Metal–Organic Framework/PVDF Composite Membranes with High H2 Permselectivity Synthesized by Ammoniation

Herein we report a new ammoniation‐based chemical modification strategy for synthesis of continuous and uniform metal–organic framework (MOF)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes with attractive performance. Ammoniation can promote the support PVDF membrane to produce amino groups, form a nanoparticle structure, and be well cross‐linked; therefore, the high‐density heterogeneous nucleation sites for MOFs growth were provided and the thermal stability and chemical resistance of composite membranes can be greatly improved. The high‐quality layers of representative Cu‐BTC and ZIF‐8 were synthesized on the chemically modified PVDF membranes. By ammoniation, ZIF‐7 can even be grown under harsh synthetic conditions such as in DMF precursor solutions at 403 K. The fabricated MOF/PVDF composite membranes with excellent hollow fiber structures and enhanced structural stability exhibited high H₂ permselectivities for H₂/CO₂ and H₂/N₂.     

On the possibility of shock-induced cavitation in submerged cylindrical shell systems

A circular cylindrical shell loaded by one or two fluids and responding to an external shock wave is analyzed in the context of the possible inception of shock-induced cavitation. Several scenarios of fluid contact are considered including a submerged evacuated shell and a submerged fluid-filled shell for three different combinations of the parameters of the internal and external fluids. A semi-analytical shell-shock interaction model is employed in order to predict the regions of the fluids where cavitation is likely to occur, and the respective cavitation development is hypothesized about. The most interesting and practically important finding is that when fluid is present both inside and outside the shell, there exist conditions when cavitation is expected to occur in both the internal and external fluid, resulting in a particularly complex and violent structural re-loading occurring upon the collapse of the respective cavitation regions. The inception of cavitation in the internal fluid alone and in the external fluid alone is also possible. The findings are summarized in a manner that is suitable for use at the pre-design stage as a guide for preliminary assessment of the possibility of shock-induced cavitation in fluid-interacting industrial systems.     

Low glass transition temperature polymer electrolyte prepared from ionic liquid grafted polyethylene oxide

In this contribution, we report a new type of poly (ionic liquids) prepared by imidazolium ionic liquids directly grafting onto polyethylene oxide backbone. Different molecular weights of poly (ionic liquids) are obtained with a low glass transition temperature up to ?14 °C. The materials as polymer electrolyte achieve a high conductivity around 10^?5 S cm^?1 at 30 °C and close to 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 90 °C. High viscosity up to 4000 Pa s at room temperature would minimize the electrolytes leaking in electrochemical devices. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2104–2110     

New designed DNA light switch Ruthenium complexes as DNA photocleavers and Topoisomerase I inhibitors

Two ruthenium complexes containing a new ligand phipz (phipz = 2‐(1,10‐phenanthroline)‐1H‐imidazo[4,5‐b]phenazine) were designed and synthesized. These complexes were found to inhibit the DNA supercoiled relaxation mediated by topoisomerase I (topo I), cleave DNA under irradiation and bind to calf thymus DNA through intercalative mode. Furthermore, complex 2 shows higher photocleavage activity, topo I inhibition activity and DNA affinity than complex 1 . Additionally, introduction of phenazine unit may be the reason that two complexes exhibit DNA ‘light switch’ behavior. The present work shows that two complexes might be potential as new DNA ‘light switches’, DNA photocleavers and topo I inhibitors.     

Resolution improvement for enhancing interference fringes of digital holograms with near infrared illuminance

A new resolution improving method of enhancing the interference stripes, which can achieve better reconstruction of the recorded object of infrared digital holography has been proposed in this paper. The experiment is conducted under near infrared illuminance. We create poor quality holograms with very low-resolution interference stripes and enhance it with our new method. The processed holograms have much higher-resolution interference stripes. This method is based on interpolation theory, and we make it works fast, stable and easy to apply. Both the forward and backward interpolation of the oriental and portrait direction of the source pixels have been calculated, and have been used to realize the final aim of resolution improvement. During the experiment, since the responsivity of the CCD is not satisfied with the illuminance laser, which is by design, we also give specific analysis on the experimental setup of our work to make sure the object information can be fully recorded by the optical setup but cannot be reconstructed because of the low-resolution and unobvious of the interference stripes. After the resolution improvement process of the original hologram, the object information can then be fully reconstructed, which is very clear in the paper. Figures and dataflow give evidence and demonstrate the good performance of our method.     

Structural and optical properties of CuSe2 nanocrystals formed in thin solid Cu–Se film

This paper describes the structural and optical properties of Cu–Se thin films. The surface morphology of thin films was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Formation of Cu–Se thin films is concluded to proceed unevenly, in the form of islands which later grew into agglomerates. The structural characterization of Cu–Se thin film was investigated using X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The presence of two-phase system is observed. One is the solid solution of Cu in Se and the other is low-pressure modification of CuSe₂. The Raman spectroscopy was used to identify and quantify the individual phases present in the Cu–Se films. Red shift and asymmetry of Raman mode characteristic for CuSe₂ enable us to estimate nanocrystal dimension. In the analysis of the far-infrared reflection spectra, numerical model for calculating the reflectivity coefficient of layered system, which includes film with nanocrystalite inclusions (modeled by Maxwell-Garnett approximation) and substrate, has been applied.     

Wave mixing in coupled phononic crystals via a variable stiffness mechanism

We investigate wave mixing effects in a phononic crystal that couples the wave dynamics of two channels – primary and control ones – via a variable stiffness mechanism. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that the wave transmission in the primary channel can be manipulated by the control channel's signal. We show that the application of control waves allows the selection of a specific mode through the primary channel. We also demonstrate that the mixing of two wave modes is possible whereby a modulation effect is observed. A detailed study of the design parameters is also carried out to optimize the switching capabilities of the proposed system. Finally, we verify that the system can fulfill both switching and amplification functionalities, potentially enabling the realization of an acoustic transistor.