Synthesis of Resins Using Epoxies and Humins as Building Blocks: A Mechanistic Study Based on In-Situ FT-IR and NMR Spectroscopies

The combination of eco-respectful epoxy compounds with the humins, a by-product of biomass chemical conversion technologies, allow the obtention of materials with high added value. In this work, we propose a chemical connection study of humins with two aliphatic bis-epoxides through copolymerization reactions to synthesize sustainable, bio-based thermosets. The mechanism insights for the crosslinking between the epoxides and humins was proposed considering the different functionalities of the humins structure. Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR), one dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques were used to build the proposed mechanism. By these techniques, the principal chain connections and the reactivity of all the components were highlighted in the synthesized networks.

Synthesis of Resins Using Epoxies and Humins as Building Blocks: A Mechanistic Study Based on in-situ FT-IR and NMR Spectroscopies

The combination of eco-respectful epoxy compounds with the humins, a by-product of biomass chemical conversion technologies, allow the obtention of materials with high added value. In this work, we propose the chemical connection study of humins with two aliphatic diepoxides through the copolymerization reactions to synthesize sustainable bio-based thermosets. The mechanism insights for the crosslinking between the epoxides and humins was proposed considering the different functionalities of the humins structure. FT-IR spectroscopy, 1 D and 2 D NMR spectroscopy techniques were used to build the proposed mechanism. By these techniques, the principal chain connections and the reactivity of all the components were highlighted in the synthesized networks.

Seismicity of the Middle America arc-trench system near Managua, Nicaragua

Hypocenters of earthquakes occurring during the period 1950 through 1972 in the Middle America arc-trench system near Managua, Nicaragua, have been relocated by the method of joint hypocenter determination (JHD) or the master event method with the Managua earthquake of December 23, 1972 as the calibration event. The relocated hypocenters show a considerably narrower Benioff zone than previous hypocenters of the same earthquakes and clearly separate shallow-focus volcanic terrane earthquakes of the type which struck Managua from the Benioff zone earthquakes. The shallow-focus volcanic terrane earthquakes are probably caused by tectonic conditions associated with the formation of the Nicaraguan depression or the principal chain of Quaternary volcanoes. The Managua earthquake of December 23, 1972 may have occurred as a consequence of slippage along a transform fault zone which connects offset segments of the chain of Quaternary volcanoes; the volcanic chain is then taken to be the surface expression of a secondary spreading zone which lies above the Benioff zone of the Middle America arc-trench system. Alternatively, the recent Managua earthquake may have occurred as a consequence of regional east-west tension in the Nicaraguan depression.