Pt nanoparticles synthesized with new surfactants: improvement in C1–C3 alcohol oxidation catalytic activity

Platinum electrocatalysts were prepared using PtCl₄ as a starting material and 1-decylamine, N,N-dimethyldecylamine, 1-dodecylamine, N,N-dimethyldodecylamine, 1-hexadecylamine, and 1-octadecylamine as surfactants. These surfactants were used for the first time in this synthesis to determine whether the primary and/or tertiary structure and/or chain length of the surfactants, affects the size and/or activity of the catalysts in C₁–C₃ alcohol electro-oxidation reactions. Electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry) indicated that the highest electrocatalytic performance was observed for the Pt nanocatalysts that were stabilized by N,N-dimethyldecylamine, and this has a tertiary amine structure with a short chain length (R = C₁₀H₂₁). The high performance may be due to the high electrochemical surface area, Pt(0)/Pt(IV) ratio, %Pt utility, and roughness factor (R _f). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the parameters that affect the catalytic activities.     

Maximum power point tracker based on maximum power point resistance modeling

This paper presents a new, simple, accurate, and inexpensive practical methodology and experimental solution for the modeling of conventional (domestic and commercial facilities) photovoltaic generators (PVG), so that they can work at their maximum power point (MPP). The PVG may be a panel, an array of panels, or a photovoltaic field. As a starting restriction (actual) it has to be assumed that it is not possible to isolate the PVG variables dependence (mainly current, voltage, and hence power) with solar radiation and temperature, because they are highly correlated. This methodology proposes the modeling facility on its MPP by its MPP resistance (R_MPP = V_MPP/I_MPP), being V_MPP and I_MPP the voltage and current of the PVG, respectively, at its MPP. The analysis shows, by simulation first and then experimentally, that R_MPP does not present significant temperature dependencies, at least in the usual range. This important result allows us to model the PVG only in terms of solar radiation. From a set of experimental data, different models to estimate R_MPP are proposed. The obtained results are very accurate. These models allow an immediate practical application that it is also developed in the paper: MPP tracker (MPPT) design by the calculation of the DC/DC converter duty cycle which places the PVG at its MPP directly and continuously. This new methodology and experimental system has been registered in the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office with the number P201530352. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production and purification of a fused recombinant protein gp-36 (HIV-2) from Escherichia coli

A fragment of the gp-36 gene of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 2 (HIV-2) was fused to a stabilizer sequence, which encodes for the first N-terminal 58 amino acids of the human interleukin-2. The fused protein was expressed under the control of the tryptophan promoter in Escherichia coli, and expressed as 20% of the total cellular protein. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the fusion protein formed cytoplasmic insoluble inclusion bodies. Inclusion bodies were semipurified by a wash pellet cell procedure, rendering a material with a purity higher than 70% by SDS–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After solubilization with urea, this preparation was further purified by gel-filtration chromatography up to 95% purity.     

A hot-melt pressure-sensitive adhesive based on styrene–butadiene–styrene rubber. The effect of adhesive composition on the properties

Hot-melt pressure-sensitive adhesives based on styrene-butadiene block copolymers with aliphatic and aromatic tackifying resins and plastifying oils have been analyzed. The importance of the resin structure in the compatibility with the block copolymer and the influence of the different paraffinic-naphthenic character of the oil in PSA performance have been shown. Ternary systems with a fixed polymer content (30%) and with variable resin and oil contents show a good miscibility over the whole range of compositions, and only one glass transition temperature was found in each composition. The relationship between chemical composition and bulk performance are expressed in terms of the visco-elastic behavior of the adhesives, measured by DMTA. It has been shown that at a given resin content there is a minimum on tan δ peak vs. temperature, the melt viscosities present a plateau region and the tack strength shows a maximum. An important conclusion is that phase separation is not a requirement for maximum tack; some restricted miscibility is enough, present in a few microdomains of the blend. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Volatile Components of Aqueous Liquid Smokes from Vitis viniferaL Shoots and Fagus sylvaticaL Wood

Vitis vinifera L shoots and Fagus sylvatica L wood were used to obtain aqueous smoke flavouring preparations. Both flavourings have a gold colour and pleasant odour. The flavour components of both samples are extracted with dichloromethane. The identification and quantitation of the components of the extracts are carried out by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection. In both preparations carbonyl derivatives are in higher concentrations than phenol derivatives. Compounds that confer sweet, burnt and pungent flavours are in higher concentrations in the Vitis vinifera L shoots smoke flavouring, and compounds that give smoky flavours are in higher concentrations in the Fagus sylvatica L wood smoke flavouring. Ratios between the concentrations of the main components are proposed as parameters in order to characterise smoke and smoke flavourings, manufactured under specific conditions, from a specific wood. Finally, the yield of some components from a fixed amount of wood is also given.     

Sequence analysis of a 14·6 kb DNA fragment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII reveals SEC27, SSM1b,a putative S-adenosylmethionine-dependent enzyme and six new open reading frames

The nucleotide sequence of a fragment from the left arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII has been determined. Analysis of the 14,607 bp DNA segment reveals nine open reading frames (ORFs) longer than 300 bp. G2827 is the SEC 7 gene, an essential coatomer complex subunit. G2834 encodes SSM1b, a ribosomal protein. The G2838 product shows homology to hypothetical yeast proteins, YIF0 and YE09, of unknown function. The G2830 product shows homology with the cell division protein FtsJ from Escherichia coli, with two hypothetical proteins from yeast, YCF4 and YBR1, and with R74.7, a hypothetical protein from Caenorhabditis elegans. Two of the ORFs are completely internal to longer ones and a third is partially embedded in G2850. The remaining ORFs give no significant homology with proteins in the databases. The sequence has been deposited at the EMBL database under Accession Number X92670.     

Load-bearing Capacity of Nailed Joints Exposed to Fire

Nailed joints with wood members were exposed simultaneously to standard fire and constant load. Different loads were applied in the range of 0.1 to 0.6 of the estimated failure load at normal temperature. Measurements of the rate of charring and the temperature were used to determine the temperature profiles and further to estimate the reduction in the strength properties. The test results are compared with calculations based on the theory of K. W. Johansen. Three different relations between the reduction of embedding strength and the temperature were investigated. For one of these relations, the theory agrees well with the results obtained in the fire tests. The results of the calculations also show that there is a considerable reduction of the embedding strength during the first period of fire.     

Fractionation of oligomers of linear alphaolefins in a molecular evaporator

Oligomers of higher alphaolefins, mainly of 1-decene and 1-octene have important applications as synthetic lubricating oils or their components. The results of fractionation of polydecene, polyoctene, and polybutene oils in a wiped-film molecular evaporator, for the purpose of preparing narrow distillate cuts, are presented in the paper. Characteristics and properties of the fractions obtained are shown, and the possibilities for this distillation method in the fractionation of polyolefin oils discussed.