Formation of porous polymer morphology by microsyneresis during divinylbenzene polymerization

This article describes the investigation of the importance of various reaction conditions on microsyneretic pore formation during polymerization of divinylbenzene (DVB) under so‐called “solvothermal” conditions. To induce microsyneretic pore formation, the most important parameter is an unusually high dilution of monomers with a “good” porogen solvating the polymer chains. High dilution and solvation of the growing poly(DVB) chains promote the prolongation of the polymer chains rather than their interconnection by crosslinking. Consequently, when the polymer gel density reaches the point where syneresis starts, the polymer network is geometrically too extensive to be broken up into precipitating entities and, instead, porogen droplets are formed within the continuous polymer gel. The pore geometry created by microsyneresis offers high surface area in wide mesopores and hence, high capacity for supporting functional groups or reactions with much better accessibility than narrow pores between polymer microspheres produced by macrosyneresis in conventional styrenic polymer supports. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 774–781     

Path to achieving molecular dispersion in a dense reactive mixture

A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multicomponents. In this study, we have examined the role of plasticizer in the reaction of two seemingly unlikely reactants: a highly crystalline hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and a strongly hydrogen bonded phenol formaldehyde resin. By combining information from NMR, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, we were able to determine the role of specific intermolecular interactions necessary for the plasticizer to dissolve the highly crystalline HMTA and to plasticize the phenol formaldehyde resin in this crosslinking reaction. The presence of the plasticizer increased the segmental mobility, disrupted the hydrogen bonded matrix, and freed the hydroxyl units, which further increased the solubility of the HMTA. Both the endothermic and exothermic transitions are accounted for in the calorimetric data obtained. For the first time, it is possible to obtain the effective molar ratio of each component needed to complete the crosslinking reaction efficiently. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1519–1526     

高雷诺数下非混相Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定性的格子Boltzmann方法模拟

本文采用相场格子Boltzmann方法研究了竖直微通道内中等Atwoods数流体的单模Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定性问题,系统分析了雷诺数对相界面动力学行为以及扰动在各发展阶段演化规律的影响.数值结果表明高雷诺数条件下,不稳定性界面扰动的增长经历了四个不同的发展阶段,包括线性增长阶段、饱和速度阶段、重加速阶段及混沌混合阶段.在线性增长阶段,我们计算获得的气泡与尖钉振幅符合线性稳定性理论,并且线性增长率随着雷诺数的增加而增大.在第二个阶段,我们观察到气泡与尖钉将以恒定的速度增长,获得的尖钉饱和速度略高于Goncharov经典势能模型的解析解[Phys.Rev.Lett.200288134502],这归因于系统中产生了多个尺度的旋涡,而涡之间的相互作用促进了尖钉的增长.随着横向速度和纵向速度的差异扩大,气泡和尖钉界面演化诱导产生的Kelvin–Helmholtz不稳定性逐渐增强,从而流体混合区域出现许多不同层次的涡结构,加速了气泡与尖钉振幅的演化速度,并在演化后期阶段,导致界面发生多层次卷起、剧烈变形、混沌破裂等行为,最终形成了非常复杂的拓扑结构.此外,我们还统计了演化后期气泡与尖钉的无量纲加速度,发现气泡和尖钉的振幅在后期呈现二次增长规律,其增长率系数分别为0.045与0.233.而在低雷诺条件下,重流体在不稳定性后期以尖钉的形式向下运动而轻流体以气泡的形式向上升起.在整个演化过程中,界面变得足够光滑,气泡与尖钉在后期的演化速度接近于常数,未观察到后期的重加速与混沌混合阶段.     

Current air quality analytics and monitoring: A review

This review summarizes the different tools and concepts that are commonly applied in air quality monitoring. The monitoring of atmosphere is extremely important as the air quality is an important problem for large communities. Main requirements for analytical devices used for monitoring include a long period of autonomic operation and portability. These instruments, however, are often characterized by poor analytical performance. Monitoring networks are the most common tools used for monitoring, so large-scale monitoring programmes are summarized here. Biomonitoring, as a cheap and convenient alternative to traditional sample collection, is becoming more and more popular, although its main drawback is the lack of standard procedures. Telemonitoring is another approach to air monitoring, which offers some interesting opportunities, such as ease of coverage of large or remote areas, constituting a complementary approach to traditional strategies; however, it requires huge costs.     

