Sharif Digital Repository

A polypropylene (PP) sheet was successfully applied as an extracting medium for trace enrichment of fluoxetine (FLX) from urine samples, followed by high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD). The extraction medium was a square, 1 × 1 cm2 piece of polypropylene membrane sheet that was conditioned in methanol. The extraction process was conveniently carried out using a 5 mL urine sample. After extraction, the PP sheet was withdrawn and transferred to a glass vial for performing the desorption process using 210 μL organic solvent. After complete drying, the residue was dissolved in 50 μL of methanol and an aliquot of 20 μL was, finally, injected into the HPLC... 

A novel microcapsule adsorbent for separation of uranium from phosphoric acid solutions was developed by immobilizing the di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid-trioctyl phosphine oxide extractants in the polymeric matrix of calcium alginate. Physical characterization of the microcapsules was accomplished by scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric techniques. Equilibrium experiments revealed that both ion exchange and solvent extraction mechanisms were involved in the adsorption of ions, but the latter prevailed in a wider range of acid concentration. According to the results of kinetics study, at low acidity level, the rate controlling step was slow chemical reaction of ions with the... 

Because of corrosion resistance and antibacterial effects, shape memory Ni-Ti-Ag alloy can be considered for different biomedical applications. Mechanical alloying is used to produce nanostructured Ni-Ti-Ag alloy from elemental powders. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) are used to characterize the product. Results show that after 1h milling, homogenous distribution of the elements occurs; while no intermetallic compounds is observed. After 3h milling, titanium dissolves in nickel to form amorphous and nanostructured solid phases. Peaks of B2 phase appear in the XRD pattern after the 3h milling of the powder mixture. Sintering of the 3h-milled... 

In this study, Cu-TiC nanocomposites were produced by high energy ball milling of elemental powders and in-situ formation of TiC in the copper matrix. Cu-40wt% Ti powder mixture were milled for 60 h, then graphite powder was added, subsequently milling was continued for further 10 h. Based on theoretical calculations, at this composite, the amount of TiC as reinforcement should be 60.25vol% (45.47wt%). The effect of milling time on solution progress of titanium in the copper lattice was studied by X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) with CuKα radiation. Considering XRD of Cu-40wt%TiC after 60 h milling data and Williamson-Hall relation, crystallite size and lattice strain of copper were... 

In this paper, we propose a fuzzification method for clusters produced from a clustering process, based on Active Learning Method (ALM). ALM is a soft computing methodology which is based on a hypothesis claiming that human brain interprets information in pattern-like images. The proposed fuzzification method is applicable to all non-fuzzy clustering algorithms as a post process. The most outstanding advantage of this method is the ability to determine the membership degrees of each data to all clusters based on the density and shape of the clusters. It is worth mentioning that for existing fuzzy clustering algorithms such as FCM the membership degree is usually determined as a function of... 

In this study, in-situ preparation of copper nanoparticles under sonoheating conditions followed by coating on commercial polyester fabric is reported. Through the self-assembly interaction of thiol groups and copper nanoparticles, the modified polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) was deposited on the fabric's surface. In the next step, radical thiol–ene click reactions were implemented to create more layers of POSSs. Subsequently, the modified fabric was applied for sorptive thin film extraction of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac, and mefenamic acid from urine samples, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography... 

We show that a metal-organic framework (MOF) sustained by a nanosized Ag12 cuboctahedral node can be applied to selectively extract traces of lead(II) ion from environmental water samples. The MOF was characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, and X-ray diffraction. The effects of pH value, flow rates, of type, concentration and volume of the eluent, of break-through volume and potentially interfering ions on the separation and determination of lead were evaluated. Following desorption with EDTA, Pb(II) was quantified by FAAS. The use of the MOF results in excellent analytical figures of merit including an analytical range from 2... 

Free Content Selective synthesis of conjugated enynes from α-arylalkynols using LiCl-Acidic Al2O3 under solvent-free conditions  

7H-benzimidazo[2,1-a]benz[de]isoquinolin-7-one compounds were prepared in a selective manner by reaction between o-phenylenediamines and appropriate 1,8-naphthalenedicarboxylic anhydrides using acidic alumina under microwave irradiation  

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a biocompatible polymer which can be physically crosslinked by Borax to form hydrogel. PVA-Borax (PB) hydrogel is a promising candidate for drug delivery system. Therefore, it is necessary to find the quantitative relationship between drug release rate and network structure of PB hydrogels to predict and control drug release rate. In this work, at first step the optimum ratio of Borax: PVA was determined by studying the interactions between PVA chains and Borax molecules by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while viscoelastic properties of prepared PB hydrogels were measured in the oscillatory shear flow field. In the following, curcumin as a... 

