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The electrocatalytic performance of noble metal nanoparticles depends upon their size, shape, composition, and crystalline facets. Here we demonstrate the shape-dependent electrocatalytic activity of Au nanoparticles toward ascorbic acid oxidation in acidic medium, wherein the catalysis is strongly influenced by the shape of the nanoparticles. The synthesis of (popcorn, tetrapod, and bipod shaped) Au nanoparticles was carried out using a systematic variation of the surfactant concentrations based on the seed-mediated growth technique at room temperature. Due to the facile electrostatic interaction of the positively charged Au nanoparticles with glassy carbon electrode, the modification of the surface with variable-shaped Au nanoparticles is accomplished without involving any binding agents. Among variable-shaped face-centered cubic (fcc) crystalline AuNPs, bipod-shaped Au nanoparticles (GNBipd) exhibit a superior electrocatalytic performance over tetrapod-shaped (GNTepd) and popcorn-shaped (GNPop) nanoparticles as inferred from the differential pulse voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results have been explained by invoking the relative surface free energy (?) with preferentially exposed crystal planes, relative surface area (A), zeta potential (?), and the curvature-induced charge density (?q) at the apex for individual variable-shaped gold nanoparticles. � 2015 American Chemical Society.

Mesoporous TiO2 has been obtained by template synthesis. The introduction of a surfactant in the hydrolysis of tetrabutoxytitanium in aqueous ethanol allows the structure of the resulting material to be controlled. The amorphous TiO2 resulting from hydrolysis turns into anatase on being calcined at 300°C. As determined by X-ray diffraction, the anatase crystallite size is 70 nm in the presence of the highest surfactant concentration examined and 210 nm in the absence of a surfactant. Amorphous materials have been characterized by electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis. The ultimate benzene adsorption value has been determined for calcined mesoporous TiO2. © 2010 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

The flow of two superposed fluids in a channel in the presence of an insoluble surfactant is studied. Asymptotic analysis when one of the layers is thin yields a system of coupled weakly non-linear evolution equations for the film thickness and the local surface surfactant concentration. Film and main flow dynamics are coupled through a non-local term, and in the absence of surfactants the model is nonlinearly stable with trivial large time solutions. Instability arises due to the presence of surfactants and the pseudo-differential non-linear system is solved numerically by implementing accurate linearly implicit methods. Extensive numerical experiments reveal that the dynamics are mostly organized into travelling or time-periodic travelling wave pulses, but spatiotemporal chaos is also supported when the length of the system is sufficiently large. © The authors 2012. 77 3 351 360 Cited By :3

Selection of the surfactant has an impact on many of the foam properties as it affects the surface tension and gas-liquid interfacial properties. The objective is to produce stable aqueous foam of required density. These two characteristics are influenced by the type of surfactant, its concentration and foam generation pressure. This study compares the density and stability of foam produced using four synthetic surfactants namely sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, sulfanol and cocodiethanolamide through a systematic experiment design based on response surface methodology. The relative performance has also been assessed in terms of their suitability for use in foamed concrete production based on ASTM test method. The effect of surfactant concentration has relatively lesser effect on foam density for sodium lauryl sulfate and sulfanol irrespective of foam generation pressure adopted. The drainage is proportional to the initial foam density for all the surfactant concentration for ionic surfactants at different foam generation pressures. For all the four surfactants under the optimum foam generation pressure, a stable foam with drainage less than 12% in 300 s (by considering economy as a factor) is achieved. From the foam stability test based on ASTM C 796-97, it is observed that all the four surfactants are suitable for use in foamed concrete production when optimized foam production parameters are adopted. � 2010 RILEM.

The effect of surfactants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) on the surface roughness, surface morphology and surface topography of electroless nickel (EN)-phosphorus surface protective coating obtained from an alkaline bath is presented in this paper. In this study the influence of surfactant concentrations on the surface roughness of coated samples were investigated. It was observed that the surface roughness, surface morphology and surface topography of Ni-P coating were clearly influenced by the addition of surfactants SDS and CTAB. EN deposits with addition of surfactant SDS and CTAB at a concentration of 0.6 g/l produce a smooth surface and the average roughness (Ra) value is 1.715 ?m for SDS and 1.607 ?m for CTAB which is less than the Ra value of EN deposit without surfactant addition (1.885 ?m). The mean average roughness (Ra) value with addition of surfactant is 1.796 ?m. EN deposit with addition of surfactants consists of a significant fraction of particles of nickel. In the presence of SDS, fine nickel particles have dispersed uniformly on the substrate surface resulting in smoother surface finish of the deposited layers. In the presence of CTAB, at lower concentrations (upto 0.6 g/l) coalescence of nickel particles have been deposited on the substrate surface and at the higher concentration (above 0.6 g/l) uniformly improved surface finish of the deposited layer is resulted. The complete experimental details, results obtained and their analysis are presented in this paper. � 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.