Search

For a wide range of applications, paper materials require effective protection against the destructive effect of water, which is most effectively realized by superhydrophobic coatings. In recent years, a considerable amount of scientific research has been carried out in this area, focusing particularly on biogenic resources. With this contribution, we go one step further and examine how biogenic materials can be transferred into aqueous dispersions and coated onto paper via existing technologies. With this paper coating, based on a hydrophobic cellulose derivative in combination with a structurally similar wax, thermally regenerable flower-like surface morphologies are obtained via self-assembly, where the hydrophobic cellulose polymer acts as a structural template for the co-crystallization of the wax component. Such hydrophobic structures in the low micrometer range ensure perfectly water-repellent paper surfaces with contact angles > 150° starting from coating weights of 5 g/m2. The dispersion can be successfully applied to a variety of commercially available paper substrates, whereby the effects of different roughness, porosity, and hydrophobicity were investigated. In this context, a certain roughness of the base paper (Sa ~ 1.5–3 µm) was found to be beneficial for achieving the highest possible contact angles. Furthermore, the approach proved to be paper process-compatible, recyclable, and regenerable, whereby the processing temperatures allow the coating properties to be thermally generated in situ. With this work, we demonstrate how biogenic waxes are very well suited for superhydrophobic, regenerative coatings and, importantly, how they can be applied from aqueous coatings, enabling simple transfer into the paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hofmeister series is a series of ions ordered according to their ability to precipitate proteins. It has also been linked to a host of (bio)chemical phenomena. Several attempts over the years to correlate the series to the varying success of different salts in crystallising proteins have been largely inconclusive. A correlation, based on published data and crystallisation conditions for several proteins, is proposed here between some thermodynamic properties of proteins and the position in the Hofmeister series of the salts from which they preferentially crystallise. Namely, a high ratio between the entropic or enthalpic protein-solvent interactions contribution to thermodynamic stability and the total thermodynamic stability of a given protein, indicate the protein's high propensity to crystallise in solutions of highly kosmotropic salts. Low such ratios on the other hand, indicate that chaotropic salts can be equally successful, i. e. that the protein in question is rather indifferent to the Hofmeister character of the salt. Testing various model proteins for crystallisation against screens containing salts found at different points on the Hofmeister series, as well as further bibliographic analysis, have yielded results that appear to largely corroborate this hypothesis. These conclusions may conceivably be used as a crystallisation predictive tool., (© 2024 The Authors. ChemPlusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper is the property of China Pulp & Paper Magazines Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper is the property of China Pulp & Paper Magazines Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A nematicidal fungus strain was isolated and identified as a novel member of the genus Arthrobotrys based on the morphologic and phylogenetic analysis and designed as CX1. Strain CX1 could make the filter paper translucent, resulting in an increasing hydrature index by 73.7 % and a reducing crystalline index by 32 % in comparison with the untreated filter paper. Scanning electron microscopy showed swollen microfibrils in the presence of water, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy indicated the change in absorbance and/or wavenumber for hydrogen bonds. The cellulose degradability was increased by 3.5 times when the filter paper was treated with Arthrobotrys sp. CX1 but no cellulase activities could be detected in the culture supernatant of strain CX1. The isolate CX1 could gelatinize the filter paper cellulose causing decrystallization with high water imbibition. It is significant to apply it to the initial cellulose deconstruction to facilitate the cellulose saccharification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are promising fluorescent nanomaterials that have been employed in a wide range of areas. However, their applications in some specific fields, such as chem-/biosensing remain hampered due to their inherent instability to different external stimuli. Herein, we discover a novel mechanism that ethanol, a chemical that is generally thought to be detrimental to PNCs, could specifically initiate the in-situ crystallization of the precursor salts absorbed by paper fiber to yield standard CsPbBr 3 fluorescent PNCs. Based on systematical experimental verification, it is revealed that ethanol could mediate the interfacial interaction of the PNC precursor salts on the paper fiber to allow for this exceptional in-situ PNC crystallization process. Accordingly, a fluorescence turn-on mode paper sensor for rapid and high-sensitive expiratory alcohol detection is designed, which could fulfill the on-site visualized drink-driving screening requirement. Furthermore, the application of this new mechanism in multidimensional information encryption is also demonstrated. This work