Structure and Mechanical Stability of Epoxy Modified Polyurethane Foam Under Heat and Stress

A series of phenolic epoxy resin (PEP) modified polyurethane foams (PUF) were prepared via an in-situ polymerization, one step process. It was found that the epoxy modified PUF foam exhibited a perforated network structure with larger cell size, higher open cell porosity and enhanced ovality compared with pure PUF. With increasing content of PEP, the tensile strength, elongation at break and low temperature modulus of PUF decreased. A single T_g was observed for PEP modified PUF, indicating that the two component phases of the polyurethane-epoxy were miscible. With increasing PEP content, the T_g of PUF shifted slightly to higher temperature, tan δ_max dropped to lower values, and the retention value of the storage modulus at ?20 and ?10?°C increased. For pure PUF, the cell walls degraded and the structure became disordered after aging under heat and stress, while for PUF/20wt%PEP, the degradation degree was obviously reduced, and an orientation of the cells along the stress direction and a density increase was observed. During aging at 200?°C, the retention of the mechanical properties of PUF/20wt% PEP was much higher than that of pure PUF, and it showed superior stability under heat and stress, attributed to incorporation of the thermally resistant oxazolidone rings and benzene rings in the PU backbones, the highly cross-linked networks of the polyurethane-epoxy systems and the obvious orientation of the cells under stress.     

Mono-Aryl/Alkylthio-Substituted (Hetero)acenes of Exceptional Thermal and Photochemical Stability by the Thio-Friedel–Crafts/Bradsher Cyclization Reaction

The highly substituted mono-aryl/alkylthio-(hetero)acenes prepared in this study have been found to be thermally more stable (T_decomp.=331–354 °C) than the known di-aryl/alkylthio-substituted acenes by an average of 25 °C. They are also much more photostable at 254 and 365 nm (in both argon and air) than the parent anthracene and other reported anthracenes. The most photostable aryl/alkylthio-anthracenes at 254 nm were found to be 60–70 (in air) and 130 (in argon) times more stable in solution than the unsubstituted anthracene, and much more stable than known EDG/EWG-substituted anthracenes (EDG=electron-donating group, EWG=electron-withdrawing group) with an extended aromatic core. Furthermore, the acenes showed significantly higher photostability at 365 nm in both air and argon. The anthracenes were obtained by the novel thio-Friedel–Crafts/Bradsher cyclization reaction of hitherto unknown [o-(1,3-dithian-2-yl)aryl](aryl)methyl thioethers. The developed approach provides a general access to mono-aryl/alkylthio-substituted (hetero)acene frameworks containing at least three fused (hetero)aromatic rings. The characteristic feature of this approach, which leads to highly substituted acenes, is that the substituents, unlike in other methods, may be introduced at an early stage of the synthesis. DFT and TD-DFT calculations confirmed the stabilizing role of the aryl/alkylthio substituent in the mono-aryl/alkylthio-substituted anthracenes, which are the most stable anthracenes prepared to date. Their high photostability is mainly due to the quenching of singlet oxygen by the acene and the quenching of the acene S₁ state by molecular oxygen.     

A self-penetrating and chemically stable zinc (ii)-organic framework as multi-responsive chemo-sensor to detect pesticide and antibiotics in water

Guided by the self-penetrating features can improve the stability of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), an unprecedented 3D self-penetrated framework, {[Zn (tptc)_0.5(bimb)]·H₂O}_n ( NUC-6 , here NUC corresponding to North University of China), with 3D (4,4)-c {8⁶} net, was designed. Benefit from the high chemical stability and excellent luminescent property, NUC-6 can be act as an efficient multi-response chemo-sensor in detecting dichloronitroaniline pesticide and nitrofuran antibiotics in water with the detection limits are 116 ppb for DCN pesticide, 16 ppb for NFT antibiotic, and 12 ppb for NTZ antibiotic. Besides, the mechanisms of luminescence quenching were revealed from the viewpoint of internal filter effect (IFE) and photo-induced electron transfer (PET), implied by the optical spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculation. This work provides a promising strategy to design stable MOFs by improving the self-penetrating features and to expand their practical applications in the detection of organic pollutants in aqueous medium.     

