Publications by authors named "Virginia Mazzini"

The knowledge of thermodynamic properties for novel electrolyte formulations is of fundamental interest for industrial applications as well as academic research. Herewith, we present an artificial neural networks (ANN) approach for the prediction of solvation energies and entropies for distinct ion pairs in various protic and aprotic solvents. The considered feed-forward ANN is trained either by experimental data or computational results from conceptual density functional theory calculations.

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The properties of all electrolyte solutions, whether the solvent is aqueous or nonaqueous, are strongly dependent on the nature of the ions in solution. The consequences of these specific-ion effects are significant and manifest from biochemistry to battery technology. The "law of matching water affinities" (LMWA) has proven to be a powerful concept for understanding and predicting specific-ion effects in a wide range of systems, including the stability of proteins and colloids, solubility, the behavior of lipids, surfactants, and polyelectrolytes, and catalysis in water and ionic liquids.

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We present an experimental investigation of specific-ion effects in non-aqueous solvents, with the aim of elucidating the role of the solvent in perturbing the fundamental ion-specific trend. The focus is on the anions: CHCOO>F>Cl>Br>I>ClO>SCN in the solvents water, methanol, formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and propylene carbonate (PC). Two types of experiments are presented.

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The importance of electrolyte solutions cannot be overstated. Beyond the ionic strength of electrolyte solutions the specific nature of the ions present is vital in controlling a host of properties. Therefore ion specificity is fundamentally important in physical chemistry, engineering and biology.

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Specific ion effects on the kinetics of iodination of acetone in an acidic medium are investigated by UV/Vis spectrophotometry as a function of nature of the acid and temperature. The results indicate that the order of the reaction with respect to acetone is practically unaffected by the composition of the acid while the value of the mixed constant k1 K increases according to the sequence HBr View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The structure and rheology behaviour of gels produced by water dispersions of a vitamin C-derived surfactant (ascorbyl-6-O-dodecanoate) were investigated by means of SAXS and rheology experiments for the first time. The gel state is formed upon heating and is due to an anisotropic expansion of the tightly compact lamellar structure. The phase transition involves primarily the melting of the alkyl chains and a significant increment in the interlamellar water layer.

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