Marta Haro

Isobaric vapour–liquid equilibrium for the binary systems formed by a cyclic ether and bromocyclohexane at 40.0 and 101.3 kPa

Experimental data of vapour–liquid equilibrium (VLE) for the binary systems tetrahydrofuran, or tetrahydropyran, or 2-methyl-tetrahydrofuran, or 2,5-dimethyl-tetrahydrofuran with bromocyclohexane have been measured in isobaric conditions at two pressures, 40.0 and 101.3 kPa. The equipment used was a dynamic recirculating still. The consistency of the measured VLE data has been tested with the Van Ness’ point-to-point method. The activity coefficients have been correlated with the mole fraction through Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC equations.

Optical and diffractive studies of pyridinium-based ionic liquids

Electronic absorption, steady-state fluorescence spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns for several pyridinium-based ionic liquids (ILs) (1-butyl-3-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate, 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate, 1-octyl-3-methylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate and 1-butyl-3-methylpyridinium dicyanamide) have been obtained. A systematic study has been performed for different ILs in terms of structural characteristics obtaining remarkable results. The present characterisation, centre of attention in theoretical and practical fields, leads to understand the complex behaviour of such compounds and is an essential step for their potential development as new solvents in extended applications.

Air-water interfacial behavior of linear-dendritic block copolymers containing PEG and azobenzene chromophores.

Fabrication of Langmuir films at the air-water interface of four linear-dendritic block copolymers (LDBCs) is described. The LDBCs are composed of a linear hydrophilic chain of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and the first four generations of hydrophobic aliphatic polyester dendrons functionalized at the periphery with cyanoazobenzene chromophores. Langmuir films of the LDBCs, coded as PEG-AZOn (n indicates the number of cyanoazobenzene units at the periphery of the dendritic block), have been characterized by a combination of surface pressure versus area per molecule isotherms, UV-vis reflection spectroscopy and Brewster angle microscopy. The observed PEG-AZOn Langmuir film behavior depends strongly on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio. A typical transition, related to PEG chains desorption from the air-water interface into the water subphase is observed for all the LDBCs, except for PEG-AZO16. In addition, PEG-AZO2 and PEG-AZO4 show a second transition whose nature has been studied in detail. Azobenzene chromophore interactions have been shown to be relevant in the organization of PEG-AZOn (n=4, 8 and 16) Langmuir films. Moreover, for PEG-AZO16 the orientation of the azobenzene units has been determined, revealing the formation of a well organized structure of azobenzene moieties at the air-water interface.