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A highly selective cyanide phenoxazine-based fluorescence chemosensor POH was created to detect cyanide (CN) ions.

A malonitrile was added to a phenoxazine fluorophore to make this widely available chemosensor. By fluorescence spectroscopy, the sensor POH showed turn-off fluorescence emission for CN with 2:1 binding stoichiometry in CH₃CN/H₂O (90:10 v/v) medium.

The detection limits for CN were 9.8 × 10⁻⁹ M, which were much lower than WHO standards. NMR and FT-IR investigations backed up the suggested sensor POH mechanism.

The detection CN method should be applicable in a number of situations, where the CN anion for fresh water and drinking water has to be quickly and accurately analyzed.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesise new heterocyclic disperse azo dyes based on benzothiazapine moiety and their printability on synthetic fabrics.

Ethyl cyanoacetate was refluxed with aniline derivatives for 3 h to form cyanoacetanilides which coupled with different diazonium salts. The products obtained were cyclised with 2‐amino thiophenol to form arylazo benzothiazapine derivatives. The structures of the new dyes were characterised by micro‐analysis as well as IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. Printing pastes containing the dyestuffs prepared and thickened with sodium alginate were used for printing synthetic fabrics using either transfer printing or traditional screen printing.

New heterocyclic monoazo dyes derived from benzothiazabine moiety were obtained by the coupling of diazotised aniline derivatives with ethylcyanoacetate anilides followed by cyclisation with 2‐amino thiophenol. The use of synthesised dyes for transfer‐ or screen‐printing polyester and nylon 6 fabrics has been studied. The synthesised dyes which contain electron withdrawing substituents (NO₂) in the phenyl ring attached to the azo groups and electron‐donating (OCH₃) group on the other phenyl ring exert a bathochromic effect.

Synthesis of azo dyes containing benzothiazapine moiety has never been reported in textile printing.

Production of simple and less costly dyes.

Synthesis of aryl azo benzothiazapine dyes by a simple method and application in printing of synthetic fabrics.

The conventional textile dyeing process requires various operational characteristics, and determining the most reliable factor in dyeing performance has always been a challenge for the textile industry. Thus, the present paper aimed to evaluate the process sensitivity of C. I. Reactive Blue 194 dyeing of cotton fabric using a statistical technique.

An L₂₇ orthogonal array-based Taguchi's methodology was used with six parameters and three levels of each parameter. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance were studied using total fixation efficiency (T%) as the response of the process sensitivity.

Results showed that dyebath pH was the most influential factor on the process and total fixation efficiency (p-value = 0.00 and contribution percentage 45.03%), followed by dye-fixing temperature, dye mass, electrolyte concentration, dye-fixing time and material to liquor ratio.

Overall this study provides a foundation for the determination of dyeing process sensitivity that will be useful in textile industries toward further development.

To improve the problems as the heavy burden of sewage treatment and environmental pollution caused by the traditional sodium hydrosulfite reduction dyeing of indigo, this study aims to carry out the direct electrochemical reduction dyeing for indigo with the eco-friendly Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system under normal temperature and pressure conditions.

The electrochemical behavior of Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. And, the dyeing performance of the Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system was developed by optimizing the concentration of copper sulfate in the anode electrolyte, applied voltage and reduction time via single-factor and orthogonal integrated analysis.

The dyeing performance of the Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system is superior to that of the traditional reduction dyeing with sodium hydrosulfite. In the case of the optimized condition, the soaping fastness and dry/wet rubbing fastness of the dyed fabric in the two reduction dyeing processes were basically comparable, the K/S value of electrocatalytic reduction of indigo by Cu(II)/NaBH4 is 11.81, which is higher than that obtained by traditional sodium hydrosulfite reduction dyeing of indigo.

The innovative electrocatalytic reduction system applied herein uses sodium borohydride as the hydrogen source combined with Cu(II) complex as the catalyst, which can serve as a medium for electron transfer and active the dye molecule to make it easier to be reduced. The electrochemical dyeing strategy presented here provides a new idea to improve the reduction dyeing performance of indigo by sodium borohydride.

This paper aims to prepare BisGMA (bisphenol-A glycidyldimethacrylate)/jute fibre/fly ash hybrid composites with improved mechanical and corrosive properties.

