Rachid Mahmoud

Core/shell, protuberance-free multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyaniline nanocomposites via interfacial chemistry of aryl diazonium salts

Highly uniform core-shell like multi-walled carbon nanotubes-polyaniline (MWCNT-PANI) nanocomposites were prepared in two steps (i) surface modification of MWCNTs with a 4-aminodiphenylamine group via in situ diazonium generation process; and (ii) polymerization of aniline onto surface modified MWCNTs. This functionalization helped to easily disperse the MWCNTs in acidic solutions; hence it is suitable for the chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. It was found that MWCNT-PANI nano-composites with higher MWCNTs loading yield PANI chains with more quinoid units than the pure PANI, which results in significant improvement in the conductivity of the composites. This facile approach of synthesizing core-shell nanocomposites highlights the efficiency of the interfacial chemistry of aryl diazonium salts in generating conductive polymer/MWCNT nanocomposites with enhanced conductivity and high surface area.

Erratum to: Measurement and prediction of solid–liquid phase equilibria for systems containing biphenyl in binary solution with long chain n-alkanes

Solid–liquid equilibria of the n-alkanes (n-octadecane, n-eicosane, n-tetracosane, n-pentacosane, n-triacontane) in biphenyl were measured by DSC 7 (Perkin-Elmer). It was found that all systems are simple eutectic. The solubility of the biphenyl in n-alkanes was studied in the temperature range 301–370 K. The experimental results were correlated using modified UNIFAC (Larsen and Gmehling versions) and ideal models. Good representation of solubility diagrams was obtained using partly readjusted UNIFAC parameters of Larsen version. Taking into account the large range of applicability of UNIFAC and the predictions of the activity coefficients for many other components in different classes of mixtures, we can conclude that the new experimental data for the systems mentioned in this work should be included in the database used by UNIFAC in order to evaluate better interaction parameters and to improve predictions.

Biodiesel Production from Nonedible Oil Using Heterogeneous Solid Base Catalysts

Biodiesel is a clean-burning and renewable substitute for conventional diesel. It is produced particularly from vegetable oils. It’s nontoxic and biodegradable, and it can also be used in most diesel equipments with no or only minor modifications. In this study we focused our work on the elaboration of heterogeneous solid base catalysts (KF/MgO and KF/CaO). The catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The heterogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification is applied for producing a biodiesel starting from a nonedible and abundant vegetable source in the Mediterranean Basin such as Pistacia lentiscus (PL). The catalysts are compared in terms of activities in the transesterification process under suitable conditions (reaction temperature of 50 °C, methanol to oil molar ratio of 12:1, catalyst loading of 1 wt.%, and reaction time of 2 h). For the two catalysts, a higher than 90% conversion was found.

Highly Ammonia Sensing Using Direct In Situ Electro-Deposited Polypyrrole-Dodecylbenzene Sulfonic Acid Film on ITO Coated Flexible Substrates

Air quality monitoring is of major concern as it is directly linked to public health. It requires the development of high sensitive devices with fast response towards hazardous gas and volatile compounds. Such performances depend on the nature and quality of deposition of the sensing layer. Herein, adherent polypyrrole-dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (PPy–DBSA) films were deposited on a N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) pyrrole modified ITO coated polyethylene teraphtalate (PET) flexible substrate by facile direct electrochemical oxidation of pyrrole in an aqueous solution of sulfonic acid. The obtained PPy-DBSA films were subjected to various characterization techniques such as, FTIR, Raman, SEM and conductivity measurements. Chemiresistive gas sensing tests have demonstrated selectivity and sensitivity of films toward ammonia vapors over the other vapors (nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, acetone, methanol and ethanol) with higher response at 20 ppm, reasonably fast response time of 3 min and reaching detection limit of 3ppm. The response of the sensor can reasonably be related to the strong electrostatic interactions between vapor molecules and the dopant agents within PPy films. In comparison PPy-DBSA films prepared on pristine ITO/PET has exhibited lower response at 20 ppm of ammonia exposure, which highlights the role of surface modification and the contribution from the dopant agent nature for ammonia sensing. Moreover, chemiresistive response performances have been tested in the presence of humidity, under varied temperatures, and finally their behaviors were featured by an impedance spectroscopy in both presence and absence of gas. This work conclusively shows that the sensing performances are not only driven by the molecular interactions between the sensor and the analyte but also by the quality of deposition and adhesion of the former to the transducer. The latter feature can be controlled by appropriate chemical surface modification.

Study of polyamide 12 crystallization behavior within rotational molding process

Our study is focused on the investigation of polyamide 12 (PA 12) grade behavior in rotational molding process. Hence, some rotational molding tests of polyamide 12 were conducted on a STP LAB 40 machine. To simulate the cooling stage within the rotational molding, the crystallization behavior of polyamide 12 was studied using differential scanning calorimetry technique and the obtained results for non-isothermal crystallization were fitted with Ozawa model. Furthermore, morphology survey has been carried out by a hot stage method using a microscope to investigate the spherulites evolution which depends on the temperature. The micro-tensile properties have been studied using micro-tensile bench (MVTV2) to explain the mechanical behavior of polyamide 12 during crystallization. As a result, the rotational molding of PA 12 was successfully carried out. The simulation of the melting and crystallization stages, by application of Ozawa model coupled with enthalpy method gave a good representation of experimental data on one hand. On the other hand, all characterization revealed useful information to understand the different phenomena that govern the rotational molding process.