Charge transport in a mixed ionically/electronically conducting, cationic, polyacetylene ionomer between ion-blocking electrodes

The electrical behavior of the cationic, polyacetylene-based, conjugated ionomer, poly[(2-cyclooctatetraenylethyl)trimethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate], sandwiched between gold electrodes is reported. The steady-state current of this mixed ionically/electronically conducting system is assigned to be unipolar diffusive hole transport for voltages below approximately 1.4 V, giving way to bipolar migratory transport above approximately 1.4 V. In the low-voltage regime, a non-Faradaically controlled doping model is proposed where p-doping at the anode is balanced by the charging of an ionic double layer at the cathode. In the high-voltage regime, n- and p-type regions extend from the electrodes as the voltage becomes sufficient to drive disproportionation and the electric field required by the redistribution of ions begins to substantially influence carrier transport. The assignment of a transport mechanism is primarily based on analyzing the decay of the steady-state system under short-circuit and open-circuit conditions. First, it is shown that the power describing the power-law decay of the short-circuit current is characteristic of the steady-state carrier profile. Second, it is argued that a component of the time-dependent, open-circuit voltage decaying more rapidly than the time scale for ion motion is indicative of a substantial migratory component to steady-state transport, as observed in the high-voltage regime. The hole and electron mobilities are estimated to be on the order of 10(-7)-10(-6) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1).     

A note on approximate controllability for semilinear one-dimensional heat equation

The one-dimensional semilinear heat equation is considered. It is shown that if the nonlinear functionF(y) is uniformly bounded then the system is approximately controllable for every given terminal timeT>0 under some ordinary condition onb. The results may be extended to the general one-dimensional semilinear heat equation with one-dimensional control or to a boundary control heat system with semilinear boundary condition.     

A dual-electrode approach for highly selective detection of glucose based on diffusion layer theory: experiments and simulation

A dual-electrode configuration for the highly selective detection of glucose in the diffusion layer of the substrate electrode is presented. In this approach, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE, substrate) modified with a conductive layer of glucose oxidase/Nafion/graphite (GNG) was used to create an interference-free region in its diffusion layer by electrochemical depletion of interfering electroactive species. A Pt microelectrode (tip, 5 microm in radius) was located in the diffusion layer of the GNG-modified GCE (GNG-G) with the help of scanning electrochemical microscopy. Consequently, the tip of the electrode could sense glucose selectively by detecting the amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) formed from the oxidization of glucose on the glucose oxidase layer. The influences of parameters, including tip-substrate distance, substrate potential, and electrolyzing time, on the interference-removing efficiency of this dual-electrode approach have been investigated systematically. When the electrolyzing time was 30 s, the tip-substrate distance was 1.8 a (9.0 microm) (where a is the radius of the tip electrode), the potentials of the tip and substrate electrodes were 0.7 V and 0.4 V, respectively, and a mixture of ascorbic acid (0.3 mM), uric acid (0.3 mM), and 4-acetaminophen (0.3 mM) had no influence on the glucose detection. In addition, the current-time responses of the tip electrode at different tip-substrate distances in a solution containing interfering species were numerically simulated. The results from the simulation are in good agreement with the experimental data. This research provides a concept of detection in the diffusion layer of a substrate electrode, as an interference-free region, for developing novel microelectrochemical devices.     

A direct hydrogen-1 and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance cation solvation study of Al(ClO4)3, Ga(ClO4)3, In(ClO4)3, UO2(ClO4)2, and UO2(NO3)2 in water-acetone-dimethylsulfoxide and water-acetone-hexamethylphosphoramide mixtures

A competitive solvation study of Al(ClO₄)₃, Ga(ClO₄)₃, In(ClO₄)₃, UO₂(ClO₄)₂, and UO₂(NO₃)₂ in water-acetone-dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and water-acetone-hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPT) mixtures has been carried out by direct H¹ and P³¹ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. At low temperature, proton and ligand exchange are slow enough in these systems to permit the observation of signals for bulk and coordinated molecules of water and the organic bases (DMSO and HMPT). Both DMSO and HMPT compete effectively with water for coordination sites in the Al³⁺, Ga³⁺, and In³⁺ systems, with steric effects dominating the HMPT results. Both Al³⁺ and In³⁺ are able to bind a maximum of two to three HMPT molecules, for example. In contrast, UO²⁺ is solvated selectively by the organic molecules to the allowed maximum of 4 molecules per cation. H¹ and P³¹ NMR spectral results support the formation of only the mono-, tri-, and tetra-HMPT solvation complexes.     