BisGMA prepolymer was first synthesised using diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A and methacrylic acid. Then 2-hydroxy ethylacrylate-treated jute fibre and sodium hydroxide-treated fly ash were incorporated in the fabrication of composites using dicumyl peroxide, cobalt naphthenate and N,N-dimethyl aniline as catalyst, accelerator and promoter, respectively. The composition of BisGMA, jute fibre and fly ash was kept constant, whereas treated and untreated jute fibre and fly ash were used alternatively.

Treatment of both jute and fly ash leads to improved mechanical properties of composites. However, treated fabric plays a dominant role compared to treated fly ash as filler. Among all the composites, the one having both treated jute fibre and treated fly ash is the most suitable composite for structural applications.

The present investigation has come up with a hybrid composite that can be used for a wide range of applications like low-cost housing and structural projects, structural laminates, etc., as it is both corrosion- and moisture-resistant. It is also the most durable from the mechanical point of view. There is also a scope of using other fillers instead of fly ash to study the changes brought about in the mechanical properties.

The above composites have never been fabricated before.

This study aims to the synthesis of some novel 4-arylazo-3-hydroxythiophene analogues containing sulphapyridine and sulphathiazole dyestuffs and studying their application in dyeing polyester fabrics and rendering their antibacterial efficacy.

Simultaneous dyeing and antibacterial finishing for polyester fabric using a new antibacterial disperse dye having a modified chemical structure to thiophene dyes were studied. Construction of the thiophene dyes was carried out by diazo-coupling of diazotized sulphonamide-containing heterocyclic rings sulphapyridine and sulphathiazole with ethyl α-phenylthiocarbamoyl-acetoacetate followed by cyclizing the produced 2-arylazo-thioacetanilide with various α-halogenated reagents. All newly synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental analysis and extensive study of their spectral data (IR and ¹H-NMR). The dyeing characteristics of these thiophene dyestuffs were evaluated at optimum conditions. Antibacterial activities of the obtained thiophene dyes were studied against some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

The synthesized thiophene-containing sulphonamides dyes were applied on polyester fabric. The modified dyes exhibited a good fastness properties and antibacterial efficacy against some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Synthesized dyes showed higher antibacterial potency than the reference standard drug.

Synthesis of these disperse azo dyes for textile dyeing had never been reported previously.

The dyestuffs derived from thiophene are reasonable azo disperse dyestuffs giving good all-round fastness properties on polyester fabrics.

Thiophene dyes are used for dyeing polyester fabrics with brilliant colour and good fastness properties. The presence of sulphonamides moieties increase their fastness properties and elevate their antibacterial properties. Moreover, they can be used as antimicrobial finish due to their bactericidal properties on dyed textiles. This work afforded a new thiophene colorant that can be used in many different uses like polyester packing, thread Surgery, blends and other uses in medical textile.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are continuously formed in the body during normal metabolism and ageing through a non‐enzymatic glycosylation reaction between proteins and carbohydrates, known as the Maillard's reaction. Many AGEs are capable of forming cross‐links between proteins and most of them have fluorescent properties. Production of AGEs is markedly increased in diabetes mellitus where they play a pathological role. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possible inhibitory effects of urea, metformin and ascorbic acid on in vitro formation of fluorescent AGE products by comparing their inhibitory capacity with a well‐known AGEs inhibitor, aminoguanidine.

Experiments were carried out using bovine serum albumin and D (+) glucose to produce glycated bovine serum albumin, a fluorescent AGE. Fluorometer analysis was then performed to measure AGEs production and fluorescent intensity was compared between glycated samples with and without the inhibitors.

Aminoguanidine which is known to form guanidine‐carbonyl adduct, reversing the glycation process. was found to inhibit AGEs formation by 57 per cent. Although urea and metformin inhibits glycation by the same route, it was the most effective inhibitor among all four inhibiting agents used. Ascorbic acid, an antioxidant, also inhibits fluorescent AGEs by 52 per cent. It was also a good cross‐link inhibitor. Urea showed an inhibitory effect of 27 per cent. It is suggested that urea formed in the body might be a possible natural protector of AGEs formation. Finally, metformin, an antidiabetic drug inhibits AGEs production by only 12 per cent. It is known to rather increase peripheral sensitivity to insulin and lower blood‐glucose level.

The paper shows that aminoguanidine is the most efficient inhibitor and ascorbic acid supplementation could prove useful in diabetic patients to remove reactive species generated in the Maillard's reaction.

This study aims to prepare a low-formaldehyde and environmentally friendly glucose-lignin-based phenolic resin.