Local discontinuous Galerkin method for a nonlocal viscous conservation laws

The purpose of this article is to investigate high‐order numerical approximations of scalar conservation laws with nonlocal viscous term. The viscous term is given in the form of convolution in space variable. With the help of the characteristic of viscous term, we design a semidiscrete local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) method to solve the nonlocal model. We prove stability and convergence of semidiscrete LDG method in L² norm. The theoretical analysis reveals that the present numerical scheme is stable with optimal convergence order for the linear case, and it is stable with sub‐optimal convergence order for nonlinear case. To demonstrate the validity and accuracy of our scheme, we test the Burgers equation with two typical nonlocal fractional viscous terms. The numerical results show the convergence order accuracy in space for both linear and nonlinear cases. Some numerical simulations are provided to show the robustness and effectiveness of the present numerical scheme.     

Domain decomposition methods in a geometrical multiscale domain using finite volume schemes

The heat equation is solved by using a finite volume discretization in a domain that consists of a two-dimensional central node and several one-dimensional outgoing branches. Several interface connection options to match the submodels set on the node and on the branches, with or without continuity, are looked at. For each of them, a monolithic scheme is defined, and existence and uniqueness of the solution is proved. New schemes are deduced, which are obtained through domain decomposition methods in the form of interface systems, with one or two unknowns per interface. A comparative systematic study is carried out from an algebraic and numerical point of view according to the interface conditions: Dirichlet, Neumann, or Robin. An efficient diagonal preconditioning is proposed.     

A modified model for isothermal homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions in the boundary-layer flow of a nanofluid

The homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions in the boundary-layer of a flat surface are considered. The autocatalysts are assumed to be of regular sizes, while the solution is a dilute nanofluid. The heat release due to the chemical reactions is taken into account. The Buongiorno's model is used to describe the behaviors of this reaction system. This configuration makes the current model be different from all previous publications. Multiple solutions are given numerically to the rescaled nonlinear system, whose stability is verified. The results show that the strength coefficients of the homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions are key factors to cause the appearance of the multiple solutions in the distribution of the chemical reactions. Nanofluids enhance the diffusion of heat and help maintain the stability of chemical reactions.     

Tolerance factor and phase stability of the garnet structure. Corrigendum

An error in an equation in the paper by Song et al. [ Acta Cryst. (2019), C 75 , 1353–1358 ] is corrected.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of liquid–vapor system by incorporating a surface tension term

In this study,we investigate the pseudopotential multiphase model of lattice Boltzmann method(LBM)and incorporate a surface tension term to implement the particle interaction force.By using the Carnahan–Starling(CS)equation of state(EOS)with a proper critical pressure–density ratio,a density ratio over 160000 is obtained with satisfactory numerical stability.The added surface tension term offers a flexible choice to adjust the surface tension strength.Numerical tests of the Laplace rule are conducted,proving that smaller spurious velocity and better numerical stability can be acquired as the surface tension becomes stronger.Moreover,by wall adhesion and heterogeneous cavitation tests,the surface tension term shows its practical application in dealing with problems in which the surface tension plays an important role.     

Interactive Thermal Effects on Metal–Organic Framework Polymer Composite Membranes

Polymeric membranes are important tools for intensifying separation processes in chemical industries, concerning strategic tasks such as CO₂ sequestration, H₂ production, and water supply and disposal. Mixed‐matrix and supported membranes have been widely developed; recently many of them have been based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). However, most of the impacts MOFs have within the polymer matrix have yet to be determined. The effects related to thermal behavior arising from the combination of MOF ZIF‐8 and polysulfone have now been quantified. The catalyzed oxidation of the polymer is strongly affected by the MOF crystal size and distribution inside the membrane. A 16 wt % 140 nm‐sized ZIF‐8 loading causes a 40 % decrease in the observed activation energy of the polysulfone oxidation that takes place at a temperature (545 °C) 80 °C lower than in the raw polymer (625 °C).