Degradation of polypropylene using ultrasound-induced acoustic cavitation

Cavitation results in generation of hot spots as well as turbulence associated with liquid circulation which can result in degradation of polymeric compounds. In the present work cavitation generated using ultrasound has been utilized for degradation of polypropylene and effect of different operating parameters on the extent of degradation has been investigated. Different concentrations (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%, w/v) and different volumes (50, 75 and 125 ml) were subjected to ultrasonic irradiation using a horn-type reactor. Two different solvents (p-xylene and decalin) have also been used to investigate the dependency of the intensity of cavitation on the type of the solvent. It was found that extent of degradation increases with a decrease in reaction volume and concentration. Use of p-xylene as a solvent resulted in higher extent of degradation. It was also observed that a constant solution viscosity is reached beyond which ultrasonic irradiation could not further degrade polypropylene. The limiting viscosity was also observed to depend on the volume and concentration of polypropylene.     

Modification of dextran through the grafting of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and studies of physicochemical phenomena in terms of metal‐ion uptake,swelling capacity,and flocculation

The optimum conditions for grafting N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone onto dextran initiated by a peroxydiphosphate/thiourea redox system were determined through the variation of the concentrations of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone, hydrogen ion, potassium peroxydiphosphate, thiourea, and dextran along with the time and temperature. The grafting ratio increased as the concentration of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone increased and reached the maximum value at 24 × 10^?2 mol/dm³. Similarly, when the concentration of hydrogen ion increased, the grafting parameters increased from 3 × 10^?3 to 5 × 10^?3 mol/dm³ and attained the maximum value at 5 × 10^?3 mol/dm³. The grafting ratio, add‐on, and efficiency increased continuously with the concentration of peroxydiphosphate increasing from 0.8 × 10^?2 to 2.4 × 10^?2 mol/dm³. When the concentration of thiourea increased from 0.4 × 10^?2 to 2.0 × 10^?2 mol/dm³, the grafting ratio attained the maximum value at 1.2 × 10^?2 mol/dm³. The grafting parameters decreased continuously as the concentration of dextran increased from 0.6 to 1.4 g/dm³. An attempt was made to study some physicochemical properties in terms of metal‐ion sorption, swelling, and flocculation. Dextran‐g‐N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone was characterized with infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Corrosion behaviour and characterisation of Ni–Nb<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> composites prepared by pulse electrodeposition

The Ni–Nb₂O₅ composites were prepared by pulse electrodeposition method. Operating variables were optimized for getting a good deposit. The quantity of Nb₂O₅ particles in the coating was analyzed by an energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction spectrometer. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the structure and surface morphology of the coatings. Texture coefficient and hardness of the deposits were determined and discussed. The corrosion behavior of the coatings was analyzed by traditional weight loss and electrochemical methods. Comparisons of the corrosion behaviour of coatings obtained by direct current (DC) and pulse current (PC) were investigated.     

Analysis of hole quality characteristics in the electro jet drilling process

The modern trend towards miniaturization has given a new impetus to the development of nontraditional small hole drilling techniques. Electro jet drilling (EJD) is one such promising technique, which is finding ever-increasing applications in several industries including aerospace, medical, automobile and microfabrication (electronic and computers). This paper reports experimental findings on the effects of important process parameters such as applied voltage, capillary outside diameter, feed rate, electrolyte concentration and inlet electrolyte pressure on the productivity and the quality of small holes (<800 μm dia) produced by using the EJD process. Roundness error and surface roughness have been used as the response parameters for evaluating the quality of hole whereas material removal rate has been used as the response parameter for evaluating the process productivity. The experiments were performed on SUPERNI 263A material. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed to test the significance of the variables at the 5% level indicates that applied voltage and electrolyte concentration significantly affect the response parameters.     

Piezoelectric properties of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofibers

This study presents the development and characterization of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofiber-based systems. Five different conducting polymers (CPs) were synthesized successfully and used to create the nanofiber systems. The CPs used are polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPY), polyindole (PIN), polyanthranilic acid (PANA), and polycarbazole (PCZ). Nanofiber systems were produced utilizing the Forcespinning® technique. The nanofiber systems were developed by mechanical stretching. No electrical field or post-process poling was used in the nanofiber systems. The morphology, structure, electrochemical and piezoelectric performance was characterized. All of the nanofiber PVDF/CP systems displayed higher piezoelectric performance than the fine fiber PVDF systems. The PVDF/PPY nanofiber system displays the highest piezoelectric performance of 15.56 V. The piezoelectric performance of the PVDF/CP nanofiber systems favors potential for an attractive source of energy where highly flexible membranes could be used in power actuators, sensors and portable, and wireless devices to mention some.     

