Improvement in the blood compatibility of polyvinylidene fluoride membranes via in situ cross‐linking polymerization

In this study, we have provided a highly efficient, convenient, and universal protocol for preparing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes with low blood contact activation via in situ cross‐linking copolymerization of 2‐hydroxyethl methacrylate (HEMA) and acrylic acid (AA) in a solution of PVDF. The modified membranes were prepared from PVDF solution by phase inversion technology. The composition and morphology of the modified membranes were confirmed by attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Protein adsorption, clotting time, and contact activation on the modified PVDF membranes were systematically studied, the results indicating that after the incorporation of AA and HEMA, the modified PVDF membranes possessed anticoagulant properties in addition to low contact activation of blood components when in contact with blood. Therefore, fluorinated PVDF membranes with surfaces enriched with carboxyl and hydroxyl groups possessed the potential for use in long‐term blood‐contacting devices.     

Synthesis of core‐shell magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer for the selective determination of imidacloprid in apple samples

This work demonstrates the synthesis and characterization of core‐shell magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers based on surface imprinting using methacryloyl chloride as a functional monomer for the selective extraction of imidacloprid (template) from apple fruit. The characterization analysis results ensured the successful synthesis of the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers owing to their heterogeneous structure and good magnetic properties. An isothermal binding test was assessed with a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model, and the kinetic results fit well to the Freundlich isothermal model. The polymers exhibited an adsorption capacity of 5.75 mg/g for the target analyte with a good selective extraction ability. In addition, the polymers can be reused several times without significant performance loss. The molecularly imprinted polymers showed good performance in the analysis of spiked apple sample with a linear range of 0.05–1.0 mg/L, a limit of detection of 0.048 mg/L and a limit of quantification of 0.146 mg/L (S/N = 3/10). The recoveries of the samples were 77.66–96.57% and their respective relative standard deviations were 3.36–0.45%. All the results indicated that the proposed method provided good selective extraction, as qualifying the analytical standards.     

基于Q-plate的双图像非对称偏振加密

基于Q-plate提出了一种对两幅图像做非对称偏振加密的新方法.在该方法中,首先,将待加密的两幅图像通过干涉分解成两块纯相位板;其次,将这两块纯相位板分别编码到偏振光的两个正交分量中;最后,利用Q-plate和像素化的偏振片改变这束光的偏振分布,达到对图像的加密效果,用电荷耦合器件接收输出面的强度分布图作为最终的密文.其中一块纯相位板作为解密密钥.算法的解密密钥不同于加密密钥,由此实现了非对称加密.由于Q-plate是电调控的,它的每个像素点的光轴各不相同,所以能够根据描述变面结构空间旋转率的常数q来改变每个像素的偏振态.加密过程中用Q-plate的q值和像素化的偏振片的偏振角度作为加密密钥,这两个加密密钥具有很高的敏感性,极大地提高了算法的安全性.数值模拟结果验证了该方法的可行性和有效性.     

The Ultrafast and Continuous Fabrication of a Polydimethylsiloxane Membrane by Ultraviolet‐Induced Polymerization

The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane commonly used for separation of biobutanol from fermentation broth fails to meet demand owing to its discontinuous and polluting thermal fabrication. Now, an UV‐induced polymerization strategy is proposed to realize the ultrafast and continuous fabrication of the PDMS membrane. UV‐crosslinking of synthesized methacrylate‐functionalized PDMS (MA‐PDMS) is complete within 30 s. The crosslinking rate is three orders of magnitude larger than the conventional thermal crosslinking. The MA‐PDMS membrane shows a versatile potential for liquid and gas separations, especially featuring an excellent pervaporation performance for n‐butanol. Filler aggregation, the major bottleneck for the development of high‐performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), is overcome, because the UV polymerization strategy demonstrates a freezing effect towards fillers in polymer, resulting in an extremely high‐loading silicalite‐1/MA‐PDMS MMM with uniform particle distribution.     

