Water soluble poly(ethylene oxide) functionalized norbornene polymers

The synthesis of three different poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomers with a norbornene and oxanorbornene end group is presented. The macromonomers were polymerized to comb‐polymers by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) using Grubbs' Catalyst G3 to produce water soluble polymers with polydispersities between 1.04 and 1.30 and molecular weights between 14,000 and 50,000 g/mol. Characterization by static and dynamic light scattering reveals that the comb‐polymers with norbornene backbone are molecularly disperse in aqueous solution, while the oxanorbornene‐backbone polymers form small water‐soluble aggregates. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2640–2648, 2008     

A decrease in the superluminescence threshold of composites of an organic dye with nanoparticles

It is established that admixture of Ag, Al, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Fe ₃ O ₄ nanoparticles to a rhodamine 6G solution in ethanol with a concentration of 10⁻² mol/L that fills a cell with a thickness of 600 μm results in a decrease in the superluminescence thresholds by no less than 50 folds. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 77–82, September, 2008.     

A witness for coherent electronic vs vibronic-only oscillations in ultrafast spectroscopy

We report a conceptually straightforward witness that distinguishes coherent electronic oscillations from their vibronic-only counterparts in nonlinear optical spectra of molecular aggregates. Coherent oscillations as a function of waiting time in broadband pump/broadband probe spectra correspond to coherent electronic oscillations in the singly excited manifold. Oscillations in individual peaks of 2D electronic spectra do not necessarily yield this conclusion. Our witness is simpler to implement than quantum process tomography and potentially resolves a long-standing controversy on the character of oscillations in ultrafast spectra of photosynthetic light harvesting systems.     

Influence of selected biowaste materials pre-treatment on their anaerobic digestion

The topic of this study is the pre-treatment of substrates for anaerobic digestion. Two different substrates of algae Scenedesmus subspicatus (SAG 86.81), Chlorella kessleri (LARG/1) and foliage of Prunus serrulata were subjected to anaerobic digestion. A mixture of commercially available cellulolytic enzymes (Analytical science s.r.o., Modra, Slovakia) was used for anaerobic treatment of algae while the foliage of Prunus serrulata was pre-treated by lignolytic fungi. The highest production of methane per mass of volatile solids was reached with untreated Chlorella kessleri at (0.59 ± 0.04) L g⁻¹. The addition of cellulolytic enzymes did not increase the production of methane from the algal substrate; however, a faster substrate degradation and thus also higher speed of methane production at the beginning of cultivation was achieved. After foliage pre-treatment by fungal isolate Pleurotus pulmonarius, isolated from natural habitats, the methane production increased five times. In this way we were able to speed up the processes of biological degradation of ligno-cellulose materials and thereby to increase the production of methane. Our results show the possibility of using algae as a suitable substrate for biogas production. On the other hand, also aerobic pre-treatment of foliage (Pleurotus pulmonarius) presents a successful way for speeding up the degradation of ligno-cellulose waste leading to increased methane yields.     

Chemical Adaptability: The Integration of Different Kinds of Matter into Giant Molecular Metal Oxides

