A superhydrophobic magnetic elastomer actuator for droplet motion control

For the fast droplet transportation on an open surface, a new magnetic elastomer with a superhydrophobic surface has been developed. Because the surface is superhydrophobic, the water droplet can easily roll off on the surface. The movement of the droplet was controlled by a deliberate local deformation of the surface of the elastomer induced by magnetic actuation. The direction and speed of the droplet motion was easily controlled by changing the surface topography using magnetic force. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices as a new type of open‐surface digital microfluidics using a simple chemical reaction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of cholesteric liquid crystalline elastomer with binaphthalene crosslinkings on thermal and optical properties of a liquid crystal that show smectic A‐cholesteric phase transition

A side‐chain polysiloxane cholesteric liquid crystalline elastomer (ChLCE) with binaphthalene derivate as crosslinkings and cholesterol derivate as liquid crystalline monomers was designed and synthesized. A binaphthyl chiral dopant (CD) was synthesized as well. The chemical structures and liquid crystalline properties of the ChLCE and the CD were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, element analyses, differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy measurements. The helical twisting power of the ChLCE exhibited a turning point with changing temperature and was smaller than that of the CD. In addition, the effect of the ChLCE on phase transition temperatures and thermal‐optical properties of a liquid crystal that show smectic A (SmA)‐cholesteric (Ch) phase transition was studied. Worthily, the testing of the reflection wavelength with changing temperature suggested that the adding of the ChLCE in liquid crystals that show SmA‐Ch phase transition can expedite their SmA‐Ch transition. In addition, the network structure of the ChLCE may play a significant role in the accelerating of the transition. These properties provided theoretical and experimental foundations for applying ChLCE in thermally sensitive liquid crystal devices requiring fast response, such as thermally controllable windows, materials and displays. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polymeric Electron Carriers

Polymers containing 1,4-dihydronicotinamide (P-NAH) alloxan (P-A), and viologen (P-V²⁺) moieties were synthesized and characterized. P-NAH reduced various organic substances such as lipoic acid, alloxan, and viologens and also immobilized quinone mediated by alloxan. P-A was reduced to the polymer-bearing alloxan radical and the dialuric acid structure without crosslinks by one- and two-electron reduction, respectively, and P-A also mediated the redox reaction occurring between aqueous and organic (water-immiscible) layers. P-V²⁺ was converted to the stable viologen radical reversibly by one-electron reduction. Electric potentials and currents on photo-reduction of P-V²⁺ and catalytic behavior of P-V²⁺ in the reduction of carbonyl compounds were examined.     

采用反应挤出三次加料法合成苯乙烯/异戊二烯/苯乙烯

以同向啮合双螺杆挤出机为反应器,采用苯乙烯和异戊二烯为聚合单体,以正丁基锂为引发剂,采用三次加料法合成苯乙烯/异戊二烯/苯乙烯(SIS)三嵌段热塑性弹性体.氢核磁共振(1H NMR)谱分析结果表明,共聚物中聚异戊二烯嵌段以1,4-结构为主.采用四氧化锇催化双氧水氧化降解聚合物分子链,利用凝胶渗透色谱对氧化降解后的聚苯乙烯碎片进行分析,证明共聚物分子为(聚苯乙烯-聚异戊二烯-聚苯乙烯)(PS-PI-PS)三嵌段结构.动态力学分析(DMA)及透射电子显微镜(TEM)分析结果表明,SIS具有两相分离结构.拉伸试验结果表明,共聚物拉伸强度与苯乙烯含量有关.     

硅表面活性剂增强的双网络耐高温多孔有机硅弹性体

采用聚醚改性三硅氧烷表面活性剂、 丙烯酸酯改性硅油和水3种组分制备了稳定的油包水(W/O)乳液, 经酸碱催化水解、 紫外引发聚合和干燥除水过程得到了双网络多孔有机硅弹性体. 扫描电子显微镜(SEM)分析结果表明, 所制备的有机硅弹性体具有丰富的孔径结构分布. 压缩强度测试结果表明, 弹性体具备良好的耐压缩性能, 45%压缩应变下循环50次, 仍具备良好的回弹性能. 有机硅弹性体具有优异的耐高温性能, 分解温度为370 ℃, 高于绝大多数多孔有机硅弹性体材料的分解温度. 丙烯酸酯改性硅油的制备工艺成熟、 廉价易得, 显著降低了多孔有机硅弹性体的生产成本, 为规模性开发有机硅材料提供了新的思路和应用前景.     

