Phase behavior and some calorimetric and physical properties of diurethanes from perfluoropolyether macromonomers

Density and calorimetric measurements have been carried out on copolymeric perfluoropolyethers of molecular weight ranging between 500 and 4700, terminated at both chain ends either with  CH₂OH or ethylurethane groups. Samples of the second series are models for perfluoropolyethers based polyurethanes. Density measurements point out that the terminal alcoholic group brings about a negative excess volume, which increases with decreasing the molecular weight; a lower excess volume is found for urethane‐terminated molecules. Calorimetric traces, T_g, and Δc_p at T_g show that alcoholic‐terminated molecules are amorphous and one phase systems, while urethane‐terminated compounds are crystalline; phase separation is observed for this last series when the molecular weight of the fluorinated segment is larger than 1000. The trend of T_g with molecular weight is discussed for one‐ and two‐phase systems in the light of current theories for the glass transition. The decrease of the melting point with increasing the molecular weight for the urethane series can be described by the Flory equation for random copolymers. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1609–1622, 1999     

Applications of thermal analysis in some solid-state reactions

TG-DTG-DTA has been used to characterize various isomers of CoCl₂·2(CH₃C₆H₄NH₂). Thermal analysis is further used to analyse the binary mixtures of these isomers. DTA recorded after different elapsed times follows the progress of reaction between cobalt chloride and benzocaine where progressively small endotherms are associated with starting materials. The application of thermal analysis to following the solid-solid reactions between metal acetates and 8-hydroxyquinoline was highlighted. The stoichiometry of such reactions was confirmed from the decrease in intensity of an endotherm as one increases the stoichiometry.Thanks are due to Drs. Keshav Chander, K. Kaur, Rajinder Singh and G. S. Chopra for helpful discussions and experimental work.     

Driving Organic Nanocrystals Dissolution Through Electrochemistry

We have recently discussed how organic nanocrystal dissolution appears in different morphologies and the role of the solution pH in the crystal detriment process. We also highlighted the role of the local molecular chemistry in porphyrin nanocrystals having comparable structures: in water-based acid solutions, protonation of free-base porphyrin molecules is the driving force for crystal dissolution, whereas metal (Zn^II) porphyrin nanocrystals remain unperturbed. However, all porphyrin types, having an electron rich π-structure, can be electrochemically oxidized. In this scenario, a key question is: does electrochemistry represent a viable strategy to drive the dissolution of both free-base and metal porphyrin nanocrystals? In this work, by exploiting electrochemical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM), we monitor in situ and in real time the dissolution of both free-base and metal porphyrin nanocrystals, as soon as molecules reach the oxidation potential, showing different regimes according to the applied EC potential.     

The origin of the redshift in Brillouin spectra of silica films containing tin nanoparticles

The abrupt change of velocity in surface acoustic waves in thin films of amorphous SiO_x containing nanometre scale -Sn crystals is shown to be directly associated with the size-dependent melting of the nanoparticles, confirming preliminary experiments. High resolution thin film powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation shows that the abrupt redshift in the Brillouin spectra satellites occurs at the same temperature as the melting of the nanoparticles, evident for the loss of the Bragg peaks. Effective medium theory is used to explain the origin of the anomaly. A central peak in the Brillouin spectrum, the intensity of which shows a maximum at the melting temperature, can be interpreted in terms of overdamped fluctuations in the dielectric function. The melting temperature as a function of particle size is in agreement with theoretical predictions. No evidence for strain could be found on the X-ray diffraction profiles; the a- and c-axis thermal expansion coefficients are the same as those in bulk tin. Received 30 March 2000 and Received in final form 24 July 2000     

Reconfigurable silicon filter with continuous bandwidth tunability

We present the design and the fabrication of compact tunable silicon-on-insulator bandpass filters based on the integration of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with ring resonators and activated via thermo-optic phase shifters. The proposed architecture provides wide filter bandwidth tunability from 10% to 90% of the free spectral range preserving the filter off-band rejection. Possible applications are channel subset selection in wavelength division multiplexing optical systems, adaptive filtering to signal bandwidth, and reconfigurable filters for gridless networking.     

Reactive processes in gas phase Na(+)-iso-C3H7Cl collisions: experimental guided-ion-beam and ab initio studies of the reactions on the ground singlet potential surface of the system up to 12.00 eV

Reactive processes, taking place when sodium ions collide with neutral iso-C(3)H(7)Cl molecules in the 0.02-12.00 eV range of energies in the center of mass frame, have been studied using an octopole radiofrequency guided-ion-beam apparatus developed in our laboratory. A dehydrohalogenation reaction channel leading to Na(C(3)H(6))(+) formation has been observed up to 1.00 eV while another process producing NaHCl(+) continues up to 4.00 eV. Furthermore, C(3)H(7)(+) formation resulting from decomposition of the reactants, ion-molecule adducts, has also been observed as well as its decomposition into C(2)H(3)(+) on increasing collision energy. Cross-section energy dependences for all these reactions have been obtained in absolute units. The ab initio electronic structure calculations have been done at the MP2 level for the colliding system ground singlet potential surface, giving information on the reactive surface main topological features. From the surface reactants side to the products' one, different potential wells and barriers have been characterized and their connectivity along the reaction evolution has been established using the intrinsic-reaction-coordinate method, thus interpreting the dynamical evolution of the reactants' collision complex to products. Experimental results demonstrate that NaHCl(+) can be produced via different channels. Reaction rate constants at 308.2 K for both dehydrohalogenation reactions have been calculated from measured excitation functions. It has been also confirmed that the reactants adduct decomposition giving C(3)H(7)(+) and NaCl takes place on the same potential surface. A qualitative interpretation of the experimental results in terms of ab initio calculations is also given.     

State-specific reactions and autoionization dynamics of Ar produced by synchrotron radiation

The long-lived excited states of doubly charged rare gases can markedly affect their reactivity. In this paper we demonstrate the presence of strong state-specific effects in the charge exchange of Ar²⁺ (³P, ¹D and ¹S) with several neutral targets (He, Ne, Kr, Xe, D₂, and CH₄). State sensitive measurements have been performed by producing the different Ar²⁺ electronic states via tunable synchrotron radiation (Elettra-Trieste, Italy and SuperACO-Orsay, France). From the product ion yield data of charge transfer, state-selected total cross-sections have been deduced. Using the state-specific reactivity of Ar²⁺ towards different neutral targets, it has been possible to extract the photon-energy-dependent production branching of the three doubly charged states and to investigate the autoionization dynamics of neutral or singly charged Ar in the vicinity of the double ionization threshold.