Effects of shell composition,dosage and alkali type on the morphology of polymer hollow microspheres

Polymer hollow microspheres were prepared by performing alkali treatment on the multilayer core/shell polymer latex particles containing carboxyl groups. Effects of the shell composition and dosage as well as alkali type on the morphology of the microspheres were investigated. Results showed that in comparison with acrylonitrile(AN) and methacrylic acid(MAA), using butyl acrylate(BA) as the shell co-monomer decreased the glass transition temperature(T_g) of shell effectively and was beneficial to the formation of uniform and big hollow structure. Along with the increase of the shell dosage, the alkali-treated microspheres sequentially presented porous and hollow morphology, and the size of microspheres increased, while the hollow diameter increased first and then decreased, and the maximum hollow ratio reached 39.5%. Furthermore, the multilayer core/shell microspheres had better tolerance to NH_3·H_2O than to NaOH. When the molar ratio of alkali to methacrylic acid(MR_(alkali/acid)) for Na OH ranged from 1.15 to 1.30 or MRalkali/acid for NH_3·H_2O ranged from 1.30 to 2.00, the regular polymer hollow microspheres could be obtained.     

Buckling Analysis of Soft Nanostructure in Nanoimprinting

Nanoimprint lithography is an economical and convenient method for manufacturing nanostructures, which has developed very quickly and has been widely used in the nanoindustry. However, during the process of nanoimprinting, mechanical instabilities of soft nanostructures could lead to buckling. In order to study the mechanism of this problem, we analyze the buckling of one vertical elastic column under its own weight. Based on the comparison between two critical heights of different substrates （rigid and elastic）, we conclude that the approximation of considering the substrate as rigid is acceptable. Furthermore the interaction between columns with the deformation of a substrate could lead to collective buckling. Our theoretical
calculations show that whether the columns are elastic or rigid makes little difference for the buckling modes.     

近红外发光Ag2S-CdS 核壳结构水溶性量子点的合成及光学性质

本文以谷胱甘肽(GSH)作为表面活性剂,采用两步法,先生成Ag2S核,再生长CdS,得到了高质量的Ag2S-CdS核壳结构水溶性量子点。我们用XRD,TEM,HRTEM和EDS研究了产物的结构,形貌和组分,用紫外可见吸收光谱和荧光发射光谱研究了所得量子点的光学性质,同时考察了反应时间,GSH的量,Ag和S源前驱物的含量对量子点光学性质的影响。实验结果表明量子点稳定性好,荧光寿命长,可在710~718 nm近红外区域发光。在核生长过程中,Ag和S源的含量同时影响量子点的发光位置和强度,而GSH量和壳层生长中S源的量几乎只影响近红外发光强度,发光位置保持不变。不同的量子点光学性质可能来源于量子点中组分及表面缺陷的分布。     

Selective recognition and electrochemical detection of p-nitrophenol based on a macroporous imprinted polymer containing gold nanoparticles

We have combined the molecular imprinting and the layer-by-layer assembly techniques to obtain molecularly imprint polymers (MIPs) for the electrochemical determination of p-nitrophenol (p-NPh). Silica microspheres functionalized with thiol groups and gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were assembled on a gold electrode surface layer by layer. The electrode was then immersed into a solution of pyrrole and p-NPh (the template), and electropolymerization led to the creation of a polymer-modified surface. After the removal of the silica spheres and the template, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were employed to characterize the surface. The results demonstrated the successful fabrication of macroporous MIPs embedded with Au-NPs on the gold electrode. The effects of monomer concentration and scan rate on the performance of the electrode were optimized. Excellent recognition capacity is found for p-NPh over chemically similar species. The DPV peak current is linearly related to concentration of p-NPh in the 0.1 μM to 1.4 mM range, with a 0.1 μM limit of detection (at S/N?=?3).

