Preparation of Monodisperse ZrO2 by the Microwave Heating of Zirconyl Chloride Solutions

Based on the principle that the solubility of a salt decreases as the dielectric constant of the solvent decreases, zirconia powders were prepared by heating a zirconyl chloride solution with a 2-PrOH-water mixture as the solvent. The morphology, size, and size distribution of the resulting particles were highly sensitive to the heating method used on the starting solution. Particles formed under conventional heating methods were polydisperse, agglomerated spherical, or irregularly shaped because of inhomogeneous precipitation through the temperature gradient, the shear force induced by stirring, compositional nonuniformity, and the low heating rate. The present study demonstrated that microwaves provide an excellent means of heating uniformly and rapidly without stirring. The particles resulting from microwave treatment were monodisperse and spherical, with a mean diameter of 0.28 μm.     

Morphology and mechanical properties of liquid crystalline copolyester and poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) blends

Blends of poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) and a liquid crystalline copolyester (LCP), poly(benzoate-naphthoate), were prepared in a twin-screw extruder. Specimens for mechanical testing were prepared by injection molding. The morphology and mechanical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an Instron tensile tester. SEM studies revealed that finely dispersed spherical domains of the liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) were formed in the PEN matrix, and the inclusions were deformed into fibrils from the spherical droplets with increasing LCP content. The morphology of the blends was found to be affected by their composition and a distinct skin-core morphology was found to develop in the injection molded samples of these blends. Mechanical properties were improved with increasing LCP content, and synergistic effects have been observed at 70 wt% LCP content whereas the elongation at break was found to be reduced drastically above 10 wt% of LCP content. This is a characteristic typical of chopped-fiber-filled composites. The improvement in mechanical properties is likely due to the reinforcement of the PEN matrix by the fibrous LCP phase as observed by scanning electron microscopy. The tensile and modulus mechanical behavior of the LCP/PEN blends was very similar to those of the polymeric composite, and the tensile strength and flexural modulus of the LCP/PEN 70/30 blend were two times the value of PEN homopolymer and exceeded those of pure LCP, suggesting LCP acts as a reinforcing agent in the blends.     

Low-energy ion beam treatment of α-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>(0001) and improvement of photoluminescence of ZnO thin films

A low energy N₂ ^? ion beam impinged on a α-Al₂O₃(0001) single crystal surface in the range of fluence 5×10¹⁵/cm²?1×10¹⁸/cm² at room temperature. After ion bombardment, chemical bonding on the modified sapphire surface was investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Below a fluence of 1×10¹⁵/cm², only a non-bonded N1s peak at the binding energy 398.7 eV was found, but further irradiation up to 2×10¹⁷/cm² induced Al?O?N bonding at around 403 eV. The occurrence of Al?N bonding was identified at ion fluence higher than 5×10¹⁷/cm² at 396.6 eV. II–VI ZnO thin films were grown on an untreated/ion-beam-induced sapphire surface by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for the investigation of the modified-substrate effect on photoluminescence. The ZnO films grown on modified sapphire containing Al?O?N bonding only, and both Al?O?N and Al?N bonding showed a significant reduction of the peak related to deep-level defects in photoluminescence. These results are explained in terms of the formation of Al?N?O and Al?O?N layers and relaxation of the interfacial strain between Al₂O₃ and ZnO.     

Molecular simulation of hydrogen adsorption in organic zeolite

The adsorption of molecular hydrogen on model zeolites has been simulated employing Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) procedure. The effects of cation type, available volume, surface area, temperature, pressure and pre-adsorbed organics such as benzene on the hydrogen uptake are analyzed. The hydrogen adsorption can be affected mainly by the available volume and surface area per g-zeolite at the same temperature and pressure. Increase of temperature results in the decrease of sorption intensity and capacity. The adsorption capacity correlates well with the pressure with high linearity at room temperature. Adsorption is lowered by the pre-adsorbed benzene molecule. The orientation and the number of benzene molecule in zeolite affect the adsorption capacity. The organic zeolite with larger available volume shows larger adsorption capacity.     

Enhancement of secreted production of glucoamylase through fed-batch bioreactor culture of recombinant yeast harboring glucose-controllable <Emphasis Type="Italic">SUC2</Emphasis> promoter

Glucoamylase that hydrolyses starch to glucose is one of the important industrial enzymes for ethanol production industry. Therefore, genetic production of recombinant glucoamylase has been widely studied. Previously, we reported secreted production of Saccharomyces diastaticus-originated glucoamylase in Saccharomyces cerevisiase expression system using its own signal sequence and the SUC2 promoter that is regulated by glucose level in culture medium. In the present work, we performed a comparative study between batch and fed-batch bioreactor cultures for secreted production of recombinant glucoamylase. Through maintaining low glucose levels in the culture broth, we obtained about 7-fold higher secreted production levels of glucoamlyase in fed-batch culture. Fed-batch culture strategy also enhanced (∼3.1-fold) secretion efficiency of recombinant glucoamylase in S. cerevisiae.     

