Study on propylene polymerization in the presence of phenolic antioxidant (Irganox 1076) and characterization of stabilized polymers

The aim of this study was to investigate different concentrations of Irganox 1076 on Ziegler–Natta catalyst performance during propylene polymerization. Antioxidant masking was conducted by addition of different molar ratio of triethylaluminum (TEAL). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra confirmed the complete conversion of antioxidant to aluminum aryloxide form. The different concentrations of masked antioxidant with different molar ratio of TEAL were used during polymerization and the catalyst activity was evaluated. Morphology, particle size distribution, melt temperature, crystallization temperature, degree of crystallinity, oxidative induction time, and isotacticity of products in the presence of masked antioxidant were evaluated. Results showed that incomplete masking of OH phenolic antioxidant led to significant catalyst activity reduction. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:285–289, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Rheology and morphology of polypropylene in situ grafted and blended with methyl methacrylate/n‐buthylacrylate copolymer

The rheology and morphology of polypropylene (PP) modified by grafting and blending with vinyl monomers were studied in this work. The PP powder was impregnated by mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA)/n‐buthylacrylate (n‐BA) and copolymerized with azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) initiator. The simultaneous grafting and blending of PP with MMA‐co‐n‐BA copolymers were performed in a corotating, 40 L/D, twin‐screw extruder in the presence of dicumyl peroxide. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to verify the grafting level and dispersion state of MMA/n‐BA copolymer on PP matrix, respectively, and their rheological properties were studied. It is observed that MMA/n‐BA copolymer is finely dispersed in the PP matrix. In this way, PP can be grafted, blended, and simultaneously compatibilized with polar copolymers, as is seen in SEM images. The results showed that by increasing acrylate monomers grafting on to PP increased. The same trend was observed for AIBN initiator. The gel content of samples with 25% monomers showed an increased from 0.7% to 3.5% by increasing AIBN from 0.2% to 0.4%. The grafting reaction took place with chain scission of PP molecules and also cross‐linking reactions. The optimum grafting of 7.3% with lowest chain scission and cross‐linking were obtained for samples containing 15 wt% monomer and 0.3% AIBN initiator. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:290–298, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Solid-Phase Extraction of Florfenicol from Meat Samples by a Newly Synthesized Surface Molecularly Imprinted Sol–Gel Polymer

A new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as a solid-phase sorbent for selective extraction of florfenicol (FF) was prepared by combination of the surface molecular imprinting technique with the sol–gel process. The FF-imprinted silica sorbent was prepared using FF as template, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as functional monomer and tetraethoxysilicate as cross-linker on the silica gel support. The non-imprinted silica (NIP) was synthesized in the same way without addition of FF. The MIP was evaluated as a sorbent in column extraction approach for extraction of FF from aqueous solutions followed by spectrofluorometric determination. The influence of certain variables including the sample pH, the sample volume, the sample flow rate, the type of eluent, and its flow rate on the extraction efficiency of FF was assessed. The prepared FF-MIP silica sorbent showed higher adsorption capacity (64.9 mg g^?1) and significant selectivity than the corresponding NIP (11.5 mg g^?1). The FF-MIP-based solid phase extraction method was successfully applied to the separation and determination of FF from fish and chiken meat samples under the optimized extraction conditions.     

Voltammetric determination of venlafaxine as an antidepressant drug employing Gd2O3 nanoparticles graphite screen printed electrode

Graphite screen printed electrode modified with Gd_2 O_3 nanoparticles(Gd_2 O_3/SPE) was developed for the determination of venlafaxine(VF). The Gd_2 O_3 nanoparticles were thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray diffraction(XRD) analyses. To study the electrochemical behaviour of venlafaxine cyclic voltammetry(CV), chronoamperometry(CHA)and differential pulse voltammetry(DPV) were employed. These studies reveal that the oxidation of venlafaxine is facilitated at Gd_2 O_3/SPE. After optimization of analytical conditions, analysis of venlafaxine using the modified electrode in 0.1 mol/L PBS(pH 7.0) demonstrates that the peak currents corresponding to venlafaxine vary linearly with its concentration in the range of 5.0 ×10~(-6)-9.0 × 10~(-4) mol/L. The detection limit(S/N = 3) of 2.1 × 10~(-7) mol/L is obtained for venlafaxine using DPV. The prepared modified electrode benefits from advantages such as simple preparation method, high sensitivity and low detection limit.Moreover, the evaluation of practical applicability of this proposed method is successful in the identification of venlafaxine in pharmaceutical formulations, urine and water samples.     

Strategy for Enhancing the Dielectric Constant of Organic Semiconductors Without Sacrificing Charge Carrier Mobility and Solubility

Current organic semiconductors for organic photovoltaics (OPV) have relative dielectric constants (relative permittivities, ε _r) in the range of 2–4. As a consequence, Coulombically bound electron‐hole pairs (excitons) are produced upon absorption of light, giving rise to limited power conversion efficiencies. We introduce a strategy to enhance ε _r of well‐known donors and acceptors without breaking conjugation, degrading charge carrier mobility or altering the transport gap. The ability of ethylene glycol (EG) repeating units to rapidly reorient their dipoles with the charge redistributions in the environment was proven via density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Fullerene derivatives functionalized with triethylene glycol side chains were studied for the enhancement of ε _r together with poly(p‐phenylene vinylene) and diketopyrrolopyrrole based polymers functionalized with similar side chains. The polymers showed a doubling of ε _r with respect to their reference polymers in identical backbone. Fullerene derivatives presented enhancements up to 6 compared with phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the reference. Importantly, the applied modifications did not affect the mobility of electrons and holes and provided excellent solubility in common organic solvents.     

Static characterization of microstructures using AOMSI and temporal phase-shifting (TPS) methods

Temporal phase shifting interferometry is the most common method for characterization of surface, profile and displacement properties of micro devices. Common methods of phase shifting require piezoelectric material based devices that have inherent errors due to non-linearity. To avoid these errors during phase shifting, a new phase shifting technique is presented in this work. This technique utilizes the advantage of stroboscopic interferometry to create phase shifted images without requiring any additional component for phase shifting. The proposed method was used for surface profiling and static characterization of the microstructures. Static characterization was performed to identify the tip deflection and profile variation of the microcantilever in response to various DC voltages. A capacitor-based cantilever was tested under varied electrostatic loads and the deflection of the cantilever was extracted using the proposed method. The deflection of the cantilever was predicted using energy method. Static characterization results from the proposed technique were found to be in good agreement with the predicted results.