Intrinsic Elastic, Dielectric, and Piezoelectric Losses in Lead Zirconate Titanate Ceramics Determined by an Immittance-Fitting Method

The material coefficients of "soft" and "hard" lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics were determined as complex values by the nonlinear least-squares-fitting of immittance data measured for length-extensional bar resonators. The piezoelectric d -constant should be a complex value to obtain a best fitting between observed and calculated results. Because the elastic, dielectric, and piezoelectric losses determined in this process were not "intrinsic" losses, a calculation process to evaluate the "intrinsic" losses was proposed. It was confirmed that the intrinsic losses were smaller than the corresponding extrinsic losses. The intrinsic piezoelectric loss existed in both soft and hard PZTs; ∼50% of the loss of piezoelectric d -constant was derived from the elastic and dielectric losses. The most notable difference between the soft and hard PZTs was observed in their elastic losses.     

Influence ofArtemisia princeps var.orientalis components on callus induction and growth

An in vitro study was performed to determine the potential application of tissue culture in determining allelopathic potentialof Artemisia princeps var.Orientalis (wormwood). Aqueous extracts and volatile substances ofA. princeps var.Orientalis were tested to determine their effects on callus induction and growth of several tested species. Extracts of 5%A. princeps var.Orientalis caused some reduction in concentration, induction, and growth of callus, although they looked normal, whereas the expiants of most receptor plants did not develop callus at higher concentration. Lettuce andEclipta prostrata were the most sensitive species, andA. princeps var.Orientalis was affected by its own extracts. The growth of calluses in MS 121 medium treated with essential oil ofA. princeps var.Orientalis was inhibited, and the degree of inhibition was proportional to the concentration of the essential oil.     

Assessment of allelopathic potential inArtemisia princeps var.Orientalis residues

Field and laboratory studies were conducted to examine the differential phytotoxicity of residues ofArtemisia princeps var.orientalis (wormwood) using various plants as test species. Seedling elongation and dry weights of receptor plants were inversely proportional to the concentration and incubation time of dry leaves ofA. princeps var.orientalis in vermiculite. In seedling growth tests with abandoned field soils (control) and soil underneath wormwood plants (test), the elongation, dry weight, and caloric content of seedlings grown in the soil from under wormwood plants were severely inhibited, thereby suggesting that certain growth inhibitors were released from wormwood and the inhibitor remained in the soil.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel aromatic condensation polymers containing rigid benzoxazole pendent groups

A new aromatic diamine monomer containing benzoxazole substituents was prepared by a multistep synthesis starting from 1,4‐dibromo‐2,5‐difluorobenzene. The diamine was polymerized with commercial aromatic dianhydride or dicarboxylic acid chloride monomers to provide several different poly(amic acid)s and polyamides with their inherent viscosities in the range of 0.24–0.46 dL/g. Thermal properties of these polymers including thermal imidization of poly(amic acid)s into polyimides were investigated by using FTIR, DSC, and TGA. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 178–185, 2004     

Rheological properties of hyperbranched polymer/poly(ethylene terephthalate) reactive blends

The rheological properties in solution, in shear and in uniaxial elongation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) reacted together with hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) were investigated. Two different PET grades, of low and high molecular weights, were compounded with sub‐ to over‐stoichiometric concentrations of HBPs of second and fourth pseudo‐generation, and subsequently subjected to a solid‐state polycondensation (SSP). The formation of microgels, which occurs at high HBP concentration, gave rise to a large increase in melt elasticity and a related decrease in melt strength. At low HBP concentrations, the complex viscosity of the unreacted HBP/PET was considerably reduced, thus demonstrating a lubrication effect of the HBP molecules. During SSP, the intrinsic and shear viscosities exhibited a gradual increase, which was similar for both PET and HBP/PET blends, and was correlated to an increase in molecular weight, through linear‐chain extension and branching reactions. The elongational viscosity of the reactive blends was also increased as a function of reaction time, and this increase was much larger in the case of the HBP/PET blends. A 400% increase in melt strength of the PET was obtained by combining SSP and trace amounts of an HBP of second generation, without any decrease in drawability.     

A study of desulfurization ability and activation energy for CuO-AgO sorbents

In this study, we investigated desulfurization abilities and activation energy using TGA for CuO-AgO sorbents calcined at 700 °C. CuO was used as a main active material and AgO was used as an additive material and 25 wt% SiO₂ was used as a support material. The desulfurization reaction temperatures were 450 °C, 500 °C, and 550 °C and the regeneration reaction temperature was 700 °C. From the TGA experiments, the best sulfur loading of CAS1 sorbent containing 1 wt% AgO was about 14.95 g sulfur/100 g sorbent at 550 °C. The activation energy was calculated by the Chatterjee-Conrad method based on the TGA experiment. Desulfurization ability and activation energy of sorbent were decreased as the content of AgO increased.     

Method of Determining the Copper(II) Ion Content in Process Solutions

The possibility of using the method of direct potentiometry with copper-selective electrodes for determining the copper(II) ion content in process solutions in manufacture of cuprammonium fibres was investigated. The pH region of stable operation of copper-selective electrodes and a method for performing measurements in the entire pH range of the solutions was proposed. The described method can be used for determining the copper(II) ion content in the presence of the components of the process solutions in manufacture of cuprammonium fibres.__________Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 2, pp. 19–21, March–April, 2005.     

Manufacture of Granulated Chitosan

Conditions for dry-wet spinning of spherical chitosan granules 0.5–2.0 mm in diameter into a two-layer spinning bath consisting of immiscible liquids are proposed, where an organic liquid, decane in particular, is the upper layer of the bath while a solution of ammonium hydroxide is the lower layer. The possibility of obtaining chitosan microgranules from 2 to 30 µm in diameter by emulsification of a solution of chitosan in decane or a solution of an anion-active surfactant — sodium dodecyl sulfate — is demonstrated. The effect of the molecular weight and concentration of the solutions on the granule-forming power of chitosan is established. A 6% solution of chitosan with a molecular weight of 200 kD is recommended for further studies.__________Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 5, pp. 26–29, January–February, 2005.     

Synthesis of dispersed CaCO3 nanoparticles by the ultrafine grinding

A one-step grinding process to obtain CaCO₃ nanoparticles from a micrometer-sized CaCO₃ was studied. A high-speed beads mill was employed to grind the particles, and poly(acrylic acid, sodium salt) was used to disperse the ground particles. The main parameters, which were investigated, were the slurry concentration, the rotor speed, the bead size, and the surfactant concentration. The larger bead size, higher slurry concentration, and faster rotor speed showed higher grinding efficiencies. However, there was severe agglomeration of the ground particles resulting in larger secondary particles as the grinding time increased after the certain point. The dispersion and enhanced grinding of particles were achieved by the surfactant. The particle size distribution of the ground particles had a narrow peak around 190 nm that was measured by the diffraction method. The primary particle size of the ground particles was around 40 nm.