Unique properties of the two giant wheel‐shaped molybdenum‐oxides of the type {Mo₁₅₄}≡[{Mo₂}{Mo₈}{Mo₁}]₁₄ ( 1 ) and {Mo₁₇₆}≡[{Mo₂}{Mo₈}{Mo₁}]₁₆ ( 2 ) that have the same building blocks either 14 or 16 times, respectively, are considered and show a “chemical adaptability” as a new phenomenon regarding the integration of a large number of appropriate cations and anions, for example, in form of the large “salt‐like” {M(SO₄)}₁₆ rings (M=K⁺, NH₄⁺), while the two resulting {Mo₁₄₆ (K(SO₄))₁₆} ( 3 ) and {Mo₁₄₆ (NH₄(SO₄))₁₆} ( 4 ) type hybrid compounds have the same shape as the parent ring structures. The chemical adaptability, which also allows the integration of anions and cations even at the same positions in the {Mo₄O₆}‐type units of 1 and 2 , is caused by easy changes in constitution by reorganisation and simultaneous release of (some) building blocks (one example: two opposite orientations of the same functional groups, that is, of H₂O{Mo?O} ( I ) and O?{Mo(H₂O)} ( II ) are possible). Whereas Cu²⁺ in [(H₄Cu^II₅)Mo^V₂₈Mo^VI₁₁₄O₄₃₂(H₂O)₅₈]^26? ( 5 a ) is simply coordinated to two parent O^2? ions of {Mo₄O₆} and to two fragments of type II , the SO₄^2? integration in 3 and 4 occurs through the substitution of two oxo ligands of {Mo₄O₆} as well as two H₂O ligands of fragment I . Complexes 3 and now 4 were characterised by different physical methods, for example, solutions of 4 in DMSO with sophisticated NMR spectroscopy (EXSY, DOSY and HSQC). The NH₄⁺ ions integrated in the cluster anion of 4 “communicate” with those in solution in the sense that the related H⁺ ion exchange is in equilibrium. The important message: the reported “chemical adaptability” has its formal counterpart in solutions of “molybdates”, which can form unique dynamic libraries containing constituents/building blocks that may form and break reversibly and can lead to the isolation of a variety of giant clusters with unusual properties.     

High Temperature Thermal Gradient Interaction Chromatography (HT-TGIC) for Microstructure Analysis of Polyolefins

Summary: High temperature thermal gradient interaction chromatography (HT-TGIC) is a newly developed technique to analyze comonomer distributions in polyolefins. This paper documents the key differences between crystallization elution fractionation (CEF) and HT-TGIC, and the advantages of using multiple detectors in HT-TGIC to provide comprehensive microstructure characterization. A demonstration of the technique using a specifically designed blend, provides comprehensive data in less than 1.5 hours of analysis time by HT-TGIC. This paper also reports that HT-TGIC has excellent short term repeatability.     

Influence of turbulent flow on the deflagration-to-detonation transition in hydrogen-oxygen-air mixtures in a pulse combustor

The effect of turbulization of a hydrogen-oxygen-air mixture flow on the deflagration-to-detonation transition in a pulse combustor (PC) is studied. The parameters of operation of the PC with flame front propagation in a quiescent and strongly turbulized mixtures (Re ? 10⁴) are compared. It is shown that, in case of a quiescent mixture no detonation occurs because of a small length of the PC. The presence of intense pulsations (Re > 2 · 10⁴) created by elements of special configuration in the mixing chamber promotes the formation of a detonation wave, the velocity of which depends on the fuel-to-oxidizer equivalence ratio.     

The inductive wedge product of positive currents

We define the wedge product of positive currents. Our main issue is about studying the convergence of dd^c_gj∧T$d{d}^c{g}_j\wedge T$ where _gj$g_j$ is a given sequence of plurisubharmonic functions and T is a positive current.     

A Short Note on the Local Solvability of the Quaternionic Beltrami Equation

In this paper we discuss the local solvability of the inhomogeneous Beltrami equations in Quaternionic Analysis. We give an example of a Beltrami equation with no distributional solution and deduce the compatibility condition. This study is closely linked to the study of Dirac operators with non-constant coefficients.     

Electrodeposition of 3D Ordered Macroporous Germanium from Ionic Liquids: A Feasible Method to Make Photonic Crystals with a High Dielectric Constant

A promising method for the production of germanium photonic crystals consists of electrodeposition of Ge from GeCl₄‐containing ionic liquids inside templates of polystyrene colloidal crystals and subsequent removal of the template. This room‐temperature method gives rise to the fabrication of a three‐dimensional highly ordered macroporous germanium nanostructure (see picture; scale: 2 μm) as a prototype of a photonic crystal.