Exchange coupled magnetic nanocomposites of Sm(Co1−xFex)5 / Fe3O4 with core/shell structure

Magnetic nanocomposites of Sm(Co_1−xFe_x)₅/Fe₃O₄ (x≈0.1) with the core/shell type structure were successfully fabricated using a two-step polyol process, where as-prepared SmCo_5(1−x) nanoparticles were used as seeds for the ferrite coating. The core/shell composites are quite stable in air and show a typical hysteric behavior of single component, yielding an enhanced coercivity of 2.2 kOe with a saturated magnetization of 130 emu/g at 5 T. The magnetization data clearly reveal the presence of effective exchange coupling between the hard-magnetic Sm(Co_1−xFe_x)₅ core and soft-magnetic Fe₃O₄ shell, suggestive of a single-phase structure rather than a distinctive two-phase one.     

Synthesis and characterization of thiazolothiazole‐based polymers and their applications in polymer solar cells

A novel series of thiazolothiazole (Tz)‐based copolymers, poly[9,9‐didecylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl‐alt‐2,5‐bis‐(3‐hexylthiophene‐2‐yl)thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole] (P1), poly[9,9‐dioctyldibenzosilole‐2,7‐diyl‐alt‐2,5‐bis‐(3‐hexylthiophene‐2‐yl)thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole] (P2), and poly[4,4′‐bis(2‐ethylhexyl)‐dithieno[3,2‐b:2′,3′‐d]silole‐alt‐2,5‐bis‐(3‐hexylthiophene‐2‐yl)thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole] (P3), were synthesized for the use as donor materials in polymer solar cells (PSCs). The field‐effect carrier mobilities and the optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of the copolymers were investigated. The results suggest that the donor units in the copolymers significantly influenced the band gap, electronic energy levels, carrier mobilities, and photovoltaic properties of the copolymers. The band gaps of the copolymers were in the range of 1.80–2.14 eV. Under optimized conditions, the Tz‐based polymers showed power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for the PSCs in the range of 2.23–2.75% under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW/cm²). Among the three copolymers, P1, which contained a fluorene donor unit, showed a PCE of 2.75% with a short‐circuit current of 8.12 mA/cm², open circuit voltage of 0.86 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.39, under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW/cm²). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

High speeds complementary integrated circuits fabricated with all‐printed polymeric semiconductors

Inkjet‐printed high speed polymeric complementary circuits are fabricated using an n‐type ([poly{[N,N′‐bis(2‐octyldodecyl)‐naphthalene‐1,4,5,8‐bis(dicarboximide)‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐5,5′‐(2,2′‐dithiophene)} [P(NDI2OD‐T2), Polyera ActivInk N2200] and two p‐type polymers [poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and a dithiophene‐based polymer (Polyera ActivInk P2100)]. The top‐gate/bottom‐contact (TG/BC) organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) exhibit well‐balanced and very‐high hole and electron mobilities (μ_FET) of 0.2–0.5 cm²/Vs, which were enabled by optimization of the inkjet‐printed active features, small contact resistance both of electron and hole injections, and effective control over gate dielectrics and its orthogonal solvent effect (selection of poly(methyl methacrylate) and 2‐ethoxyethanol). Our first demonstrated inkjet‐printed polymeric complementary devices have been integrated to high‐performance complementary inverters (gain >30) and ring oscillators (oscillation frequency ～50 kHz). We believe that the operating frequency of printable organic circuits can be further improved more than 10 MHz by fine‐tuning of the device architecture and optimization of the p‐ and n‐channel semiconductor processing. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Classification and determination of total protein in milk powder using near infrared reflectance spectrometry and the successive projections algorithm for variable selection

This paper proposes a methodology for the classification and determination of total protein in milk powder using near infrared reflectance spectrometry (NIRS) and variable selection. Two brands of milk powder were acquired from three Brazilian cities (Natal-RN, Salvador-BA and Rio de Janeiro-RJ). The protein content of 38 samples was determined by the Kjeldahl method and NIRS analysis. Principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) multivariate calibrations were used to predict the total protein. Soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) was also used for full-spectrum classification, resulting in almost 100% classification accuracy, regardless of the significance level adopted for the F-test. Using this strategy, it was feasible to classify powder milk rapidly and nondestructively without the need for various analytical determinations. Concerning the multivariate calibration models, the results show that PCR, PLS and MLR-SPA models are good for predicting total protein in powder milk; the respective root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.28 (PCR), 0.25 (PLS), 0.11 wt% (MLR-SPA) with an average sample protein content of 8.1 wt%. The results obtained in this investigation suggest that the proposed methodology is a promising alternative for the determination of total protein in milk powder.     

Hyponormality of Toeplitz operators with generalized circulant symbols

In this paper we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for Toeplitz operators with generalized circulant symbols to be hyponormal.     

Effects of chain length distribution on viscoelastic properties of entangled linear polymers: Blending laws for binary blends

The reptation idea of de Gennes and the tube model theory of Doi and Edwards are extended to explain the terminal viscoelastic properties of binary blends in the highly entangled state of two linear monodisperse polymers with different molecular weights M₁ and M₂. A modified tube model is proposed that considers the significance of the constraint release by local tube renewal in accounting for the relaxation process of the higher molecular weight chain. Its relaxation by both reptation and the constraint release is remodeled as the disengagement by pure reptation of an equivalent primitive chain. From knowledge of the longest relaxation times of the blend components, the stress equation is formulated from which blending laws of viscoelastic properties for the binary blends are derived. To force better agreement between theory and experiment at the pure monodisperse limits of the blends, a crude treatment to include the effect of contour-length fluctuation in the equivalent-chain model is also discussed. Theoretical predictions of the zero-shear viscosity and steady-state shear compliance are shown to be in good agreement with literature data on undiluted polystyrenes and polybutadienes over a wide range of the blend composition and M₂/M₁ ratio. The asymptotic of the laws for blends with M₂/M₁ → 1 and 0 are comparable to those from the relaxation spectrum proposed by others earlier on the basis of the tube model.     

Cationic rhodium(I) and iridium(I,III) complexes of cinnamonitrile and their catalytic activities

Summary Reactions of cinnamonitrile (trans-PhCH=CHCN) with [M(ClO₄)(CO)(PPh₃)₂] (M=Rh or Ir) produce hydrogenation oftrans-PhCH=CHCN to PhCH₂CH₂CN at 100°C under 3 atm of hydrogen.