New polyamides based on 2,5‐bis[(4‐carboxyanilino) carbonyl] pyridine and aromatic diamines: Synthesis and characterization

Seven new polyamides 6a–g were synthesized through the direct polycondensation reaction of 2,5‐bis[(4‐carboxyanilino) carbonyl] pyridine 4 with seven derivatives of aromatic diamines 5a–g in a medium consisting of N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone, triphenyl phosphite, calcium chloride, and pyridine. The polycondensation reaction produced a series of novel polyamides containing pyridyl moiety in the main chain in high yield with inherent viscosities between 0.32 – 0.72 dL/g. The resulted polymers were fully characterized by means of FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analyses, inherent viscosity, and solubility tests. Thermal properties of these polymers were investigated by using thermal gravimetric analysis and differential thermal gravimetric. All the polymers were soluble at room temperature in polar solvents, such as N,N‐dimethyl acetamide, N,N‐dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone. 2,5‐Bis[(4‐carboxyanilino) carbonyl] pyridine 4 as a new monomer containing pyridyl moiety was synthesized by using a two‐step reaction. At first 2,5‐pyridine dicarboxylic acid 1 was converted to 2,5‐pyridine dicarbonyl dichloride 2 . Then diacid 4 was prepared by condensation reaction of diacid chloride 2 with p‐aminobenzoic acid 3. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Pitting corrosion of older underground cast iron pipes

Major water supply distribution networks in many cities consist of buried cast iron pipes. Often the pipes are internally cement-lined. For these the most severe external pitting corrosion is important because this may cause leakage and eventual structural failure. Herein representative data is reported for 10 pipes, ranging in age from 34 to 129 years and from 200 to 600?mm diameter that are part of a larger data set. The pipes examined were selected by the water utilities from several critical locations. Pit depths over 1–2?m lengths of pipes were measured and examined and soil properties measured. The morphologies of pitting around the pipes were found to be very different, with often much greater pit depths and larger pit areas at the base of the pipes. There were also considerable differences along the length of individual parts of pipes. When plotted on a Gumbel plot for the maximum pit depths, the deepest pits showed a different Gumbel trend compared with the majority of pit depth maxima. Theoretically, this indicates that different pitting mechanisms are involved. This possibility is explored by reference to earlier work on the long-term pitting corrosion of steels in sea water. Comments are made also about empirical fitting with other extreme value distributions, as sometimes suggested.     

Effect of copper nanoparticles on thermal behavior of two-phase argon-copper nanofluid flow in rough nanochannels with focusing on the interface properties and heat transfer using molecular dynamics simulation

A comparison between the efficacy of surface boundary structure and presence of nanoparticles on the condensation two-phase flow inside rough nanochannels has been accomplished by applying molecular dynamics procedure to evaluate the thermal conductivity and flow characteristics. Simulation is performed in a computational region with two copper walls containing rectangular rough elements under different saturated temperatures. The main properties of liquid-vapor interface including density and the number of liquid atoms, are obtained. It is observed that the density profile is more affected by nanoparticles than the roughness. Also, compared to the condensation of nanofluid in a smooth nanochannel, the rough wall causes a greater drop in the temperature at the early time steps and by development of liquid films, effects of the wall roughness reduce. At the first of the condensation process, adding nanoparticle causes that transferring argon particles to the liquid phase increases with a steeper slope. Furthermore, heat current autocorrelation function (HCACF) for nanofluid condensation flow over considered correlation time is analyzed and following that the thermal conductivity for different saturated conditions is calculated. It has been represented that at lower temperatures the roughness makes more significant influence on the heat transfer of two-phase flow, while at higher temperatures the importance of nanoparticles prevails.     

TERNARY NaCl+LiCl+H2O MIXED ELECTROLYTE SYSTEM: DETERMINATION OF ACTIVITY COEFFICIENTS BASED ON POTENTIOMETRIC METHOD

The mean activity coefficients for NaCl in a ternary electrolyte system were determined by the potentiometric method, at 25°C, using a solvent polymeric (PVC) sodium-selective membrane electrode (Na⁺ ISE), containing N,N'-dibenzyl-N,N'-diphenyl-1,2-phenylenedioxydiacetamide as ionophore, and combined with an Ag/AgCl electrode. The potentiometric measurements were performed at the same ionic strengths in different series of mixed salt solutions, each characterized by a fixed salt molal ratio r (where r = m₁/m₂ = 1, 10, 50, 100). The nonideal behavior of the ternary NaCl(m₁) + LiCl(m₂) + H₂O electrolyte system was described based on the Pitzer ion-interaction model for mixed salts over the ionic strength ranging from 0.01 up to about 4 mol/kg. Two- and three-particle Pitzer interaction parameters for a mixed electrolyte system were determined based on potentiometric data, and the critical role of potentiometric selectivity coefficient (K₁₂) of ISE as limiting factor in the potentiometric measurements was analyzed.     

Optimization of the Forward Osmosis Process Using Aquaporin Membranes in Chromium Removal

Due to the lack of affordable and feasible wastewater treatment technologies, various industries in developing countries are discharging chromium (Cr) without meeting the environmental standards. Here, the aim was to employ forward osmosis (FO) using aquaporins (AQP)-based biomimetic membranes and optimize the Cr rejection through response surface methodology (RSM). The initial concentration of draw solution, feed solution, and time was selected as independent variables in order to optimize Cr rejection and water flux. A high Cr rejection efficiency and water flux were achieved under the optimal conditions. These results revealed that the FO process applying an AQP membrane beside the RSM could be considered to treat wastewaters containing heavy metals.     

Assessing sustainability of Islamic countries via data envelopment analysis (DEA)

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Given international regulations, countries try to improve their sustainability. The objective of this paper is to assess the sustainability of Islamic...