Comparative Analysis of Single‐Cascade Five‐Zone and Two‐Zone SMB Systems for the Separation of a Ternary Amino Acid Mixture

A ternary separation usually requires the use of two simulated moving bed (SMB) units in series. Since an increase in the number of SMB units leads to a significant increase in capital and operational costs, the use of a single SMB unit is preferred if its structure can be modified to treat a ternary separation. Such a modified single SMB unit has been typified by a five‐zone SMB or a two‐zone SMB so far. The separation performances‐of a five‐zone SMB and a two‐zone SMB are compared in this paper by using the ternary amino acid mixture as a model system. A five‐zone SMB is designed with the safety margin method while a two‐zone SMB is optimized using genetic algorithm. A five‐zone SMB based on the maximum allowable safety margin, although it may not guarantee the global optimum solution, results in much better separation performance than a two‐zone SMB at its global optimum state.     

Synthesis and characterization of core‐shell SiO2 nanoparticles/poly(3‐aminophenylboronic acid) composites

SiO₂/Poly(3‐aminophenylboronic acid) (PAPBA) composites were synthesized under different experimental conditions, using ultrasonic irradiation method. Polymerization was carried out in the presence of sodium fluoride and D ‐fructose to anchor 3‐aminophenylboronic acid groups on to SiO₂ surface. The SiO₂/PAPBA nanocomposite prepared by NaF and D ‐fructose in the polymerization medium was found to show different morphology, electrical properties, thermal behavior and structural characterization in comparison to the nanocomposites prepared under other conditions. Ultrasonic irradiation minimizes the aggregation of nanosilica and promotes anchoring of PAPBA units over SiO₂ surface. The morphology of PAPBA/ SiO₂ nanocomposite was investigated by using transmission electron microscopy, UV‐visible spectroscopy; thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray diffraction analysis were used for characterization. Transmission electron microscope of the nanocomposites observation shows that SiO₂/PAPBA composite, prepared with D ‐fructose and NaF under ultrasonication has a core–shell morphology. The thermal and crystalline properties of core‐shell SiO₂/PAPBA nanocomposite was prepared via ultrasonication method is different from the SiO₂/PAPBA nanocomposite prepared via conventional stirring method, in which SiO₂ nanoparticles are submerged in PAPBA. Conductivity of the composite prepared via ultrasonication shows around 0.2 S/cm. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 2743–2750, 2007     

Separation of hydroxybenzoic acid isomers using the molecular imprinting technique

Molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) for salicylic acid (SA), 3‐hydroxybenzoic acid (3HBA), and 4‐hydroxybenzoic acid (4HBA) were synthesized using styrene and 4‐vinylpyridine (4‐VPy) as functional monomer and divinylbenzene (DVB) as crosslinker. The adsorption characteristics of hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) isomers on each MIP were investigated. The materials used for the polymerization of each 3HBA and 4HBA‐MIPs were adsorbed relatively well. This verifies that the MIPs that can adsorb template selectively were synthesized. However, SA‐MIP had no molecular imprinting effect. SA has intramolecular hydrogen bond and it is difficult to adsorb on recognition site of SA‐MIP, because its structure differs from that of recognition site of SA‐MIP. It indicates that SA‐MIP had no recognition effect. 1,2,3,4‐Tetrahydro‐1‐naphthol (THN)‐MIP was synthesized, which is similar to SA with intramolecular hydrogen bond. SA was separated selectively using THN‐MIP. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Physico‐Mechanical Properties and the TVOC Emission Factor of Gypsum Particleboards Manufactured with Pinus Massoniana and Eucalyptus Sp.

The effect of wood species on the TVOC emission factor and the physico‐mechanical properties of GPBs is investigated. Of the two wood species, the water absorption was higher for the GPBs made using Eucalyptus sp. than for those using Pinus massoniana. The Eucalyptus sp. GPBs pressed at room temperature, 40 and 60 °C all demonstrated higher moisture absorption than commercial GPBs. The TVOC emission factor decreased with increasing press temperature, especially for Eucalyptus sp. but remained under ‘excellent’ grade as defined by the KACA. From these results, GPB with higher content of wood particles should be considered for the replacement of wood‐based panels such as particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF).

     

Separation of Triacylglycerol Species from Interesterified Oils by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Using a 1,3-regioselective lipase as a catalyst, soybean oil and olive oil were interesterified with the short-chain triacylglycerol tributyrin (1,2,3-tributyrylglycerol) to produce mixtures of structured triacylglycerols (SL-TAG). The SL-TAG were purified by column chromatography and analyzed by both normal-phase (silica column; NP_SIL) and reversed-phase [octadecyl silane (ODS) column] high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Individual SL-TAG molecular species were detected by evaporative light-scattering detection, and characterized by mass spectrometry. NP_SIL HPLC successfully separated the newly synthesized SL-TAG into two groups of TAG: one composed of one butyryl group and two long-chain fatty acyl groups (from soybean or olive oil); the second was composed of two butyryl groups and one long-chain fatty acyl group. The SL-TAG species were further analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC which gave a more detailed separation of the TAG species present in the two SL-TAG.