not only discovers a new mechanism for PNC crystallization but also expands the sensing application toolbox of PNCs. [Display omitted] • Ethanol can induce the crystallization of perovskite nanocrystals on paper fiber. • This is due to the on-paper interaction of the precursor salts induced by ethanol. • A paper sensor is developed for fluorescence turn-on expiratory alcohol sensing. • The sensor can reach the standard of drinking-driving screening. • This technique can also be used in information encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of porewater chemistry in low-permeability, clay-rich rocks provides insights into solute transport mechanisms and the origin and residence time of porewater. Extraction of porewater for chemical quantification is challenging, and several methods have been applied including squeezing, advective displacement, crush and leach, and a relatively new technique that extracts porewater by absorption into a cellulosic paper by capillary action. Here we compare porewater Cl− and Br− mass ratios from samples using the paper-absorption and crush-and-leach techniques. Samples were obtained from Upper Ordovician shales in the Michigan Basin in Ontario, the Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory in Switzerland, and the Upper Ordovician Lorraine Group shale in southern Quebec. The data display consistent and reproducible differences among methods for Cl− and Br− mass ratios, with the paper-absorption method producing systematically lower Cl− : Br− ratios. The observed differences in Cl− : Br− ratios are attributed primarily to anion exclusion effects which are stronger for Br− than for Cl−, resulting in higher Br− concentrations in the largest pores that are preferentially sampled by the paper-absorption technique. In addition, calculations suggest that Cl− is more effective than Br− in forming ion pairs and clusters with neutral or positive charge which can enter the diffuse double layer. This causes a further decrease in the Cl− : Br− ratios for the mobile water. One important message from this work is that different extraction methods should not be expected to converge on a unique porewater Cl− : Br− ratio because each method reflects different proportions of the interlayer, diffuse double layer, and mobile fractions of porewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical equipment has to form a robust and efficient process space and was developed over the last centuries to very sophisticated, often highly specialized devices. With the upcoming information technology new opportunities arise with integrated sensors, and advanced control systems. Smart equipment is designed in form of intelligent modules. Furthermore, adaptive and integrated actuators convert the control signals to directly influence the process, thus, they can be described as responsive equipment. This contribution will give an overview of some activities in this field. Smart, responsive equipment for future chemical plants are discussed, e.g., a tubular reactor or crystallizer with integrated sensors, local microcontroller, and self‐adaptive settler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We proved that ice crystallized from water molecules within as-synthesized graphene oxide (GO) can be used as a spacer among individual GO sheets to form an expanded GO aerogel with a three-dimensional porous network structure. This designed specific structure can be retained during further processes to form graphene paper. Due to the fact that the as-fabricated graphene paper contains carbon defects and space in its infrastructure, this creates more electroactive surfaces and interfaces to significantly increase the Faradaic reaction efficiency. With the introduction of redox-electrolyte K3Fe(CN)6 into a KOH electrolyte, we can obtain a 95-fold increase in the specific capacitance compared with the value obtained in the traditional KOH electrolyte. The ice-crystallization formed graphene paper electrode showed high electroactivity because the specific porous structure can favor the fast transfer of electrolyte ions, such as Fe(CN)63- ions. The presented results prove that ice-crystallization formed GO can serve as a chemically tunable platform for electrochemical energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a novel biodegradable piezoelectric composite fabricated from paper and the piezoelectric salt, sodium potassium tartrate tetrahydrate (Rochelle salt, which we term PiezoSalt). The piezoelectric composite is non-toxic and is fabricated free of environmentally harmful solvents by impregnating PiezoSalt into a paper matrix through the crystallization of a concentrated PiezoSalt brine solution. The composite exhibits an effective piezoelectric constant between 3 and 25 pC N −1 , dielectric constant of 7, mass density of 625 kg m −3 , and a Young’s modulus between 7 and 8 GPa. When directly actuated, cm-scale cantilevers consisting of PiezoSalt paper produced clearly audible sound waves, illustrating one potential application. PiezoSalt paper composite provides a scalable, high throughput approach for biodegradable sensors and transducers with unsurpassed environmentally friendly processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper is the property of China Pulp & Paper Magazines Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a hydrophobic, biodegradable biopolymer, which can be a potential substitute for currently used synthesized polymers in the packaging industry. However, its utility is often limited by its brittleness and poor mechanical properties, mainly