Sensitive monitoring of humic acid in various aquatic environments with acidic cerium chemiluminescence detection.

In this research, a simple, sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of humic acid (HA) in water samples was first developed based on the redox reaction between humic acid and cerium(IV) in the acidic condition. Different with the former redox CL reaction which occurred in alkaline solution, no enhancers were needed and neither precipitation nor a second contamination would occur in the present CL system. Comparing with other spectrometric methods, we find that the proposed analysis system had better applicability and accuracy. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the CL peak height was linear with the concentration of HA in the range of 0.03 to 10.0 microg mL(-1). The detection limit is 0.01 microg mL(-1) (S/N = 3), and the relative standard deviation was 2.3% for 0.5 microg mL(-1) HA solution with eleven repeated measurements. The present CL method was successfully applied to the determination of HA in tap water, spring water and river water samples with good recovery from 90.0 to 110.0%. A possible CL mechanism was proposed based on the results of UV and fluorescence spectrometry and the CL spectrum of HA. It was speculated that the semi-quinone radicals in the excited state were the emitters.     

2‐Cyanoprop‐2‐yl dithiobenzoate mediated reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of acrylonitrile targeting a polymer with a higher molecular weight

The reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) mediated by 2‐cyanoprop‐2‐yl dithiobenzoate was first applied to synthesize polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with a high molecular weight up to 32,800 and a polydispersity index as low as 1.29. The key to success was ascribed to the optimization of the experimental conditions to increase the fragmentation reaction efficiency of the intermediate radical. In accordance with the atom transfer radical polymerization of AN, ethylene carbonate was also a better solvent candidate for providing higher controlled/living RAFT polymerization behaviors than dimethylformamide and dimethyl sulfoxide. The various experimental parameters, including the temperature, the molar ratio of dithiobenzoate to the initiator, the molar ratio of the monomer to dithiobenzoate, the monomer concentration, and the addition of the comonomer, were varied to improve the control of the molecular weight and polydispersity index. The molecular weights of PANs were validated by gel permeation chromatography along with a universal calibration procedure and intrinsic viscosity measurements. ¹H NMR analysis confirmed the high chain‐end functionality of the resultant polymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1272–1281, 2007     

On the persistence of elliptic lower-dimensional tori in Hamiltonian systems under the first Melnikov condition and Rüssmann’s non-degeneracy condition

In this paper we formulate a theorem on the persistence of elliptic lower-dimensional invariant tori for nearly integrable analytic Hamiltonian systems under the first Melnikov condition and Rüssmann’s non-degeneracy condition, and give the measure estimates of parameters for the non-resonance conditions under Rüssmann’s non-degeneracy condition, which is essential for the proof of our result.     

Solvothermal synthesis of TiO2: anatase nanocrystals and rutile nanofibres from TiCl4 in acetone

This work reports a new synthetic approach for single‐phase TiO₂ nanomaterials by solvothermal treatment of titanium tetrachloride in acetone at 80–110 °C. Small, uniform, and yet size‐tunable (5–10 nm) anatase titania nanocrystallites were obtained using a low concentration of TiCl₄ in acetone (i.e., at molar ratios of TiCl₄/acetone ≤ 1:15) in the temperature range of 80–110 °C, while rutile nanofibers were synthesized using a high concentration of TiCl₄ (e.g., TiCl₄/acetone = 1:10) at 110 °C. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bipyridinophane‐containing conjugated polymers modulated with an intramolecular aromatic C?H/π interaction

