Effects of Monomer Feed Amounts on Solution Properties and Solution Morphologies for a Comb-like Ter-polymer

An acrylamide(AM)-based ter-polymer (PAAB) containing sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonate (NaAMPS) and p-vinylbenzyl-terminated octylphenoxy poly(ethylene oxide) (VBE, polymerization degree: 24) was synthesized by an aqueous free-radical copolymerization. In order to obtain a PAAB polymer with both good thickening properties and surface and interfacial properties in brine solutions for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), the influences of the NaAMPS and VBE feed amounts on the intrinsic and apparent viscosities and the surface and interfacial tensions of the PAAB polymer in aqueous solutions were investigated. The optimum NaAMPS feed amount was 9 mol%; an excessive feed amount interfered with the aggregations of the PAAB macro-molecules in aqueous solutions and on the surfaces of aqueous solutions and the interfaces between aqueous solutions and kerosene. In addition, for this NaAMPS feed concentration, the PAAB polymer showed the highest apparent viscosities and the lowest surface and interfacial tensions in 5 g L^?1 NaCl for a VBE feed amount of 1.1 mol%. The mechanism giving rise to the solution properties for this polymer was examined. For this purpose, the effect of the polymer concentration on the supra-molecular structures of the PAAB polymer in water and in 5 g/L NaCl, were investigated by ultraviolet spectral analysis using pyrene as a probe. A transmission electron microscope (TEM) was also used to observe the morphologies of the associated structures in aqueous solutions to explore the correlation between the solution properties and solution structures for PAAB; expanded polymer chain bundles were formed at a polymer concentration of 0. 4 g L^?1, higher than the critical micelle concentration (0. 3 g L^?1).     

Hydrophilic modification of microporous polysulfone membrane via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization of acrylamide

Polyacrylamide (PAM) brushes were grafted from chloromethylated polysulfone (CMPSF) membrane surface by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) to improve the membrane's hydrophilic property. In order to anchor the initiator onto polysulfone (PSF) membrane surface, CMPSF was used to prepare the microporous membrane by phase-inversion process. Attachment of the PAM chains on membrane surface was confirmed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The grafted density of PAM was calculated to be 0.08 chains nm⁻². Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to characterize the surface morphology of the CMPSF membrane and modified membrane. The number-average molecular weight (M_n) of PAM linearly increased with the polymerization time, while the static water contact angle (θ) of the membrane grafted with PAM linearly decreased. This indicated the hydrophilic property of the membrane was linearly correlated with the chain length of graft polymer. Therefore linear control of PSF membrane's hydrophilic property was realized through adjusting polymerization time.     

A Novel Ratiometric Fluorescent Mercury Probe Based on Deprotonation-ICT Mechanism

A new NBD-rhodamine dye (1) was developed as a colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent chemosensor for Hg²⁺ with good selectivity in aqueous ethanol solutions under neutral to basic conditions. Sensor 1 showed absorption at 468 nm and a weak emission at 529 nm (? _F ?=?0.063) in ethanol/aqueous tris buffer (9:1, v/v) of pH 9.17 solution. Bathochromic shifts in both absorption (492 nm) and fluorescence spectra (569 nm, ? _F ?=?0.129), respectively upon addition of 2 equiv. of Hg²⁺ were observed. The ring-opening reaction of the spirolactam form to the corresponding xanthene form was not found. The interaction of Hg²⁺ with chemosensor 1 resulted in the deprotonation of the secondary amine conjugated to the NBD component so that the electron-donating ability of the N atom was enhanced. Deprotonation-ICT mechanism of secondary amines was suggested for the ratiometric fluorescent chemosensing for Hg²⁺.     

Non-invasive determination of shock wave pressure generated by optical breakdown

Shock waves generated by a laser-induced plasma were investigated using a pump-and-probe technique. Both 7-ns and 40-ps laser pulses at 1.06 m were employed to initiate breakdown in water. Two He-Ne laser beams were used as a velocity probe, allowing the accurate measurement of the shock velocity around the plasma. The maximum shock pressure was determined from the measured shock velocities, the jump condition and the equation of state for water. The conservation of the total momentum of the shock front was used to derive expressions for the shock velocity, particle velocity and shock pressure vs. the distance (r) from the center of the plasma. For a shock wave of spherical symmetry, the shock pressure is proportional to 1/r ². Our work shows that the expanding plasma initially induces a shock wave; the shock wave dissipates rapidly becoming an acoustic wave within 300–500 m.     

