Synthesis and micellization of amphiphilic poly(sebacic anhydride)–poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(sebacic anhydride) block copolymers

Amphiphilic biodegradable block copolymers [poly(sebacic anhydride)–poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(sebacic anhydride)] were synthesized by the melt polycondensation of poly(ethylene glycol) and sebacic anhydride prepolymers. The chemical structure, crystalline nature, and phase behavior of the resulting copolymers were characterized with ¹H NMR, Fourier transform infrared, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. Microphase separation of the copolymers occurred, and the crystallinity of the poly(sebacic anhydride) (PSA) blocks diminished when the sebacic anhydride unit content in the copolymer was only 21.6%. ¹H NMR spectra carried out in CDCl₃ and D₂O were used to demonstrate the existence of hydrophobic PSA domains as the core of the micelle. In aqueous media, the copolymers formed micelles after precipitation from water‐miscible solvents. The effects on the micelle sizes due to the micelle preparation conditions, such as the organic phase, dropping rate of the polymer organic solution into the aqueous phase, and copolymer concentrations in the organic phase, were studied. There was an increase in the micelle size as the molecular weight of the PSA block was increased. The diameters of the copolymer micelles were also found to increase as the concentration of the copolymer dissolved in the organic phase was increased, and the dependence of the micelle diameters on the concentration of the copolymer varied with the copolymer composition. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1271–1278, 2006     

Probing the use of small‐angle light scattering for characterizing structure of titanium dioxide/low‐density polyethylene nanocomposites

Small‐angle light scattering (SALS) measurements were used to study the structure of titanium dioxide (TiO₂)/low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites. The results showed that the scattering from LDPE crystalline structures and the scattering from TiO₂ nanoparticles can be resolved and separated. It is shown that the independent effects of crystallization conditions and the presence of nanoparticle aggregates on the spherulitic structure of the LDPE matrix can be determined by analyzing the scattering patterns using the methods proposed. From the SALS results, we conclude that the nanoparticle surface chemistry affects both nucleation of spherulites and their structure particularly under rapid cooling conditions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1084–1095, 2006     

Reconstruction of an acoustically sound-soft obstacle from one incident field and the far-field pattern

The problem considered is that of determining the shape of aplane acoustically sound-soft obstacle from the knowledge ofthe far-field pattern for one time-harmonic incident field.An iterative procedure is proposed based on two boundary integralsrepresenting the incident field and the far-field pattern, respectively.Numerical examples are included which show that the proceduregives accurate numerical approximations in relatively few iterations.     

The response of microstructure to processing in a series of poly(siloxaneimide) copolymers

Poly(siloxaneimide) (PSI) segmented copolymers exhibit organized microdomains if the blocks are sufficiently incompatible. As with neat diblock and triblock copolymers, the processing route employed to prepare films of PSI materials is expected to influence the dimensions and/or morphology of the resultant microstructure. In this work, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is utilized to characterize the disordered microstructure found in films of a series of PSI copolymers which are subjected to solvent casting and various thermal treatments. Microstructural dimensions such as the periodicity and correlation length are deduced from the Teubner-Strey (TS) model for disordered microemulsions. The scattering intensity of each copolymer up to q = 5.0 nm^?1, where q is the scattering vector, is found to scale as q^?2.8+?0.1. Results indicate that processing the materials as cast films or as melt-pressed films allowed to cool slowly has a small, but discernible, effect on microstructural characteristics. SANS profiles of films quenched from elevated temperatures reveal a clear transition in microdomain periodicity, which correlates well with the glass transition temperature of the imide microphase in these and other materials of similar chemical structure. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Acoustic wavefront imaging

We introduce a new class of experiments which provide graphic insights into the propagation of acoustic waves in anisotropic media. Simply stated, we have devised a means of observing the expanding acoustic wavefront from a point disturbance in a solid. The data may be viewed as a movie or a series of snapshots. The observed wavefronts represent the group-velocity surfaces of acoustic waves, which reflect the basic elastic anisotropy of the solid. The technique has been applied to coherent acoustic waves with frequencies in the megahertz range (at ambient temperatures) and to incoherent heat pulses in the hundred-gigahertz range (at liquid-helium temperatures). In this article, we first provide a pedagogical introduction to wave propagation in elastically anisotropic media, reviewing some early methods for visualizing acoustic waves. Next, we describe the “acoustic wavefront imaging” method and give representative results in crystals and composite materials. Finally, we show how this method relates to recent advances in phonon imaging and internal diffraction of ultrasound.     

HCN laser scattering on the JIPP T-IIU tokamak

A 4-channel HCN laser scattering system has been developed and applied to the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. Main aim of this system is to study microturbulence excited in the plasma, especially in the high power ICRF heating experiment. The observed density fluctuations are in a frequency range of the electron diamagnetic drift wave and have broad frequency spectra. The main part of the wavenumber is found to satisfy the condition of . In the heating experiments, deterioration of the energy confinement time is observed, and the density fluctuation level increases with the increase of the heating power.     

Effects of electrolytes used in roughening gold substrates by oxidation–reduction cycles on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

In this work, the effects of electrolytes used in roughening gold substrates by electrochemical methods on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) were first investigated. First, gold substrates were roughened by triangular-wave oxidation–reduction cycles (ORC) in aqueous solutions containing different kinds of 0.1 M electrolytes. Then Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was used as Raman probe to examine this effect of electrolytes used on the SERS observed. The result indicates that the highest intensity of SERS of R6G was obtained on the roughened Au substrate prepared in 0.1 M NaCl, which was less used in the literature. Meanwhile, it was also found that the rougher surface morphology observed, which is contributive to the higher SERS obtained, is corresponding to the smaller cathodic peak area shown in the cyclic voltammograms for roughening the Au substrate.     

On Aging of Acid-Catalyzed Silica Sols—A Dynamic Light Scattering Study

Dynamic light scattering experiments in acid-catalyzed silica sols are discussed. It is shown that in spite of limited parameter accuracy and limited absolute knowledge of the particle sizes, the scattering data from various experiments are comparable with one another and give information about structural differences. Measurements at various angles indicate changes between non-spherical and nearly spherical particles and allow the estimation of gelling times before gelation.     

四苯硼钠-甲苯胺蓝缔合物纳米微粒体系减色效应研究

在PH4.0醋酸-醋酸钠介质中，甲苯胺蓝在600nm处有一个吸收峰，随着四苯硼钠浓度的增大甲苯胺蓝在600nm处吸收峰降低，颜色减弱，这是由于甲苯胺蓝-四苯硼钠缔合物分子间存在较强的疏水作用及分子间作用力，聚集形成纳米微粒所致，甲苯胺蓝-四苯硼钠纳米微粒体系亦在600mm处有1个吸收峰，在400mm、470mm和580mm处产生3共振散射峰，其中400mm和580mm为甲苯胺蓝-四苯硼钠复合纳米微粒产生的特征共振散射峰，这也表明有纳米微粒存在，丙酮浓度的影响实验结果等表明，纳米微粒的形成是产生其减色效应的原因。