Technological Evaluation of Nitrogen Containing Starch Derivatives as Sizing Agents

The structural changes brought about by introducing different nitrogen containing groups via cyanoethylation, carbamoylethylation and carbamation in the molecules of rice and maize starches and oxidized starches derived thereof and the onset of these changes on the technical properties of yarns sized with such starch products were investigated. It was found that the apparent viscosity of pastes prepared from those products depends on the nature of starch, the degree of oxidation prior to chemical modification, the nature of modification as well as the measuring conditions, i. e. the rate of shear and temperature. Cotton yarns sized using these starch derivatives were measured for yarn number, tensile strength, C.V.%, elongation at break and C.V.% in elongation. Besides, the weavability test expressed as the minimum number of cycles due to abrasion (St₁) and average number of cycles due to abrasion (St₆) were investigated. A comparison among modified starches prepared from rice starch would reveral that the highest value of St₁ is obtained with yarns sized using carbamoylethylated sample derived from unoxidized starch. With maize starch, on the other hand, the highest value of St₁ is obtained with cotton yarns sized using carbamoylethylated starch derived from starch oxidized by 1 g/l active chlorine.     

GULFNET: The academic network of the arab gulf countries

This article provides an overview of GULFNET and its information services, with emphasis on KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia) services.     

CuII Pyrazolyl-Benzimidazole Dinuclear Complexes with Remarkable Antioxidant Activity

Three dinuclear coordination complexes generated from 1-n-butyl-2-((5-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-yl)methyl)-1H-benzimidazole ( L ), have been synthesized and characterized spectroscopically and structurally by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Reaction with iron(II) chloride and then copper(II) nitrate led to a co-crystal containing 78 % of [Cu(NO₃)(μ-Cl)( L’ )]₂ ( C₁ ) and 22 % of [Cu(NO₃)(μ-NO₃)( L’ )]₂ ( C₂ ), where L was oxidized to a new ligand L^’ . A mechanism is provided. Reaction with copper chloride led to the dinuclear complex [Cu(Cl)(μ-Cl)( L) ]₂ ( C₃ ). The presence of N−H⋅⋅⋅O and C−H⋅⋅⋅O intermolecular interactions in the crystal structure of C₁ and C₂ , and C−H⋅⋅⋅N and C−H⋅⋅⋅Cl hydrogen bonding in the crystal structure of C₃ led to supramolecular structures that were confirmed by Hirshfeld surface analysis. The ligands and their complexes were tested for free radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power. The complex C₁ / C₂ shows remarkable antioxidant activities as compared to the ligand L and reference compounds.     

Effects of Surfactants on the Properties of Styrene/Methacrylate–Type Superplasticizer in Cement Paste

Copolymer emulsion lattices based on styrene (St) with methacrylate monomers, were synthesized with composition ratio (5/5) in the presence of a co-surfactants that consists of dodecyl benzene sodium sulfonate with polyvinyl alcohol (DBSS/PVA) and DBBS with polyoxyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (DBBS/POE). The obtained latices were characterized by ¹H NMR, rheological and morphological techniques. The effect of latices on the physicomechanical properties of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes was investigated. The results showed that the addition of water mixed to the cement with copolymer improves most of the specific characteristics of OPC.     

Physicochemical characterization of actinomycetes isolated from decayed cedar wood: contact angle measurement

Physicochemical characterization of microorganism is very important in a wide range of scientific and technological fields. In this study, we reported the isolation and the molecular identification of actinomycetes recovered from cedar wood decay. The isolates named H5 and H8 were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing and were shown to belong to the genus Nocardia and Streptomyces, respectively. Furthermore, physicochemical proprieties including hydrophobicity, electron donor/acceptor, and the Lifshitz–van der Waals (γ^LW) of these strains were evaluated using contact angle measurements. The results showed that Nocardia sp. (H5) had a hydrophobic (ΔGiwi?=??78.56?mJ/m²) and a weak electron donor/acceptor character. In contrast, results from contact angle measurements showed that the surface free energy of Streptomyces strains (H2, H3, and H8) were ΔGiwi?=?20.71?mJ/m², ΔGiwi?=?30.63?mJ/m², and ΔGiwi?=?15.35?mJ/m², respectively, classifying these microorganisms as hydrophilic bacterium. Moreover, the three strains were predominantly electron donating (γ^–?) and exhibit a weak electron-accepting (γ⁺) character.     

Bacillus cereus adhesion: an investigation of the physicochemical characteristics of surface and effect of bio adhesion on the properties of silicone

The initial microorganism adhesion on substrate is an important step for biofilm formation. The surface properties of the silicone and Bacillus cereus were characterized by the sessile drop technique. Moreover, the physicochemical properties (hydrophobicity; electron donor/electron acceptor) of surface adhesion and the impact of bio adhesion on the silicone were determined at different time of contact (3, 7, and 24?h). The results showed that the strain was hydrophilic (Giwi?=?3.37?mJ/m²), whereas the silicone has hydrophobic character (Giwi?=??68.28?mJ/m²). Silicone surface presents a weak electron-donor character (γ ^??=?2.2?mJ/m²) conversely to B. cereus that presents an important electron donor-parameter (γ ^??=?31.6?mJ/m²). The adhesion of B. cereus to silicone was investigated using environmental scanning electron microscope and image analysis was assessed with the Matlab^® program. After 3?h of contact, the data analysis, confirmed the bio adhesion with an amount of 9.610⁵?cfu/cm² adhered cells. After 24?h, the percentage of silicone covered reached 93%. Furthermore, despite the difference in hydrophohbicity, the interaction between B. cereus and substrata was favoured by the thermodynamic model of adhesion (ΔG _adhesion ?<?0). The real time investigation of the effect of B. cereus adhesion on the physicochemical properties of silicone has revealed that the substrata becomes hydrophilic (θ°?=?47.3, ΔGiwi?=?23.7?mJ/m²), after 7?h of contact. This bio adhesion had also favoured the increase of electron donor/acceptor character of silicone (γ ^??=?53.1?mJ/m² and γ ⁺?=?5.3?mJ/m²).