Chemically modified proton‐conducting membranes based on sulfonated polyimides: Improved water stability and fuel‐cell performance

A series of branched/crosslinked sulfonated polyimide (B/C‐SPI) membranes were prepared and evaluated as proton‐conducting ionomers based on the new concept of in situ crosslinking from sulfonated polyimide (SPI) oligomers and triamine monomers. Chemical branching and crosslinking in SPI oligomers with 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenoxy)benzene as a crosslinker gave the polymer membranes very good water stability and mechanical properties under an accelerated aging treatment in water at 130 °C, despite their high ion‐exchange capacity (2.2–2.6 mequiv g^?1). The resulting polymer electrolytes displayed high proton conductivities of 0.2–0.3 S cm^?1 at 120 °C in water and reasonably high conductivities of 0.02–0.03 S cm^?1 at 50% relative humidity. In a single H₂/O₂ fuel‐cell system at 90 °C, they exhibited high fuel‐cell performances comparable to those of Nafion 112. The B/C‐SPI membranes also displayed good performances in a direct methanol fuel cell with methanol concentrations as high as 50 wt % that were superior to those of Nafion 112. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3751–3762, 2006     

The Electronic Structure of Azuleno[1,2,3-cd]phenalene and Azuleno[5,6,7-cd]phenalene,a Comparison

The photoelectron (PE.) spectra of azuleno[l, 2, 3-cd]phenalene ( 1 ) and azuleno- [5,6,7-cd]phenalene( 2 ) have been recorded. The first five bands of both compounds could be assigned to transitions corresponding to removal of electrons from 4a₂, 6b₁, 5b₁, 3a₂ and 4b_l orbitals. This assignment is based mainly on a comparison between the observed ionization potentials and orbital energies calculated in a HMO and a PPP model. The UV./VIS. polarized absorption spectrum of 1 in the region 10000–45000 cm^?1 has been measured by means of the stretched film technique. The measurements were performed in polyethylene sheets at 77°K. Several bands could be assigned to π* ← π transitions calculated by a PPP-CI method. A comparison between the electronic structures of 1 and 2 is made by means of a simple HMO diagram.     

Retronasal Aroma of Beef Pate Analyzed by a Chewing Simulator

In retronasal aroma, the targeted aroma compounds are released from food during chewing. The changes in the food structures during chewing strongly influence the release of the compounds, therefore affecting the perception of food. Here, the relationship between retronasal aroma and food deliciousness based on the physicochemical properties of aroma compounds was examined. We considered the consumption of solid foods and the effect of oral parameters in elderly people. Beef pate was used as a model food sample to study the effect of the release of aroma compounds under controlled in vitro mastication and salivation conditions using a chewing simulator. We identified the effects of coexisting ingredients such as beef fat on the time course behavior of the release of aroma compounds. In particular, the release of the middle types of aromas was significantly faster with stronger chewing force, and higher with a high fat content of the sample. In addition, a larger release intensity was observed when soy proteins were partially substituted for beef proteins. Using an appropriate model saliva, a change in the salting-out effect from the saliva composition was found to be a factor, which could explain the lowering of aroma sensation in an elderly person.     

Coaxial holographic data storage without recording the dc components

A technique of recovering the data pages from Fourier holograms recorded without the dc components is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally by use of a coaxial holographic storage system. A reconstructed image is obtained by adding a phase-modulated dc component of the signal beam on reading. The bit error rate of the reconstructed image is comparable with that for the hologram recorded with the dc component as well. Since high intensities of the dc components are not recorded in this technique, the dynamic range of the recording media can be saved, which potentially contributes to increasing the number of multiplexed holograms.     

Evidence for strain glass in the ferroelastic-martensitic system Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x)

We report here "strain glass," a new glassy phenomenon in ferroelastic-martensitic system of Ni-rich intermetallic Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x) (x > 1), where local strain is frozen in disordered configuration below a critical temperature Tg. The ac elastic modulus shows a minimum at Tg, which exhibits logarithmic frequency dependence following Vogel-Fulcher relationship, and the corresponding internal friction shows a frequency-dependent peak located at a lower temperature. In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations reveal uncorrelated nanoclusters of martensiticlike phase, randomly frozen in the otherwise untransformed parentlike matrix. Being parallel to spin glass and relaxor, strain glass may shed new light on the fundamental physics of glass and lead to the discovery of novel properties.     

Aberration correction and its automatic control in scanning electron microscopes

An automatic aberration correction method has been implemented in scanning electron microscopes (SEM). Necessity of the automatic aberration correction is discussed. The procedure of the automatic aberration correction is explained in detail, where deconvolution techniques are used in order to extract probe information from SEM images. Due to the precise digitization and the usage of proper combinations of correction fields, linearity has been found between the amplitude of each aberration and the corresponding field strength. Experimental results are shown which demonstrate that the aberrations are corrected automatically by a linear feedback control method. After the automatic aberration correction, the image quality has been improved drastically.     

Early stages of decomposition of alloys (spinodal or nucleation)

Progress in theory and experiment on the early stage of decomposition of alloys is reviewed. In the first half of this paper, theoretical treatments on decomposition of alloys by spinodal and nucleation mechanism and also continuum theories and the discrete lattice theories are comparatively reviewed. In the latter half of this paper, experimental results on Al-Zn, Ni-Al, Cu-Co and Al-Ag alloys are discussed.     

Effect of high pressure treatment on sarcoplasmic reticulum

Abstract

This paper describes the changes in biochemical activities of sarcoplasmic reticulum(SR) and Ca²⁺ release from SR in the rabbit skeletal muscle subjected to a high pressure treatment(100∽300 MPa) to investigate the mechanism for pressure-induced meat tenderization and acceleration of meat conditioning. Pressure-dependent changes were observed in the both extra and basal ATPase activities of SR prepared from the muscles exposed to high pressure. Ca²⁺ uptaking ability of SR vesicles measured by fluorescent chelating reagent, indo-1, decreased with increasing pressure applied to the muscle. Ultrastructural studies revealed that Ca²⁺ which was mainly localized in the SR region of the untreated fiber bundles was translocated into myofibrils in the pressurized muscle. Obtained results in this report may be one of the causes for meat tenderization and acceleration of meat conditioning induced by high pressure treatment.     

Effects produced by metal-coated near-field probes on the performance of silicon waveguides and resonators

We study the effects of metal-coated fiber near-field probes on the performance of nanophotonic devices. Employing a heterodyne near-field scanning optical microscope and analyzing transmission characteristics, we find that a metal-coated probe can typically introduce a 3 dB intensity loss and a 0.2 rad phase shift during characterization of a straight waveguide made in a silicon-on-insulator system. In resonant nanophotonic structures such as a 5 mum radius microring resonator, we demonstrate that the probe induces a 1 nm shift in resonant wavelength and decreases the resonator quality factor, Q, from 1100 to 480.