Transverse excitations in liquid Ga

The transverse acoustic excitation modes were detected by inelastic x-ray scattering in liquid Ga in the Q range above 9?nm^?1 although liquid Ga is mostly described by a hard-sphere liquid. An ab initio molecular dynamics simulation clearly supports this finding. From the detailed analysis for the S(Q,ω) spectra with a good statistic quality, the lifetime of 0.5 ps and the propagating length of 0.4–0.5?nm can be estimated for the transverse acoustic phonon modes, which may correspond the lifetime and size of cages formed instantaneously in liquid Ga. The microscopic Poisson’s ratio estimated from the dynamic velocities of sound is 0.42, indicating a rubber-like soft elastic property of the cages.     

Fluorescence Study of Intermolecular Interactions in Diluted Aqueous Solutions of Some Cationic Amphiphilic Polysaccharides

The intermolecular hydrophobic association in diluted aqueous solutions of some cationic amphiphilic polysaccharides was investigated using fluorescence techniques. Dextran and dextran carrying N-alkyl-N,N-dimethyl-N(2-hydroxypropylene) ammonium chloride groups as side chains were single labeled with pyrene or naphthalene. The intensity of the pyrene excimer peak and the ratio I₃/I₁ determined from the fluorescence emission spectra of pyrene-labeled amphiphilic polymer increased with increasing polymer concentration and were higher than in the solution containing pyrene-labeled dextran. Emission spectra of diluted solution (0.008–0.2 g/dl) containing mixtures of pyrene and naphthalene single-labeled amphiphilic polymers proved the occurrence of a nonradiative energy transfer between labels at very a low polymer concentration (<10^?2 g/dl). The energy transfer was not observed in mixtures of single-labeled unmodified dextran. All these results suggest that the intermolecular hydrophobic association of alkyl substituents takes place at a very low concentration of amphiphilic polymers.     

Exact solution of the asymmetric Mindlin's plate equations applied to a disk

An exact solution is presented for the static and dynamic asymmetric response of a disk governed by Mindlin's plate equations forced by a pressure that varies radially as r^m. The static solution agrees with a modal solution adopting the dynamic Mindlin's plate equations in the limit when excitation frequency vanishes. This solution is useful in sizing magnitude and shape of surface asymmetries on a disk from pressure loading with slight eccentricity and circumferential non-uniformity.     

Elastic stiffness constants and acoustic symmetry of LiY0.5Tb0.5F4

Measurements of ultrasound wave velocities between 4.2 and 293 K have been used to determine the temperature dependences of the seven adiabatic elastic stiffness tensor components of the laser host scheelite structure fluoride LiY_0.5Tb_0.5F₄. The sign of C₁₆ is negative, as found previously for other oxide and fluoride scheelites; therefore for LiY_0.5Tb_0.5F₄ the positions of the acoustic symmetry axes in the XY plane have the same sense as those of the other scheelites. The k and γ axes of acoustic symmetry lie at +31° and + 76° from the + X axis. Transformation of the elastic stiffness constants to a basis comprised of two acoustic symmetry axes together with the +Z axis enables a detailed comparison of the elastic behaviour of LiY_0.5Tb_0.5F₄ with those of other scheelite crystals.     

Characterising the cavitation activity generated by an ultrasonic horn at varying tip-vibration amplitudes

Dual-perspective high-speed imaging and acoustic detection is used to characterise cavitation activity at the tip of a commercial 20 kHz (f₀) ultrasonic horn, over 2 s sonications across the range of input powers available (20 – 100%). Imaging at 1 × 10⁵ frames per second (fps) captures cavitation-bubble cluster oscillation at the horn-tip for the duration of the sonication. Shadowgraphic imaging at 2 Mfps, from an orthogonal perspective, probes cluster collapse and shock wave generation at higher temporal resolution, facilitating direct correlation of features within the acoustic emission data generated by the bubble activity. f₀/m subharmonic collapses of the primary cavitation cluster directly beneath the tip, with m increasing through integer values at increasing input powers, are studied. Shock waves generated by periodic primary cluster collapses dominate the non-linear emissions of the cavitation noise spectra. Transitional input powers for which the value of m is indistinct, are identified. Overall shock wave content within the emission signals collected during sonications at transitional input powers are reduced, relative to input powers with distinct m. The findings are relevant for the optimisation of applications such as sonochemistry, known to be mediated by bubble collapse phenomena.     

