Composite materials for medical purposes based on polyvinylpyrrolidone modified with ketoprofen and silver nanoparticles

A method for obtaining composite medical materials based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K15) modified with ketoprofen in a medium of supercritical carbon dioxide and with Ag nanoparticles prepared by metal vapor synthesis is developed. A system in which ketoprofen and Ag nanoparticles with an average size of ∼16 nm are uniformly distributed over the bulk of PVP is obtained. It is found that the yield of ketoprofen from the composite in the physiological solution is higher than that for an analogous system obtained by mechanical mixing of the components.     

Periodic problem for the nonlinear damped wave equation with convective nonlinearity

We study the nonlinear damped wave equation with a linear pumping and a convective nonlinearity. We consider the solutions, which satisfy the periodic boundary conditions. Our aim is to prove global existence of solutions to the periodic problem for the nonlinear damped wave equation by applying the energy-type estimates and estimates for the Green operator. Moreover, we study the asymptotic profile of global solutions.     

Dehydrogenation of isopropanol on a cerium-nickel catalyst

The effect of a cerium additive on the catalytic activity of a 2 wt % Ni/SiO₂ catalyst is studied. It found that under both flow and static conditions the activity of (2 wt % Ni + 0.2 wt % Ce)/SiO₂ catalyst is higher than that of the original sample; the increase in activity results from a sharp increase in the number of active sites. A change in the composition of the surface layer of the catalysts is analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the fraction of nickel decreases and the fraction of carbon increases in cerium-containing catalyst. An explanation of the change in the elemental composition of the catalytic active sites of a nickel catalyst in the presence of cerium is proposed on the basis of XPS data and previous quantum chemical calculations.     

Structure of mono- and bimetallic heterogeneous catalysts based on noble metals obtained by means of fluid technology and metal-vapor synthesis

Monometallic nanocomposites are obtained with the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (fluid technique) and metal-vapor synthesis (MVS), while bimetallic nanocomposites of Pt and Au noble metals and ??-Al₂O₃ oxide matrix are synthesized by a combination of these two methods. The structures, concentrations, and chemical states of metal atoms in composites are studied by means of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transparent electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray fluorescent analysis (XFA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The neutral state of metal atoms in clusters is shown by XPS and their size distribution is found according to SAXS; as is shown, it is determined by the pore sizes of the oxide matrices and lies in the range of 1 to 50 nm. The obtained composites manifest themselves as effective catalysts in the oxidation of CO to CO₂.     

Cyclohexane dehydrogenation on a copper-platinum catalyst

The reaction of the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane on a copper-platinum catalyst supported by silica gel (1 wt % Pt + 0.15 wt % Cu)/SiO₂ was studied. The state of the catalyst surface was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was established that under both flow and static conditions, the activity of the copper-platinum catalyst is higher than the activity of a catalyst containing 1 wt % Pt/SiO₂. The rise in activity as a result of the introduction of copper, due to a decrease in the activation energy, is explained by an increase in the fraction of carbon in the composition of active centers localized on particles of neutral (Pt _m ⁰) and positively charged (Pt _n ^+δ) platinum, and by the formation of centers with increased activity as a result of the adsorption of Cu^+δ on particles of Pt _m ⁰. It was demonstrated that treating the copper-platinum catalyst with the plasma of a glow discharge in argon and oxygen increases its activity, while treatment in high-frequency H₂ plasma reduces it. The indicated changes in the activity are associated with the alteration of the activation energies and the number of active centers, revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, that depend on changes in the catalyst surface composition.     

Synthesis of polyvinylpyrrolidone and its nanosilver-based polymer composites in supercritical carbon dioxide

Polyvinylpyrrolidone is synthesized in supercritical carbon dioxide at a pressure of 20 MPa and a temperature of 65°C. Polyvinylpyrrolidone films are impregnated with the organic complex silver 1,5-(cyclooctadiene)-1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoroacetyl acetonate, and the metal is subsequently reduced by hydrogen. The chemical structure and structure of nanometallopolymer composites are investigated by SAXS, transmission electron microscopy, FTIR and UV spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescent analysis. It is shown that the impregnation with the complex and the reduction of the complex give rise to Ag(0) nanoparticles with a predominant size on the order of 1 nm.     

Organometallic Pt precursor on graphite substrate: deposition from SC CO2, reduction and morphology transformation as revealed by SFM

Organometallic Pt precursor was deposited on model highly oriented pyrolytic graphite substrate from solutions in supercritical carbon dioxide. Morphology transformations during reduction process including real-time observations were studied by scanning force microscopy (SFM). We confirmed that SC CO₂ is a promising mediator in deposition process even for rather hydrophobic supports. SFM data show that thermal decomposition of the PtMe₂(COD) precursor with subsequent hydrogen post-treatment allows one to obtain rather pure and well-defined Pt nanoparticles with average height above a substrate level of 4.5 ± 0.6 nm.     

High‐energy and smoothness asymptotic expansion of the scattering amplitude for the Dirac equation and application

We obtain an explicit formula for the diagonal singularities of the scattering amplitude for the Dirac equation with short‐range electromagnetic potentials. Using this expansion we uniquely reconstruct an electric potential and magnetic field from the high‐energy limit of the scattering amplitude. Moreover, supposing that the electric potential and magnetic field are asymptotic sums of homogeneous terms we give the unique reconstruction procedure for these asymptotics from the scattering amplitude, known for some energy E. Furthermore, we prove that the set of the averaged scattering solutions to the Dirac equation is dense in the set of all solutions to the Dirac equation that are in L²(Ω), where Ω is any connected bounded open set in with smooth boundary, and we show that if we know an electric potential and a magnetic field for , then the scattering amplitude, given for some energy E, uniquely determines these electric potential and magnetic field everywhere in . Combining this uniqueness result with the reconstruction procedure for the asymptotics of the electric potential and the magnetic field we show that the scattering amplitude, known for some E, uniquely determines a electric potential and a magnetic field, that are asymptotic sums of homogeneous terms, which converges to the electric potential and the magnetic field respectively. Moreover, we discuss the symmetries of the kernel of the scattering matrix, which follow from the parity, charge‐conjugation and time‐reversal transformations for the Dirac operator. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymptotics for the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers Equation

We study large time asymptotics of solutions to the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation ut＋uux-uxx＋uxxx=0,x∈R,t〉0. We are interested in the large time asymptotics for the case when the initial data have an arbitrary size. We prove that if the initial data u0 ∈H^s （R）∩L^1 （R）, where s 〉 -1/2, then there exists a unique solution u （t, x） ∈C^∞ （（0,∞）;H^∞ （R）） to the Cauchy problem for the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation, which has asymptotics u（t）=t^-1/2fM（（·）t^-1/2）＋0（t^-1/2） as t →∞, where fM is the self-similar solution for the Burgers equation. Moreover if xu0 （x） ∈ L^1 （R）, then the asymptotics are true u（t）=t^-1/2fM（（·）t^-1/2）＋O（t^-1/2-γ） where γ ∈ （0, 1/2）.