In this study, polyoxometallate based hybrid photochromic materials were prepared by incorporating phosphotungstate anion, PW12O403−, (PW) in hybrid tetraethyl orthosilicate and (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane TEOS-GPTMS derived organomodified silicates (Ormosil) matrices by sol-gel method and the resulting materials were used to prepare multilayer films by dip-coating method. The effect of alkaline earth metal cations doping and matrix composition (%GPTMS) on the photochromic response of the hybrid films was studied in details. GPTMS, after undergoing ring opening reaction, leads to the formation of chelating sites (diol and ether functionalities) which helps in anchoring of cations, which in turn interacts with phosphotungstate anions and favors their incorporation in the hybrid films. For a fixed concentration of GPTMS, the cation-phosphotungstate electrostatic interaction and hence the photochromic response of the films follow the order Mg2+ < Ca2+ < Sr2+ < Ba2+, thereby, indicating that larger cations interact more strongly with the heteropolyanions. The presence of these cations and GPTMS concomitantly leads to increased incorporation of phosphotungstic acid hydrate (HPW) in the films, resulting in a significant enhancement of the photochromic response.

Many routes for extracting silica from rice hulls are based on direct calcining. These methods, though, often produce silica contaminated with inorganic impurities. This work presents the study of a strategy for obtaining silica from rice hulls with a purity level adequate for applications in electronics. The technique is based on two leaching steps, using respectively aqua regia and Piranha solutions, which extract the organic matrix and inorganic impurities. The material was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size analysis by laser diffraction (LPSA) and thermal analysis.

Solid dextrans are thermally stable polysaccharides losing water only at 160ºC. According to IR, X-ray, DTA and DSC data no noticeable changes in dextran configuration occurs at this temperature. The total content of dextrans analyzed in 26 samples of Brazilian sugars and 57 samples of sweetened cachaças ranged from 109.5 to 1840 mg/kg and 1.6 to 11.2 mg/L with medians of 999.8 mg/kg and 5.9 mg/L respectively. Samples of sweeted cachaças have been monitored for turbidity, total soluble dextran content and weight of precipitate formed during 275 days. Precipitate formation is a kinetically controlled process which ends after 275 days when the total concentration of soluble dextrans becomes smaller than 0.25 mg/L.