A novel form of carbon micro-balls from coal

A novel form of ball-like carbon material with its size in micrometer range was prepared from coal with nickel as catalyst by arc plasma method. The carbon material has been systematically studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet laser Raman spectroscopy. The SEM observation shows that the novel carbon material exists in various forms such as individual balls, net-like and plate-like forms, all of which have a quite smooth surface. The diameters of these carbon spheres are quite uniform and in a narrow range of 10-20 mum. The EDS analysis reveals that the ball-like carbon material contains more than 99.5% of carbon and a little amount of other elements such as nickel, silicon and aluminum, The XRD and UV-Raman results reveal that the novel carbon material is a kind of highly graphitized carbon. The growth mechanism of the ball-like carbon material was proposed and discussed in terms of arc plasma parameters and the chemical structure of coal-based carbon. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of normal and modified nucleosides in serum by RP-HPLC

Modified nucleosides derived predominantly from transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) have been studied as possible tumor markers. In this paper a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method has been applied to study 15 normal and modified nucleosides in serum. The nucleoside levels in normal human serum were established, and the concentrations of 15 nucleosides in serum from 19 cancer patients were determined, it was found that the concentrations of modified nucleosides were significantly higher in patient sera. Based on 15 nucleoside concentrations in serum, factor analysis could classify correctly 90% of cancer patients from the normal humans Further work showed that urine was slightly better than serum when determining nucleosides as biological marker candidates. More work is ongoing to determine the clinical usefulness of modified nucleosides as tumor markers.

Excretion pattern investigation of urinary normal and modified nucleosides of breast cancer patients by RP-HPLC and factor analysis method

Modified nucleosides, formed post-transcriptionally in RNA by a number of modification enzymes, are excreted in abnormal levels in the urine of patients with malignant tumors. To test their usefulness as tumor markers, and to compare them with the conventional tumor markers, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method and a factor analysis method have been used to study the excretion pattern of nucleosides of breast cancer patients. A clear cut differentiation of the breast cancer group and the healthy individuals in two clusters without overlapping was obtained. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Capillary electrophoresis of urinary normal and modified nucleosides of cancer patients

This paper gives a capillary electrophoretic method for the separation of 15 urinary normal and modified nucleosides from cancer patients in less than 40 min. A 500 mmx50 mu m uncoated capillary column (437.5 mm to window) was used. The effects of the voltage and the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration in the buffer on the separation were studied. With reproducibilities of migration times better than 1.2% (R.S.D.) and determined concentrations better than 5-25%, depending on the concentrations of nucleosides in the urine, the analytical characteristics of the method were food. Using this developed method, the concentrations of 13 normal and modified nucleosides, extracted on a phenyl boronic acid affinity chromatography column, in 25 urines from patients of 14 kinds of cancer were determined. The levels (nmol/mol creatinine) of modified nucleosides in urines from cancer patients were increased as compared with those in normal urines. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Self-assembly of single-stranded RNA on carbon nanotube: Polyadenylic acid to form a duplex structure

All messenger-RNA (mRNA) molecules in eukaryotic cells have a polyadenylic acid [poly (rA)] tail at the 3'-end and human poly (rA) polymerase (PAP) has been considered as a tumor-specific target. A ligand that is capable of recognizing and binding to the poly(M) tail of mRNA might interfere with the full processing of mRNA by PAP and can be a potential therapeutic agent. We report here for the first time that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can cause single-stranded poly (M) to self-structure and form a duplex structure, which is studied by UV melting, atomic force microscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and NMR spectrometry.

Copper(I)-Catalyzed Aryl Bromides To Form Intermolecular and Intramolecular Carbon-Oxygen Bonds

A highly efficient Cu-catalyzed C-O bond-forming reaction of alcohol and aryl bromides has been developed. This transformation was realized through the use of copper(I) iodide as a catalyst, 8-hydroxyquinoline as a ligand, and K3PO4 as a base. A variety of functionalized substrates were found to react under these reaction conditions to provide products in good to excellent yields.

Implantation of Nafion (R) ionomer into polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan composites to form novel proton-conducting membranes for direct methanol fuel cells

A series of cost-effective, proton-conducting composite membranes, comprising of Nafion (R) ionomer, chitosan (CS). and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), is successfully prepared. By taking advantage of the strong electrostatic interactions between Nafion (R) ionomer and CS component, Nafion ionomer is effectively implanted into the PVA/CS composite membranes, and improves proton conductivity of the PVA/CS composite membranes. Furthermore, this effect dramatically depends on the composition ratio of PVA/CS, and the optimum conductivity is obtained at the PVA/CS ratio of 1:1. The developed composite membranes exhibit much lower methanol permeability compared with the widely used Nafion (R) membrane, indicating that these novel membranes have great potential for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).

Enhanced crystallization of the gamma-form of propylene-ethylene copolymer in its miscible blends with propylene homopolymer

BACKGROUND: How to promote the formation of the gamma-form in a certain propylene-ethylene copolymer (PPR) under atmospheric conditions is significant for theoretical considerations and practical applications. Taking the epitaxial relationship between the alpha-form and gamma-form into account, it is expected that incorporation of some extrinsic alpha-crystals, developed by propylene homopolymer (PPH), can enhance the crystallization of the gamma-form of the PPR component in PPR/PPH blends.RESULTS: The PPH component in the blends first crystallizes from the melt, and its melting point and crystal growth rate decrease with increasing PPR fraction. On the other hand, first-formed alpha-crystals of the PPH component can induce the lateral growth of PPR chains on themselves, indicated by sheaf-like crystal morphology and positive birefringence, which is in turn responsible for enhanced crystallization of the gamma-form of the PPR component.

Study on the formation of beta-crystal during the crystallization process of polypropylene reactor granule

A notable amount of PP beta-crystal (30%, by X-ray diffraction pattern) has been found in the PP samples as polymerized at normal static isothermal crystallization conditions without using any extra nucleating agents. Existence of catalyst residues in the sample is decisive, which slows down the crystallization rate facilitating the formation of beta-form spherulites. Comparatively, high molecular weight PP favors the formation of beta-form spherulites, deducting from no beta-crystal detected in the degraded samples. Finally, high isotacticity is also required for obtaining qualitative beta-form spherulites, demonstrated by increased beta-crystal content after removal of weak crystalline fraction of the sample.

A general route to transform normal hydrophilic cloths into superhydrophobic surfaces

Herein, we describe a simple and inexpensive method for forming superhydrophobic cloths with the highest water contact angle of close to 180 degrees, in which normal commercial cloths serving as pristine materials are modified with suitable gold micro/nanostructures.