Plasticized microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) separators for lithium‐ion batteries. II. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) dense membrane swelling behavior in a liquid electrolyte—characterization of the swelling kinetics

Some microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) separators for lithium‐ion batteries, used in liquid organic electrolytes based on a mixture of carbonate solvents and lithium salt LiPF₆, were characterized by the study of the swelling phenomena on dense PVdF membranes. Various aspects of the kinetics of the carbonate solvents and the solvent mixture sorption in dense PVdF slabs were studied at different temperatures. Non‐Fickian behavior, characterized by S‐shaped sorption curves, was highlighted, and a salt effect, which resulted in two‐stage sorption, was studied. Diffusion coefficients and activation energies were calculated for the Fickian portions of the sorption curves, that is, at short times and low swelling ratios. A strong influence of the different interaction parameters was shown for the swelling kinetics. This study proved that the swelling of microporous PVdF membranes could be considered instantaneous. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 544–552, 2004     

Rheooptical investigation of the crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) under tensile strain

The crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) under uniaxial tensile strain at different extension rates was investigated with optical polarimetry in a temperature range between the glass-transition temperature and the quiescent crystallization temperature. The evolution of the optical properties of the polymer, including the turbidity, birefringence, and dichroism, were monitored simultaneously with the mechanical parameters. To complete the semicrystalline microstructure characterization of the polymer under strain, an online wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) technique was used in separate experiments, which were performed under the same thermomechanical conditions. For real-time measurements, a high-energy synchrotron radiation source was used. The optical properties provided information about both the crystalline and amorphous phases, whereas the WAXD patterns essentially gave information about the crystalline phase. The two experimental techniques were then used in a complementary way to characterize the semicrystalline microstructure. Significant deviations from the stress-optical rule were found. This was attributed to both transient effects and the appearance of crystallites, which consisted of highly oriented molecular segments that could contribute to the optical anisotropy but not necessarily to the stress. The behavior of the optical dichroism was found to be qualitatively different from that of the birefringence. The latter monotonically increased with the strain, whereas the former first increased with the strain, passed through a maximum, and then decreased to a steady-state value. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1915–1927, 2004     

Plasticized microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) separators for lithium-ion batteries. III. Gel properties and irreversible modifications of poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes under swelling in liquid electrolytes

Microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) separators for lithium-ion batteries, used in liquid organic electrolytes, have been characterized with respect to the swelling phenomena on dense PVdF membranes (obtained through hot pressing). In the first and second parts of this study, we have described the swelling equilibria and swelling kinetics of dense PVdF. Here the thermal properties of PVdF gels and their irreversible modifications induced by swelling are characterized. Particular attention is paid to crystallinity modifications, polymer plasticization, and membrane degradation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2308–2317, 2004     

Fluorescent-based single-strand conformation polymorphism/heteroduplex capillary electrophoretic mutation analysis of the P53 gene.

Fluorescent-based single-strand conformation polymorphism (F-SSCP) analysis with capillary electrophoresis (CE) is the most common method for the detection of mutation because of its high sensitivity and resolution. In this study, we prepared an inexpensive linear polyacrylamide (LPA), and successfully applied it to CE-SSCP analysis and tandem CE-SSCP/heteroduplex analysis (HA) of the P53 gene on an ABI capillary genetic analyzer. A comparison of the sieving capabilities of a homemade LPA and commercial polydimethylacrylamide (PDMA) demonstrates that the homemade LPA has a higher resolution, a shorter analysis time, and is more suitable for tandem SSCP/HA than commercial PDMA. To show the usefulness, mutations of P53 gene exon 7 - 8 in 37 tumor samples were investigated by using homemade LPA. The results indicate that 10 mutations were found in 9 of 37 cases; the majority of P53 mutations were missense mutations, and 70% were located in exon 7, which plays an important role in neoplastic progression in human tumorigenesis.     

Polynomial Quantization on Rank One Para-Hermitian Symmetric Spaces

We construct the polynomial quantization on the space G/H where G=SL(n,R),H=GL(n–1,R). It is a variant of quantization in the spirit of Berezin. In our case covariant and contravariant symbols are polynomials on G/H. We introduce a multiplication of covariant symbols, establish the correspondence principle, study transformations of symbols (the Berezin transform) and of operators. We write a full asymptotic decomposition of the Berezin transform.     

Fermions in Odd Space-Time Dimensions: Back to Basics

It is a well-known feature of odd space-time dimensions d that there exist two inequivalent fundamental representations A and B of the Dirac gamma matrices. Moreover, the parity transformation swaps the fermion fields living in A and B. As a consequence, a parity-invariant Lagrangian can only be constructed by incorporating both the representations. Based upon these ideas and contrary to long-held belief, we show that in addition to a discrete exchange symmetry for the massless case, we can also define chiral symmetry provided the Lagrangian contains fields corresponding to both the inequivalent representations. We also study the transformation properties of the corresponding chiral currents under parity and charge-conjugation operations. We work explicitly in 2 + 1 dimensions and later show how some of these ideas generalize to an arbitrary number of odd dimensions.     

The Convergence and Stability of Splitting Finite-Difference Schemes for Nonlinear Evolutionary Equations

We consider a splitting finite-difference scheme for an initial-boundary value problem for a two-dimensional nonlinear evolutionary equation. The problem is split into nonlinear and linear parts. The linear part is also split into locally one-dimensional equations. We prove the convergence and stability of the scheme in L ₂ and C norms. Printed in Lietuvos Matematikos Rinkinys, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 413–434, July–September, 2005.     

Optical corrosion meter

In a previous study, a mathematical model relating surface and bulk behaviours of metals in aqueous solution has been developed. The model was established based on principles of holographic interferometry for measuring microsurface dissolution, i.e. mass loss, and on those of electrochemistry for measuring the bulk electronic current, i.e. corrosion current. In the present work, an optical corrosion meter was built based on the above model. The corrosion meter consists of an electrochemical cell in which the sample is immersed in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the corrosion meter has a holographic camera with a thermoplastic film for in situ processing of holograms in order to obtain real-time holographic interferoms of the sample in the electrochemical cell. Results of the present work indicate that optical holography is a very useful technique for measuring the corrosion current density of different alloys in aqueous solutions. As a result, the corrosion current density of aluminium, stainless steel, and low-carbon steel in 1 M KCl, 1 M NaCl, and 1 M NaOH solutions were obtained. A comparison between the corrosion data of samples showed that the corrosion current density of the stainless steel in 1 M NaCl is nearly three-folds higher than that of the aluminium in 1 M KCl and the low-carbon steel in 1 M NaOH.     

Lagrangian flows: The dynamics of globally minimizing orbits

The objective of this note is to present some results, to be proved in a forthcoming paper, about certain special solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equations on closed manifolds. Our main results extend to time dependent periodic Lagrangians with minor modifications.We have chosen the autonomous case because this formally simpler framework allows to reach more easily the core of our concepts and results. Moreover the autonomous case exhibits certain special features involving the energy as a first integral that deserve special attention. They are closely related to the link found by Carneiro [C] between the energy and Mather's action function [Ma].Reprinted by permission of Addison Wesley Longman Ltd.