Kinetics of hydroformylation of 1-octene in ionic liquid-organic biphasic media using rhodium sulfoxantphos catalyst

Biphasic hydroformylation of 1-octene was performed using rhodium sulfoxantphos catalyst dissolved in [BuPy][BF4] ionic liquid. Preliminary experiments proved this system to retain the catalytic complex within the ionic liquid phase and to maintain a high selectivity towards the linear aldehyde (n:iso ratio of 30) over several cycles. Process parameter investigation showed a first order dependence of the initial rate with respect to the catalyst and 1-octene concentrations, but a more complex behavior with respect to hydrogen (fractional order) and carbon monoxide partial pressures (inhibition at high pressures). Different mathematical models were selected based on the trends observed and evaluated for data fitting. Also, rate models were derived from a proposed mechanism, using Christiansen matrix approach. To calculate concentrations of substrates in the catalytic phase as required by this kinetic modeling, solubility measurements were preformed for the gases (pressure drop technique), as well as for 1-octene and n-nonanal (thermogravimetry analysis)

Sisters in the Sacred Grove: Catholic Women Religious as Faculty Members at Public Universities

This study addresses the lack of scholarly attention focused on educational contributions of Catholic women religious educators. Using a qualitative multiple case study, this research describes the academic experiences of Catholic sisters, or women religious, serving as faculty at public universities in the South. The study highlights issues related to gender, religious identity, environment, relationships, and experiences and perceptions of others as they pertain to the academic experiences of Catholic women religious. Implications of the study point to an underutilization of the outsider perspective which could potentially benefit the academy, as well as the need for diversity training in the academy. The study expands the knowledge base for subsequent research in the areas of Catholic women religious faculty members in higher education and religious identity of faculty members in higher education

Competitive adsorption of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution using sludge‐based activated carbon.

Preparation of activated carbon from sewage sludge is a promising approach to produce cheap and efficient adsorbent for pollutants removal as well as to dispose of sewage sludge. The first objective of this study was to investigate the physical and chemical properties (BET surface area, ash and elemental content, surface functional groups by Boehm titration and weight loss by thermogravimetric analysis) of the sludge‐based activated carbon (SBAC) so as to give a basic understanding of its structure and to compare to those of two commercial activated carbons, PICA S23 and F22. The second and main objective was to evaluate the performance of SBAC for single and competitive adsorption of four substituted phenols (p‐nitrophenol, p‐chlorophenol, p‐hydroxy benzoic acid and phenol) from their aqueous solutions. The results indicated that, despite moderate micropore and mesopore surface areas, SBAC had remarkable adsorption capacity for phenols, though less than PICA carbons. Uptake of the phenolic compound was found to be dependent on both the porosity and surface chemistry of the carbons. Furthermore, the electronegativity and the hydrophobicity of the adsorbate have significant influence on the adsorption capacity. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used for the mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium for single‐solute isotherms. Moreover, the Langmuir–Freundlich model gave satisfactory results for describing multicomponent system isotherms. The capacity of the studied activated carbons to adsorb phenols from a multi‐solute system was in the following order: p‐nitrophenol > p‐chlorophenol > PHBA > phenol

Corporate voluntary greenhouse gas reporting: stakeholder pressure and the mediating role of the chief executive officer

The study sheds light on the extent to which various stakeholder pressures influence voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how the impact is explained and moderated Chief executive office (CEO) characteristics of 215 FTSE350 listed United Kingdom (UK) companies for the year 2011. The study developed a classification of GHG emission disclosure based on the guidelines of GHG Protocol, DEFRA and Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure using content analysis. Evidence from the study suggests that some stakeholder pressure (regulatory, creditor, supplier, customer, board control) positively impacts on GHG disclosure information by firms. We found stakeholder pressure in the form of regulatory, mimetic and shareholders pressure positively influenced the disclosure of GHG information. We also found creditor pressure also had a significant negative relationship with GHG disclosure. While CEO age had a direct negative effect on GHG voluntary disclosure, its moderation effect on stakeholder pressure influence on GHG disclosure was only significant on regulatory pressure

Flow injection determination of readily assimilable nitrogen compounds during vinification

A flow injection method for the determination of readily assimilable nitrogen (r.a.n.), i.e. ammonium and aminated nitrogen, is reported. The difference in pH of the sample in the presence and absence of formaldehyde, which blocks the amino function, provides the value of r.a.n. by monitoring the changes in absorbance of bromothymol blue at 616 nm. The detection and quantification limits are 10 and 11.6 mg l-1, respectively; the reproducibility and repeatability are 3.94 mg l-1 and 1.35 mg l-1, respectively; and the sample throughput is 20 samples h-1. The method has been applied to the analysis of 120 samples of must and wine subjected to biological aging. The proposed method also provides good correlation with the reference method used in routine analysis, and it is faster and gives sufficient precision for wineries requirements

Orbital frustration at the origin of the magnetic behavior in LiNiO2

We report on the ESR, magnetization and magnetic susceptibility measurements performed over a large temperature range, from 1.5 to 750 K, on high-quality stoichiometric LiNiO2. We find that this compound displays two distinct temperature regions where its magnetic behavior is anomalous. With the help of a statistical model based on the Kugel'-Khomskii Hamiltonian, we show that below T_of ~ 400 K, an orbitally-frustrated state characteristic of the triangular lattice is established. This then gives a solution to the long-standing controversial problem of the magnetic behavior in LiNiO2.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, RevTex, accepted in PR

Magnetic and Metal-Insulator Transitions in beta-Na0.5CoO2 and gamma-K0.5CoO2 -NMR and Neutron Diffraction Studies-

Co-oxides beta-Na0.5CoO2 and gamma-K0.5CoO2 have been prepared by the Na de-intercalation from alpha-NaCoO2 and by the floating-zone method, respectively. It has been found that successive phase transitions take place at temperatures Tc1 and Tc2 in both systems. The appearance of the internal magnetic field at Tc1 with decreasing temperature T indicates that the antiferromagnetic order exists at T < Tc1, as in gamma-Na0.5CoO2. For beta-Na0.5CoO2, the transition temperatures and the NMR parameters determined from the data taken for magnetically ordered state are similar to those of gamma-Na0.5CoO2, indicating that the difference of the stacking ways of the CoO2 layers between these systems do not significantly affect their physical properties. For gamma-K0.5CoO2, the quantitative difference of the physical quantities are found from those of beta- and gamma-Na0.5CoO2. The difference between the values of Tci (i = 1 and 2) of these systems might be explained by considering the distance between CoO2 layers.Comment: 8 pages, 14 figures, 1 Tabl

Direction-finding arrays of directional sensors for randomly located sources

The problem of directional sensor placement and orientation is considered when statistical information about the source direction of arrival is available. We focus on two-sensor arrays and form a cost function based on the Cramer-Rao bound that depends on the probability distribution of the coplanar source direction. Proper positioning and orientation of the sensors enable the two-sensor array to have an accuracy comparable to that of a three-or four-sensor uniform circular array