Photoinitiated RAFT polymerization of vinyl acetate

A photoinitiation process was investigated to develop a rapid and well‐controlled RAFT polymerization method applied to vinyl acetate (VAc) using methyl (ethoxycarbonothioyl)sulfanyl acetate (MESA) and bis(2,4,6‐trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphine oxide as the RAFT agent and photoinitiator, respectively. MESA was selected as the photochemically inert RAFT agent to minimize photolysis of the thiocarbonylthio groups during polymerization. Poly(vinyl acetate) with a prespecified well‐controlled molecular weight (MW) and a narrow MW distribution was successfully synthesized. The polymerization reaction proceeded as a living polymerization and was remarkably rapid compared with approaches that use thermally initiated processes with a very short induction period. A detailed kinetic study of the mechanism underlying the polymerization reaction, however, revealed that the chain ends containing xanthate moieties were not perfectly stable upon UV‐irradiation, and they generated radicals via homolytic cleavage. This reaction appeared to proceed by a combination of a degenerative transfer RAFT mechanism and a dissociation‐combination mechanism. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Silicon solar cells with Al2O3 antireflection coating

The paper presents the possibility of using Al₂O₃ antireflection coatings deposited by atomic layer deposition ALD. The ALD method is based on alternate pulsing of the precursor gases and vapors onto the substrate surface and then chemisorption or surface reaction of the precursors. The reactor is purged with an inert gas between the precursor pulses. The Al₂O₃ thin film in structure of the finished solar cells can play the role of both antireflection and passivation layer which will simplify the process. For this research 50×50 mm monocrystalline silicon solar cells with one bus bar have been used. The metallic contacts were prepared by screen printing method and Al₂O₃ antireflection coating by ALD method. Results and their analysis allow to conclude that the Al₂O₃ antireflection coating deposited by ALD has a significant impact on the optoelectronic properties of the silicon solar cell. For about 80 nm of Al₂O₃ the best results were obtained in the wavelength range of 400 to 800 nm reducing the reflection to less than 1%. The difference in the solar cells efficiency between with and without antireflection coating was 5.28%. The LBIC scan measurements may indicate a positive influence of the thin film Al₂O₃ on the bulk passivation of the silicon.     

The dispersion of pigment slurries via incorporation with water-soluble sulfonate poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A water-soluble sulfonate poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymer has been synthesized and identified as a high-temperature endurable surfactant. The glass-transition temperature and the storage modulus increase in correlation to the increase in sulfonate content. Various characterization studies were performed, including light scattering, zeta-potential measurement and a sedimentation test. The results suggest that at equal numbers of sulfonate units in a solution, a low concentration of a dispersant of high sulfonate content is more effective than a high concentration of a dispersant of low sulfonate content. Received: 6 April 2000 Accepted: 23 September 2000     

Bifurcation of periodic solutions to variational inequalities in R κ based on Alexander-Yorke theorem

Variational inequalities are studied, where K is a closed convex cone in , 3, B is a × matrix, G is a small perturbation, a real parameter. The assumptions guaranteeing a Hopf bifurcation at some ₀ for the corresponding equation are considered and it is proved that then, in some situations, also a bifurcation of periodic solutions to our inequality occurs at some _{I 0}. Bifurcating solutions are obtained by the limiting process along branches of solutions to penalty problems starting at ₀ constructed on the basis of the Alexander-Yorke theorem as global bifurcation branches of a certain enlarged system.     

Optical constants of thin oxide films on titanium

Thin oxide films on titanium formed by heating were studied by the ellipsometric method. To obtain the complex refractive index and film thicknesses, the ellipsometric measurements were performed by means of the immersing method: each sample was measured first in air and then in a liquid of known refractive index (in our case CCl₄). The optical constants and the oxide film thickness were computed by means of a computer from two pairs of ellipsometric values. To state the optical constants of clean titanium surface the graphic-computational method was proposed and applied. The measurements were carried out at two wavelengths on oxide films grown in air and dry oxygen by thermal oxidation at temperatures from 150 to 700 °C. It has been shown that when increasing the film thickness the refractive index of the film decreases, whereas the absorption coefficient is independent on the film thickness. Optical constants of oxide films growing in dry oxygen are smaller than those growing in air.     

The K-Quotient

The Rayleigh Quotient and a recently proposed Timoshenko Quotient [1] are upper bounds to the fundamental eigenvalue of a discrete dynamic system. The closeness of these upper bounds to the fundamental eigenvalue depends on the closeness of the trial vectors to the eigenmode used in the calculation. In the present paper, a new quotient is presented. This quotient does not require the closeness of the trial vector to the eigenmode and its accuracy is improvable by raising the numerical value of the parameter p.