approach in prediction of adhesion properties in two‐component injection moulding

We demonstrate the use of innovative wetting method in prediction of the adhesion properties of biobased polymers for two‐component injection moulding, taking into account the acid–base surface properties of joined materials. The measurements were carried out in accordance with modified Berger method by calculation of the difference in shortened acidity parameter ΔD_short between hard and soft component. Correlation factors up to 0.99 were observed between ΔD_short and peel force. In comparison to results obtained by conventional wetting methods, high potential for the selection of components with high interface adhesion and for prediction of the functionality by the acid–base approach was demonstrated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43048.     

New Octopus-like Phthalocyanines as Fullerene Receptors: Synthesis and Photophysical Investigation

Octopus-like zinc and magnesium phthalocyaninates bearing eight flexible benzylated diethylene glycol chains were synthesized and their interaction with fullerenes C₆₀ and C₇₀ was investigated by UV-Vis spectrophotometric titration, as well as by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in chloroform and toluene media. These measurements revealed a high affinity of receptors for C₆₀ and C₇₀, with selectivity to C₇₀: binding constants for C₇₀ are almost two times higher than for C₆₀. These results are interpreted by means of quantum-chemical calculations using the PM6-DH2 Hamiltonian. The binding constants also depend on both the nature of the metal ion in the receptor and the solvent. It is expected that the obtained molecules and supramolecular complexes can be used for further elaboration of optoelectronic donor-acceptor materials.     

Quantum-mechanical reaction rate constants from centroid molecular dynamics simulations: Barrier crossing in an asymmetrical double-well

Quantum-mechanical reaction rate constants were calculated from centroid molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations, for the case of barrier crossing in an asymmetrical double-well potential bilinearly coupled to a harmonic bath. The calculation is based on a recently proposed formulation of the reaction rate constant in terms of the position—flux correlation function, which can be approximated via CMD in a well-defined manner. The predictions of CMD and various simplified versions of it are compared to exact results, which were obtained via the quasi-adiabatic propagator path integral (QUAPI) method, and/or path integral quantum transition state theory (PI-QTST). The predictions based on CMD are found to be in good agreement with both.     

Improvement of copper–molybdenum ore beneficiation using a combined flotation and biohydrometallurgy method

The authors present the results of analysis of material composition and experimental investigations of acid and biohydrometallurgical leaching of middlings on grain size, pH level, leaching process duration, temperature and slurry density. The rational parameters of flotation and acid-bacterial leaching of middlings providing an efficient release of valuable components from mineral complexes and recovery to flotation concentrate and leaching solution have been determined. A combined flowsheet and a beneficiation process for bulk flotation middlings of copper–molybdenum ore have been suggested, which include middlings grinding, sulfide minerals flotation, bacterial leaching of sulfide flotation tailings, liquid-phase extraction of dissolved copper and electrolysis of re-extraction eluates. The suggested combined method of cleaning of middlings of copper–molybdenum ores beneficiation provides the total copper recovery increase by 0.8% with a reduction of the cost price of saleable material by 0.5%.     

Structural properties of nanocomposites based on resole-type phenol-formaldehyde oligomers and detonation nanodiamonds

Using the methods of infrared spectroscopy (IRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), it was shown that short-term high-energy machining of detonation nanodiamonds (DND) leads to structural changes in the crystal structure and functional composition of the surface layer on particles. The possibility of spontaneous formation for stable colloidal systems with a narrow size distribution of mechanically activated DND in phenol-formaldehyde oligomers (PFO) was established. By molecular spectroscopy it was revealed that π → π* interactions of the aromatic rings of PFO are caused by orientational phenomena as a result of hydrogen bonds between an activated DND surface and functional groups of PFO. The effect of DND concentration on the curing reaction parameters ofpsgr the phenol-formaldehyde oligomer was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The concentration effect of mechanically activated nanodiamonds on the physical and mechanical characteristics of a composite material based on phenol-formaldehyde binder and polyamide paper (Nomex) was studied. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48582.     

Tissue-Specific Ferritin- and GFP-Based Genetic Vectors Visualize Neurons by MRI in the Intact and Post-Ischemic Rat Brain

(1) Background: Neurogenesis is considered to be a potential brain repair mechanism and is enhanced in stroke. It is difficult to reconstruct the neurogenesis process only from the histological sections taken from different animals at different stages of brain damage and restoration. Study of neurogenesis would greatly benefit from development of tissue-specific visualization probes. (2) Purpose: The study aimed to explore if overexpression of ferritin, a nontoxic iron-binding protein, under a doublecortin promoter can be used for non-invasive visualization of neurogenesis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (3) Methods: Ferritin heavy chain (FerrH) was expressed in the adeno-associated viral backbone (AAV) under the doublecortin promoter (pDCX), specific for young neurons, in the viral construct AAV-pDCX-FerrH. Expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was used as an expression control (AAV-pDCX-eGFP). The viral vectors or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were injected intracerebrally into 18 adult male Sprague–Dawley rats. Three days before injection, rats underwent transient middle-cerebral-artery occlusion or sham operation. Animals were subjected to In vivo MRI study before surgery and on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after injection using a Bruker BioSpec 11.7 T scanner. Brain sections obtained on day 28 after injection were immunostained for ferritin, young (DCX) and mature (NeuN) neurons, and activated microglia/macrophages (CD68). Additionally, RT-PCR was performed to confirm ferritin expression. (4) Results: T2* images in post-ischemic brains of animals injected with AAV-pDCX-FerrH showed two distinct zones of MRI signal hypointensity in the ipsilesioned hemisphere starting from 14 days after viral injection—in the ischemic lesion and near the lateral ventricle and subventricular zone (SVZ). In sham-operated animals, only one zone of hypointensity near the lateral ventricle and SVZ was revealed. Immunochemistry showed that ferritin-expressing cells in ischemic lesions were macrophages (88.1%), while ferritin-expressing cells near the lateral ventricle in animals both after ischemia and sham operation were mostly mature (55.7% and 61.8%, respectively) and young (30.6% and 7.1%, respectively) neurons. RT-PCR confirmed upregulated expression of ferritin in the caudoputamen and corpus callosum. Surprisingly, in animals injected with AAV-pDCX-eGFP we similarly observed two zones of hypointensity on T2* images. Cellular studies also showed the presence of mature (81.5%) and young neurons (6.1%) near the lateral ventricle in both postischemic and sham-operated animals, while macrophages in ischemic lesions were ferritin-positive (98.2%). (5) Conclusion: Ferritin overexpression induced by injection of AAV-pDCX-FerrH was detected by MRI using T2*-weighted images, which was confirmed by immunochemistry showing ferritin in young and mature neurons. Expression of eGFP also caused a comparable reduced MR signal intensity in T2*-weighted images. Additional studies are needed to investigate the potential and tissue-specific features of the use of eGFP and ferritin expression in MRI studies.