We report the effect of alkyl side chain branching on melt-recrystallization of nanoconfined polypeptoid films using poly(N-octyl glycine) (PNOG) and poly(N-2-ethyl-1-hexyl glycine) (PNEHG) as model systems. Upon cooling from the isotropic melt, confined PNOG molecules recrystallize into a nearperfect orthorhombic crystal structure with the board-like molecules stacked face-to-face in the substrate-parallel direction, resulting in long-range ordered wormlike lamellae that occupy the entire film. By contrast, rod-like PNEHG molecules bearing branched N-2-ethyl-1-hexyl side chains stack into a columnar hexagonal mesophase with their backbones oriented parallel to the substrates, forming micron-sized sheaf-like superstructures under confinement, exposing large areas of empty spaces in the film. These findings highlight the effect of alkyl side chain branching on the packing motif and multiscale crystalline structure of polypeptoids under a nanoconfined geometry.
The optimal preparation conditions of activated carbon (AC) derived from corncob (CC) by steam activation were investigated using response surface methodology. In response to iodine adsorption capacity, experimental design was established using three synthetic variables based on the Box–Behnken central composite design. The optimum conditions of 892 °C activation temperature, 40 min residence time, and 1:1.6 the mass ratio of char to H2O gave 1216.74 mg/g iodine adsorption value. AC was characterized using instrumental analyses consist of Brunauere-Emmette-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of experimental parameters such as adsorption time, adsorbent dosage and pH on the uptake of methylene blue (MB) were studied. Experimental equilibrium data was analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Koble–Corrigan isotherm models. The results showed that the Freundlich and Koble–Corrigan models could properly represent the adsorption behavior of MB on AC. In addition, it was known that the adsorption of MB was a spontaneous and endothermic process from the thermodynamic parameters of ΔG, ΔHand ΔS.
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