Effect of the carboxylic acid monomer type on the emulsifier‐free emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butadiene

Carboxylated styrene–butadiene rubber latexes were prepared through the emulsifier‐free emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butadiene with various carboxylic acid monomers. The effects of various carboxylic acid monomers on the particle formation process were investigated. The type of carboxylic acid monomer strongly affected the particle nucleation. The number of particles and thus the polymerization rate increased with the increasing hydrophobicity of the carboxylic acid monomers. There was a significant difference in the polymerization rate per particle. The results showed that particle nucleation and growth were dependent on the hydrophilic nature of the carboxylic acid monomers. The average particle diameter of the carboxylated styrene–butadiene rubber latexes in the dry state was obtained through some calculations using direct measurements of the average particle diameter in the monomer‐swollen state by a dynamic light scattering technique. Several parameters, such as the polymerization rate, number of latex particles per unit of volume of the aqueous phase, and polymerization rate per particle, were calculated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

A new method to determine monomer concentration in the polymer particles of emulsion polymerization systems by dynamic light scattering

In the published article cited above, by considering corrections made on the eq. (19) which will be discussed in the next section, Figure 6 should be replaced with a following new Figure 1. Hence, and values of 0.379 and 5.68 mol.dm^?3, respectively, on pages 1055, 1061, and 1062 should be changed to their accurate values of 0.426 and 5.29 mol.dm^?3, respectively.     

Numerical simulation of intergranular and transgranular crack propagation in ferroelectric polycrystals

We present a phase-field model to simulate intergranular and transgranular crack propagation in ferroelectric polycrystals. The proposed model couples three phase-fields describing (1) the polycrystalline structure, (2) the location of the cracks, and (3) the ferroelectric domain microstructure. Different polycrystalline microstructures are obtained from computer simulations of grain growth. Then, a phase-field model for fracture in ferroelectric single-crystals is extended to polycrystals by incorporating the differential fracture toughness of the bulk and the grain boundaries, and the different crystal orientations of the grains. Our simulation results show intergranular crack propagation in fine-grain microstructures, while transgranular crack propagation is observed in coarse grains. Crack deflection is shown as the main toughening mechanism in the fine-grain structure. Due to the ferroelectric domain switching mechanism, noticeable fracture toughness enhancement is also obtained for transgranular crack propagation. These observations agree with experiment.     

In Vitro Starch Digestibility of Commercial Gluten‐Free Pasta: The Role of Ingredients and Origin

Gluten replacement in gluten‐free (GF) products presents major challenges for the food industry in terms of sensorial, technological and nutritional characteristics. The absence of gluten reportedly affects starch digestibility, thus increasing the postprandial glycaemic response. However, the role of ingredients and processing conditions has been addressed only seldom. We investigated the in vitro starch digestibility of 9 commercial GF products (5 Italian pasta and 4 Oriental noodles) differing in formulation and processing conditions. Content of rapidly digestible starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS), and resistant starch (RS) were assessed and combined with information on starch pasting properties and on the overall protein organization. Oriental noodles presented higher relative levels of RS and RDS than Western‐style pasta, that often had SDS levels compatible with low rates of starch digestion. As regard formulation, presence of multiple ingredients seems to likely increase the RDS level, as did the different protein organization in the various samples.     

Influence of electrodeposition potential,TiO2 nanoparticles and chromium (III) inhibitor addition on the corrosion protection performance of organosilane coating on aluminium

In this work, the anticorrosion properties of phenyl trimethoxysilane (PTMS) films coated on aluminium 5000 series alloys were studied. PTMS films were deposited at various cathodic potentials. The optimum electrodeposition potential was found to be ?0.8?V vs. SCE. The coatings were also modified by different amounts of nano-TiO₂. In order to introduce corrosion inhibition and a self-repair property of the PTMS film, the addition of chromium (III) corrosion inhibitor in the presence of nano-TiO₂ was studied. The anticorrosion performance of coatings was investigated in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. At optimum deposition potential, the ‘critical’ nano-TiO₂ and Cr(III) contents were both observed, under which the obtained PTMS coatings show the highest anticorrosion performance. The surface morphologies of PTMS coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the coatings deposited at ?0.8?V vs. SCE, from 20?ppm of nano-TiO₂ and 0.003 M Cr(III) inhibitor present uniform and compact morphologies.     

