Correction to: Development of graphene nanoplatelets-reinforced thermo-responsive shape memory nanocomposites for high recovery force applications

Strength of Materials - R. K. Gupta, S. A. R. Hashmi, S. Verma, and A. Naik, “Development of graphene nanoplatelets-reinforced thermo-responsive shape memory nanocomposites for high recovery...     

Synthesis of poly(4, 4′-biphenylene sulfonyl succinamide)-polysulfone blend membranes for removal of toxic metal ions from water

A novel polymer poly(4,4′-biphenylene sulfonyl succinamide) (PBSS) was synthesized via polycondensation reaction. Succinyl chloride and 4-aminophenyl sulfone were used as reactive monomers and anhydrous AlCl₃ was used as a catalyst. Both polysulfone (PSf) and PBSS were dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) at different compositions to obtain a homogeneous solution to fabricate PSf-PBSS blend membranes. The structure of PBSS was characterized by ATR-IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. Thermal properties of PBSS were analyzed by TGA-DTA. Mechanical properties and morphology of blend membranes were analyzed by universal testing machines and field emission scanning electron microscope, respectively. The hydrophilicity of blend membranes with respect to the concentration of PBSS was studied by contact angle and water uptake studies. Upon blending, the hydrophilicity of PSf-PBSS membranes drastically increased due to the presence of large number of amide and sulfonyl groups in the matrix. The blend membranes exhibited significant increase in water flux from 100 L m⁻² h to 650 L m⁻² h⁻¹, and rejection of 100% for Pb(II) and 80% for both Cd(II) and As(III) toxic heavy metal ions. The hydrophilic nature of  CO NH and inter and intramolecular hydrogen bonding among PBSS polymer chains dispersed within rigid PSf matrix imparts softness, amide and sulfonyl groups enhance interconnected porosity and hydrophilicity of blend membranes. Hence, PBSS may serve as a low-cost novel polymeric additive for water purification and separation membrane applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48254.     

The release of fission-recoiled xenon from Zr-2.5 wt% Nb alloy

The release of fission-recoiled ¹³³Xe from Zr-2.5 wt% Nb alloy was measured in the temperature range 640–1080 K. In the range 640–880 K, where purely phase exists, a linear relationship between log D versus 1/T is observed and can be represented by the equation: D(640–880 K) = 6.24 × 10⁻⁹exp(−142.7 kJmol/RT)m²/s. The release has been attributed to the non-volume diffusion process.

In the temperature range 930–1080 K where both and β phases coexist, the linearity in the plots of log D versus 1/T is violated.

The present values of the release parameters have been compared with the corresponding values for the release of fission-recoiled ¹³³Xe from Zircaloy-2. Alloying elements seem to have very small effect on the release kinetics. The results have been presented and discussed.     

Mast cell count in surgically resected appendices

Two hundred appendices were studied for mucosal and submucosal mast cell counts. In histologically normal appendices mucosal mean mast cell count (47.63/sq mm) was more than submucosal mean mast cell count (44.27/sq mm). Those patients who were aged under 15 and above 46 years showed more mean mucosal mast cell count compared to others. In acute appendicitis both mucosal and submucosal mast cells were decreased and in subacute appendicitis their count was found to be intermediate between normal and acute appendicitis.     

Control and analysis software for a laser scanning microdensitometer

A PC-based control software and data acquisition system is developed for an existing commercial microdensitometer (Biomed make model No. SL-2D/1D UV/VIS) to facilitate scanning and analysis of X-ray films. The software is developed in Labview, which includes operation of the microdensitometer in 1D and 2D scans and analysis of spatial or spectral data on X-ray films, such as optical density, intensity and wavelength. It provides a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) to analyse the scanned data and also store the analysed data/image in popular formats like data in Excel and images in jpeg. It has also on-line calibration facility with standard optical density tablets. The control software and data acquisition system is simple, inexpensive and versatile.