Heterogeneous gold-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling of propargylic acetates with arylboronic acids leading to (E)-α-arylenones

An efficient heterogeneous gold-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling of propargylic acetates with arylboronic acids has been developed that proceeds smoothly in the presence of Selectfluor and provides a general and powerful tool for the preparation of various valuable α-arylenones with moderate to good yields, excellent E-selectivity, and recyclability of the gold catalyst. The reaction is the first example of heterogeneous gold-catalyzed arylative rearrangement of propargylic acetates for construction of complex enones.     

Engineering of Nucleic Acids and Synthetic Cofactors as Holo Sensors for Probing Signaling Molecules in the Cellular Membrane Microenvironment

The comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying the interaction of cells with their membrane microenvironment is of great value for fundamental biological research; however, tracking biomolecules on cell surfaces with high temporal and spatial resolution remains a challenge. Herein, a modular strategy is presented for the construction of cell surface DNA‐based sensors by engineering DNA motifs and synthetic cofactors. In this strategy, a stimuli‐reactive organic molecule is employed as the cofactor for the DNA motif, and the self‐assembly of them forms a FRET‐based holo DNA‐based sensor. With the use of the DNA‐based sensors, the versatility of this modular strategy has been demonstrated in the ratiometric imaging of the cellular extrusion process of endogenous signaling molecules, including sulfur dioxide derivatives and nitric oxide.     

Linear‐Dendritic Alternating Copolymers

Herein, the design, synthesis, and characterization of an unprecedented copolymer consisting of alternating linear and dendritic segments is described. First, a 4th‐generation Hawker‐type dendron with two azide groups was synthesized, followed by a step‐growth azide‐alkyne “click” reaction between the 4th‐generation diazido dendron and poly(ethylene glycol) diacetylene to create the target polymers. Unequal reactivity of the functional groups was observed in the step‐growth polymerization. The resulting copolymers, with alternating hydrophilic linear and hydrophobic dendritic segments, can spontaneously associate into a unique type of microphase‐segregated nanorods in water.     

A general design method for tunable microstrip devices at microwave frequency based on liquid crystal technology

This paper proposes a general design method for microstrip devices using liquid crystal (LC) at microwave frequencies. The method employs lumped element modelling to first optimise the filter at the working frequency. Then EM simulation is used for the second optimisation and the full-wave simulation. LC is used as the tunable material since the anisotropy can be changed with low voltages. The approach of modelling LC as a homogeneous anisotropy demonstrated with Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio is an acceptable approximation, which accurately predicts the tuning range. A new tunable inverted microstrip filter using nematic LCs at millimetre-wave frequencies is designed to verify the method. The proposed design utilises interdigital capacitors in parallel with two inductive loops to form a bandpass filter. It is fabricated and measured, and shows that the centre frequency varies from 5.01 to 5.51 GHz (10% tunability) and achieves a 3-dB bandwidth of 450 MHz, which is in good agreement with simulation results. A finite element simulation is used to investigate the behaviour of LC directors in the fully switched state; the effective permittivity is extracted from finite-element simulation and used in CST to achieve an even more accurate agreement with experimental results.     

非均匀水流中涌浪运动对水下量子通信性能的影响

涌浪运动是非均匀水流中的一种非线性运动,是常见的海洋运动形式之一.在进行水下量子通信时,会对光量子信号的传输造成极大的影响.然而,有关涌浪运动造成量子通信信道参数变化的研究,迄今尚未展开.为了研究涌浪运动对水下量子通信性能的影响,首先对涌浪运动的传播建立了数学模型并分析了其频谱特性.针对退极化信道,提出了涌浪运动与水下量子通信信道纠缠和信道容量的定量关系,并对量子密钥分发过程中误码率的影响进行了分析.仿真结果表明,当海面风速在0—20.5 m/s变化时,随着传播周期逐渐增大,信道纠缠度由0.0012逐渐增加到0.8426,信道容量由0.8736减小到0.1024,密钥分发过程中,量子误码率由0.1651增加到0.4812.由此可见,涌浪运动对于水下量子通信性能有着明显的影响.因此,在进行水下量子通信时,应根据涌浪运动的不同程度,自适应调整系统参数.