Effect of hydrolysis and denaturation of wheat gluten on adhesive bond strength of wood joints

In this study the adhesive bond strength of different wheat gluten modifications and the relationship between molecular weight and adhesive strength was examined. Guanidine hydrochloride and sodium hydroxide were used as denaturation and dispersing agent. Additionally wheat proteins were hydrolyzed by alkaline conditions and enzymes. Effects of different treatments were observed by viscosity measurements and gel electrophoresis. Wood lap joints were prepared with modified proteins and tensile shear strength was tested under dry and wet conditions. In situ hardening of different formulations was analyzed by means of DMA with two‐layered specimens in a three‐point bending test set‐up. Higher solubility had no positive effect on dry bonding strength and wet bonding strength was even reduced. Depending on the degree of hydrolysis, significant improvement of adhesive bond strength was observed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Modification of Polycarbonate and Glycol Modified Poly(ethylene terephthalate) by Addition of Silica‐Nanoparticles Grafted with SAN Copolymer Using “Classical” and ARGET ATRP

This study presents a nanocomposite manufacturing route starting from non‐functionalized nanosilica and SAN surface modification via “grafting from” ATRP up to processing of transparent polycarbonate and glycol modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) nanocomposites. Synthesis limitations of low molecular weight graft SAN derived from “classical” ATRP are overcome by employment of the emerging ARGET ATRP. Mechanical investigations of polycarbonate and glycol modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) nanocomposites present up to 80% enhancement of creep performance and additionally 70% enhancement against wear abrasion for glycol modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) nanocomposites. Strength and tensile modulus are only moderately influenced by the addition of nanoparticles. Morphological studies confirm that the present modification route is able to create uniform dispersions of single particles and small particle aggregates in polymer matrices.

     

Dissolution,Transport and Reaction at a DICY/DGEBA Interface

The curing of an epoxy consisting of the solid hardener dicyandiamide (DICY) and the resin diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) is studied in a system consisting of a tablet of DICY embedded in liquid DGEBA. Dissolution of DICY within the liquid DGEBA in combination with the transport of dissolved DICY from the tablet border into DGEBA and the chemical reaction of both reactants is studied by scanning Brillouin microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Scanning Brillouin microscopy demonstrates the spatial and temporal evolution of the static and dynamic hypersonic properties in the course of curing in the vicinity of the DICY tablet. Infrared spectroscopy performed on epoxy pieces extracted from the final sample at different distances from the tablet surface give information about the spatial evolution of the curing process. The results achieved by both techniques are finally combined to yield a better understanding of the curing of DICY-based epoxies, which transform upon curing from strongly heterogeneous systems towards increasingly homogeneous systems.     

From Overcrowded Polycyclic Aromatic Enes to Semifullerenes

Abstract

Overcrowded polycyclic aromatic enes (1), e.g., bi-9H-fluoren-9-ylidene (2) and bi-4H-cyclopenta[def]-phenanthren-4-ylidene (3) are potential starting materials for the preparation of bowl-shaped fragments of fullerenes. Semiempirical MNDO-PM3 calculations of C₂₆ H_n and C₃₀ H_n (n = 12,14,16) species 2–14 are used to analyze energetic and steric effects on the dehydrocyclization and isomerization reactions of these molecules. the out-of-plane bending and pyramidalization in these species are ascribed to intramolecular overcrowding in the fjord and cove regions and to strain introduced by C5 rings in the PAH skeleton. Oxidative photocyclization reactions on Z-2,2′-bridged derivatives of 2 and 3 are briefly outlined.     

Cyclic Conjugation Effects in Cyclacenes

Abstract

Cyclic conjugation is studied in Hückel and Möbius cyclacenes as well as in a few other related open-chain and cyclic belt-shaped hydrocarbons (e.g., zig-zag cyclarenes). the main conclusions are that (a) the energy effect of the conjugation along the perimeter of cyclacenes is relatively large, (b) conjugation along the 6 -, 10 - and 14-membered cycles has a much greater effect, in spite of the fact that these cycles embrace bonds that formally are not involved in cyclic conjugation. Möbius cyclacenes are non-alternant hydrocarbons and their odd-cycles have a significant contribution to conjugation. the contribution of conjugation in individual cycles to the total resonance energy is briefly discussed.     