Formation of silver nanorod arrays in an anodised aluminium oxide membrane

A highly ordered silver nanorod array (AgNRs) with a diameter of 90?nm has been prepared by chemical reduction from silver nitrate in a porous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membrane. The AAO membrane was fabricated electrochemically in an oxalic acid solution via a one-step anodisation process, followed by the growth of silver NR in the long-range ordered nanochannels of the AAO membrane via chemical reduction. The morphologies of AAO membrane and AgNRs with periodic rows of air-pockets encapsulated in the AAO membrane have been investigated using TEM. The crystalline structure and chemical composition have been confirmed by XRD, TEM and EDX techniques. The process, which has three stages, namely, (1) anodising of aluminium foil to form a mesoporous membrane, (2) adsorption of metal ions, then (3) chemical reduction of the adsorbed metal ions to form the nanorod array of AgNRs in the pores of AAO membrane, has not, to the authors’ knowledge, been reported to date.     

Microstructure and dielectric properties of compositionally graded Ba1-xSrxTiO3 multilayer tunable capacitors

Li₂O/B₂O₃-added Ba_1-xSr_xTiO₃ (B_1-xS_xT) ceramics, where 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.35, were well densified at 920 °C with pure perovskite structure. The dielectric constant, tunability, and figure of merit (FOM) of B_1-xS_xT ceramics increased with x because of the decreasing Curie temperature (T_C). The specimen with x = 0.35, whose T_C was close to room temperature, exhibited a large tunability of 27.4 % and FOM of 110 at 10 kV/cm. A compositionally graded multilayer (CGML), which was sintered at 920 °C, was fabricated using B_1-xS_xT thick films to produce a temperature-stable tunable capacitor, and it evinced a dense microstructure and a continuous interface between the B_1-xS_xT thick film and the Ag electrode. This CGML capacitor showed a large tunability (51 %) and FOM (150) at 20 kV/cm. It also exhibited stable tunability (17–28 % at 10 kV/cm) at temperatures between 30–90 °C. Therefore, the B_1-xS_xT CGML capacitor is a suitable candidate for temperature-stable tunable capacitors.     

Annealing temperature-dependent structural and electrical properties of (Ta2O5)1-x - (TiO2)x thin films,x ≤ 0.11

(Ta₂O₅)_1-x- (TiO₂)_x (TTO_x) thin films, with x = 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.11, were deposited using magnetron direct current (DC) sputtering method onto the P/boron-silicon (1 0 0) substrates by varying areas of Tantalum and Titanium metallic targets, in oxygen environment at ambient temperature. The as-deposited thin films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 500 to 800 °C. Generally, the formation of the Ta₂O₅ structure was observed from the X-ray diffraction measurements of the annealed films. The capacitance of prepared metal– oxide– semiconductor (MOS) structures of Ag/TTO_x/p-Si was measured at 1 MHz. The dielectric constant of the deposited films was observed altering with varying composition and annealing temperature, showing the highest value 71, at 1 MHz, for the TTO_x films, x = 0.06, annealed at 700 °C. With increasing annealing temperature, from 700 to 800 °C, the leakage current density was observed, generally decreasing, from 10^?5 to 10^?8 A cm^?2, for the prepared compositions. Among the prepared compositions, films with x = 0.06, annealed at 800 °C, having the observed value of dielectric constant 48, at 1 MHz; and the leakage current density 2.7 × 10^?8 A cm^?2, at the electric field of 3.5 × 10⁵ V cm^?1, show preferred potential as a dielectric for high-density silicon memory devices.     

Antihyperglycemic activity of polyphenolic components of black/bitter cumin <Emphasis Type="Italic">Centratherum anthelminticum</Emphasis> (L.) Kuntze seeds

The effect of black/bitter cumin seeds Centratherum anthelminticum (L.) Kuntze extract (CA) containing mixture of polyphenolic compounds was tested on rat intestinal α-glucosidases, human salivary α-amylase activity and postprandial hyperglycemia in rats. Polyphenolic components of C. anthelminticum seeds (CA) dose dependently inhibited rat intestinal disaccharidases. IC₅₀ values were found to be 34.1 ± 3.8, 62.2 ± 4.5 and 500.5 ± 11.9 μg of CA for rat intestinal sucrase, maltase and p-nitrophenyl α-d-glucopyranoside (PNP-glycoside), respectively. CA also inhibited human salivary α-amylase activity with IC₅₀ value of 185.5 ± 4.9 μg. The inhibitory effect of CA was found to be 8–32 fold more potent than dl-catechin but less effective than acarbose on rat intestinal disaccharidases and salivary α-amylase. The enzyme kinetic studies showed a non-competitive type of inhibition with a low K _i value of 30.24 μg, 76.67 μg and 341.60 μg of CA for maltase, sucrase and PNP-glycoside hydrolysis activities, respectively. The in vitro inhibition of glucosidases was further confirmed by in vivo maltose tolerance test in rats. Feeding of CA at 50–200 mg/kg body weight (b.wt) to maltose (2.0 g/kg b.wt), loaded rats significantly reduced the postprandial plasma glucose levels compared with acarbose. The inhibitory components of CA were identified as a mixture of polyphenolic compounds viz., gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin and kaempferol. This study demonstrated that CA exerts antihyperglycemic effect by decreasing postprandial glucose in rats by modulating α- amylase and glucosidases (sucrase and maltase) activity and thus may be useful for the management of diabetes mellitus.