Small Amount Of Water Research Articles

The effect of water on the crystallization of phytosterols and phytostanols in organic solutions

Phytosterols (C29H50O), also known as plant sterols and stanols, are valuable biomolecules with a variety of applications in the pharma, food, and cosmetics industries. Phytosterols are typically manufactured from vegetable oil and tall oil feedstocks through a cooling crystallization process. Depending on the feedstock used, the composition regarding individual phytosterols and phytostanols (saturated analogs of phytosterols), also varies to a large extent. In the current research it was observed that by adding a small amount of water to the organic solvent [i.e., n(water)/n(acetone) of 0.17, n(water)/n(ethanol) of 0.13, and n(water)/n(ethyl acetate) of 0.10], the final phytosterol profile regarding phytosterol and phytostanol concentrations can be modified. This can be explained by the different solubility behavior of phytosterols and phytostanols in the studied solvent systems, based on experimental results obtained from transmissivity measurements. Phytostanols have surprisingly low solubility when compared to phytosterols in all the studied solvent systems. However, in the presence of water, phytosterol solubility decreased more compared to phytostanols. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that phytostanol solubility has been systematically studied. Moreover, phytosterol and phytostanol concentrations in a crystallized product with varying binary solvent systems containing water has not previously been reported. The measured experimental solubility data correlated well with the studied solubility models (van't Hoff, modified Apelblat, Buchowski-Ksiazaczak (λh), and polynomial equations). Understanding the solubility behavior of phytosterols and phytostanols allows to optimize the crystallization process itself toward a broader raw material selection, and better yield and quality in the production of phytosterols from plant-based raw materials. In addition, these findings can potentially be further utilized in phytosterol formulations for various applications.

Ultra-Fast Degradation of Mustard Gas Simulant by Titanium Dioxide-Phosphomolybdic Acid Sub-1nm Nanobelts.

The development of novel catalysts for the rapid detoxification of sulfur mustard holds paramount importance in the field of military defense. In this work, titanium dioxide-phosphomolybdic acid sub-1nm nanobelts (TiO2/PMA SNBs) are employed as effective catalysts for the ultra-fast degradation of mustard gas simulants (2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, CEES) with 100% selectivity and a half-life (t1/2, time required for 50% conversion) as short as 12 s, which is the fastest time to the best of the knowledge. Even in dark conditions, this material can still achieve over 90% conversion within 5min. A mechanism study reveals that the rapid generation rate of 1O2 and O2 •- in the presence of TiO2/PMA SNBs and H2O2 plays a crucial role in facilitating the efficient oxidation of CEES. A filter layer of a gas mask loaded with TiO2/PMA SNBs and H2O2/polyvinylpyrrolidone cross-linked complex (PHP) is constructed, which demonstrates remarkable stability and exhibits exceptional efficacy in the detoxification of CEES in the presence of a small amount of water. This innovation offers great potential for enhancing personal protective equipment in practical applications.

Constructing High-Performance and Versatile Liquid-Solid Triboelectric Nanogenerator with Inflatable Columnar Units

Abstract The use of water resources for energy generation has become increasingly prevalent, encompassing the conversion of kinetic energy from streams, tides, and waves into renewable electrical power. Water energy sources offer numerous benefits, including widespread availability, stability, and the absence of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, making them a clean and environmentally friendly form of energy. In this work, we develop a droplet-based liquid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator (LS-TENG) using sophisticatedly designed inflatable columnar structures with inner and outer dual-electrode. This device can be utilized to harvest both the internal droplet-rolling mechanical energy and the external droplet-falling mechanical energy, capable of assembling into various structures for versatile applications. The design incorporates a combined structure of both internal and external TENG to optimize output performance via multiple energy harvesting strategies. The internal structure features a dual-electrode columnar-shaped LS-TENG, designed to harvest fluid kinetic energy from water droplet flowing. By leveraging the back-and-forth motion of a small amount of water within the air column, mechanical energy can be collected, achieving a maximum mass power density of 9.02 W/Kg and an energy conversion efficiency of 10.358%. The external component is a droplet-based LS-TENG, which utilizes a double-layer capacitor switch effect elucidated with an equivalent circuit model. Remarkably, without the need for pre-charging, a single droplet can generate over 140 V of high voltage, achieving a maximum power density of 7.35 W·m² and an energy conversion efficiency of 22.058%. The combined LS-TENG with sophisticated inflatable columnar structure can simultaneously collect multiple types of energy in high efficacy, exhibiting great significance in potential applications such as TENG aeration rings, inflatable lifejacket, wind energy harvesting, gas-column TENG tents, and green houses.