Nowadays, environmental hazards caused by plastic wastes are a major concern in academia and industry. Utilization of biodegradable polymers derived from renewable sources for replacing common petroleum-based plastics is a potential solution for reducing the problem. In this regard, starch has become one of the most promising alternatives to non-biodegradable polymers for depleting plastic waste thanks to its low expense, abundance, renewability and biodegradability. However, the main drawbacks of starch are its poor processability, weak mechanical properties and severe hydrophilicity. In this work, thermoplastic starch (TPS) samples have been prepared using glycerol and sorbitol as... 

Nowadays, the issue of e-cigarettes gaining popularity among never-smokers and teenagers, thus becoming an emergent public health problem. Consequently, developing methods to monitor the toxic compounds in their smoke is a lucrative object. Herein, two coordination polymers (CPs) with nanorod and microsphere morphology are proposed as extractive phases in a needle trap device (NTD). The two synthesized CPs were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, BET, EDS, XPS and TGA. The extraction efficiency of two synthesized CPs was compared for polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and as a result, the nanorods exhibited higher extraction and desorption efficiency. The prepared NTD filled with the nanorod CP was... 

Polyamide-6 (PA6) / poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) / carbon nanotube (CNT) / conductive carbon black (CCB) nanocomposites with incorporation of Maleic anhydride-grafted PPO (PPO-g-MA) were prepared via melt blending method to examine the effect of PPO-g-MA on electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite. Investigation of PPO-g-MA was performed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Titration to determine the presence and content of MA in PPO-g-MA. Morphological, electrical, and mechanical properties of PA6/PPO/CNT/CCB (with and without PPO-g-MA) nanocomposites were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), digital insulation tester, melt flow index tester, tensile test,... 

In this article, a new method is proposed to identify the constants of the extended Drucker-Prager yield surface for polypropylene nanocomposites. The method is based on optimizing the difference between the numerical and the experimental results of a three-point bending test. The test specimens are made of polypropylene/nanoclay and polypropylene/nano-calcium carbonate nanocomposites with different nanoparticles content. Moreover, the effect of composite filler content on the extended Drucker-Prager constants of polypropylene, as the composite matrix, is investigated. Inasmuch as numerical simulation is usually very time-consuming and highly nonlinear, a surrogate-based model with radial... 

A simple, rapid tandem mass spectrometric method for recognition of chiral molecules by proton transfer reactions with chiral sec-butylamines and sec-butanols is reported  

Surface modification of orthopedic implants using titanium dioxide nanotubes and silver nanoparticles (SNs) is a promising approach to prevent bacteria adhesion, biofilm formation, and implant infection. Herein, we utilized a straightforward and all-solution process to prepare silver-decorated TiO2 nanotube arrays with surface density of 10(3) to 10(4) per µm(2). With controlling the synthesis conditions, hexagonal closed-packed nanotubes with opening diameter of 30-100 nm that are decorated with SNs with varying sizes (12-40 nm) were prepared. Various analytical techniques were utilized to characterize the size, morphology, distribution, valance state, surface roughness, and composition of... 

As the infrastructure-centric model of peer-to-peer streaming, recent overlay construction schemes compose a hierarchical topology of peers by grouping them into clusters. There is a server in each cluster that receives data from the source and relays it to its cluster members. In this paper, we propose an alternative infrastructure-centric peer-to-peer framework called BAHMO that constructs a hierarchical multicast tree. BAHMO does not utilize server bandwidth and rely only on peer bandwidth for data transfers. It achieves both the stability of the infrastructure-centric model and the bandwidth efficiency of the fully-distributed model. Bandwidth assignment for inter-cluster data transfers... 

A high-temperature-resisant solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was prepared based on polyetherimide (PEI) by the electrospinning method. The PEI polymeric solution was converted to nanofibers using high voltages and directly coated on a stainless steel SPME needle. The scanning electron microscopy images of PEI coating showed fibers with diameter range of 500-650 nm with a homogeneous and smooth surface morphology. The SPME nanofibers coating was optimized for PEI percentage, electrospinning voltage, and time. The extraction efficiency of the coating was investigated for headspace SPME of some environmentally important polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous samples followed by... 

A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method was developed for the trace determination of geosmin in water and apple juice samples. A poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) fiber was synthesized as coated fiber using sol-gel methodology. After performing the extraction in the headspace, the fiber was introduced directly into the injection port of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using electron impact (EI) ionization mode. One-at-the-time optimization strategy was applied to investigate and optimize important extraction parameters such as extraction temperature and time, ionic strength, headspace volume, and desorption temperature and time. The analytical data exhibited an... 

A pyrrole-based conductive polymer was prepared and applied as new sorbent for on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) of phenol and chlorophenols from water samples. Polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesized by chemical oxidation of the monomer in non-aqueous solution. The efficiency of this polymer for extraction of phenol and chlorophenols was evaluated using 35 mg of PPy as the sorbent in an on-line SPE system coupled to reversed-phase liquid chromatography with UV detection. The mobile phase were mixture of phosphate buffer-acetonitrile and compounds were eluted by the mobile phase using a six-port switching valve. High volumes of water, up to 160 ml, could be preconcentrated without the loss of...