Determination of Aluminum Ion with Morin in a Medium Comprised by Ionic Liquid?CWater Mixtures

In this study we have employed two ionic liquids (ILs) as a new media for the analysis of aluminum in aqueous solutions by spectrofluorimetric method. ILs are liquid salts and they have no measurable vapor pressure up to their thermal decomposition point, >300 ??C. This lack of vapor pressure makes these materials highly attractive for many studies as they can be used as clean solvents. Besides they are promising environments for analysis purposes and optical sensor designs. The results revealed that absorption, excitation and emission spectra of the morin?CAl complex exhibited considerable changes in moieties. The morin?CAl complex was stable at aluminum concentrations below 9.1?mg?L^?1 in 25% 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (IL-I)-water binary mixtures. The higher concentrations of IL (>25% by volume) was not suitable for the complex formation thus in pure IL media the complex formation even at high aluminum concentrations was not observed. The complex stoichiometry ratio of aluminum:morin was 2:1 in IL-I-water binary mixtures. The linear concentration range was 0.045?C7.2?mg?L^?1 with a correlation coefficient of r?=?0.9909. The detection limit was found to be 0.036?mg?L^?1. Cu²⁺, Mn²⁺ and PO ₄ ^3? ions exhibited less interfering effect in presence of IL-I and the tolerance limit of Cu enhanced 10 times when compared with ethanol.     

Effects of double spectral electron distribution and polarization force on dust acoustic waves in a negative dusty plasma

The nonlinear features of dust acoustic waves (DAWs) propagating in a multicomponent dusty plasma with negative dust grains, Maxwellian ions, and double spectral electron distribution (DSED) are investigated. A Korteweg de Vries Burgers equation (KdVB) is derived in the presence of the polarization force using the reductive perturbation technique (RPT). In the absence of the dissipation effect, the bifurcation analysis is introduced and various types of solutions are obtained. One of these solutions is the rarefactive solitary wave solution. Additionally, in the presence of the dissipation effects, the tanh method is employed to find out the solution of KdVB equation. Both of the monotonic and the oscillatory shock structures are numerically investigated. It is found that the correlation between dissipation and dispersion terms participates strongly in creating the dust acoustic shock wave. The limit of the DSED to the Maxwell distribution is examined. The distortional effects in the profile of the shock wave that result by increasing the values of the flatness parameter, r, and the tail parameter, q, are investigated. In addition, it has been shown that the proportional increase in the value of the polarization parameter R enhances in both of the strength of the monotonic shock wave and the amplitude of the oscillatory shock wave. The effectiveness of non-Maxwellian distributions, like DSED, in several of plasma situations is discussed as well.     

The acoustic field excited by flexural vibrations of an elastic plate with a circular inclusion

The acoustic field excited by flexural vibrations of a thin elastic plate and the perturbations of this field caused by a homogeneous circular inclusion with other elastic properties are considered. Because the density of air widely differs from that of a metal, this problem can be solved with fair accuracy in two steps: first, by considering the vibrations of the plate in a free space, and, then, by calculating the acoustic field excited by the field of plate’s vertical deflections. The main results of this work are the asymptotic expressions for the far acoustic field excited by each of the Fourier components F _m (r)cosmφ of the flexural wave scattered by the inclusion.     

Laser ablation of aqueous solutions with spatially homogeneous and heterogeneous absorption

The ablation efficiency of aqueous solutions with different concentrations and spatially homogeneous (CuCl₂ solution) and heterogeneous (ink solution) absorption was studied as a function of the pulse-energy fluence (Nd:YAG laser, λ=1064 nm, τ_p = 20 ns). The latter was varied over a wide range from 0.15 J/cm² to 8.00 J/cm². The ablation threshold of solutions with heterogeneous absorption was found to be much lower (3 to 4 times) than the ablation threshold of solutions with homogeneous absorption and with the same average absorption coefficient. The ablation efficiency of heterogeneous solutions was higher by more than an order of magnitude. It was found that the ablation efficiency increases drastically for both types of solutions as the pulse energy fluence was raised to exceed the ablation threshold by 2 or 3 times. At such energy fluences, along with small droplets, larger droplets (1.5–2 mm cross section) could be ejected. This points to the ablation of solutions being affected by a hydrodynamic shock formed as a result of the pulsed recoil pressure excerted by the ablation products. The differences between the ablation processes for solutions with homogeneous and heterogeneous absorption as well as the hydrodynamic destruction at high energy fluences are discussed.     

