Numerical investigation of elastic modes of propagation in helical waveguides

Steel multi-wire cables are widely employed in civil engineering. They are usually made of a straight core and one layer of helical wires. In order to detect material degradation, nondestructive evaluation methods based on ultrasonics are one of the most promising techniques. However, their use is complicated by the lack of accurate cable models. As a first step, the goal of this paper is to propose a numerical method for the study of elastic guided waves inside a single helical wire. A finite element (FE) technique is used based on the theory of wave propagation inside periodic structures. This method avoids the tedious writing of equilibrium equations in a curvilinear coordinate system yielding translational invariance along the helix centerline. Besides, no specific programming is needed inside a conventional FE code because it can be implemented as a postprocessing step of stiffness, mass and damping matrices. The convergence and accuracy of the proposed method are assessed by comparing FE results with Pochhammer-Chree solutions for the infinite isotropic cylinder. Dispersion curves for a typical helical waveguide are then obtained. In the low-frequency range, results are validated with a helical Timoshenko beam model. Some significant differences with the cylinder are observed.     

Design and demonstration of a high-energy booster amplifier for a high-repetition rate petawatt class laser system

We have successfully developed a high-energy, high-repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser system that delivers 33 J before compression at 0.1 Hz. The final booster amplifier is based on a 100 mm diameter Ti:sapphire crystal pumped with 72 J of energy in six beams delivered by three frequency-doubled high-repetition rate Nd:glass lasers. This system is, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstrated petawatt class laser system running at a high repetition rate.     

Nanometrization of Lanthanide‐Based Coordination Polymers

Heteronuclear lanthanide‐based coordination polymers are microcrystalline powders, the luminescence properties of which can be precisely tuned by judicious choice of the rare‐earth ions. In this study, we demonstrate that such materials can also be obtained as stable solutions of nanoparticles in non‐toxic polyols. Bulk powders of the formula [Ln_2?2xLn′_2x(bdc)₃ ? 4 H₂O]_∞ (where H₂bdc denotes 1,4‐benzene‐dicarboxylic acid, 0≤x≤1, and Ln and Ln′ denote lanthanide ions of the series La to Tm plus Y) afford nanoparticles that have been characterized by dynamic light‐scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. Their luminescence properties are similar to those of the bulk materials. Stabilities versus time and versus dilution with another solvent have been studied. This study has revealed that it is possible to tune the size of the nanoparticles. This process offers a reliable means of synthesizing suspensions of nanoparticles with tunable luminescence properties and tunable size distributions in a green solvent (glycerol). The process is also extendable to other coordination polymers and other solvents (ethylene glycol, for example). It constitutes a new route for the facile solubilization of lanthanide‐based coordination polymers.     

Size dependence of the folding of multiply charged sodium cationized polylactides revealed by ion mobility mass spectrometry and molecular modelling

Ion mobility spectrometry coupled with mass spectrometry was used to experimentally determine the three-dimensional structure of multiply charged sodium cationized polylactides (PLA). In particular, the experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of the charge state and the size on the gas-phase conformation of cationized PLA. The measured collision cross sections were then compared to calculated values obtained by computational chemistry methods. The most striking feature was the experimental and theoretical observation of a breaking point in the quasilinear relationship between the average collision cross sections and the number of monomer units for the triply charged cations. This breaking point was theoretically demonstrated, for the doubly and triply charged cations, to be associated with a significant folding of the polymer chains around the cationizing agents. The occurrence of such breaking points could be exploited to correlate the charge state of the most intense ion series observed upon electrospray ionization with the number-average molecular mass of a polymer.     

Selective dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes with specific chiral indices by poly(N-decyl-2,7-carbazole)

Physico-chemical methods to sort single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by chiral index are presently lacking but are required for in-depth experimental analysis and also for potential future applications of specific species. Here we report the unexpected selectivity of poly(N-decyl-2,7-carbazole) to almost exclusively disperse semiconducting SWNTs with differences of their chiral indices (n - m) ≥ 2 in toluene. The observed selectivity complements perfectly the dispersing features of the fluorene analogue poly(9,9-dialkyl-2,7-fluorene), which disperses semiconducting SWNTs with (n - m) ≤ 2 in toluene. The dispersed samples are further purified by density gradient centrifugation and analyzed by photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. All-atom molecular modeling with decamer model compounds of the polymers and (10,2) and (7,6) SWNTs suggests differences in the π-π stacking interaction as origin of the selectivity. We observe energetically favored complexes between the (10,2) SWNT and the carbazole decamer and between the (7,6) SWNT and the fluorene decamer, respectively. These findings demonstrate that subtle structural changes of polymers lead to selective solvation of different families of carbon nanotubes. Furthermore, chemical screening of closely related polymers may pave the way toward simple, low-cost, and index-specific isolation of SWNTs.     

Quantum dynamics study of fulvene double bond photoisomerization: the role of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution and excitation energy

The double bond photoisomerization of fulvene has been studied with quantum dynamics calculations using the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Fulvene is a test case to develop optical control strategies based on the knowledge of the excited state decay mechanism. The decay takes place on a time scale of several hundred femtoseconds, and the potential energy surface is centered around a conical intersection seam between the ground and excited state. The competition between unreactive decay and photoisomerization depends on the region of the seam accessed during the decay. The dynamics are carried out on a four-dimensional model surface, parametrized from complete active space self-consistent field calculations, that captures the main features of the seam (energy and locus of the seam and associated branching space vectors). Wave packet propagations initiated by single laser pulses of 5-25 fs duration and 1.85-4 eV excitation energy show the principal characteristics of the first 150 fs of the photodynamics. Initially, the excitation energy is transferred to a bond stretching mode that leads the wave packet to the seam, inducing the regeneration of the reactant. The photoisomerization starts after the vibrational energy has flowed from the bond stretching to the torsional mode. In our propagations, intramolecular energy redistribution (IVR) is accelerated for higher excess energies along the bond stretch mode. Thus, the competition between unreactive decay and isomerization depends on the rate of IVR between the bond stretch and torsion coordinates, which in turn depends on the excitation energy. These results set the ground for the development of future optical control strategies.     

Synthesis of trifluoromethyl cyclohexyl, cyclohexenyl and aryl compounds via stepwise Robinson annulation

The diketone 2-fluoro-2-(trifluoromethyl)-1-phenylhexane-1,5-dione 3 was synthesized by a Mukaiyama Michael type reaction from the corresponding tetrafluoroenol silyl ether prepared from pentafluoropropiophenone. This diketone was treated under basic conditions and was converted, depending on the stoichiometry of the base, into the surprisingly stable ketol 4-fluoro-4-(trifluoromethyl)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylcyclohexanone 4 as a single diastereomer (catalytic KOH) or to the biphenylol 6-(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl-3-ol (excess KOH, THF) 5. Solvolysis of the trifluoromethyl group (anionic activation) occurred using excess KOH in alcohol. The corresponding cyclohexenone derivative 7, the usual product of Robinson annulation, might be prepared in good yield via mesylation of the ketol. Thus various unprecedented fluorinated cyclohexane and aromatic derivatives were achieved in a few steps from the commercially available pentafluoropropiophenone.