Destruction of carbonyl and hydroperoxide groups in oxidised polypropylene: Effect on photo-oxidation

The effect of destroying carbonyl and hydroperoxide groups in oxidised polypropylene on the subsequent rate of photo-oxidation has been examined using infra-red spectroscopy. The results show that carbonyl groups dominate the rate of photo-oxidation in severely oxidised polymer. In mildly oxidised polymer hydroperoxide groups control the rate, but to a much smaller extent. Destruction of the photo-active carbonyl and hydroperoxide groups in the unoxidised and oxidised polymers by prior photolysis in an inert atmosphere gave rise to some interesting and complex effects on subsequent photo-oxidation. The results indicate that although carbonyl and hydroperoxide groups may control the rates of photo-oxidation of thermally oxidised/processed polymer, their importance as primary photo-initiators is highly questionable. Oxygen-polymer charge transfer complexes appear to be the more likely photo-initiators.     

Preparation and characterization of acrylates and polyacrylates having variable fluorine contents and distributions

Five acrylic esters having different fluorine contents and distributions in their side-groups (i.e., CH₂=CHC(O)OR, where R = ? C(CH₃)₂C₆F₄H, ? C(CH₃)₂C₆F₅, ? C(CF₃)₂C₆F₅, ? C(CF₃)₂C₆H₅, and ? C(CH₃)₂C₆H₅) have been prepared from the reactions of the lithium salts of their corresponding alcohols with acryloyl chloride. These monomers are polymerized under identical conditions by the radical initiator AIBN and five polyacrylates were prepared having the structure of ? [ ? CH₂CHC(O)OR? ]_n? . These addition polymers were compared and fully characterized by GPC, VPO, DSC, TGA, NMR, IR, and UV-visible spectroscopies, and they showed potential for practical applications. Significant differences in their thermal stabilities were found with respect to fluorine contents and distributions in these polyacrylates, and the highest stability arises from CF₃ substitutions in the side-chains of the polymers. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Vibrational exciton delocalization precludes the use of infrared intensities as proxies for surfactant accumulation on aqueous surfaces

Surface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy is a common tool for measuring molecular organization and intermolecular interactions at interfaces. Peak intensity ratios are typically used to extract molecular information from one-dimensional spectra but vibrational coupling between surfactant molecules can manifest as signal depletion in one-dimensional spectra. Through a combination of experiment and theory, we demonstrate the emergence of vibrational exciton delocalization in infrared reflection–absorption spectra of soluble and insoluble surfactants at the air/water interface. Vibrational coupling causes a significant decrease in peak intensities corresponding to C–F vibrational modes of perfluorooctanoic acid molecules. Vibrational excitons also form between arachidic acid surfactants within a compressed monolayer, manifesting as signal reduction of C–H stretching modes. Ionic composition of the aqueous phase impacts surfactant intermolecular distance, thereby modulating vibrational coupling strength between surfactants. Our results serve as a cautionary tale against employing alkyl and fluoroalkyl vibrational peak intensities as proxies for concentration, although such analysis is ubiquitous in interface science.

Coupling between surfactant molecules at the air/water interface bleeds intensity into a diffuse background, such that single-wavelength vibrational intensity is effectively depleted at high surface coverage.     

Flash photolysis and antioxidant activity

The photo-chemical behaviour of a number of mono- and polyfunctional commercial phenolic antioxidants has been examined using kinetic micro-second flash photolysis. The technique provides useful information on the relationship between antioxidant structure and the efficiency of phenoxy radical production. The kinetics of decay of the phenoxy radicals are also found to be dependent on structure. Mono-functional antioxidants give phenoxy radicals which decay by a second-order process whereas polyfunctional antioxidants give phenoxy radicals that decay by a first-order process. In the former case dimerisation to give bisphenolic coupling products is observed whereas, with the latter, this process is sterically inhibited. The value of flash photolysis as a probe for studying antioxidant activity is discussed.     