because of its through-thickness fractures. In this study, we laminate and crystallize PHB on glassine paper by hot-pressing and tune the crystallization conditions to minimize cracking. Glassine paper is impermeable to PHB granules and allows the formation of a distinguishable bilayer of PHB. It was found that glassine paper serves as a soft substrate, which increases the number of nucleation sites of the spherulites and prevents growth of the cracks in the neighboring PHB layer. Quenching the films to the crystallization temperature was found to minimize cracking enough to reduce the water vapor transmission rate to $$15$$ - $$25\,{\mathrm{g}}\,{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}\,{\mathrm{day}}^{-1}$$ , irrespective of the crystallization temperature; however, the mechanical properties improved only at the crystallization temperatures below 77 °C, perhaps due to the local stress in the existing cracks at higher crystallization temperatures. The optimum crystallization conditions were found to be quenching the film in an ice bath and crystallization at room temperature, by which we obtained mechanical strength and Young's modulus of $$80\,\text {MPa}$$ and $$2.5\,\text {GPa}$$ , respectively, and a water vapor transmission rate of $$20\,\text {g}\,\text {m}^{-2}\,\text {day}^{-1}$$ . Our results suggest a simple and cost-effective method to produce PHB films with enhanced mechanical and barrier properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Techniques to maintain drugs amorphous that would otherwise crystallize is an extensively studied approach to enhance the dissolution characteristics of poorly soluble drugs. However, their performance is limited by the low physical stability of the amorphous phase which can lead to recrystallization which in turn results in decreased solubility and bioavailability of the drug. In this work, the crystallinity of nifedipine loaded into a cellulose-based paper matrix, so called smartFilms, was determined by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. By adding polyvinylpyrrolidone as an extra carrier, the capability of smartFilms to transfer nifedipine into its amorphous state improved. Moreover, the performance of the formulation to inhibit recrystallization of the amorphous drug over a period of six months increased. For formulations containing up to 10 w% drug loading and additional polyvinylpyrrolidone (nifedipine/polyvinylpyrrolidone: 4:1 mass ratio), nifedipine was found to be completely amorphous after six months of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Digital Creative City project in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The text focuses on the political context in which various actors and institutions have intervened in the crystallization of this urban project. The case is significant in sofa as you see a complex interaction of actors and institutions in the implementation of a city project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabrication of industrially valuable PLA based coated abrasive and packaging products are made using bio‐polymeric blends of PLA–PEG without involving the use of hazardous halogen based solvents, such as, chloroform and dichloromethane. Accordingly, an attempt has been made in our study to substitute a relatively less harmful ethyl acetate (EA) solvent in place of the toxic halogenated solvents to dissolve both PLA and PEG polymer blends to produce an environmentally safe PLA–PEG coating and film formulation in EA. This attempt in turn eliminates and replaces the use of non‐degradable polymer coatings, (such as, acrylates, PVC, and synthetic latex) on Kraft paper thereby contributing to sustainability and environmental safety besides reduction in waste disposal to realize a cleaner environment. PLA is a hard and brittle polymer, which restricts its unexplored industrial user applications. On the other hand, PEG toughens the brittle PLA due to its plasticizing action. Hence, PLA–PEG polymer blends were prepared using increasing percentage of PEG content systematically from 5% to 25% and the % of PEG in PLA was optimized to 10% to get the maximum toughening effect in PLA–PEG formulation, which is ascertained by differential scanning calorimetry analysis. FTIR analysis confirmed the possible interaction that occurred between PLA and PEG, due to which a shift in vibration frequency of the PLA carbonyl group is observed. The other important test results from mechanical properties, contact angle, surface roughness, Cobb values, WVTR, and SEM analysis support to reveal that PLA–PEG (10%) blend is the best coating and film forming material on Kraft paper for the fabrication of industrially valuable both coated abrasive and packaging products to demonstrate its dual purpose applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document is a contents list for the journal CrystEngComm, which focuses on the design and understanding of solid-state and crystalline materials. It includes a cover image by Gonzalo Campillo-Alvarado and an inside cover image by Shuai Wang and Xiaoyang Dai. The highlighted articles in this issue include one on multiple synthesis routes for atomically precise noble metal nanoclusters by Lizhong He and Tingting Dong, and another on co-crystal formation versus boron coordination in azopyridines by Jesus Daniel Loya, Sidhaesh A. Agarwal, Nicholas Lutz, Eric W. Reinheimer, and Gonzalo Campillo-Alvarado. The document also mentions professional development opportunities and provides a list of papers featured in the journal. [Extracted from the article]

