The effects of catalyst and deactivator species in atom transfer radical polymerization of n-butyl methacrylate

Iranian Polymer Journal - Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA) was performed using CuIBr/N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA)...     

Alkyl amides and nitriles as novel tracers for biomass burning

The occurrence of n-alkanoic acids, amides, and nitriles in samples of aerosol particulate matter from Kuala Lumpur and Santiago suggests that emissions from cooking and biomass burning are the primary sources of these organic markers in the atmosphere. It is proposed that fatty acids react with ammonia during biomass burning or combustion to produce amides and nitriles, which can be applied as useful biomarker tracers. To test this hypothesis, nonadecanoic acid and hexadecanamide were used as reactants in hydrous pyrolysis experiments. These experiments produced amides and nitriles and indicated that ammonia is an essential agent in their formation. Thus amides and nitriles are of utility as indicators for input from combustion and biomass burning in the ambient atmosphere.     

Frequency control of singularly perturbed forced duffing’s oscillator

We analyze the dynamics of the forced singularly perturbed differential equation of Duffing’s type. We explain the appearance of the large frequency nonlinear oscillations of the solutions. It is shown that the frequency can be controlled by a small parameter at the highest derivative. We give some generalizations of results obtained recently by B. S. Wua, W. P. Suna, and C. W. Lim. Analytical approximations to the double-well Duffing oscillator in large amplitude oscillations (see J. Sound Vibration 307 (2007), Nos. 3–5, 953–960). A new method for an analysis of the nonlinear oscillations which is based on the dynamic change of coordinates is proposed.     

A micro-CT investigation of densification in pressboard due to compression

As a non-destructive inspection method, micro-computed tomography has been employed for determining local properties of a cellulose-based product, specifically pressboard. Furthermore, by utilizing the determined properties in a detailed numerical model, by means of a finite element analysis, we demonstrate a continuum anisotropic viscoelastic-viscoplastic model. Through such a combination of non-invasive experiments with accurate computations in mechanics, we attain a better understanding of materials and its structural integrity at a pre-production stage increasing the success of the first prototype. In detail, this combination of micro-computed tomography and finite element analysis improves accuracy in predicting materials response by taking into account the local material variations. Specifically, we have performed indentation tests and scanned the internal structure of the specimen for analysing the densification patterns within the material. Subsequently, we have used a developed material model for predicting the response of material to indentation. We have computed the indentation test itself by simulating the mechanical response of high-density cellulose-based materials. In the end, we have observed that pressboard, having initially a heterogeneous density distribution through the thickness, shows a shift in the densification to the more porous part after indentation. The densification maps of the simulated results are presented by comparing with the experimental results. A reasonable agreement is observed between the experimental and the simulated densifications patterns, which suggests that the proposed methodology can be used to predict densification also for other fibre-based materials during manufacturing or in service loading.     

Transesterification of Palm-based Methyl Palmitate into Esteramine Catalyzed by Calcium Oxide Catalyst

The technology for transesterification reactions between methyl esters and alcohols is well established by using classical homogeneous alkaline catalysts, which provide high conversion of methyl esters to specialty or nonindigenous esters. However, in certain products where the purity of the esters is of concern, the removal of homogeneous catalysts after the completion of the reaction is a challenge in terms of production cost and water footprint. Therefore, a study to investigate the potential of heterogeneous catalysts was conducted on reactions between methyl palmitate and triethanolamine. The degree of basicity and active surface area of calcium oxide (CaO), zinc oxide (ZnO), and magnesium oxide (MgO) were first characterized by using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD-CO₂) and Brunauere–Emmett–Teller (BET), respectively. Among the metal oxides investigated, the CaO catalyst showed the best catalytic activity toward the transesterification process as it gave the highest conversion of methyl palmitate and yielded fatty esteramine compositions similar to the conventional homogeneous catalyst. The optimum transesterification condition by using the CaO catalyst utilized a lower vacuum system of approximately 200 mbar, which could minimize a considerable amount of energy consumption. Furthermore, low CaO dosage of 0.1% was able to give a conversion of 94.5% methyl ester and formed esteramine at 170 °C for 2 h. Therefore, the production of esterquats from esteramine may become more economically feasible through the methyl ester route by using the CaO catalyst, which can be recycled three times.     

Antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of eight neglected fruit extracts and UHPLC-MS/MS profile of the active extracts

The 70% ethanolic extracts from eight neglected fruits; Muntingia calabura, Leucaena leucocephala, Spondias dulcis, Syzygium jambos, Mangifera caesia, Ardisia elliptica, Cynometra cauliflora and Ficus auriculata were evaluated for their 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, α-glucosidase inhibitory activities as well as total phenolic content. The results of this study revealed that M. caesia fruit extract demonstrated the most potent radical scavenging activity. Among the fruits examined for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, M. calabura and F. auriculata exhibited strong activity with no significant difference. The Pearson correlation indicated that the activities of M. caesia and F. auriculata contributed by phenolic compounds. A total of 65 metabolites were tentatively identified by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHLPC-MS/MS). These findings suggested that the possible application of M. caesia and F. auriculata as a functional food with antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory properties.     

Multihop routing with static and distributed clustering in WSNs

Wireless Networks - Nowadays, Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the fundamental infrastructures for IoT technology. Although WSN has been researched for a decade, providing energy efficiency for...     

Bearing capacity of horizontally layered geosynthetic reinforced stone columns

In very soft soils, the bearing capacity of stone columns may not improve significantly due to very low confinement of the surrounding soil. Therefore, they may be reinforced with geosynthetics by using vertical encasement or horizontal layers. Very limited studies exist on horizontally reinforced stone columns (HRSCs). In this research, some large body laboratory tests have been performed on horizontally reinforced stone columns with diameters of 60, 80, and 100?mm and groups of stone columns with 60?mm diameter. Results show that the bearing capacity of stone columns increases by using horizontally reinforcing layers. Also, they reduce lateral bulging of stone columns by their frictional and interlocking effects with stone column aggregates. Finally, numerical analyses were carried out to study main affecting parameters on the bearing capacity of HRSCs. Numerical analysis results show that the bearing capacity increases considerably with increasing the number of horizontal layers and decreasing space between layers.     

Market data analysis and short-term price forecasting in the Iran electricity market with pay-as-bid payment mechanism

Market data analysis and short-term price forecasting in Iran electricity market as a market with pay-as-bid payment mechanism has been considered in this paper. The data analysis procedure includes both correlation and predictability analysis of the most important load and price indices. The employed data are the experimental time series from Iran electricity market in its real size and is long enough to make it possible to take properties such as non-stationarity of market into account. For predictability analysis, the bifurcation diagrams and recurrence plots of the data have been investigated. The results of these analyses indicate existence of deterministic chaos in addition to non-stationarity property of the system which implies short-term predictability. In the next step, two artificial neural networks have been developed for forecasting the two price indices in Iran's electricity market. The models’ input sets are selected regarding four aspects: the correlation properties of the available data, the critiques of Iran's electricity market, a proper convergence rate in case of sudden variations in the market price behavior, and the omission of cumulative forecasting errors. The simulation results based on experimental data from Iran electricity market are representative of good performance of the developed neural networks in coping with and forecasting of the market behavior, even in the case of severe volatility in the market price indices.