Bipyridinophane–fluorene conjugated copolymers have been synthesized via Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions from 5,8‐dibromo‐2,11‐dithia[3]paracyclo[3](4,4′)‐2,2′‐bipyridinophane and suitable fluorene precursors. Poly[2,7‐(9,9‐dihexylfluorene)‐co‐alt‐5,8‐(2,11‐dithia[3]paracyclo[3](4,4′)‐2,2′‐bipyridinophane)] ( P7 ) exhibits large absorption and emission redshifts of 20 and 34 nm, respectively, with respect to its planar reference polymer Poly[2,7‐(9,9‐dihexylfluorene)‐co‐alt‐1,4‐(2,5‐dimethylbenzene)] ( P11 ), which bears the same polymer backbone as P7 . These spectral shifts originate from intramolecular aromatic C? H/π interactions, which are evidenced by ultraviolet–visible and ¹H NMR spectra as well as X‐ray single‐crystal structural analysis. However, the effect of the intramolecular aromatic C? H/π interactions on the spectral shift in poly[9,9‐dihexylfluorene‐2,7‐yleneethynylene‐co‐alt‐5,8‐(2,11‐dithia[3]paracyclo[3](4,4′)‐2,2′‐bipyridinophane)] ( P10 ) is much weaker. Most interestingly, the quenching behaviors of these two conjugated polymers are largely dependent on the polymer backbone. For example, the fluorescence of P7 is efficiently quenched by Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Ag⁺ ions. In contrast, only Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, and Ni²⁺ ions can partially quench the fluorescence of P10 , but much less efficiently than the fluorescence of P7 . The static Stern–Volmer quenching constants of Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, and Ni²⁺ ions toward P7 are of the order of 10⁶ M^?1, being 1300, 2500, and 37,300 times larger than those of P10 , respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4154–4164, 2006     

Numerical analysis for the periodic response of nonsmooth dynamic systems of high-dimension

This paper deals with the numerical solution of high dimensional dynamic systems with nonsmooth characteristics, such as structural elastoplasticity, mechanical clearance and dry friction. As a stable periodic response of the system attracts its transient response, it may be extracted from the transient response somehow. The paper suggests a novel iteration scheme to extrapolate the periodic response from a short time history of its transient response by curve fitting. Compared with the current schemes such as shooting and incremental harmonic balancing, the present scheme makes full use of the information within the transient response and the system characters, then its computation efficiency has increased by an order and the numerical convergence depending on the initial iteration has greatly improved.The subject supported by the Chinese Foundation of Aeronautical Science     

Unexpected end‐groups of poly(acrylic acid) prepared by RAFT polymerization

Low‐molecular‐weight poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization with a trithiocarbonate as chain‐transfer agent (CTA). With a combination of NMR spectroscopy and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, the PAA end‐groups of the polymer were analyzed before and after neutralization by sodium hydroxide. The polymer prior to neutralization is made up of the expected trithiocarbonate chain‐ends and of the H‐terminated chains issued from a reaction of transfer to solvent. After neutralization, the trithiocarbonates are transformed into thiols, disulfides, thiolactones, and additional H‐terminated chains. By quantifying the different end‐groups, it was possible to demonstrate that fragmentation is the rate limiting step in the transfer reaction. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5439–5462, 2004     

Influence of Particle Morphology and Flow Conditions on the Dispersion Behavior of Fumed Silica in Silicone Polymers

The dispersion behavior of agglomerates of several grades of fumed silica in poly(dimethyl siloxane) liquids has been studied as a function of particle morphology and applied flow conditions. The effects of primary particle size and aggregate density and structure on cohesivity were probed through tensile and shear strength tests on particle compacts. These cohesivity tests indicated that the shear strength of particle compacts was two orders of magnitude higher than the tensile strength at the same overall packing density. Experiments carried out in both steady and time‐varying simple‐shear flows indicate that dispersion occurs through tensile failure. In the steady‐shear experiments,enhanced dispersion was obtained at higher levels of applied stress and, at comparable levels of applied stress, dispersion was found to proceed faster at higher shear rates. Experiments conducted in time‐varying flows further corroborated the results obtained in tensile cohesivity tests. Experiments in which the mean and maximum stresses in the time‐varying flows were matched to the stresses produced in steady shear flows highlight the influence of flow dynamics on dispersion behavior.