Inverse method to determine elastic constants using a circular disk and moiré interferometry

We propose an inverse method, using a circular disk in diametrical compression, for the simultaneous determination of two elastic constants,E andv, from a single displacement map. Moiré interferometry combined with the phase-shifting technique provides a full-field displacement field. An overdeterministic approach using the least-squares method is implemented to fit the experimentally determined displacements to the theoretical solution. An implementation guideline is provided, considering the effects of accidental rigid-body motions, random noise and imperfect position of the origin. Accuracy and repeatability of the proposed method are verified experimentally.     

Recent Advances of AIE-Active Conjugated Polymers: Synthesis and Application

Conjugated polymers (CPs) have long been recognized as an important class of materials. The highly conjugated backbone of the CPs will facilitate the rapid exciton migration and result in amplification of fluorescence signals. However, CPs are likely to aggregate and form excimers in solid states, directly leading to the fluorescence quenching, namely aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ), hence inhibiting their prospective utilizations in a large degree. Since the effect of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is opposite to that of notorious ACQ, the AIE has raised great attention from scientists. CPs with AIE or aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE) features may help to solve the ACQ problem and meanwhile impart polymers with new properties and practical applications. In this review, we summarize the recent progress on the preparation of CPs with AIE or AEE characteristics, where AIE-active luminogens are located at polymer backbones or pendants. Their potential applications including fluorescent sensors, biological probes, and active layers for the fabrication of light-emitting diodes are also described.     

Comparative pyrolysis upcycling of polystyrene waste: thermodynamics, kinetics, and product evolution profile

Pyrolysis is one important way to treat polystyrene waste and upcycle it into useful materials. A comparative pyrolysis study of virgin polystyrene (VPS) and two types of commonly used polystyrene products, expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polystyrene container (CPS) was carried out. Various values were found in the thermodynamic study and kinetic study of VPS, EPS, and CPS pyrolysis, suggesting distinct thermal degradation characteristics of these materials. The energy barrier order of the pyrolysis processes was EPS, CPS, VPS, showing activation energy of 230, 219, and 145 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The order of amount of heat absorbed was EPS, CPS, VPS, with enthalpy of 224, 213, and 139 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The reaction favorability order was EPS, CPS, and VPS with Gibbs free energy of 118, 132, and 210 kJ mol^?1, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated the use of high heating rate would increase the reaction rate and shorten the reaction time. Product evolution profiles showed that VPS and CPS pyrolysis produced mainly aromatics, while EPS pyrolysis produced aromatics at the initial phase of the reaction and aliphatic hydrocarbon at the latter phase. The diverse pyrolysis behaviors of VPS, EPS, and CPS demonstrated that an examination on different polystyrene materials was desired to optimize the pyrolysis conditions and product distribution, and thus benefit the process of valuable materials recovery.     

A New Nano Design for Implementation of a Digital Comparator Based on Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - Quantum-dot is the result of elastic relaxation which has a straight relationship with the optical and electronic aspects of the quantum-dot-based...     

Quantum Key Agreement Via Non-maximally Entangled Cluster States

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - In this paper, we present a quantum key agreement (QKA) protocol with non-maximally entangled four-qubit cluster states. In our scheme, each...     

A Kind of Generalized Integrable Couplings and Their Bi-Hamiltonian Structure

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - We introduce a Lie algebra $\widetilde {g}$ which can be used to construct integrable couplings of some spectral problems. As two examples, the...     

Bidirectional Controlled Quantum Teleportation via Two Pairs of Bell States

International Journal of Theoretical Physics - We propose a bidirectional controlled teleportation scheme using two pairs of Bell states as quantum channels. This solution uses Charlie as the...     

Syngas production from methane over CeO2-Fe2O3 mixed oxides using a chemical-looping method

A series of mixed oxides Ce_{1 ? x} Fe _x O₂ was prepared by a hydrothermal method. XRD and Raman spectra were measured to study the structure of the prepared materials. The temperature-programmed reduction was undertaken to estimate reducibility of the oxides. Syngas generation from methane using these materials as oxygen carriers/catalysts via a chemical-looping procedure was investigated in detail. This procedure includes catalytic oxidation and decomposition of methane to produce H₂-rich gas at the first step followed by the production of the CO-rich gas by oxidizing the carbon deposited on deactivated catalysts. The results showed that all iron ions were incorporated into the ceria lattice with the formation of oxygen vacancies in the Ce_0.9Fe_0.1O₂ sample, while isolated Fe₂O₃ particles were distributed on the surface of the Ce_0.8Fe_0.2O₂ sample. TPR measurements and the analysis of the two-step chemical-looping reactions indicated a strong interaction between the Ce and Fe species which accounts for an increased activity of the mixed oxides in the syngas generation compared to that of individual oxides. Among the several samples, the Ce_0.8Fe_0.2O₂ catalyst showed the highest activity for methane partial oxidation due to the synergetic effects caused by the interaction of surface iron entities and Ce-Fe solid solution. In addition, selective oxidation of carbon by oxygen to CO can also be found over this material since gaseous products are formed at the carbon oxidation step with the selectivity to CO reaching 91.2%. Evidence is presented that syngas can be feasibly produced from methane with high selectivity via the chemical-looping procedure over the CeO₂-Fe₂O₃ mixed oxides.     

A study on the direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of microperoxidase-11 immobilized on a porous network-like gold film: Sensing of hydrogen peroxide

We have prepared porous and network-like nanofilms of gold by galvanic replacement of a layer of copper particles acting as a template. The films were first characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and then modified with cysteamine so to enable the covalent immobilization of the enzyme microperoxidase-11. The immobilized enzyme undergoes direct electron transfer to the underlying electrodes, and the electrode displays high electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, respectively, owing to the largely enhanced electroactive surface of the porous gold film. The detection limit of H₂O₂ is 0.4 μM (3 S/N).