Understanding run-in behavior of diamond-like carbon friction and preventing diamond-like carbon wear in humid air

The friction behavior of diamond-like carbon (DLC) is very sensitive to the test environment. For hydrogen-rich DLC tested in dry argon and hydrogen, there was always an induction period, so-called "run-in" period, during which the friction coefficient was high and gradually decreased before DLC showed an ultralow friction coefficient (less than 0.01) behavior. Regardless of friction coefficients and hydrogen contents, small amounts of wear were observed in dry argon, hydrogen, oxygen, and humid argon environments. Surprisingly, there were no wear or rubbing scar on DLC surfaces tested in n-pentanol vapor conditions, although the friction coefficient was relatively high among the five test environments. Ex situ X-ray photoelectron and near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy analyses failed to reveal any differences in chemical composition attributable to the environment dependence of DLC friction and wear. The failure of getting chemical information of oxygenated surface species from the ex situ analysis was found to be due to facile oxidation of the DLC surface upon exposure to air. The removal or wear of this surface oxide layer is responsible for the run-in behavior of DLC. It was discovered that the alcohol vapor can also prevent the oxidized DLC surface from wear in humid air conditions.     

Pore-spanning lipid membrane under indentation by a probe tip: a molecular dynamics simulation study

We study the indentation of a free-standing lipid membrane suspended over a nanopore on a hydrophobic substrate by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We find that in the course of indentation the membrane bends at the point of contact and the fringes of the membrane glide downward intermittently along the pore edges and stop gliding when the fringes reach the edge bottoms. The bending continues afterward, and the large strain eventually induces a phase transition in the membrane, transformed from a bilayered structure to an interdigitated structure. The membrane is finally ruptured when the indentation goes deep enough. Several local physical quantities in the pore regions are calculated, which include the tilt angle of lipid molecules, the nematic order, the included angle, and the distance between neighboring lipids. The variations of these quantities reveal many detailed, not-yet-specified local structural transitions of lipid molecules under indentation. The force-indentation curve is also studied and discussed. The results make a connection between the microscopic structure and the macroscopic properties and provide deep insight into the understanding of the stability of a lipid membrane spanning over nanopore.     

Synthesis and protonolysis of neutral aluminum dihydride compounds stabilized by tridentate-substituted pyrrolyl ligands: Synthesis, structural characterization and ring-opening polymerization of ?-caprolactone

A series of aluminum compounds containing tridentate pyrrolyl ligands were obtained from related aluminum dihydride compounds via protonolysis. Treatment of tetranuclear aluminum compound [C₄H₂N{2,5-(CH₂NMe₂)₂}Al₂H₅]₂ (1) with two equivalents of [C₄H₃N{2,5-(CH₂NMe₂)₂}] in methylene chloride at 0 °C led to the formation of [C₄H₂N{2,5-(CH₂NMe₂)₂}]AlH₂ (2). Similarly, when the deuterated aluminum compound 1D was used, the corresponding aluminum compound [C₄H₂N{2,5-(CH₂NMe₂)₂}]AlD₂ (2D) could be isolated. The reaction of 2 with one or two equivalents of phenylethyne, triphenylmethanethiol, 2,6-diisopropylaniline, or triphenylsilanol generated mononuclear aluminum compounds [[C₄H₂N{2,5-(CH₂NMe₂)₂}]AlRR′ (3, R = -CCPh, R′ = H; 4, R = R′ = -CCPh; 5, R = -SCPh₃, R′ = H; 6, R = R′ = -SCPh₃; 7, R = -NH(2,6-ⁱPr₂Ph), R′ = H; 8, R = R′ = -NH(2,6-ⁱPr₂Ph); 9, R = -OSiPh₃, R′ = H; 10, R = R′ = -OSiPh₃). Related Al-D compounds of 3, 5, 7 and 9 were also synthesized and corresponding IR spectroscopic data well matched in comparison of the stretching frequencies of Al-H and Al-D. The molecular structures of 2D, 4, 5, 5D, 7, and 10 have been determined by X-ray crystallography. Compounds 2, 5, and 7 initiated the ring-opening polymerization of ?-caprolactone and produced high-molecular weight of poly-?-caprolactone.     

Baryonic D decay and its implication

The channel is the only kinematically allowed baryonic D decay. It proceeds solely through the W-annihilation topology. Hence, a recent observation of this mode by CLEO will shed light on the dynamics of W-annihilation. At the short-distance level, its branching ratio is very small, of order 10⁻⁶, owing to chiral suppression. It receives long-distance contributions through final-state scattering of the leading tree and color-suppressed amplitudes. Assuming that the long-distance enhancement of W-annihilation in the baryonic D decay is similar to that in the mesonic decay, where the latter can be obtained from the analysis of the diagrammatic approach, we find that becomes visible. The observation of this baryonic D decay implies the dynamical enhancement of the W-annihilation topology in the decay.     

TiO2 Nanoparticles Produced by Electric-Discharge-Nanofluid-Process as Photoelectrode of DSSC

利用自制TiO₂纳米粒子研究敏化染敏太阳能电池. 使用自制的旋转涂布加热平台装置将产出的TiO₂粒子均匀的涂布在ITO导电玻璃上形成薄膜,浸泡于N-719 染料中12小时以上作为DSSCs的光电极 元件,最后完成染料敏化太阳能电池的系统组装并进行光电转换效率测量. 实验结果表明,放电过程产出的TiO₂纳米粒子具有锐钛矿晶相,粒径尺寸可控制在20～70 nm,粒子表面电位约为-30 mV,是稳定的纳米悬浮夜. 添加0.5 mL 的Triton X-100在导电玻璃表面上,利用的旋转涂布加热到22 oC可以制得厚度均匀缜密的薄膜结构,不但粒子不受到热处理效应与介面活性剂的影响而发生晶相改变,并且薄膜也有良好的染料吸附效果. 较厚二氧化钛薄膜的光电极会提升敏化染敏太阳能电池的效率. 实验结果得知,以15 μm的二氧化钛薄膜组装DSSCs测得最高效率2.15%,但是当薄膜厚度超过15 μm 则会导致开路电压与充填因子逐渐下降,光电转换效率变差.