Qualitative research is often criticized for lacking rigor and consisting of opinions that result from researcher bias. But like well-designed quantitative research, qualitative studies can be trustworthy. Qualitative researchers generally agree that some practices, such as triangulation, can be used to increase the credibility of the kind of research they conduct. Unfortunately, many researchers are confused about or unaware of the different types of triangulation strategies, leading them to write papers without accurately identifying which ones they used. Triangulation is also a contested approach for many qualitative researchers because it is oftentimes associated with a postpositivist paradigm. Unlike quantitative researchers, many qualitative researchers rely on an interpretive paradigm. In this paper, I clarify how four different types of triangulation strategies differ from each other and how triangulation can be used to increase the rigor, credibility, and trustworthiness of qualitative studies. I also discuss how qualitative researchers can deal with the concerns related to the use of triangulation and explain the advantages and limitations of using crystallization as an alternative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear partitioning refers to a graphical plot of a partition ratio D ≤1.0 against a composition ratio X2 given as the mole fraction of a refractory component 2. When this plot is linear from D = 1.0, X2 = 0.0, its intercept at X2 = 1.0 is a value on the D scale here identified as the value of the exchange coefficient KD. The plot is generated from phase compositions 1 and 2 in states LV or LS or SS depending on whether the system is a boiling mixture, a melting equilibrium, or a solid-solid equilibrium. The linear partitioning equation so generated is a mathematical description of a binary solution loop, and it has the form y = ax + b where y ≡ D, a ≡ KD, x ≡ X2, and b = 1 - x ≡ 1 - X2. In practice, the linearity is tested by regressing values of D against X2 to find the intercept KD. If linearity occurs, the system is a binary solution loop; if it does not occur, the system is not a binary loop. Strict linearity is not always observed even in true binary solutions; in such cases the path to KD may be either segmented or moderately curved. Such is the case with the melting equilibria of both plagioclase and olivine, possibly a clue to the non-ideality of solution. Loop width is an inverse function of KD, and can vary with pressure as in the case of plagioclase in troctolites and gabbros. Systems with two loops joined at a common minimum or maximum are called azeotropes and all of them show linear partitioning. Sanidine crystalline solutions form a classic example of such behavior. When the system An-Ab is revisited to repeat the Bowen thermodynamic calculation from the latent heats of fusion with modern data, the array shows a single modest curvature. The monoclinic pyroxene pairs augite and pigeonite form a binary loop; augite-orthopyroxene does not. The olivine compositions of rocks in the Kiglapait intrusion follow a linear partitioning line with KD = 0.26 for data above 50% crystallized (50 PCS). All the rocks below 50 PCS occupy a new trend in the linear partitioning diagram. This trend is anchored at D = 0.0, X2S = 1.0 and runs to the calculated liquid composition at its intercept with the D = 1.0 upper bound. The new trend is an artifact of a nearly constant liquid composition and serves only to show low Fo contents in the range 0-50 PCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O + 2 MgCl 2 ·6H 2 O → [Mg(H 2 O) 6 ](SO 4) • The title paper is critiqued. • Many points of criticisms are highlighted. • Experimental data reported in the title paper are discussed. • Zinc di-magnesium chloro sulphate is in fact, magnesium sulphate hexahydrate. The authors of the title paper (Optics & Laser Tech 88 (2017) 147–151) claim to have grown a so-called inorganic nonlinear optical zinc di-magnesium chloro sulphate (ZDMCS) single crystal formulated as Zn 2(MgCl 2) SO 4. A critical analysis of the title paper is presented to show that the reported experimental data are not in agreement with the proposed formula of ZDMCS. In this letter to Editor, we prove that ZDMCS is in fact, the well-known crystal magnesium sulphate hexahydrate having formula MgSO 4 ·6H 2 O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of post annealing on the structural, chemical and electrical properties of tantalum (Ta) capped IZTO films were examined for use as the channel in thin‐film transistors (TFTs). The onset crystallization temperature of amorphous IZTO was found to be ≥ 700 °C, which is not suitable for glass or plastic substrate‐based display devices. New crystallization method involving the catalytic Ta capping and subsequent post annealing was proposed for the IZTO material system at a low temperature of 200 °C. The TFTs with Ta‐assisted crystallized IZTO channel exhibited a high field‐effect mobility of 60.3 cm2/Vs, subthreshold swing of 0.20 V/decade, threshold voltage of ‐0.39 V, and Ion/off ratio of ~108, which was superior to the control device without Ta‐assisted crystallization. The reason for this high performance is discussed on basis of the lattice ordering and chemical purification of IZTO channel layer. Existence of two dimensional grain boundary defects as a crystallization of IZTO channel layer was found to hardly affect the charge carrier transport, suggesting that they are electrically inactive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]