Selective recognition and electrochemical detection of p-nitrophenol based on a macroporous imprinted polymer containing gold nanoparticles

We have combined the molecular imprinting and the layer-by-layer assembly techniques to obtain molecularly imprint polymers (MIPs) for the electrochemical determination of p-nitrophenol (p-NPh). Silica microspheres functionalized with thiol groups and gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were assembled on a gold electrode surface layer by layer. The electrode was then immersed into a solution of pyrrole and p-NPh (the template), and electropolymerization led to the creation of a polymer-modified surface. After the removal of the silica spheres and the template, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were employed to characterize the surface. The results demonstrated the successful fabrication of macroporous MIPs embedded with Au-NPs on the gold electrode. The effects of monomer concentration and scan rate on the performance of the electrode were optimized. Excellent recognition capacity is found for p-NPh over chemically similar species. The DPV peak current is linearly related to concentration of p-NPh in the 0.1 μM to 1.4 mM range, with a 0.1 μM limit of detection (at S/N = 3).

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and nanomaterials were combined to prepare a novel macroporous structured MIPs based electrochemical sensor for the investigation of an environmental pollutant, p-nitrophenol (p-NPh). The sensor exhibited a fast binding dynamics, good specific adsorption capacities, and high selective recognition to p-NPh.

     

A Monte Carlo code to get response spectrum of ions for Neutron Depth Profiling

This paper presents a Monte Carlo code to get response spectrum of ions for the Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) technique called Monte Carlo NDP (MC-NDP) that simulates the behavior of ions transmitted through a sample matrix and generates the energy spectrum for a specified detector. The MC-NDP model is based on the Ziegler–Biersack–Littmark Model, but incorporates the advantages of TRIM and CORTEO. The Impulse Approximation method is used to determine the flight length with the indexical interpolation method rather than the Magic algorithm for the scattering angle between ions and nucleus. This makes MC-NDP more efficient and convenient to simulate entire ion histories by a Monte Carlo approach. MC-NDP’s results agree well with both TRIM results and the experimental data.     

Hydrophilic Conjugated Polymers with Large Bandgaps and Deep‐Lying HOMO Levels as an Efficient Cathode Interlayer in Inverted Polymer Solar Cells

Two hydrophilic conjugated polymers, PmP‐NOH and PmP36F‐NOH, with polar diethanol­amine on the side chains and main chain structures of poly(meta‐phenylene) and poly(meta‐phenylene‐alt‐3,6‐fluorene), respectively, are successfully synthesized. The films of PmP‐NOH and PmP36F‐NOH show absorption edges at 340 and 343 nm, respectively. The calculated optical bandgaps of the two polymers are 3.65 and 3.62 eV, respectively, the largest ones so far reported for hydrophilic conjugated polymers. PmP‐NOH and PmP36F‐NOH also possess deep‐lying highest occupied molecular orbital levels of −6.19 and −6.15 eV, respectively. Inserting PmP‐NOH and PmP36F‐NOH as a cathode interlayer in inverted polymer solar cells with a PTB7/PC₇₁BM blend as the active layer, high power conversion efficiencies of 8.58% and 8.33%, respectively, are achieved, demonstrating that the two hydrophilic polymers are excellent interlayers for efficient inverted polymer solar cells.

     

Distributed Bragg reflector laser(1.8 μm) with 10 nm wavelength tuning range

We report a 1.8 μm two-section distributed Bragg reflector laser using butt-jointed In Ga As P bulk material as the waveguide core layer. The threshold current is 17 m A and the output power is 8 m W on average. The threshold current, output power, and emitting wavelength dependences on temperature are measured. The obtained wavelength tuning range is 10 nm. This device has potential applications in simultaneous multiple-gas detection.     

Hydrophilic–oleophobic coatings on cellulosic materials by plasma assisted polymerization in liquid phase and fluorosurfactant complexation

Materials with hydrophilic–oleophobic properties are of relevance due to their application to different fields such as self-cleaning coatings, liquid–liquid separation membranes and functional textiles for different technical applications. In this work, hydrophilic–oleophobic coatings have been deposited on cellulosic materials (filter paper and bleached cotton) by means of plasma assisted polymerization of acrylic acid solutions in water followed by cationic fluorosurfactant complexation. Chemical composition of the coatings on cellulosic materials was characterized by means of FTIR–ATR and XPS whereas their morphology was studied by SEM. Hydrophilic–oleophobic behavior was characterized by means of contact angle and wetting time. Additionally wetting properties of cationic, anionic and non-ionic surfactant solutions on the hydrophilic–oleophobic coatings were used to characterize the polyelectrolyte electrostatic forces upon the functionalized layer.