The Aggregation Enhanced Photoluminescence of Gold Nanorods in Aqueous Solutions

The photoluminescence (PL) properties of single gold nanorod (AuNR) under one-photon excitation (OPE) have been reported recently. In this work, the PL of AuNRs in aqueous solutions were studied with OPE of 514 or 633 nm to characterize the emissions of transverse and longitudinal surface Plasmon resonance (TSPR and LSPR) bands, because the AuNRs aqueous solution was frequently used in bio-medical applications. We found that under 514 nm OPE the TSPR emissions of four groups of AuNRs with different aspect ratios in aqueous solutions were all strong dominating the PL emission with the quantum yield (QY) of 10^?4, which is at least three orders of magnitude higher than that of single AuNR. We further found that the aggregate was the basic form of AuNRs in aqueous solution and living cells, measured by the elastic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy measurements. The Plasmon coupling particularly the TSPR coupling between the neighbored AuNRs in aggregates enhanced the PL and increased the QY, because the conjugation of the rod side to side was a main aggregate mode. Under 633 nm OPE, only LSPR emissions of AuNRs aqueous solutions occurred with the QY level of 10^?5 which is very similar to that of singe AuNR, because of the negligible LSPR coupling.     

Periodic shock-emission from acoustically driven cavitation clouds: A source of the subharmonic signal

Single clouds of cavitation bubbles, driven by 254 kHz focused ultrasound at pressure amplitudes in the range of 0.48–1.22 MPa, have been observed via high-speed shadowgraphic imaging at 1 × 10⁶ frames per second. Clouds underwent repetitive growth, oscillation and collapse (GOC) cycles, with shock-waves emitted periodically at the instant of collapse during each cycle. The frequency of cloud collapse, and coincident shock-emission, was primarily dependent on the intensity of the focused ultrasound driving the activity. The lowest peak-to-peak pressure amplitude of 0.48 MPa generated shock-waves with an average period of 7.9 ± 0.5 μs, corresponding to a frequency of f₀/2, half-harmonic to the fundamental driving. Increasing the intensity gave rise to GOC cycles and shock-emission periods of 11.8 ± 0.3, 15.8 ± 0.3, 19.8 ± 0.2 μs, at pressure amplitudes of 0.64, 0.92 and 1.22 MPa, corresponding to the higher-order subharmonics of f₀/3, f₀/4 and f₀/5, respectively. Parallel passive acoustic detection, filtered for the fundamental driving, revealed features that correlated temporally to the shock-emissions observed via high-speed imaging, p(two-tailed) < 0.01 (r = 0.996, taken over all data). Subtracting the isolated acoustic shock profiles from the raw signal collected from the detector, demonstrated the removal of subharmonic spectral peaks, in the frequency domain. The larger cavitation clouds (>200 μm diameter, at maximum inflation), that developed under insonations of peak-to-peak pressure amplitudes >1.0 MPa, emitted shock-waves with two or more fronts suggesting non-uniform collapse of the cloud. The observations indicate that periodic shock-emissions from acoustically driven cavitation clouds provide a source for the cavitation subharmonic signal, and that shock structure may be used to study intra-cloud dynamics at sub-microsecond timescales.     

Effect of heavy-metal ions on dynamic characteristics of collagen molecules in solutions

Effect of heavy (Pb²⁺, Cs⁺) and light (Na⁺) metal ions on the molecular-dynamic characteristics of type-I collagen in aqueous solution was studied using the method of dynamic light scattering. It was found that the dependence of the translational diffusion coefficient D _t from pH solutions has a nonlinear form with a pronounced extremum close to the isoelectric point of the protein (pI 6.0). For pure aqueous solution of protein there is a maximum of D _t in isoelectric point. For collagen solutions with the addition of heavy-metal salts the minimum of D _t was observed near the isoelectric point. This fenomenon is connected with the formation of protein nanoclusters in solution. With concentration of heavy metal ions increasing translational diffusion coefficient Dt decreases, which shows on increasing of aggregation effect. The addition of sodium ions in aqueous solution of collagen containing heavy metal ions sharp decreasing of the translational diffusion of molecules is observed. That can be connected with the rise of scattering particles masses.     

