Amphiphilic pentablock copolymers and their blends with PDMS for antibiofouling coatings

Well‐defined amphiphilic pentablock copolymers Siy‐(EGx‐FAz)₂ composed of polysiloxane (Si), polyethylene glycol (EG), and perfluorohexylethyl polyacrylate (FA) blocks are synthesized by ATRP of FA monomer starting from a difunctional bromo‐terminated macroinitiator. Diblock copolymers EGx‐FAz are also synthesized as model systems. The block copolymers are used, either alone or blended with a PDMS matrix in varied loadings, to prepare antibiofouling coatings. Angle‐resolved XPS and contact angle measurements show that the coating surface is highly enriched in fluorine content but undergoes reconstruction after contact with water. Protein adsorption experiments with human serum albumin and calf serum highlight that diblock copolymers resist protein adhesion better than do pentablock copolymers. Blending of the pentablock copolymer with PDMS results in increased protein adsorption. By contrast, the PDMS‐matrix coatings show high removal percentages of sporelings of the green fouling alga Ulva linza. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 2015 , 53, 1213–1225     

Electrostatic-thermodynamic-kinetic (ELTHEKI) modeling of the coupled $$\text {Ni}$$ / $$\text {Ni}\text {O}$$ /water system,under physico-chemical conditions of pressurized water reactors

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In the present paper, we develop an electrostatic-thermodynamic-kinetic (ELTHEKI) model for studying the behavior of the specific $$\text {Ni}$$ / $$\text...     

Nanostructure-Driven Indocyanine Green Dimerization Generates Ultra-Stable Phototheranostics Nanoparticles

Indocyanine green (ICG) is the only near-infrared (NIR) dye approved for clinical use. Despite its versatility in photonic applications and potential for photothermal therapy, its photobleaching hinders its application. Here we discovered a nanostructure of dimeric ICG (Nano-dICG) generated by using ICG to stabilize nanoemulsions, after which ICG enabled complete dimerization on the nanoemulsion shell, followed by J-aggregation of ICG-dimer, resulting in a narrow, red-shifted (780 nm→894 nm) and intense (≈2-fold) absorbance. Compared to ICG, Nano-dICG demonstrated superior photothermal conversion (2-fold higher), significantly reduced photodegradation (−9.6 % vs. −46.3 %), and undiminished photothermal effect (7 vs. 2 cycles) under repeated irradiations, in addition to excellent colloidal and structural stabilities. Following intravenous injection, Nano-dICG enabled real-time tracking of its delivery to mouse tumors within 24 h by photoacoustic imaging at NIR wavelength (890 nm) distinct from the endogenous signal to guide effective photothermal therapy. The unprecedented finding of nanostructure-driven ICG dimerization leads to an ultra-stable phototheranostic platform.     

The role of non-linear electron spin resonance spectroscopies Perspectives in microscopic studies of liquid-crystalline polymers

Abstract

The advantages and the limits of electron spin resonance applied to the study of microscopic interactions in liquid crystalline polymers are discussed. Difficulties of current E.S.R. techniques in studying the very slow molecular dynamics suggest the search for novel techniques. Two non-linear C.W. E.S.R. techniques are described; multiple irradiation schemes are studied in a unified theoretical treatment. These methods give direct measurements of the longitudinal relaxation dynamics and are completely independent of the inhomogeneous broadening of the spectral lines. Their capabilities for investigating ultra-slow relaxation rates are evidenced.     

Mixing Length Scales of Low Temperature Spin Plaquettes Models

Plaquette models are short range ferromagnetic spin models that play a key role in the dynamic facilitation approach to the liquid glass transition. In this paper we perform a rigorous study of the thermodynamic properties of two dimensional plaquette models, the square and triangular plaquette models. We prove that for any positive temperature both models have a unique infinite volume Gibbs measure with exponentially decaying correlations. We analyse the scaling of three a priori different static correlation lengths in the small temperature regime, the mixing, cavity and multispin correlation lengths. Finally, using the symmetries of the model we determine an exact self similarity property for the infinite volume Gibbs measure.     

Formula di Cauchy (n+1)-dimensionale per le funzioni analitiche din variabili complesse

Ad Andreas Speiser nel suo 60^o compleanno. Anmerkung der Redaktion. Die vorliegende Arbeit war für die Festschrift Andreas Speiser, Orell Füssli, 1945, berechnet. Wegen versp?tetem Eintreffen konnte sie leider nicht mehr in diese aufgenommen werden.     

Monomiality and partial differential equations

We show that the combination of the formalism underlying the principle of monomiality and of methods of an algebraic nature allows the solution of different families of partial differential equations. Here we use different realizations of the Heisenberg–Weyl algebra and show that a Sheffer type realization leads to the extension of the method to finite difference and integro-differential equations.