The authors directly used lignin to substitute formaldehyde to prepare lignin-based phenolic resin (LPF) with urea as formaldehyde absorbent. To improve the performance of the adhesive, the biobased glucose was introduced and the modified glucose-LPF (GLPF) was obtained.

The results showed that when the replacing amount of lignin to formaldehyde reached 15 Wt.%, the physical properties of the prepared LPF met the Chinese national standard, and the bonding strength increased by 21.9%, from 0.75 to 0.96 MPa, compared with PF. The addition of glucose boost the performance of wood adhesive, for example, the free phenol content of the obtained GLPF was significantly reduced by 79.11%, from 5.60% to 1.17%, the bonding strength (1.19 MPa) of GLPF increased by 19.3% in comparison to LPF and the curing temperature of GLPF decreased by 13.08%.

The low-formaldehyde and environmentally friendly GLPF has higher bonding strength and lower curing temperature, which is profitable to industrial application.

The prepared GLPF has lower free formaldehyde and formaldehyde emission, which is cost-effective and beneficial to human health.

The joint work of lignin and glucose provides the wood adhesive with increased bonding strength, decreased free phenol content and reduced curing temperature.

This paper aims to examine the loss of tenacity and colorfastness properties of bleached and modified (acrylonitrile, AN and methacrylonitrile, MAN) jute fibres dyed with Reactive Orange 14 and Basic Violet 14.

Jute fibres dyed with Reactive Orange 14 and Basic Violet 14 were studied as a function of exposure to sunlight in air, washing with soap solution and spotting with acids and alkalis.

Dye absorption of Basic Violet 14 was higher compared to Reactive Orange 14 at optimum dyeing conditions. Optimum dye uptake of Reactive Orange 14 required relatively severe conditions compared to that of Basic Violet 14. Whereas, Reactive Orange 14 showed overall good colorfastness to sunlight and moderate in washing compared to Basic Violet 14. All the bleached and modified fibres showed good colorfastness to weak acids and alkalis regardless of Reactive Orange 14 and Basic Violet 14 dyes. The loss in tenacity was higher in the case of non-modified fibres, and among the modified fibres, Basic Violet 14 showed the lowest loss in tenacity in the exposure to sunlight.

Many studies have been devoted to improve the substantivity of cellulosic fibre for reactive dyes. A few efforts were made to improve the light fastness. In this work, investigation will be made on a comparative study of loss of tenacity and colorfastness properties of bleached and modified (AN and MAN) jute fibres dyed with both Reactive Orange 14 and Basic Violet 14 on exposure to sunlight, washing and acid and alkali spotting. Optimum dyeing conditions will also be investigated for economic dyeing.

This paper aims to report a case study in flexible learning with multicomponent blended learning mode in an undergraduate chemistry course. Traditional chemistry courses usually include lectures, tutorials and laboratory sections. For a course “Advances in Organic Synthesis” at undergraduate level, it consists of advanced information in organic chemistry such as reaction mechanisms, asymmetric catalysis, retrosynthesis and applications in synthesis of natural products. This course is a difficult subject and requires deep understanding of contents. After learning this course, students should have comprehensive knowledge in advanced strategies of organic synthesis and have an ability to apply them to real cases. This “flexible learning with multicomponent blended learning mode” was implemented by the authors to enhance student engagement and self-motivation in their studies.

The authors hoped to enhance students’ engagement in “flexible learning” – a mixed concept with “blended learning” and “flipped classroom” – and called this approach as “multicomponent blended learning mode.” Blended learning combines face-to-face and e-learning components with interactive Web-based components and technical experimental videos were developed. The knowledge integrated in different components provides a natural environment to link the different synthetic methods together, which help students to get a better understanding of the complicated knowledge and strengthen their skills. For flipped classroom, students participated in the case studies of the organic synthesis and shared their findings to other classmates in oral presentations.

In this study, both course evaluation score and students’ academic performance in the “multicomponent blended learning mode” were increased significantly when comparing with traditional teaching methods in 2011. It was found that students’ engagement and their self-motivation in learning were enhanced.

The positive feedback from the students and the enhancement of their academic performance supported the value in this research. Besides, most universities in Hong Kong have suspended all face-to-face classes and conducted all teaching in online mode during COVID-19 outbreak. As the multicomponent blended learning mode of this course has already been conducted for eight cohorts, the authors are confident that this feature can minimize the sudden change in the learning habits for the students. As social factors and individual variations in students’ learning and study mode may affect the learning outcomes, these interactive multicomponent e-learning components in this special period make students excited when they can study and digest the knowledge according to their own pace.