Insects as Sustainable Feed: Enhancing Animal Nutrition and Reducing Livestock Environmental Impression.

Insects are emerging as a promising alternative source in animal nutrition, offering high protein content and a low environmental impression compared to traditional feed sources. This abstract explores the potential role of insects in reducing the environmental impact of livestock production. Insects such as black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, and crickets are rich in essential nutrients, including proteins, amino acids, fatty acids and so on. They can be efficiently farmed on organic waste streams, contributing to resource efficiency and waste lessening. Additionally, insect farming needs a small quantity of water, less land, and emits fewer greenhouse gases than conventional animal feed production. Despite these benefits, several challenges must be addressed to realize their potential, including regulatory approval, consumer acceptance, production scalability, and ensuring consistent nutritional quality. By overcoming these challenges through research, innovation, and policy support, insects can be integrated into mainstream animal feed systems, significantly reducing the environmental impact of livestock farming and contributing to a more sustainable agricultural future.

Understanding the Adsorption Kinetics of Acetone in Humid Activated Carbons: Perspectives from Adsorption-Breakthrough Experiments and Molecular Simulations.

The presence of water vapor influences the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in porous materials. By combination of breakthrough experiments and molecular simulations, the competitive adsorption mechanisms of water vapor and acetone on activated carbon with different textures and surface chemical properties at different humidity levels were investigated. Adsorption capacity decreases with increasing relative humidity owing to the formation of preferential adsorption sites between water and the activated carbon surface, while the adsorption rate initially increases and then decreases with increasing relative humidity. Experimental and simulation results revealed that the existence of a small amount of water changed the pore size distributions of activated carbon, thereby promoting the diffusion of acetone molecules. As the relative humidity increased, a portion of the acetone dissolved in water, resulting in a reduction in the adsorption rate. The response of different functional groups to relative humidity was further clarified by molecular simulation. Activated carbons with a high electrostatic interaction with acetone were less affected by humidity and thus exhibit greater potential as adsorbents.

Reprecipitation-mediated regulation on the surface architecture of uniform spray dried lactose microspheres

Lactose microspheres (LMs) are commonly used in the pharmaceutical field. Although the surface architecture of LMs directly correlates with the performance of the final products, surface manipulation remains challenging. In this study, uniform LMs were fabricated using template-assisted spray drying with polyethylene glycol 200 as the template. The influence of the solvent composition (methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, and acetone, with and without added water) and post-treatment parameters (time and temperature) on the moisture content, particle morphology, surface architecture, and crystal polymorphism were investigated. The sample surfaces post-treated using methanol were covered with particulate crystals with a crystallinity of ∼88.3 %, whereas those treated using acetone were covered by coral-like crystals with a crystallinity of ∼80.6 %. This is attributed to the higher solubility of lactose in methanol than in acetone. Adding a small amount of water to the post-treatment solvent facilitated amorphous lactose reprecipitation, achieving a block-like crystal stacking surface with a more stable Lα∙H2O content (∼40.4 % w/w). Lα∙H2O enriched on the LM surfaces prevents water absorption during storage, thus maintaining their high dispersity, uniformity, and surface architecture. This study provides a promising strategy for tailoring the surface architecture of spherical crystalline lactose microspheres.

Compressive Strength Characteristics of Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) Units and Walls

This paper is mainly focused on compressive strength behavior of Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) units and CSEB walls. Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) is a rectangular block used in wall construction. The ingredients of CSEB are soil, cement, fine aggregate, crusher dust, and a small amount of water. These blocks have less energy consumption and carbon emission, and they provide improved thermal insulation. In addition, they use local resources and disseminate appealing aesthetics with elegant profile and uniform size. Due to these advantages CSEB can be used as a green construction material. This research aims to study the strength characteristics of CSEB wall in compression and evaluate the suitability of CSEB walls as load bearing walls in structures. This research studies physical and mechanical characteristics of CSEB units made from red residual soil of Lele (Lalitpur) with 8% cement for stabilization. This paper discusses the compressive strength behavior of walls constructed of size 0.660m x 1.100m x 0.220m using CSEB units in cement sand mortar and stabilized mud mortar separately which were tested after 28 days. The experimental values after laboratory testing of CSEB masonry wall with height to thickness ratio 5:1 for cement sand mortar (1:6) and stabilized mud mortar (stabilized with 8% cement and 16% extra sand) separately are compared with relevant values from different codes. Results obtained from compressive strength tests of masonry walls constructed in the laboratory and those values from different codes concerning the strength of masonry unit and mortar are compared and found to be in agreement. The comparison of laboratory results with codal provisions of design of masonry walls illustrate that CSEB masonry walls can be designed in the similar way as brick masonry walls.