Detailed Molecular Structure Modeling – A Path Forward to Designing Application Properties of ldPE

Summary: This paper describes a step on the ambitious aim to “design” application properties of ldPE by first simulating the detailed molecular structure of a high‐pressure tubular reactor product. The reactor of a certain configuration produces under well‐defined operating conditions. The next step is to correlate the structure with the application properties. Finally, the sequence will be reversed in order to deduce the operating conditions, which lead to the desired product quality. Two‐dimensional distributions, in molecular weight and branching frequency, as well a two compartment models with a core and a shell stream were simulated and compared with experimental results. Therefore, CFD simulations were carried out to discretize the reaction medium. Samples were taken from both pilot and commercial plants. The TREF‐SEC analytical method was successfully applied in order to measure the microscopic structure of the material. The tremendous numerical problems were solved with the help of the software PREDICI .

Detailed MWD for a pilot scale reactor product.     

Versuchsplanerische Untersuchung der Umesterung von Sojaöl mit Ethanol im Mikroreaktor

Base‐catalyzed transesterification of fats and oils with primary alcohols in discontinuous operation is an established batch process for the biodiesel production. However, the application of microreaction technology and continuous flow process lead to an increase of process intensification. The ethanol/soy bean oil ratio at low flow rates as well as the reactor geometry have the most evident effects on the fatty acid ethyl ester yield of KOH‐catalyzed ethanolysis of soy bean oil in microreactors. The influence of the catalyst concentration is of a lower importance.     

Optimized Hemolysin Type 1 Secretion System in Escherichia coli by Directed Evolution of the Hly Enhancer Fragment and Including a Terminator Region

Type 1 secretion systems (T1SS) have a relatively simple architecture compared to other classes of secretion systems and therefore, are attractive to be optimized by protein engineering. Here, we report a KnowVolution campaign for the hemolysin (Hly) enhancer fragment, an untranslated region upstream of the hlyA gene, of the hemolysin T1SS of Escherichia coli to enhance its secretion efficiency. The best performing variant of the Hly enhancer fragment contained five nucleotide mutations at five positions (A30U, A36U, A54G, A81U, and A116U) resulted in a 2-fold increase in the secretion level of a model lipase fused to the secretion carrier HlyA1. Computational analysis suggested that altered affinity to the generated enhancer fragment towards the S1 ribosomal protein contributes to the enhanced secretion levels. Furthermore, we demonstrate that involving a native terminator region along with the generated Hly enhancer fragment increased the secretion levels of the Hly system up to 5-fold.     

Facile preparation of water-soluble fluorescent gold nanoclusters for cellular imaging applications

We report a facile strategy to synthesize water-soluble, fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) in one step by using a mild reductant, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (THPC). A zwitterionic functional ligand, D-penicillamine (DPA), as a capping agent endowed the AuNCs with excellent stability in aqueous solvent over the physiologically relevant pH range. The DPA-capped AuNCs displayed excitation and emission bands at 400 and 610 nm, respectively; the fluorescence quantum yield was 1.3%. The effect of borohydride reduction on the optical spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicated that the AuNC luminescence is closely related to the presence of Au(I) on their surfaces. In a first optical imaging application, we studied internalization of the AuNCs by live HeLa cells using confocal microscopy with two-photon excitation. A cell viability assay revealed good biocompatibility of these AuNCs. Our studies demonstrate a great potential of DPA-stabilized AuNCs as fluorescent nanoprobes in bioimaging and related applications.     

Effective reduction of AlN defect luminescence by fluorine implantation

We report on the effective reduction of AlN host lattice defect cathodoluminescence by high dose ion implantation of light elements such as fluorine as well as chlorine and neon with peak concentrations of 1 at.%. In order to distinguish between luminescence suppression in the visible to luminescence quenching due to radiation damage, all samples were additionally implanted with europium at fluences of 1 · 10¹³ ions/cm². After annealing the samples at 1373 K under vacuum conditions cathodoluminescence spectra were recorded at room temperature (300 K) and at cryogenic temperature (12 K). These investigations reveal that different light ion species have different influences on the defect luminescence of the AlN host lattice which is likely due to selective passivation of these defects. The best ratio of defect luminescence suppression to radiation damage induced luminescence quenching is achieved in the case of fluorine co-doping.