Oxidation of propane over a diesel exhaust catalyst

The oxidation of propane, over a concentration range of 0.30 to 1.04 mole % in air was investigated over a commercial diesel exhaust catalyst consisting of CuO, Cr₂O₃ and Pd supported on Al₂O₃. The rate of reaction was correlated by a first order, irreversible rate function; the resulting pre-exponential factor and activation energy were 3.15 × 10⁷ cc/g-sec and 21.3 kcal/gmole, respectively. At high temperatures the reaction rate became influenced by pore diffusion. A temperature of 675°K was required to obtain 50% propane conversion. It was concluded that this catayst is unsuitable for catalytic mufflers on diesel buses since the measured value of diesel exhaust temperatures at the cataytic muffler inlet is significantly less than 675°K.     

Doping efficiency and energy-level scheme in C60F48-doped zinc–tetraphenylporphyrin films

High resolution synchrotron-based core level spectroscopy was used to examine the energy level alignment at the interface of zinc–tetraphenylporphyrin films doped by the surface acceptor C₆₀F₄₈. Two distinct fluorofullerene charge states were identified, corresponding to ionized and neutral molecules, and their relative concentration as a function of coverage was used to evaluate the probability of occupation of the acceptor lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). From an initial acceptor energy of ?0.25 eV, the C₆₀F₄₈ LUMO shifts upwards with coverage due to a doping-induced interfacial dipole potential, and stabilization of the LUMO at an energy 0.45 eV above the Fermi energy was obtained. While the energy difference upon saturation is consistent with the results obtained for other donor–acceptor systems that have been interpreted as Fermi level pinning, the present work shows that the energy offset is a direct consequence of the interplay between Fermi–Dirac statistics in combination with the interfacial dipole potential.     

Nonequilibrium many-body theory of intersubband lasers

We present a theory for intersubband lasers, based on the solution of the Maxwell-semiconductor Bloch equations for the laser field and active medium. The collision contributions are treated within the relaxation rate approximation, where the relaxation rates are determined by microscopic scattering calculations. The theory is suitable for investigating steady-state as well as dynamical laser characteristics. As examples of applications of the theory, we examine the thermal dependence of the laser output versus current density curve and the response to modulation of the injection current, for a three-subband laser. The influence of the nonparabolicity of the conduction band and Hartree-Fock many-body effects are investigated.     

Synthesis and characterization of the polyols by air oxidation of soybean oil and its effect on the morphology and dynamic mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride) blends

The use of natural additives, with low toxicity and good compatibility, for PVC is becoming increasingly attractive. In this study, soybean oil additives were prepared by air oxidation reactions and blending with PVC. The oxidation reaction produced a significant increase in the number of hydroxyl groups in soybean oil; however, this kind of reaction results in the formation of a heterogeneous structure due to free radical reactions in the medium. The oxidized soybean oil improved the compatibility with PVC due to an increase in the number of polar groups, such as hydroxyls, and thus a reduction in the amount of atactic polymer was observed. Furthermore, an increase in the molecular weight of the oxidized oil, as well as large amounts of polar groups contributes to reducing the migration of oil in the PVC. Regarding the crystallinity of PVC, the use of pure and oxidized soybean oil causes small changes in the crystalline phase of the polymer. Oxidized soybean oil has great potential for usage as a secondary plasticizer for PVC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42102.     

Pseudorandom rectangular scan system with uniform frame density

A new method for pseudorandom scanning of a rectangular frame is described. The system employs feedback shift registers and reversible counters. The scanning density is uniform over the whole area. The scan path is a dotted line that can be changed from relatively smooth to more warped configurations. The periodicity of this pseudorandom line can be made as long as desired and can be repeated starting from any preselected initial condition.     

Simulation of sintering of model supported metal catalysts

During the past decade, the sintering of model supported metal catalysts, i.e. catalysts consisting of metal deposited on very thin and flat oxide films, has been intensively investigated by transmission electron microscopy. In the current paper, a mathematical model, based on an atomic migration mechanism, for the sintering of these catalysts is presented. The predictions of the model, based on Monte Carlo simulations, are in very good agreement with the experimental observations, i.e. phenomena such as ‘apparent’ particle migration, splitting and neck formation between particles are predicated by the model.     

A Comparative Study of Ethylene/α-Olefin Copolymerization with Silane-Modified Silica-Supported MAO Using Zirconocene Catalysts

Activities of ethylene/α-olefin copolymerization were found to increase with silane-modified silica-supported MAO using ansa-zirconocene catalyst. The increase in activities was less pronounced when higher α-olefins were used. However, silane modification resulted in the narrower molecular weight distribution of polymers. ¹³C NMR revealed that ethylene incorporation in all systems gave polymers with the similar triad distribution.     

Gas‐phase olefin polymerization over supported metallocene/MAO catalysts: influence of support on activity and polydispersity

Three catalysts obtained by supporting bis(n‐butylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane on: (1) porous crosslinked poly(2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate‐co‐styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) particles (CAT1); (2) swellable crosslinked poly(styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) particles (CAT2); and (3) by evaporating the catalyst precursors solution to dry powder, CAT3 were used in gas‐phase polymerization of ethylene, and ethylene/1‐hexene in a 2 L semi‐batch reactor at 80 °C and 1.4 MPa. The average polymerization activities of the three catalysts were 12.3–15.5, 4.2–10.1, and 14.3–62.9 ton PE (mol Zr h)^?1 respectively. CAT1 and CAT3 produced polyethylenes with a polydispersity range of 2.3–2.7, while that of CAT2 was 3.5–6.4. The supported catalysts produced polyolefin particles with bulk density of 0.36–0.43 g ml^?1, and essentially no fines. Ethylene/1‐hexene co‐polymerization (7 mol m^?3 initial 1‐hexene concentration in the reactor) increased polymerization activities and produced lower‐molar‐mass co‐polymers. At 21 mol m^?3 1‐hexene the polymerization activities decreased, but the relative amount of the low‐molar‐mass co‐polymer for CAT2 increased, leading to higher polydispersity. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Recombinant human tumor necrosis factor and recombinant murine interleukin-1 alter the binding of Escherichia coli to intestine, mucin glycoprotein, and the HT29-C1 intestinal cell line

Little is known about the effects of cytokines at the intestinal mucosal surface on the adherence of bacteria. We examined the effects of recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) on the adherence of various strains of Escherichia coli to intestinal mucosa in vivo and in in vitro models. We studied the effects of TNF or IL-1 injected intraperitoneally on the ability of a rabbit enteric pathogen (RDEC-1) and a nonpathogenic E. coli (1392-) to colonize rabbit small bowel and found that there was a trend toward increased colonization by the RDEC-1 organisms in the TNF-treated rabbits, and a significant increase in colonization by the RDEC-1 organisms in the IL-1-treated animals (P < 0.01). Both TNF and IL-1 altered the density and the level of glycosylation of the small bowel mucus glcoprotein purified from the treated and untreated rabbits, and TNF treatment significantly increased the number of bacteria bound by this purified mucin (P < 0.01 for all strains). HT29-C1 intestinal cells in tissue culture were also grown in media with TNF or IL-1 and used in bacterial binding assays. The cells provided with media with 50 pg/mL of either cytokine bound significantly more of the three bacterial strains than cells in untreated media (P < 0.01 for all strains). The cytokines TNF and IL-1 have the potential to alter bacterial adherence to intestinal mucosa in vivo and in vitro; additional studies to clarify the role that these alterations in adherence may play in the clinical syndromes characterized by increased levels of intestinal cytokines are warranted.