Hydrophilicity Dependent Distribution of Water at Ionic Liquids/Metal Interface Monitored by Electrochemical SERS.

The understanding of the interfacial processes is critically important for extending the practical application of ionic liquids, particularly for the role of interfacial water. In the electrochemical system based on ionic liquid electrolytes, small amounts of water at the interface generate a significant change in the electrochemical behaviors of ionic liquids. Therefore, the investigation on the interfacial behavior of water is highly desired in ionic liquids with different anions, water content, and hydrophilicity. Herein, based on the probe strategy, in situ surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) combined with electrochemical control (EC-SERS) was developed to investigate the influence of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of ionic liquids on the interfacial water. The water-sensitive transformation reaction of 4,4'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) to para-aminothiophenol (PATP) was employed as a probe reaction for investigating the behavior of interfacial water. The changes of relative SERS intensities of DMAB to PATP served as an indication of the quantity variation of interfacial water. The results show that the transformation reaction efficiencies were critically dependent on the additional water contents, potential, and hydrophilicity of ionic liquids. With a very low molar fraction of additional water (Xw = 0.01), transformation efficiency of DMAB (the amount of interfacial water) followed the sequence of [BMIm]BF4 < [BMIm]PF6 < [BMIm]Tf2N. It was in agreement with the hydrophobicity order of the ionic liquids. With the increase in additional water content, the potential for the full transformation was positively moved, and the efficiency increased significantly. The stronger hydrophobicity allowed more water molecules to migrate to the interface, which was attributed to the difference in interactions between water and the anions of ionic liquids. It demonstrated that the small amount of water tended to gather at the interface in hydrophobic ionic liquids. Compared to traditional cyclic voltammetry, the EC-SERS technique combined with probe reactions is more sensitive to interfacial water. It is anticipated to develop as a promising tool for the investigating water-related issues at interfaces and to provide guidance to screen ionic liquids for practical application.

Keggin structure heteropolyacid-catalyzed phosphinylation of secondary propargyl alcohols with phosphine oxides to γ-ketophosphine oxides.

Phosphotungstic acid with a Keggin structure as an efficient, simple and green catalyst for the phosphinylation of secondary propargyl alcohols with phosphine oxides to afford γ-ketophosphine oxides with up to 88% isolated yield was developed using dimethyl carbonate as a green solvent. Diaryl- or alkylaryl-substituted propargyl alcohols, and diaryl or arylalkylphosphine oxides could tolerate the system, which reduced the catalyst dosage, and avoided the use of multi-components and toxic solvents. More interestingly, phosphotungstic acid exhibited the best activity when 0.58 moles of water were added per mole of HPWA, elevating the yield from 55% to 85%. An 18O labelled product was afforded using trace H218O instead of H2O, indicating the participation of water in the reaction. Besides, our work underscores the importance and effect of a small amount of water, acting to promote the transformation of secondary propargyl alcohols into enones, which should be the real intermediates of the reaction. A mechanism involving a carbocation, Meyer-Schuster rearrangement and Michael addition of enones was proposed.

Intensified extraction of vanadium from vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite (VTM) concentrate via one-stage leaching and solvent extraction using acidic organophosphorus extractant

Vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite (VTM) is a crucial source for vanadium production. Conventional methods for recovering vanadium from VTM involving combined pyro- and hydrometallurgy (production of vanadium-rich slag, followed by leaching) or direct leaching encounter significant challenges, such as vanadium losses and complexities in metal separation stage. This study proposes an innovative approach for vanadium extraction from VTM through one-stage leaching and solvent extraction (SX), utilizing an acidic organophosphorus extractant, di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid/D2EHPA, as the lixiviant. Initial assessment demonstrated the viability of D2EHPA for treating vanadium oxide (V2O5) and iron oxides (only Fe2+-containing oxides like Fe3O4 and FeO). Notably, the addition of a small amount of water had a significant impact on iron extraction. The study investigated the effects of parameters, including the amount of added water, stirring speed, D2EHPA concentration, temperature, time, and pulp density on the vanadium and iron extraction from VTM. The optimal conditions were applied to treat roasted/oxidized VTM. The findings were corroborated through analysis of the resultant loaded D2EHPA using appropriate techniques such as FTIR and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The practicability of the proposed method for treating VTM concentrate on a larger scale was demonstrated by conducting up-scaled tests. Additionally, the separation of vanadium from iron the loaded D2EHPA was explored using selective stripping with H2SO4 solution. The recyclability of D2EHPA, a critical factor for sustainability, was investigated through five cycles of extraction-stripping.

