Isolation and partial purification of carthamine: an instrumentation manual

Summary Crude carthamine was obtainable through alkaline extraction, acidification, and cellulose adsorption. It was purified by column chromatography on Avicel cellulose and Toyo Pearl HW-40f. Using these techniques, the dye was purified up to about 3.5-fold at a final yield of 28.4% (mg carthamine·g dry flower^–1: 5.221.48). On the basis of the experimental model data, an instruction manual for isolation and purification of carthamine is presented in order to standarize the bio-dye preparation at an economically pertinent cost.

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Isolierung und teilweise Reinigung des Carthamin durch manuellen Betrieb

Zusammenfassung Rohes Carthamin kann durch alkalische Extraktion, Säuerung und Adsorption an Cellulose gewonnen werden. Der Farbstoff wird durch Säulenchromatographie auf Avicel-Cellulose und Toyo Pearl HW-40f gereinigt. Mit dieser Technik wird der Farbstoff 3,5fach konzentriert (auf rund 28,4%). Auf der Basis dieser experimentellen Daten ist die Isolierung und Reinigung des Carthamin zu standardisieren, und die Farbstoffgewinnung zu einem wirtschaftlichen Preis möglich.

     

Low temperature oxidation of methane over Pd/SnO2 catalyst

Catalytic activities of supported Pd were investigated for low temperature oxidation of methane. Pd/SnO₂ catalysts demonstrated excellent activity for methane oxidation in spite of their low surface area. The catalytic activity of Pd/SnO₂ was strongly affected by the preparation procedure. Impregnation of Pd on SnO₂ using aqueous solution of Pd(CH₃COO)₂ was most effective in enhancing the catalytic activity. The catalytic activity was also improved when well-crystallized SnO₂ was employed as a support material. TEM observations revealed that catalytic activity is strongly influenced by the dispersion state of Pd. For the active catalysts, strong interaction between Pd and SnO₂ support was observed in the adsorption of oxygen.     

Generation and spatiotemporal evolution of optical vortices in femtosecond laser pulses

Topology has become one of the key concepts allowing one to understand the intrinsic, qualitative properties of phenomena throughout various scientific fields. To date, this concept has been extended to the field of material science and technology. On the other hand, we can now utilize the spatially controlled light defined by the topology (so‐called “optical vortices”) in order to characterize the topological properties of materials. In particular, optical vortices in femtosecond pulses will be invaluable for advanced topological spectroscopy. In this work, the authors created femtosecond optical vortices using a spatial light modulator. Their spatiotemporal properties were evaluated using interferogram and correlation measurements. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(4): 39–46, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20791     

Static and dynamic characteristics of active-head sliders

Active-head sliders with a unimorph piezoelectric actuator for flying height control were experimentally evaluated. It was found that the stroke of the actuator is 1.3 to 1.5 nm/V without flying over the disk. The adjustment amount of flying height is about 1.4 nm/V when the active-head slider is flying over the disk. It was found that flying height could be reduced and decrease from 24 to 10 nm by applying 10 V to the actuator under flying condition. Both the air pressure generated at the active-pad and the impact pressure due to the head/disk contact must be taken into account for precise control of flying height.     

Friction Properties of Medical Metallic Alloys on Soft Tissue–Mimicking Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Hydrogel Biomodel

In order to investigate the tribological behavior of medical devices in contact with tissue, friction tests for four kinds of medical metallic alloys (316L stainless steel, CoCr, NiTi and TiMoSn) on soft tissue–mimicking poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA-H) biomodel were carried out at low normal load. XPS analysis and wettability tests for them were prepared to understand the difference in friction. According to the surface oxide compositions, these alloys can be divided into two groups: “Fe/Cr-oxide-surface alloys” for 316L and CoCr, and “Ti-oxide-surface alloys” for NiTi and TiMoSn. From the wettability test, Fe/Cr-oxide-surface alloys show lower polar components of surface free energy than Ti-oxide-surface alloys. Fe/Cr-oxide-surface alloys show higher friction coefficients in the elastic friction domain than those of Ti-oxide-surface alloys, while there was no significant difference in the hydrodynamic lubrication. Since elastic friction is governed by the adsorption of hydrogel polymer on counterbody, the surface characteristic of alloys plays an important role in friction. A tentative explanation for this tendency is expressed by linking two different theories describing the adsorption force of hydrogel and wettability of countermaterial.     

Solid state reaction of bifunctional bicyclo orthoesters and carboxylic acids and their metal adhesive properties

Five kinds of novel bifunctional bicyclo orthoesters (BOEs) were synthesized and copolymerized with multi-functional carboxylic acids, having plural carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, to develop functional materials usable as non-volatile adhesives. In a solid-state reaction of BOEs with the carboxylic acids, mechanical mixing converted the BOE moiety to a corresponding hydrolyzed form via ring-opening and isomerization reactions. The solid-state reaction, requiring moisture and mechanical stress, was accelerated by the higher reactivity given by the α-hydroxyl group in the acids. Superior adhesive bonding to the Ni-Cr alloyed metal substrate was achieved via a heating process at 150 °C, and high average tensile strengths of ∼80 MPa were obtained by using mixtures of BOEs and dl-tartaric acid. This highly adhesive property was achieved not only by polycondensation of BOE-hydrolyzates and the carboxylic acids, but also by polyaddition of BOEs and the carboxylic acids.     

The Critical Condition for the Transition from HL to ML in Water-Lubricated SiC

Silicon carbide (SiC) with water lubrication is being considered as the most promising combination to replace metals and oil for sliding bearings and mechanical seals of machines working in water. The basic properties of the Stribeck curves of water lubricated SiC in parallel contact, especially, the critical conditions for the transition from HL to ML were studied experimentally. The hydrodynamic lubrication regions and minimum friction coefficients of metal pair in oil and SiC pair in water are compared to give a quantitative value of the oil viscosity range, in which metal/oil can be directly replaced by SiC/water for triboelements.In order to improve the load-carrying capacity of SiC sliding bearings for the increasing strict demands from industry, a surface texture was introduced to one of the contact surfaces by means of reactive-ion etching. The effect of surface texture on the lubrication regimes and the minimum friction coefficient were evaluated experimentally.     

The roughness effect on the frequency of frictional sound

Dry sliding of two bodies in contact generates a wide range of effects like friction, wear, heat and sound among others. The main interest of this study is in the frequency characteristics of the generated sound.In the past, frequency spectrum and sound pressure level with relation to surface topography (surface roughness in particular), have been studied mainly for concentrated contacts like stylus or hemispherical tip pin on a rough surface. Studies on flat–flat contacts were mainly focused on the topography of contacting surfaces and its relation to occurrence or non-occurrence of squeal (high pitch, high sound pressure level sound) in brake systems.The present study aims to clarify the effect of surface roughness on the frequency of non-squealing frictional sound generated in dry flat–flat sliding contact.Sound was generated by the dry contact in rubbing by hand of two rectangular cross-section stainless-steel plates having similar surface roughness. The roughness of the contacting surfaces varied in the range R_z=0.8–12.4 μm. The sound spectra had 5 peaks (P₁, P₂, P₃, P₄ and P₅) in order of increasing frequency and it was found that the peak frequency was shifted when the roughness of the rubbed surfaces changed. The first peak P₁ was most sensitive to change of surface roughness and it shifted from 3.0 to 4.5 kHz when the maximum surface roughness changed from R_z=10.9 to . When the surface was relatively rough, this peak was close to the first bending natural frequency of the plate at 2.377 kHz.