Mössbauer effect studies on mixed lithium–zinc ferrites prepared by solution combustion method

Mössbauer effect studies have been made on lithium ferrites of varying compositions i.e. Li_0.5???x/2Zn _x Mn_0.05Fe_2.45???x/2O₄ prepared by combustion method from stoichiometric aqueous solutions of metal nitrates and oxalyl dihydrazide. In these compositions x varies from 0→0.5 in steps of 0.1. The Mössbauer spectral studies reveal that substitution of nonmagnetic Zn^2?+? is responsible for successive increase in line-width and change in hyperfine fields at A and B sites. The combustion method is rapid and may approach direct conversion from the molecular mixture of precursor solution to the fine particles of oxide product. The process involves highly exothermic redox reaction between metal nitrates and oxalyl dihydrazide solutions.     

Electronic properties of metals at low temperatures

A many body theory of an electron gas is developed to find the internal and correlation energies at low but finite temperatures. The contribution from the first order exchange, second order (regular and anomalous) exchange, and ring diagrams are treated. The Fermi momentum and the correlation energy are determined as functions of the density by two different methods, one being based on iteration and the other a direct solution of the number density relation. It was found that the iterative solutions which are correct to ordere ² ore ⁴ become negative forr _s of order 5 while the direct solutions do not, indicating the invalidity of the former. Hence, the correlation energy evaluated to the same orders by iteration will not be satisfactory in the same range. The highest order iterative solution which includes terms of ordere ⁶ does not show such a breakdown. These terms which give the contribution of orderr _s to the correlation energy are therefore important and tend to reduce the magnitude of the correlation energy. The corresponding curve is indeed close to that determined by the direct method for smallr _s but a significant deviation takes place at largerr _s . The Coulomb interaction seems less effective at higher temperatures. The internal energy is also determined as a function of density and temperature.     

Higher Dimensional Extension of Charged and Neutral Fluid Spheres with Pressure

General exact higher-dimensional (n+2), n>2 solutions in general theory of relativity of Einstein-Maxwell field equations for spherically symmetric distribution of charged pressure perfect fluid are expressed in terms of pressure extending 4-dimensional solutions presented by Bijalwan (Astrophys. Space Sci. 2011, doi:). Subsequently, metrics (e ^λ and e ^υ ), matter density and electric intensity are expressible in terms of pressure. Consequently, Pressure is found to be an invertible arbitrary function of ω (=c ₁+c ₂ r ²), where c ₁ and c ₂ (≠0) are arbitrary constants, and r is the radius of star, i.e. p=p(ω). We present a general solution for charged pressure fluid in terms for ω. We list and discuss some old and new solutions which fall in this category. Also, these solutions satisfy barotropic equation of state relating the radial pressure to the energy density. But we noticed that none of these solutions in terms of pressure for charged fluids has a well behaved neutral counter part for a spatial component of metric e ^λ i.e. choosing same spatial component for charged and neutral fluid. To illustrate the approach, we discovered a new solution for extended charged analogues of Schwarzschild interior solution in higher dimensions which is found to be well behaved only for n=2. The maximum mass found to be 1.512 M _Θ with linear dimension 14.964 km. Physical quantities pressure, energy density, red-shift, velocity of sound and p/c ² ρ are well behaved and monotonically decreasing towards the surface while adiabatic index and charge density are monotonically increasing. For brevity we don’t discuss the numerical results in detailed.     

Does power ultrasound affect hydrocarbon Ionomers?

The effect of low-frequency high-power ultrasound on hydrocarbon-based ionomers, cation exchange sulfonated phenylated polyphenylene (sPPB-H⁺) and anion exchange hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) (HMT-PMBI), was studied. Ionomer solutions were subjected to ultrasonication at fixed ultrasonic frequencies (f = 26 and 42 kHz) and acoustic power (P_acous = 2.1 – 10.6 W) in a laboratory-grade ultrasonication bath, and a probe ultrasonicator; both commonly employed in catalyst ink preparation in research laboratory scale. Power ultrasound reduced the polymer solution viscosity of both hydrocarbon-based ionomers. The molecular weight of sPPB-H⁺ decreased with irradiation time. Changes in viscosity and molecular weight were exacerbated when ultrasonicated in an ice bath; but reduced when the solutions contained carbon black, as typically used in Pt/C-based catalyst inks. Spectroscopic analyses revealed no measurable changes in polymer structure upon ultrasonication, except for very high doses, where evidence for free-radical induced degradation was observed. Ionomers subjected to ultrasound were used to prepare catalyst layers and membrane electrode assemblies (MEA)s. Despite the changes in the ionomer described above, no significant differences in electrochemical performance were found between MEAs prepared with ionomers pre-subjected to ultrasound and those that were not, suggesting that fuel cell performance is tolerant to ionomers subjected to ultrasound.