Conversion Electrodes for Rechargeable Li-Sulfur, Na-Ion and Zn-Air Batteries

Rechargeable batteries are reliable and highly efficient energy storage devices providing high energy density at high voltages with the lead of the Li-ion technology since the early 1990s. Despite these promising advantages, the strongly limited abundance of Li and also that of other elements contained in a Li-ion battery (LIB) leads to the search for low-cost and more abundant alternatives. Especially for stationary storage devices alternative battery technologies are required. Alternative chemistries, such as those based on lithium conversion or alloying, can actually lead to higher energy density compared to the lithium (de)intercalation one.Among them, the lithium-sulfur (Li/S) conversion process appeared as one of the most promising candidates to achieve a lithium battery with enhanced performances compared to the state-of-art. In fact, sulfur electrode can deliver in lithium cell a theoretical capacity and energy density as high as 1675 mAh gS −1 and 2600 Wh kg−1 Unfortunately, soluble polysulfides can migrate and directly react with the lithium anode or shuttle between anode and cathode throughout a continuous process without any charge accumulation. This leads to efficiency decrease, active material loss or even to short circuits and cell failure, whilst insoluble polysulfides can precipitate into the cell and cause resistance increase and capacity fading. The characteristic electrochemical process involving at the cathode side the electro-deposition/dissolution of soluble species focused the attention on the nature of the current collector. Hence, flat and thin metal supports (e.g., bare Al current collector) may lead to poor performances due to high overall impedance of the cell and modest ability in allowing the complex multi-step reaction pathway, whilst thicker porous supports (e.g., gas diffusion layer, GDL) can enhance the cell response, reduce the impedance and actually boost the kinetics of the Li/S process, but suffer from its higher thickness, lowering down the volumetric energy density of the overall cell.In this view, graphene-based materials can actually allow the thinnest configuration of a carbon-coated metal support and hold, at the same time, a suitable Li/S process due to their characteristic morphology, mechanical stability and enhanced electronic conductivity. In regard to this, research activities are going to be presented about an exploited binder-free few layer graphene (FLG) thin carbon-coated Aluminum support for application in a Li/S cell with excellent characteristics in terms of stability, efficiency and delivered capacity.Conversion electrodes play also an important role for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) being a promising alternative, since Na cells show similar properties to the Li analogues in many cases, while they are based on more environmentally friendly and/or more abundant materials. The use of SIBs often results slightly lower energy densities and cell voltages than those of LIBs, but they still provide significantly better values than lead-acid batteries, which are currently dominating the market in terms of annually manufactured capacity. Tin (Sn) and its compounds are well investigated alloy electrodes for SIBs as tin provides a very high theoretical specific capacity of 847 mAh g−1. Sn is an example that shows even better capacity retention when used in SIBs compared to its use in LIBs. Moreover, transition metal compounds containing phosphorus (P) and/or sulfur (S) are promising conversion electrodes as well, since these elements enable high specific volumetric and/or gravimetric capacities in LIBs and SIBs.In addition to LIBs and SIBs, zinc batteries are also attracting research interest due to their environmental friendliness and their applicability with aqueous electrolytes. However, especially zinc-air batteries are well established for use as primary cells, but when considered for use as secondary cells, they suffer from their low rechargeability. Despite great research efforts to solve these problems, no established system has yet been able to achieve reasonable rechargeability in the context of using the commonly considered alkaline electrolytes. However, Sun et al. (2021) found a promising approach using Zn(OTf)2 salt in a small amount of water as an electrolyte. This approach enables the formation of zinc peroxide (ZnO2) instead of formation the irreversible zinc oxide (ZnO) in alkaline electrolytes, which deposits on the gas diffusion layer electrode, blocking the oxygen evolution reaction. ZnO2, on the other hand, has been shown to be highly reversibly malleable. In our current project WaZABi, we are trying another approach using a freeze-cast zinc anode, which enables high porosity, and the application of a hybrid electrolyte under participance of a polymer for rechargeable high performance zinc air batteries.