Thermodynamics of solids: Corrections from electron-phonon interactions

Anomalous room-temperature specific heats have been seen experimentally by Knapp and coworkers in highT _c superconductors. The measurements depart from 3N k _B + ₀ T by an amount of order ₀ T. We present a theory for this, based on the fact that electronphonon interactions cause both electron band energies _{k n} and phonon frequencies _{Q µ} to be weakly temperature-dependent. First an observation is made which we call Brook's Theorem: the shiftE _{k n} (Q µ) of the electron energy _{k n} due to adding one phonon in modeQ µ, is identical to the shift _{Q µ} (k n) of the phonon energy _Qµ due to adding one electron in the statek n. Second, we assert that to sufficient accuracy whenT> _D , entropy of the system of interacting electrons and phonons equals the entropy which would be calculated for non-interacting particles, except that theT-dependent energiesE _kn (T) and _{Q µ} (T) should be used. A proof to orderu ² (whereu is phonon displacement amplitude) was given in the thesis of one of us. Third, we use Brook's Theorem to show that the corrections C _el and C _ph to the specific heat due toT-dependence of electron and phonon energies respectively, are identically equal and have order of magnitude ₀ T. All these results are valid in adiabatic approximation to orderu ², and fail at low temperatures where non-adiabatic corrections are large.     

Nondiverging algebraically special ℋ-spaces

All nondiverging algebraically special -spaces are found by means of the complexified spin-coefficient formalism. The solutions are found to group naturally into two classes according to whether or not the optical-rotation spin coefficient vanishes.Research supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.     

The absolute sign of J coupling constants determined using the order matrix calculation

A novel methodology using the order matrix calculation to determine the absolute sign of spin-spin couplings based on the structure of organic compounds is presented. The sign of the residual dipolar coupling (RDC) depends on the sign of corresponding scalar spin-spin coupling constant and the sign of the RDC has a dramatic influence on the order matrix calculation. Therefore, the sign of the spin-spin coupling constant can be obtained by an order matrix calculation through the corresponding RDC. Six types of spin-spin coupling constants, including 2J(H,H), 1J(C,F), 2J(C,F), 3J(C,F), 2J(F,H) and 3J(F,H), were obtained simultaneously. Except for 3J(C,F) where the measured RDCs have very small magnitudes, the signs were determined unambiguously.     

On the stabilizer subgroup of a fair of matrices

Let (F,G) be a pair of matrices defined over an arbitrary field, Fn × n, Gn × m. Consider the natural action of GL_n x GL_m on this pair given by (F,G) ? (gFg^-1,gGh^-1), where (g,h) ∈ GL_n × GL_m. This action is of interest in system theory as well as the representation theory of quivers. In this paper we study the stabilizer subgroup of this action stab(F,G), i.e.

$\text{{(g,h) ∈ GL}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{x GL}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{|gFg}{}^{-1}\text{= F,gGh}{}^{-1}\text{= G}}$

.     

An Integer Goal Programming Model for Determining Military Aircraft Expenditures

The decision-making process involved in the procurement of military weapon systems, although quite critical and complex, still encompasses the basic characteristics of a capital budgeting problem. Given a number of expenditure items and a limited budget, it is desired to procure those weapon systems that will achieve the goals and objectives of the government and/or military in the most efficient manner. Since these objectives are typically numerous and diverse, traditional decision-making techniques are not applicable. As such, integer goal programming is suggested as a technique to be employed to determine the number of military aircraft to be procured, given conflicting expenditure, budget and effectiveness goals. This method is demonstrated via a case example in which the solution results are presented.     

Nested-channel for on-demand alternation between electrospray ionization regimes

On-demand electrospray ionization from different liquid channels in the same emitter was realized using filamented capillary and gas phase charge supply. The solution sub-channel was formed when back-filling solution to the emitter tip by capillary action along the filament. Gas phase charge carriers were used to trigger electrospray ionization from the solution meniscus at the tip. The meniscus at the tip opening may be fully filled or partially empty to generate electrospray ionization in main-channel regime and sub-channel regime, respectively. For emitters with 4 μm tip opening, the two nested electrospray (nested-ESI) channels accommodated ESI flow rates ranging from 50 pL min⁻¹ to 150 nL min⁻¹. The platform enabled on-demand regime alternations within one sample run, in which the sub-channel regime generated smaller charged droplets. Ionization efficiencies for saccharides, glycopeptide, and proteins were enhanced in the sub-channel regime. Non-specific salt adducts were reduced and identified by regime alternation. Surprisingly, the sub-channel regime produced more uniform responses for a peptide mixture whose relative ionization efficiencies were insensitive to ESI conditions in previous picoelectrospray study. The nested channels also allowed effective washing of emitter tip for multiple sampling and analysis operations.

Nested electrospray ionization alternates on-demand between microscale main-channel and nanscale sub-channels.