A new efficient method for one‐pot conversions of aryl carboxylic acids into nitriles without solvent

A new efficient method for synthesising nitriles, important organic reagents, is reported in this paper. In an environmentally benign solvent‐free system, aryl carboxylic acids were converted into the corresponding nitriles via one‐pot reactions, by amidation with ethyl carbamate followed by dehydration with thionyl chloride, in excellent yields. The results showed that the method has the advantages of lower cost, higher yield, less pollution and greater ease of work‐up. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Structure and properties of CE/CTBN/EP blends: II. Effect of EP on the mechanical properties and thermostability of the CE/CTBN system

Carboxyl‐terminated butadiene‐acrylonitrile rubber (CTBN) has often been used to improve the toughness of cyanate ester (CE) resin while sacrificing modulus and thermostability. In this paper, the addition of the appropriate amount of epoxy resin (EP) to the CE/CTBN system is shown to not only increase the modulus and thermostability of the blend, but also improve the toughness. The values of impact strength showed a maximum for the CE/CTBN/EP 100/5/5 blend. The temperature of 10 % weight loss (T₁₀) improves from 376 °C for CE/CTBN 100/5 to 407 °C for the CE/CTBN/EP 100/5/2.5 blend. It is proposed that addition of the appropriate amount of EP can decrease the mobility and increase the stability of CTBN via the reaction between the terminal carboxyl group of CTBN and the hydroxyl group of EP. But a very high EP concentration will decrease the crosslinking density of CE, consequently reducing the mechanical properties and thermostability of the blends. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Morphology and properties of poly[2‐methoxy‐5‐(2′‐ethyl‐hexyloxy)‐para‐phenylene vinylene]/silica nanoparticle hybrid films

Poly[2‐methoxy‐5‐(2′‐ethyl‐hexyloxy)‐para‐phenylene vinylene] (MEH‐PPV)/silica nanoparticle hybrid films were prepared and characterised. Three kinds of materials were compared: parent MEH‐PPV, MEH‐PPV/silica (hybrid A films), and MEH‐PPV/coupling agent MSMA/silica (hybrid B films), in which MSMA is 3‐(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate. It was found that the hybrid B films could significantly prevent macrophase separation, as evidenced by scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, the thermal characteristics of the hybrid films were largely improved in comparison with the parent MEH‐PPV. The UV‐visible absorption spectra suggested that the incorporation of MSMA‐modified silica into MEH‐PPV could confine the polymer chain between nanoparticles and thus increase the conjugation length. The photoluminescence (PL) studies also indicated enhancement of the PL intensity and quantum efficiency by incorporating just 2 wt% of MSMA‐modified silica into MEH‐PPV. However, hybrid A films did not show such enhancement of optoelectronic properties as the hybrid B films. The present study suggests the importance of the interface between the luminescent organic polymers and the inorganic silica on morphology and optoelectronic properties. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Chemicothermal treatment of 5KhNM die steel

Conclusions Of all of the tested forms of hardening with chemicothermal treatment single-phase boriding and chrome-vanadizing provide the best combination of service properties of 5KhNM steel.Kemerovo Technological Institute for the Food Industry. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 5, pp. 7–8, May, 1991.     

Rearrangeable nonblocking SOI waveguide thermooptic 4/spl times/4 switch matrix with low insertion loss and fast response

A rearrangeable nonblocking 4/spl times/4 thermooptic silicon-on-insulator waveguide switch matrix at 1.55-/spl mu/m integrated spot size converters is designed and fabricated for the first time. The insertion losses and polarization-dependent losses of the four channels are less than 10 and 0.8 dB, respectively. The extinction ratios are larger than 20 dB. The response times are 4.6 /spl mu/s for rising edge and 1.9 /spl mu/s for falling edge.     

Processes of the Collision Interaction between Ceramic Particles Being Crushed in a Circulation Pneumatic Crusher

A new circulation pneumatic crusher capable of producing submicron powders of refractory materials is presented. A mathematical model is constructed for the dynamic breaking of ceramic macroparticles. This model allows the basic laws of shock-wave crushing in the circulation pneumatic apparatus to be analyzed.__________Translated from Teoreticheskie Osnovy Khimicheskoi Tekhnologii, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2005, pp. 327–333.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Belov, Biryukov, Roslyak, Yugov, Afanas’ev.     

Transparent monolithic zirconia gels: effects of acetylacetone content on gelation

Transparent yttria-stabilized zirconia monolithic gels were synthesized under controlled conditions for hydrolysis and chemical polymerization. The influence of acetylacetone on the previous chemical reactions was explored, and a plausible explanation was proposed concerning the outstanding role of this additive during the gelation process. Small-angle X-ray scattering was used to estimate the size of the polymeric species and to investigate the influence of acetylacetone on the structure of the gels prepared.