Strategies to mitigate electrostatic charging during coffee grinding

Coffee grinding generates electrostatically charged particles, causing clumping, spark discharge, and beyond. When brewing, the particle aggregates affect liquid-solid surface accessibility, leading to variable extraction quality. Here, we study four charge mitigation strategies. De-electrification is readily achieved by adding small amounts of water to whole beans or by bombarding the grounds with ions produced from a high-voltage ionizer. While these techniques helped reduce visible mess, only water inclusion was found to impact coffee extracts prepared as espresso. Wetting whole beans with less than 0.05mL/g resulted in a marked shift in particle size distribution, by preventing clump formation and preventing fine particles from sticking to the grinder. This particle size shift results in at least a 15% higher coffee concentration for espresso extracts prepared from darker roasts. These findings encourage the widespread implementation of water use to de-electrify coffee during grinding with the benefit of increased coffee extraction efficiency.

Hydrous Melting and its Seismic Signature

Hydrogen is known to affect elastic and anelastic properties of mantle rocks and minerals. Hydrogen dissolution in minerals notably alters the properties of transition zone phases, which may accommodate very high water contents. Moreover, even small amounts of water can induce partial melting in certain mantle regions and modify seismic wave velocities and attenuation. Progress in seismic imaging of the mantle—particularly the mapping of seismic attenuation and velocities—has improved constraints on local hydrous melt content in the upper mantle, and evidence exists for partial melt–bearing layers above and below the transition zone owing to dehydration reactions induced by upward or downward flow of mantle material. Further observational and modeling studies are needed to more fully understand the influence of hydrous melting on the global water cycle, mantle viscosity, and large-scale geodynamics.

Blast protection of vehicle underside through fireball extinction by water

The aim of this research is the study of blast mitigation using water within the context of underbelly vehicle protection. The interaction of a shock wave generated by an explosive charge, with a relatively small quantity of water, in a vehicle underside environment has been investigated. The simulant vehicle underside was almost a cube with open side faces and a volume of about 7 m3. The deformation of target plates bolted onto the vehicle simulant floor was assessed. These were either unprotected or protected by plastic bags filled with water. Three quantities of water were tested: 4, 10 and 15 kg. Both the residual deformation of the test plate and the maximum dynamic deformation were assessed. This latter was obtained by the squeezing of a hexagonal aluminum tube and by digital image correlation. The results showed that both deformations, residual and dynamic, of a 5 mm thick steel plate decreased when it was protected by water. Water was more effective in reducing deformation parameters than using an equivalent mass of steel. The protective effect of water was also tested with a 1 kg TNT equivalent charge in a steel-pot on a 5 mm thick armor plate. In this case as well, it could be shown that for both deformations – residual and dynamic - the armor plate was less deformed when protected by water.

Preparation of UiO-66 membrane through heterogeneous nucleation assisted growth strategy for efficient CO2 capture under humid conditions

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have driven the development of polycrystalline membranes in the field of gas separation owing to the strong adsorption-desorption behavior and stable framework structure. However, the poor heterogeneous bonding ability between crystals and the substrate leads to the unsatisfactory gas separation as well as low stability of MOF membranes, especially in the humid environment. Herein, we prepared a thin and defect-free UiO-66 membrane by a crystal heterogeneous nucleation assisted growth strategy for efficient CO2/N2 separation. The addition of small amount of water in the precursor solution promoted the crystal nucleation process on the substrate surface. Meanwhile, the smooth PDMS interlayer guaranteed the heterogeneous well-intergrown of crystals into thin UiO-66 membranes, and provided a hydrophobic environment. Therefore, the dense UiO-66 membrane with a small thickness exhibited a high CO2 permeance (177.4 × 10−9 mol·m−2·s−1·Pa−1) with moderate CO2/N2 selectivity (24.3) under humid conditions. Furthermore, the prepared membrane demonstrated excellent renewable performance after dehumidification at high temperature, and maintained good hydrothermal stability during long-term operation under the humid environment. This work provides a new insight for the design of high-quality MOF membranes and promotes the development of MOF membranes in practical gas separation process.

