Self-emulsification in chemical and pharmaceutical technologies

The interest in the low energy self-emulsification techniques has exploded in the recent years, driven by three main trends: by the transition to “greener” technologies in both its aspects—less energy consumption and replacement of the petrochemicals by natural ingredients; by the costly and maintenance demanding equipment for nanoemulsification; and by the quest for efficient and robust self-emulsifying formulations for oral drug delivery. Here, we first present a brief overview of the main known low-energy methods for nanoemulsion formation, focusing on their mechanistic understanding and discussing some recent advances in their development and applications. Next, we review three conceptually new approaches for self-emulsification in chemical technologies, discovered in the last several years. The colloidal features and the specific requirements of the self-emulsifying drug-delivery systems (SEDDS) are also discussed briefly. Finally, we summarize the current trends and the main challenges in this vivid research area.     

A Closed‐Loop Control Strategy for Producing Nitrile Rubber of Uniform Chemical Composition in a Semibatch Reactor: A Simulation Study

To improve the quality of industrial nitrile rubbers, the copolymer chemical composition, p_A(t), should ideally be kept constant along the reaction. This work proposes a closed‐loop control strategy for the semibatch operation of the reactor with the aim of regulating p_A(t) within a reduced range of variability. The proposed strategy is evaluated by simulating a mathematical model of the process. To this effect, a simplified mathematical model of the reaction is first derived and then utilized to obtain a suboptimal control law and a soft‐sensor that estimates the polymerization rates. The suboptimal control law is compensated by adding a term proportional to errors in p_A(t). The simulated example considers the production of the low‐composition AJLT grade, with the copolymerization reaction represented by a detailed mathematical model adjusted to an industrial plant. Due to the high performance of the soft‐sensor, the simulation results suggest that the proposed closed‐loop strategy is efficient to adequately regulate p_A(t) in spite of structural and parametric uncertainties, while other quality variables remained practically unaffected.     

Pressure controllable phase transition in MoTe2 by the interlayer band occupancy

High pressure can effectively control the phase transition of MoTe₂ in experiment, but the mechanism is still unclear. In this work, we show by first-principles calculations that the phase transition is suppressed and $1T^{\prime }$ phase becomes more stable under high pressure, which originates from the pressure-induced change of the interlayer band occupancies near the Fermi energy. Specifically, the interlayer states of $1T^{\prime }$ phase tend to be fully occupied under high pressure, while they keep partially occupied for the $T_d$ phase. The increase of the band occupancies makes the $1T^{\prime }$ phase more favorable in energy and prevents the structure changing from $1T^{\prime }$ to $T_d$ phase. Moreover, we also analyze the superconductivity under high pressure based on BCS theory by calculating the density of states and phonon spectra. Our results may shed some light on understanding the relationship between the interlayer band occupancy and crystal stability of MoTe₂ under high pressures.     

On the dynamics of the Szekeres system

The gravitational Szekeres differential system is completely integrable with two rational first integrals and an additional analytical first integral. We describe the dynamics of the Szekeres system when one of these two rational first integrals is negative, showing that all the orbits come from the infinity of ${\mathbb{R}}^4$ and go to infinity.     

级联光栅结合Sagnac环的可调谐光纤激光器

提出并验证了一种单-双波长可调谐掺铒光纤激光器。利用级联光纤布拉格光栅(Cascaded Fiber Bragg gratings,Cascaded FBGs)结合Sagnac环结构所产生的复合滤波效应,实现较高精细度滤波,并通过调节环内偏振控制器(Polarization Controller,PC),引入双折射效应,得到波长可调谐的光纤激光器。基于耦合模理论并使用传输矩阵法对该结构的传输特性进行了分析,在此基础上搭建实验系统,验证了理论分析的正确性。实验结果表明:通过调节PC,激光器输出激光的波长范围约为1 555.644～1 556.112 nm,双波长间隔的可调范围约为0.108～0.452 nm,单-双波长的边模抑制比(SMSR)均高于40 dB;在稳定性测试中,输出单-双波长激光的波长最大漂移量小于0.008 nm。该方法具有结构简单、调谐方便、易于实现且精细度较高的优点,可应用于密集波分复用及全光通信系统等领域。     

溶剂去除速度对于溶剂退火薄膜相形貌的影响

以聚苯乙烯-聚4-乙烯基吡啶(PS-b-P4VP)嵌段共聚物作为研究对象,采用DMF作为退火溶剂,以原子力显微镜(AFM)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)为表征手段,研究了溶剂退火后期溶胀薄膜中溶剂的去除速度对于薄膜相形貌的影响,发现通过改变溶剂去除速度可以有效的调控薄膜中的形貌.当薄膜厚度为35 nm时,DMF的快速挥发会导致薄膜中形成以PS为分散相的反转柱状相结构,当降低溶剂的挥发速度时,薄膜中形成了以PS为分散相的环状形貌,当进一步减缓挥发速度时,薄膜中将形成台阶状的片层结构;然而当薄膜厚度为55 nm时,溶剂退火后期薄膜中形成的是以P4VP为分散相的正常柱状相结构,在相同溶剂去除速度条件下薄膜相形貌变化较小.     

表面效应对铁<100>间隙型位错环的影响

在材料辐照损伤过程中,间隙型位错环的形成及动力学行为严重影响材料在辐照条件下的服役行为.在常用的以体心立方铁为基的合金材料中,1/2<111>和<100>是两种主要的位错环,其对辐照损伤的影响一直都是核材料领域研究的热点之一.在之前的研究中,人们对{111}面与单个1/2<111>位错环的相互作用进行了深入研究,发现表面对位错环性质确实有重要的影响.采用分子动力学方法,在原子尺度详细研究了另一个重要的表面铁{100}面对<100>间隙型位错环动力学过程的影响.模拟发现位错环伯格斯矢量与表面法线方向的关系、距表面的深度、位错环之间的相互作用以及温度等,都对位错环与表面的相互作用产生重要影响,其中,表面作用下的伯格斯矢量的演化以及<100>位错环在此过程中的一维运动首次被发现.基于这些模拟结果,就<100>位错环对表面辐照损伤结构的影响进行详细地研究,给出<100>位错环对表面凹凸结构的贡献,这些结果为理解辐照过程中材料表面的演化提供一种可能的解释.