Vol 79, No 1 (2017)

The correlation between a dispersed phase/dispersion medium interfacial tension σ at a storage temperature of 22°C and the dispersity and stability of oil-in-water miniemulsions, which result from temperature-induced phase inversion, has been revealed for hydrocarbon/polyoxyethylene(4)lauryl ether/water systems (in the presence and absence of felodipine) with the help of conductometry, tensiometry, and dispersion analysis. At σ < 3.5 × 10^–6 N/m, oil-in-water nanoemulsions, which have narrow monomodal particle size distributions and are stable for a month, are a fortiori formed. Felodipine has been shown to serve as a cosurfactant, which is incorporated into the adsorption layer of a basic stabilizing nonionic surfactant. Therewith, σ values increase and the temperature of phase inversion decreases, while the concentration of the basic surfactant in an optimal composition must be substantially reduced. A heptane/water nanoemulsion (droplet size of 75 nm) stabilized with a basic nonionic surfactant and Tween 80 exhibits a high solubilization capacity with respect to felodipine and ensures its efficient mass transfer through a model membrane.

The porous structure of silica samples prepared via sol–gel synthesis with the use of nanocrystalline cellulose particles as a template has been studied by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption. The influence of the concentration of a nanocrystalline cellulose dispersion, template content in the nanocrystalline cellulose/SiO₂ composite, and the conditions of the sol–gel synthesis on the porous structure of silica has been investigated.

The finite element method has been employed to calculate the thermophoresis velocity of solid aerosol particles, the sizes of which are much larger than the mean free path of molecules in a gas. The thermophoretic velocities of axially symmetric particles moving along their rotation axes have been numerically calculated. Cylindrical particles, particles having a shape resulting from rhomb rotation around one of its diagonals, and spheroidal particles have been considered. The data obtained for spheroidal particles have been compared with the available results of analytical calculations.

Variations in size distributions of particles and aggregates upon dilution of kerosene-based magnetic fluids have been studied by dynamic light scattering. The data obtained on samples of magnetic fluids produced by three different manufacturers have shown that the dilution of an initial concentrated magnetic fluid leads to the formation of a system of unstable aggregates with sizes ranging from 70−100 nm to 1 μm. The aggregates peptize for 2−4 days to result in the establishment of stationary particle and aggregate size distributions.

Generation of aerosols by electrostatic spraying of liquids from the tip of a needle placed into a capillary has been studied at a voltage lower than that corresponding to the corona ignition in the regime of the formation of single monodisperse droplets. The peculiarities of the jet-type motion of low-volatile liquid droplets with submicron sizes have been considered.

Atomic stick-slip patterns are readily observed in experiments. The traditional description of atomic-scale friction in terms of mechanical stick-slip instabilities (the Prandtl−Tomlinson model) appears so successful, that it obscures the actual mechanisms of energy dissipation. Here, we show that the conventional model fails completely, because it can only explain the atomic resolution of surface force maps at a level of dissipative forces that is many orders of magnitude higher than what we should expect for the slipping nano-contact. We demonstrate that we can “feel” atoms in nano-scale friction only because there is always a tiny mass that rapidly slips between atomic positions, well before the rest of the moving body follows.

The microstructure of complex and composite poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) cryogels containing water-soluble chitosan hydrochloride (ChHC) of dispersed particles of water-insoluble chitosan base (Ch), respectively, has been studied by optical microscopy and attenuated total reflection FTIR spectroscopy. The macroporous morphology of cryogels has been studied using preparations in the form of thin (~10 μm) sections and discs 1 mm thick. The introduction of non-gelling additives (NaCl and ChHC) into an initial PVA solution causes significant changes in the size and shapes of macropores in the complex cryogels formed by freezing–defrosting, as compared with the pores in the samples obtained under the same conditions without additives. The reasons for the changes are the process of phase segregation and the influence of low- and high-molecular-weight electrolytes on crystallization of ice, which plays the role of a porogen upon cryotropic gelation of aqueous PVA solutions. As a result of an alkaline treatment of the complex cryogels, which transforms ChHC into Ch, microcoagulation of chitosan yields discrete, almost spherical, particles with sizes of about 1–5 μm. IR spectral studies have shown that concentration gradients of the gelling and nongelling polymers arise along the thickness of the gel discs, with PVA concentration prevailing near the lower surface and ChHC or Ch concentration dominating near the upper surface of the disc.

The dusty-gas model has been generalized to the case of gas mixture flow in nanoporous media under the conditions of the action of surface forces. A basic set of transport equations has been derived proceeding from kinetic equations for a gas mixture and dust particles. To take into account the surface forces, the interaction between a gas and dust particles has been represented as a sum of a long-range potential, which reflects the surface forces, and a short-range potential, which describes gas molecule scattering on the surface of pore walls. The contribution of the long-range component has been taken into account in the self-consistent approximation, while the short-range component has been considered in the standard manner. The surface forces have been shown to have a substantial effect on the transfer of mixed gases through porous bodies; in particular, it becomes possible to separate mixture components due to different potentials of the interaction of their molecules with pore surface.

Well-dispersed Au/Bi nanoparticles with average size below 10 nm were prepared by using NaBH₄ to reduce HAuCl₄ with glucose as dispersant. The obtained Au/Bi NPs were well characterized by UV-Vis spectra, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. The electrochemical study found that Bi adlayers on the surface of Au nanoparticles owns two kinds of surface structures, including a low coverage (2 × 2)-Bi adlayer and a close-packed (p × √3)-2 Bi adlayer due to the strong interaction between the two Bi layers and the below Au atoms, which is same with that bulk on Au surface.

Methane adsorption on a microporous carbon adsorbent with a bimodal pore size distribution is studied at temperatures of 303–333 K at pressures up to 30 MPa. The total micropore volume of the adsorbent, as determined by the Dubinin method, is as large as 1.02 cm³/g. Maximum values of methane adsorption of ≈18 mmol/g are attained at a temperature of 303 K and a pressure of 30 MPa. Methane adsorption isosteres are plotted based on experimental data, and adsorption equilibria at low temperatures are calculated using the linearity of the plots. Experimental isotherms of methane adsorption are compared with the isotherms calculated by the Dubinin–Nikolaev equation with variations in parameters E and n. Temperature dependences of these parameters are determined. Specific characteristics of methane adsorption accumulation are calculated.

In this paper, an analysis of steady, axi-symmetric Stokes flow of an electrically conducting viscous incompressible fluid through spherical particle covered by porous shell in presence of uniform magnetic field is presented. To model flow through the swarm of spherical particles, cell model technique has been used, i.e. porous spherical shell is assumed to be confined within a hypothetical cell of the same geometry. At the fluid-porous interface, the stress jump boundary condition for tangential stresses along with continuity of normal stress and velocity components are used. Four known boundary conditions on the hypothetical surface were considered and compared: Happel’s, Kuwabara’s, Kvashnin’s and Cunningham’s (Mehta−Morse’s) condition. The effect of stress jump coefficient, Hartmann number, and dimensionless permeability of the porous region as well as particle volume fraction on the hydrodynamic permeability and streamlines were discussed. The patterns of streamlines were also obtained.