Flexible, photoluminescent 0D Cs4PbX6 (X = Br, Br/I)–PMMA composite films for white LED via water-induced recrystallization

3D CsPbX3 inorganic perovskite materials have attracted much attention in optoelectronic devices because of their strong absorbance, high photoluminescent quantum yield, tunable band gap, and narrow emission bandwidth. However, their practical usefulness is limited due to their poor stability in ambient conditions. Here, we created photoluminescent 0D Cs4PbX6 (X = Br, Br/I) suspensions in toluene by adding a small amount of water. The photoluminescent 0D Cs4PbX6 perovskite was mixed with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) forming 0D Cs4PbX6/PMMA composite films with higher PL, stability, transparency, and transmittance than that of the 3D CsPbX3/PMMA composite films prepared separately. Moreover, the PL intensity maintains 90% of the initial value after 30 days in water, showing excellent water stability. The flexible white-light LED device prepared by the composite films illustrated good luminescence performance with color rendering index 74.77, chromaticity coordinates (0.32, 0.33), and color temperature 6997 K.Graphical abstract

Flexible polydimethylsiloxane pressure sensor with micro-pyramid structures and embedded silver nanowires: A novel application in urinary flow measurement

Flexible pressure sensors are lightweight and highly sensitive, making them suitable for use in small portable devices to achieve precise measurements of tiny forces. This article introduces a low-cost and easy-fabrication strategy for piezoresistive flexible pressure sensors. By embedding silver nanowires into a polydimethylsiloxane layer with micro-pyramids on its surface, a flexible pressure sensor is created that can detect low pressure (17.3 Pa) with fast response (&amp;lt;20 ms) and high sensitivity (69.6 mA kPa−1). Furthermore, the pressure sensor exhibits a sensitive and stable response to a small amount of water flowing on its surface. On this basis, the flexible pressure sensor is innovatively combined with a micro-rotor to fabricate a novel urinary flow-rate meter (uroflowmeter), and results from a simulated human urination experiment show that the uroflowmeter accurately captured all the essential shape characteristics that were present in the pump-simulated urination curves. Looking ahead, this research provides a new reference for using flexible pressure sensors in urinary flow-rate monitoring.

Synthesis and crystal structure of an iron triazole complex resulting from the unexpected ligand cleavage of a triazolium carbene precursor.

Typically reactions of N-heterocyclic carbenes with transition metals are straightforward and require a carbene salt, a base strong enough to deprotonate such a salt and a metal. Yet when carbene precursors are in the form of triazolium salts, reaction may not proceed as easily as expected. In our work, we intended to obtain a triazolylidene complex of iron(II) chloride, but due to the presence of small amounts of water in the tetrahydrofuran solvent used, bis(acetonitrile)tetrakis(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-κN4)iron(II) μ-oxido-bis[trichloridoferrate(III)] acetonitrile disolvate, [Fe(C9H9N3)4(CH3CN)2][Fe2Cl6O]·2CH3CN - an interesting anion with a linear geometry of the O atom - was formed instead of the iron carbene complex. Reaction proceeded via cleavage of the alkyl N-substituent of the triazolium salt. The formation of the product was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure and possible reaction pathways are discussed.

Micro Irrigation in Rice: A Review

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important staple food crop over half of the world’s population and it provides 21 per cent of global human per capita energy. In India, rice is widely grown as the second food crop occupying about 43 million hectares of area. Water scarcity is a major constraint in the development of rice farming in some parts of the world. The water required to produce unit kg of rice is as high as 4000-5000 liters under conventional methods of water application (Transplanting under submerged conditions). During the crop growth period of rice, the amount of water usually applied to field is often much more than the actual field requirement because of adopting traditional flood irrigation methods. In order to meet the growing demand for water it is necessary to use water efficiently and reduce the loss of water. One such practice to conserve water is adoption of micro irrigation to a water loving crop like rice to reduce the wastage of water and to increase the water use efficiency. Micro irrigation is defined as the application of small quantities of water directly above and below the soil surface, usually as discrete drops, continuous drops or tiny streams through emitters placed along a water delivery line.

Role of Small Amounts of Water in the Gelation of Polyacrylonitrile Solutions in Dimethyl Sulfoxide: Rheology, Kinetics, and Mechanism

Role of Small Amounts of Water in the Gelation of Polyacrylonitrile Solutions in Dimethyl Sulfoxide: Rheology, Kinetics, and Mechanism