Synthesis of activated carbon foams with high specific surface area using polyurethane elastomer templates for effective removal of methylene blue

Carbon foams have gained significant attention due to their tuneable properties that enable a wide range of applications including catalysis, energy storage and wastewater treatment. Novel synthesis pathways enable novel applications via yielding complex, hierarchical material structure. In this work, activated carbon foams (ACFs) were produced from waste polyurethane elastomer templates using different synthesis pathways, including a novel one-step method. Uniquely, the produced foams exhibited complex structure and contained carbon microspheres. The ACFs were synthesized by impregnating the elastomers in an acidified sucrose solution followed by direct activation using CO₂ at 1000 ℃. Different pyrolysis and activation conditions were investigated. The ACFs were characterized by a high specific surface area (S_BET) of 2172 m²/g and an enhanced pore volume of 1.08 cm³/g. Computer tomography and morphological studies revealed an inhomogeneous porous structure and the presence of numerous carbon spheres of varying sizes embedded in the porous network of the three-dimensional carbon foam. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the obtained carbon foam was amorphous and of turbostratic structure. Moreover, the activation process enhanced the surface of the carbon foam, making it more hydrophilic via altering pore size distribution and introducing oxygen functional groups. In equilibrium, the adsorption of methylene blue on ACF followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 592 mg/g. Based on these results, the produced ACFs have potential applications as adsorbents, catalyst support and electrode material in energy storage systems.     

Copolymerization of Ethylene with lO-Undecen-l-ol Using Highly Active Vanadium（III） Precatalysts Bearing Bis（imino）pyrrolyl Ligands

The copolymerizations of ethylene with 10-undecen-1-ol have been investigated using vanadium precatalysts, bis（imino）pyrrolyl vanadium（Ⅲ） complexes 1-3, 2,5-C4H2N（CH=NR）2VCl2（THF）2 [R = C6H5 （1）, 2,6-iPr2C6H3 （2）, C6F5 （3）], and the iminopyrrolyl and b-diketiminate ones for comparison. The polar monomer was pretreated by diethylaluminium chloride （present also as the cocatalyst） before the copolymerization. The monomer reactivity ratios were evaluated using the Fineman-Ross method. The ligand structure considerably influenced the catalytic activity and tolerance towards the polar monomer, the polar monomer incorporation and the molecular weights of the resultant copolymers. The bis（imino）pyrrolyl vanadium complexes exhibited promising catalytic performance for the copolymerization, and a high catalytic activity up to 3.84 kg/mmolv·h with a high comonomer incorporation of 14.0 mol% was achieved by complex 3 under mild conditions.     

Copolymerization of Ethylene with 10-Undecen-1-ol Using Highly Active Vanadium(Ⅲ) Precatalysts Bearing Bis(imino)pyrrolyl Ligands

The copolymerizations of ethylene with 10-undecen-1-ol have been investigated using vanadium precatalysts, bis(imino)pyrrolyl vanadium(III) complexes 1-3, 2,5-C4H2N(CH=NR)2VCl2(THF)2 [R = C6H5(1), 2,6-iPr2C6H3(2), C6F5(3)], and the iminopyrrolyl and β-diketiminate ones for comparison. The polar monomer was pretreated by diethylaluminium chloride(present also as the cocatalyst) before the copolymerization. The monomer reactivity ratios were evaluated using the Fineman-Ross method. The ligand structure considerably influenced the catalytic activity and tolerance towards the polar monomer, the polar monomer incorporation and the molecular weights of the resultant copolymers. The bis(imino)pyrrolyl vanadium complexes exhibited promising catalytic performance for the copolymerization, and a high catalytic activity up to 3.84 kg/mmolv·h with a high comonomer incorporation of 14.0 mol% was achieved by complex 3 under mild conditions.     

Numerical and empirical modeling of peak deceleration and stress analysis of polyurethane elastomer under impact loading test

In this work, we present the modeling of the peak deceleration (PD) using data of the experimental drop test. Specimens with different thicknesses and areas tested in the drop test device which has adaptable height and weight. In the empirical modeling of the PD, the thickness, area, drop mass and drop height considered as separable functions. An analytical model and Neural Network (NN) was used as the empirical models. Further, the stress on the material was calculated using differential equations and the Finite Element Method (FEM). The Obtained PD from the experimental test, analytical and NN models was converted to the stress on the material using a derived differential equation. Finally, the best model for analyzing the PD and Stress on the material was presented.