Visible Light-Induced Degradation of Methylene Blue in the Presence of Photocatalytic ZnS and CdS Nanoparticles

ZnS and CdS nanoparticles were prepared by a simple microwave irradiation method under mild conditions. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM and EDX. The results indicated that high purity of nanosized ZnS and CdS was successfully obtained with cubic and hexagonal crystalline structures, respectively. The band gap energies of ZnS and CdS nanoparticles were estimated using UV-visible absorption spectra to be about 4.22 and 2.64 eV, respectively. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue was carried out using physical mixtures of ZnS and CdS nanoparticles under a 500-W halogen lamp of visible light irradiation. The residual concentration of methylene blue solution was monitored using UV-visible absorption spectrometry. From the study of the variation in composition of ZnS:CdS, a composition of 1:4 (by weight) was found to be very efficient for degradation of methylene blue. In this case the degradation efficiency of the photocatalyst nanoparticles after 6 h irradiation time was about 73% with a reaction rate of 3.61 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹. Higher degradation efficiency and reaction rate were achieved by increasing the amount of photocatalyst and initial pH of the solution.     

Rapid synthesis of new block copolyurethanes derived from L‐leucine‐PEG in ionic liquids under microwave irradiation

This study concerns the synthesis of novel multi block polyurethane (PU) copolymers containing eco‐friendly segments, taking the advantage of ionic liquids (IL)s under microwave irradiation. For this, L ‐leucine anhydride cyclodipeptide (LAC) was prepared and then a new class of poly(ether‐urethane‐urea)s (PEUUs) was synthesized with two types of ILs, including room temperature imidazolium (RTIL)s and molten ammonium type ILs. ILs were used as reaction media and PUs were prepared via two‐step polymerization method. Polymerization reaction was also conducted under conventional heating method in N‐methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) as reaction solvent. In the first step, 4,4′‐methylene‐bis(4‐phenylisocyanate) (MDI) was reacted with LAC to produce isocyanate‐terminated poly(imide‐urea) oligomers as hard segment. Chain extension of the resulting prepolymer with polyethyleneglycol (PEG) of molecular weights of 400 (PEG‐400) was the second step to furnish a series of new PEUUs. These multiblock copolymers are optically active, thermally stable and soluble in amide‐type solvents. PEUUs prepared in ILs under microwave irradiation showed more phase separation and crystallinity than PEUU prepared under conventional method. Some structural characterization and physical properties of these PEUUs, prepared under different methods, are reported and compared. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Combination of In Situ Surfactant-based Solid Phase Extraction and Central Composite Design for Preconcentration and Determination of Manganese in Food and Water Samples

A new kind of solid phase extraction (SPE), which we named in situ surfactant-based solid phase extraction (ISS-SPE), represents a simple, selective and rapid method for preconcentration and determination of manganese from food and water samples. This method has distinct advantages: extraction times are short and recoveries are high; further, we can see formation of fine particles of large specific surface and their good dispersion in the solution. In this work, a small amount of cationic surfactant, n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was injected into the water sample containing Mn ions, which were complexed by 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN). After shaking, a little volume of NaPF₆ as an ion-pairing agent was added into the solution by a microsyringe. After preconcentration, the settled phase was dissolved in a specific volume of ethanol and then aspirated into the flame atomic absorption spectrometer by using a homemade microsample introduction system. The effective parameters such as pH, concentration of surfactant, concentration of chelating agent, concentration of ion-pairing agent and effect of salt concentration were optimized by a fractional factorial design to identify the most important parameters and their interactions, and central composite methodology was used to achieve the optimum point of effective parameters to the response. Under the optimum conditions, preconcentration of 10?ml of the sample solution permitted detection of 0.88???g?l^?1 with enhancement factor of 45.6, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for five determinations of Mn ions was 3.5%. The developed method was applied to the determination of trace manganese in various real samples with satisfactory results.