Polymerization of w/o microemulsions for the preparation of transparent SiO2/PMMA nanocomposites

Reverse w/o microemulsions composed of methyl methacrylate (MMA) forming the oil phase, nonionic surfactants, and water are used for the synthesis of transparent SiO2/PMMA nanocomposites. An inorganic precursor, tetraethoxysilane (Si(OEt)(4), TEOS), is hydrolyzed in the reverse micelles containing aqueous ammonia. During the hydrolysis of TEOS, polymerization of the continuous MMA phase is initiated using AIBN (azobisisobutyronitrile), and after thermal polymerization at 333 K for 12 h, solid blocks of PMMA are obtained in which nanometer-sized silica particles are trapped in the solid polymer matrix. According to small-angle X-ray and dynamic light scattering experiments, the water droplets in MMA microemulsions are 12 nm (R(W) = 13) in diameter, whereas after polymerization of the microemulsion, the SiO2 particles in the transparent SiO2/PMMA composites are 26 nm in diameter. Transmission electron micrographs demonstrate a low degree of agglomeration in the composites. In comparison with materials generated from micelle-free solutions, the particle size distribution is narrow. The reverse micelle-mediated approach produces composites of high transparency comparable with that of pure PMMA.     

Real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles

Membrane fusion is very important for the formation of many complex organs in metazoans throughout evolution, such as muscles, bones, and placentae. Lipid vesicles (liposomes) are frequently used as model membranes to study the fusion process. This work demonstrates for the first time the real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles by directly displaying a series of high-resolution and real-time transformation images of individual vesicles. The fusion process includes the sequential steps of membrane contact, forming the center wall, symmetric expansion of fusion pore and complete fusion, undergoing the intermediates of "8" shape with a protruding rim at the contact site, peanut (pear) shape, and oblate sphere. The vesicle swells during fusion, and the fusing vesicle only deforms in the neck domain around the fusion pore in the lateral direction, which verifies the importance of the lateral tension on the fusion pore at the vesicle deformation level. The successful fusion of the synthetic and protein-free polymer vesicles reported here also supports that vesicle proximity combined with membrane perturbation suffices to induce membrane fusion, and that the protein is not necessary for the fusion process.     

振动噪声等高图的电驱动桥噪声预测及优化*

在项目开发前期通过优化电驱动桥扭矩特性的设计,可以规避噪声大问题。根据电驱动桥台架在对应扭矩下的振动噪声特性,提出了一套稳定高效的测试流程和分析方法。首先设计了一套完整的试验流程,制定了精准的数据分析方法。然后绘制出能够全面反映电驱动桥振动噪声特性的等高图。最后利用电驱动桥台架的振动噪声等高图,准确评估电驱动桥加速工况下振动噪声风险,为主机厂和电驱动桥零部件企业提供电驱动桥扭矩特性设计前期指导。利用该方法成功识别到某电驱动桥匀速及加速工况下电机及齿轮的啸叫问题。通过优化电驱动桥扭矩特性设计,电机48阶噪声峰值降低了8.5dB(A),确认该方法准确可靠,具备推广应用价值。     

Facile Synthesis of Tricyclic 1,2,4-Oxadiazolines-Fused Tetrahydro-Isoquinolines from Oxime Chlorides with 3,4-Dihydroisoquinoline Imines

A mild and efficient strategy for the synthesis of tricyclic 1,2,4-oxadiazolines-fused tetrahydro-isoquinolines derivatives via [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction is reported. The reactions provided the functionalized tricyclic 1,2,4-oxadiazolines in high yields (up to 96%). This protocol is simple and easy to handle. Moreover, a gram-scale experiment further highlights the synthetic utility. The chemical structure of the product was determined by X-ray single-crystal structure analysis. A possible mechanism for this transformation is proposed to explain the reaction process.     

A Comprehensive Review of Rosmarinic Acid: From Phytochemistry to Pharmacology and Its New Insight

Polyphenolic acids are the widely occurring natural products in almost each herbal plant, among which rosmarinic acid (RA, C₁₈H₁₆O₈) is well-known, and is present in over 160 species belonging to many families, especially the Lamiaceae. Aside from this herbal ingredient, dozens of its natural derivatives have also been isolated and characterized from many natural plants. In recent years, with the increasing focus on the natural products as alternative treatments, a large number of pharmacological studies have been carried out to demonstrate the various biological activities of RA such as anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-diabetes, anti-virus, anti-tumor, neuroprotection, hepatoprotection, etc. In addition, investigations concerning its biosynthesis, extraction, analysis, clinical applications, and pharmacokinetics have also been performed. Although many achievements have been made in various research aspects, there still exist some problems or issues to be answered, especially its toxicity and bioavailability. Thus, we hope that in the case of natural products, the present review can not only provide a comprehensive understanding on RA covering its miscellaneous research fields, but also highlight some of the present issues and future perspectives worth investigating later, in order to help us utilize this polyphenolic acid more efficiently, widely, and safely.     

An Image Compression Encryption Algorithm Based on Chaos and ZUC Stream Cipher

In order to improve the transmission efficiency and security of image encryption, we combined a ZUC stream cipher and chaotic compressed sensing to perform image encryption. The parallel compressed sensing method is adopted to ensure the encryption and decryption efficiency. The ZUC stream cipher is used to sample the one-dimensional chaotic map to reduce the correlation between elements and improve the randomness of the chaotic sequence. The compressed sensing measurement matrix is constructed by using the sampled chaotic sequence to improve the image restoration effect. In order to reduce the block effect after the parallel compressed sensing operation, we also propose a method of a random block of images. Simulation analysis shows that the algorithm demonstrated better encryption and compression performance.