Simultaneous Removal of Antibiotics and Heavy Metals with Poly(Aspartic Acid)-Based Fenton Micromotors

The discharge of diverse pollutants has led to a complex water environment and posed a huge health threat to humans and animals. Self-propelled micromotors have recently attracted considerable attention for efficient water remediation due to their strong localized mass transfer effect. However, a single functionalized component is difficult to tackle with multiple contaminants and requires to combine different decontamination effects together. Here, we introduced a multifunctional micromotor to implement the adsorption and degradation roles simultaneously by integrating the poly(aspartic acid) (PASP) adsorbent with a MnO₂-based catalyst. The as-prepared micromotors are well propelled in contaminated waters by MnO₂ catalyzing hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the catalytic ramsdellite MnO₂(R-MnO₂) inner layer is decorated with Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles to improve their catalytic performance, contributing to an excellent degradation ability with 90% tetracycline (TC) removal in 50 minutes by enhanced Fenton-like reactions. Combining the attractive adsorption capability of poly (aspartic acid) (PASP), the composite micromotors offer an efficient removal of heavy metal ions in short time. Moreover, the designed micromotors are able to simultaneously remove antibiotic and heavy metals in mixed contaminants circumstance just in single treatment. This multifunctional micromotor with distinctive decontamination ability exhibits a promising prospective in treating multiple pollutants in the future.     

Methyl orange degradation enhanced by hydrogen spillover onto platinum nanocatalyst surface

Following a thermal reduction method, platinum nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone. The colloidal platinum nanoparticles were stable for more than 3 months. The micrograph analysis unveiled that the colloidal platinum nanoparticles were well dispersed with an average size of 2.53 nm. The sol–gel‐based inverse micelle strategy was applied to synthesize mesoporous iron oxide material. The colloidal platinum nanoparticles were deposited on mesoporous iron oxide through the capillary inclusion method. The small‐angle X‐ray scattering analysis indicated that the dimension of platinum nanoparticles deposited on mesoporous iron oxide (Pt‐Fe₂O₃) was 2.64 nm. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data showed that the binding energy on Pt‐Fe₂O₃ surface decreased owing to mesoporous support–nanoparticle interaction. Both colloidal and deposited platinum nanocatalysts improved the degradation of methyl orange under reduction conditions. The activation energy on the deposited platinum nanocatalyst interface (2.66 kJ mol^?1) was significantly lowered compared with the one on the colloidal platinum nanocatalyst interface (40.63 ± 0.53 kJ mol^?1).     

Van't Hoff analysis in chiral chromatography

The present review discusses the theory and application of van't Hoff analysis in chiral chromatography, with main focus on liquid chromatography. The topics considered include the physical meaning of van't Hoff equation's parameters, interpretation of thermodynamic data in terms of retention and enantioseparation mechanisms, abnormal behavior of van't Hoff plots, and best practices to avoid biased results.     

Pattern universes

In this essay we explore analogies between macroscopic patterns, which result from a sequence of phase transitions/instabilities starting from a homogeneous state, and similar phenomena in cosmology, where a sequence of phase transitions in the early universe is believed to have separated the fundamental forces from each other, and also shaped the structure and distribution of matter in the universe. We discuss three distinct aspects of this analogy: (i) Defects and topological charges in macroscopic patterns are analogous to spins and charges of quarks and leptons; (ii) Defects in generic 3+1 stripe patterns carry an energy density that accounts for phenomena that are currently attributed to dark matter; (iii) Space-time patterns of interacting nonlinear waves display behaviors reminiscent of quantum phenomena including inflation, entanglement and dark energy.     

Cobalt Based Nanoparticles Embedded Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

Efficient water electrolysis catalyst is highly demanded for the production of hydrogen as a sustainable energy fuel. It is reported that cobalt derived nanoparticle (CoS₂, CoP, CoS|P) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel catalysts for highly active and reliable hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. 7 nm level cobalt derived nanoparticles are synthesized over graphene aerogel surfaces with excellent surface coverage and maximal expose of active sites. CoS|P/rGO hybrid aerogel composites show an excellent catalytic activity with overpotential of ≈169 mV at a current density of ≈10 mA cm^?2. Accordingly, efficient charge transfer is attained with Tafel slope of ≈52 mV dec^?1 and a charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of ≈12 Ω. This work suggests a viable route toward ultrasmall, uniform nanoparticles decorated graphene surfaces with well‐controlled chemical compositions, which can be generally useful for various applications commonly requiring large exposure of active surface area as well as robust interparticle charger transfer.     

超强频率梳激光场驱动下多光子共振谐波辐射的相位突变研究

本文从理论上研究了在双色频率梳激光场驱动下多光子谐波辐射光谱中的相位突变现象。我们利用Floquet理论非微扰地模拟了频率梳激光场与原子分子等量子系统的相互作用过程。谐波辐射信号是多光子偶极跃迁相干叠加的结果,通过调节频率梳激光场间的相对相位,可以相干地控制谐波辐射信号的强度。通过对谐波信号进行傅里叶变换,可以提取不同跃迁路径的相对相位信息。我们通过改变频率梳组激光场的强度和频率组分实现多光子跃迁频率,让其跨越共振跃迁频率时,谐波相位会发生突变。从而可以观测超强激光场驱动下量子系统共振跃迁频率的斯塔克能移。