Synthesis and properties of noncoplanar rigid‐rod aromatic polyhydrazides and poly(1,3,4‐oxadiazole)s containing phenyl or naphthyl substituents

Two new phenyl‐ and naphthyl‐substituted rigid‐rod aromatic dicarboxylic acid monomers, 2,2′‐diphenylbiphenyl‐4,4′‐dicarboxylic acid ( 4 ) and 2,2′‐di(1‐naphthyl)biphenyl‐4,4′‐dicarboxylic acid ( 5 ), were synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction of 2,2′‐diiodobiphenyl‐4,4′‐dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester with benzeneboronic acid and naphthaleneboronic acid, respectively, followed by alkaline hydrolysis of the ester groups. Four new polyhydrazides were prepared from the dicarboxylic acids 4 and 5 with terephthalic dihydrazide (TPH) and isophthalic dihydrazide (IPH), respectively, via the Yamazaki phosphorylation reaction. These polyhydrazides were amorphous and readily soluble in many organic solvents. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that these hydrazide polymers had glass transition temperatures in the range of 187–234 °C and could be thermally cyclodehydrated into the corresponding oxadiazole polymers in the range of 300–400 °C. The resulting poly(1,3,4‐oxadiazole)s exhibited T_g's in the range of 252–283 °C, 10% weight‐loss temperature in excess of 470 °C, and char yield at 800 °C in nitrogen higher than 54%. These organo‐soluble polyhydrazides and poly(1,3,4‐oxadiazole)s exhibited UV–Vis absorption maximum at 262–296 and 264–342 nm in NMP solution, and their photoluminescence spectra showed maximum bands around 414–445 and 404–453 nm, respectively, with quantum yield up to 38%. The electron‐transporting properties were examined by electrochemical methods. Cyclic voltammograms of the poly(1,3,4‐oxadiazole) films cast onto an indium‐tin oxide (ITO)‐coated glass substrate exhibited reversible reduction redox with E_onset at ?1.37 to ?1.57 V versus Ag/AgCl in dry N,N‐dimethylformamide solution. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6466–6483, 2006     

Double‐hydrophilic block copolymer for encapsulation and two‐way pH change‐induced release of metalloporphyrins

A double hydrophilic block copolymer composed of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(4‐vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) was obtained through hydrolysis of diblock copolymer of poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) (PtBA) and P4VP synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization. Water‐soluble micelles with PAA core and P4VP corona were observed at low (acidic) pH, while micelles with P4VP core and PAA corona were formed at high (basic) pH. Two metalloporphyrins, zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) and cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP), were used as model compounds to investigate the encapsulation of hydrophobic molecules by both types of micelles. UV–vis spectroscopic measurements indicate that micelles with P4VP core are able to entrap more ZnTPP and CoTPP as a result of the axial coordination between the transition metals and the pyridine groups. The study found that metalloporphyrins encapsulated by the micelles with PAA core could be released on pH increase, while those entrapped by the micelles with P4VP core could be released on pH decrease. This behavior originates from the two‐way pH change‐induced disruption of PAA‐b‐P4VP micelles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1734–1744, 2006     

Mechanical endurance of polymer electrolyte membrane and PEM fuel cell durability

The life of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is currently limited by the mechanical endurance of polymer electrolyte membranes and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). In this paper, the authors report recent experimental and modeling work toward understanding the mechanisms of delayed mechanical failures of polymer electrolyte membranes and MEAs under relevant PEMFC operating conditions. Mechanical breach of membranes/MEAs in the form of pinholes and tears has been frequently observed after long‐term or accelerated testing of PEMFC cells/stacks. Catastrophic failure of cell/stack due to rapid gas crossover shortly follows the mechanical breach. Ex situ mechanical characterizations were performed on MEAs after being subjected to the accelerated chemical aging and relative humidity (RH) cycling tests. The results showed significant reduction of MEA ductility manifested as drastically reduced strain‐to‐failure of the chemically aged and RH‐cycled MEAs. Postmortem analysis revealed the formation and growth of mechanical defects such as cracks and crazing in the membranes and MEAs. A finite element model was used to estimate stress/strain states of an edge‐constrained MEA under rapid RH variations. Damage metrics for accelerated testing and life prediction of PEMFCs are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2346–2357, 2006     

