A direct and an efficient conversion of a wide range of primary, secondary even tertiary alcohols to the corresponding iodides have been achieved under ionic liquid conditions. The method involves preparation of ionic liquid-based iminium chloride intermediate from DMF-like ionic liquid then stirring it with alcohol in present of sodium iodide. The higher yields of alkyl iodides were obtained w...

The ability to accurately and rapidly measure plant cell wall composition, relative monolignol content and lignin-hemicellulose inter-unit linkage distributions has become essential to efforts centered on reducing the recalcitrance of biomass by genetic engineering. Growing (13)C enriched transgenic plants is a viable route to achieve the high-throughput, detailed chemical analysis of whole pla...

A challenge in producing wood-plastic composites (WPCs) with a high wood content using extrusion processes is the poor processability, which gives rise to inadequate properties of the resulting WPC. Plasticizing the stiff wood cell walls can be a strategic response to this challenge. Two thoughts are addressed herein on improving the plasticity of wood particle cell walls: use of ionic liquids ...

Mucus glycoproteins isolated from a human ovarian cyst and the sputum of a cystic fibrotic exhibit a significant decrease in reduced viscosity with increase in ionic strength, I. The molecular weights of the glycoproteins showed little variation with I, implying that the change is conformational rather than a dissociation. This change is ascribed to a polyelectrolyte-type contraction rather tha...

The effect of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on the electrical properties of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VdF-HFP)) based gel polymer electrolytes has been investigated in the present work. The length and diameter ranges of CNFs used in the present work are 5-50 μm and 200-600 nm respectively. The nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes have been synthesized by solution casting tec...

The graphite nanoplatelets (GNP) were treated by vapor-phase bromination. The increase in weight and atomic concentration of Br indicated the bromine uptake. The intercalation of Br between graphene layers of GNP was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction result, showing an increase in the interlayer spacing from 3.342 Å to 3.361 Å. Two types of bonds between C and Br were introduced simultaneously...

The concentrations of sodium, potassium, chlorine, and phosphorus and the water content in A-band and I-band of rat heart muscle cells were measured by X-ray microanalysis. Concentrations per compartment water of both cations and anions are higher in the A-band, which is less hydrated than the I-band. It is concluded that at physiological ionic strength positive and negative fixed charges are e...

The interaction strength of sodium ions (Na(+)) with cellulose is investigated from first principles for varying degrees of water content. We find that the interaction of water molecules and Na(+) can be studied independently at the various OH groups in cellulose which we categorize as two different types. In the absence of water, Na(+) forms strong ionic bonds with the OH groups of cellulose. ...

We have demonstrated that using a transition metal ion to partially substitute Cu ion of the YSr2Cu3Oy can stabilize its crystal structure and retain superconductivity. The superconducting transition temperature in YSr2(Cu1-xMx)3Oy, where M is transition metal ion, ranges from 40K to 80K depending on the specific M ion. Lattice contraction due to Sr substitution makes the Ba/Sr ion to move clos...