Stability of transonic shocks in supersonic flow past a wedge

In this paper we study the stability of transonic shocks in steady supersonic flow past a wedge. We take the potential flow equation as the mathematical model to describe the compressible flow. It is known that in generic case such a problem admits two possible location of shock, connecting the flow ahead it and behind it. They can be distinguished as supersonic-supersonic shock and supersonic-subsonic shock (or transonic shock). Both these possible shocks satisfy the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions and entropy condition. In this paper we prove that the transonic shock is also stable under perturbation of the coming flow provided the pressure at infinity is well controlled.     

Strong instability of solitary waves for nonlinear Klein–Gordon equations and generalized Boussinesq equations

We study here instability problems of standing waves for the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equations and solitary waves for the generalized Boussinesq equations. It is shown that those special wave solutions may be strongly unstable by blowup in finite time, depending on the range of the wave's frequency or the wave's speed of propagation and on the nonlinearity.     

湍流燃烧二阶矩模型的大涡模拟验证

对美国Sandia国家实验室测量的甲烷-空气湍流射流火焰进行了三维大涡模拟(LES),其统计的时均量以及脉动量符合实验测量值,且和RANS代数二阶矩湍流燃烧模型模拟结果大致符合。LES统计得到的化学反应率系数脉动和甲烷浓度脉动的互关联与对应的时均量梯度的乘积分布趋势相同,大小幅值的位置也相对应,与二阶矩湍流燃烧模型的封闭假设相符,验证了二阶矩代数燃烧模型的合理性。     

A MEMS-Based Piezoelectric Power Generator for Low Frequency Vibration Energy Harvesting

A novel power generator has been achieved to convert vibration to electrical energy via the piezoelectric effect. The generator obtained by micro fabrication process mainly consists of silicon based frame and composite cantilever. The prototype tested at resonant vibration generates 1.15μW of effective power to a 20.4-kΩ resistance load. The potential of this work is to offer miniaturization solutions for power generators, and with the proposed method the ambient ubiquitous vibration can be harvested effectively as endless energy source to form an integrated self-powering system.     

Model and empirical study on some collaboration networks

In this paper we present an empirical study of a few practical systems described by cooperation networks, and propose a model to understand the results obtained. We study four non-social systems, which are the Bus Route Networks of Beijing and Yangzhou, the Travel Route Network of China, Huai-Yang recipes of Chinese cooked food, and a social system, which is the Collaboration Network of Hollywood Actors. In order to explain the results related to the degree distribution, act-degree distribution and act-size distribution (especially about the degree distribution, which may be better fitted using a stretched exponential distribution (SED)), we suggest a simple model to show a possible evolutionary mechanism for the emergence of such networks. The analytic and numerical results obtained from the model are in good agreement with the empirical results.     

NONTRIVIAL SOLUTIONS OF HARDY-HENON TYPE ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS

In this article,the authors investigate the existence problem for Hardy Hénon type strongly indefinite elliptic systems.Existence results are obtained for such systems with superlinear suberitical nonlinearities.     

Investigation on the barrier height and inhomogeneity of nickel silicide Schottky

The apparent Schottky barrier height (SBH) of the nickel silicide Schottky contacts annealed at different temperatures was investigated based on temperature dependence of I-V characteristic. Thermionic emission-diffusion (TED) theory, single Gaussian and double Gaussian models were employed to fit I-V experimental data. It is found the single Gaussian and double Gaussian SB distribution model can give a very good fit to the I-V characteristic of apparent SBH for different annealing temperatures. Also, the apparent SBH and the leakage current increase with annealing temperatures under reverse voltage. In addition, the homogeneity of interfaces for the samples annealed at temperatures of 500 and 600 °C is much better than that of the samples annealed at temperatures of 400, 700, and 800 °C. This may result from the phase transformation of nickel silicide due to the different annealing temperatures and from the low Schottky barrier (SB) patches.