Preparation and characterization of PP/clay nanocomposites based on modified polypropylene and clay

X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) methods have been used to investigate the crystallization behavior and crystalline structure of hexamethylenediamine (HMDA)‐modified maleic‐anhydride‐grafted polypropylene/clay (PP‐g‐MA/clay) nanocomposites. These nanocomposites have been prepared by using HMDA to graft the PP‐g‐MA (designated as PP‐g‐HMA) and then mixing the PP‐g‐HMA polymer in hot xylene solution, with the organically modified montmorillonite. Both X‐ray diffraction data and transmission electron microscopy images of PP‐g‐HMA/clay nanocomposites indicate that most of the swellable silicate layers are exfoliated and randomly dispersed into PP‐g‐HMA matrix. DSC isothermal results revealed that introducing 5 wt % of clay into the PP‐g‐HMA structure causes strongly heterogeneous nucleation, which induced a change of the crystal growth process from a three‐dimensional crystal growth to a two‐dimensional spherulitic growth. Mechanical properties of PP‐g‐HMA/clay nanocomposites performed by dynamic mechanical analysis show significant improvements in the storage modulus when compared to neat PP‐g‐HMA. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3242–3254, 2005     

Carrier capture and relaxation of self-assembled ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots prepared under Volmer–Weber and Stranski–Krastanow growth modes

The carrier capture and relaxation of type II ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots have been investigated with ultrafast time-resolved photoluminescence upconversion. The carrier capture times were 7 and 38 ps for the Volmer–Weber mode and Stranski–Krastanow mode, respectively. We found that the carrier relaxation of QDs exhibits faster decay under the Volmer–Weber growth mode than under the Stranski–Krastanow growth mode. We attribute the difference of carrier relaxation to the wetting layer formed in the Stranski–Krastanow growth mode.     

Isobaric-isothermal monte carlo simulations from first principles: application to liquid water at ambient conditions.

A series of first-principles Monte Carlo simulations in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble were carried out for liquid water at ambient conditions (T=298 K and p=1 atm). The Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr (BLYP) exchange and correlation energy functionals and norm-conserving Goedecker-Teter-Hutter (GTH) pseudopotentials were employed with the CP2 K simulation package to examine systems consisting of 64 water molecules. The fluctuations in the system volume encountered in simulations in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble require a reconsideration of the suitability of the typical charge-density cutoff and the regular grid-generation method previously used for the computation of the electrostatic energy in first-principles simulations in the microcanonical or canonical ensembles. In particular, it is noted that a much higher cutoff is needed and that the most computationally efficient method of creating grids can result in poor simulations. Analysis of the simulation trajectories using a very large charge-density cutoff at 1200 Ry and four different grid-generation methods point to a significantly underestimated liquid density of about 0.8 g cm-3 resulting in a somewhat understructured liquid (with a value of about 2.7 for the height of the first peak in the oxygen-oxygen radial distribution function) for BLYP-GTH water at ambient conditions. In addition, a simulation using a charge-density cutoff at 280 Ry yields a higher density of 0.9 g cm-3, showing the sensitivity of the simulation outcome to this parameter.     

Supramolecular aggregations through the inclusion complexation of cyclodextrins and polymers with bulky end groups

Mono‐polyhedral oligomeric sillsesquioxane‐end capped poly(ε‐caprolactone) (mPPCL) can form inclusion complexes (ICs) with α‐ and γ‐cyclodextrins (CDs) but not with β‐CD. These CD ICs have been characterized with X‐ray diffraction, solid‐state ¹³C cross‐polarization/magic‐angle‐spinning NMR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) chain of mPPCL is included within the channel provided by the CDs to form a columnar, crystalline structure. The PCL/CD ratios determined by ¹H NMR spectroscopy for the ICs with α‐ or γ‐CDs are higher than the stoichiometries because of the steric hindrance of the bulky polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane chain end and result in a fraction of the ε‐caprolactone units free from complexation with the CDs. On the basis of these analyses, we propose some possible structures for these CD/mPPCL ICs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 125–135, 2007     

Drift response of bilinear hysteretic systems under two-frequency excitations

Response characteristics of bilinear hysteretic systems are investigated under two-frequency excitation. The excitation involves a predominate frequency component superimposed by a weaker high-frequency component having an integer frequency ratio. Depending on the frequency ratio, the long-term solutions show various forms of asymmetric response besides a symmetric steady-state response. In the limiting case of zero post-yielding stiffness, the displacement solution may exhibit a periodic-like response characterized by a constant drift increment occurring in each response cycle. To analyze the drift, two solution schemes, respectively, assuming uni-frequency and two-frequency response shapes are presented. Analytical results indicate that the frequency ratio and the phase difference of the two-frequency excitation highly influence not only the drift increment but also the direction of drift response. The effects associated with the addition of viscous damping are also investigated and discussed.     

Optimal Control of an M/G/1/K Queueing System with Combined <Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis> Policy and Startup Time

We investigate the optimal management problem of an M/G/1/K queueing system with combined F policy and an exponential startup time. The F policy queueing problem investigates the most common issue of controlling the arrival to a queueing system. We present a recursive method, using the supplementary variable technique and treating the supplementary variable as the remaining service time, to obtain the steady state probability distribution of the number of customers in the system. The method is illustrated analytically for exponential service time distribution. A cost model is established to determine the optimal management F policy at minimum cost. We use an efficient Maple computer program to calculate the optimal value of F and some system performance measures. Sensitivity analysis is also investigated.     

Investigation of solubility of microcrystalline cellulose in aqueous NaOH

A cost‐effective and environmentally friendly method to dissolve microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) has been utilized. A detailed investigation of the effects of cellulose amount and solvent (aqueous NaOH) concentration on MCC solubility has been presented. In the experiments, NaOH solutions with concentrations ranging from 3.7 to 18.6 wt% have been employed to dissolve MCC with various weights. The results show that an optimal NaOH concentration range can always be found to give the best solubility of MCC having a certain weight. The solubility monotonically decreases with either the decreasing or increasing of NaOH concentration away from the optimal concentration range. In addition, the optimal concentration range of NaOH for dissolving cellulose has been shown to shrink as the amount of MCC increases. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

C-Cosine Functions and the Abstract Cauchy Problem, II

For a bounded linear injectionCon a Banach spaceXand a closed linear operatorA : D(A) X → Xwhich commutes withCwe prove that (1) the abstract Cauchy problem,u″(t) = Au(t),t R,u(0) = Cx,u′(0) = Cy, has a unique strong solution for everyx,y D(A) if and only if (2)A₁ = AD(A²) generates aC₁-cosine function onX₁(D(A) with the graph norm), if (and only if, in caseAhas nonempty resolvent set) (3)Agenerates aC-cosine function onX. HereC₁ = CX₁. Under the assumption thatAis densely defined andC⁻¹AC = A, statement (3) is also equivalent to each of the following statements: (4) the problemv″(t) = Av(t) + C(x + ty) + ∫^t₀ Cg(r) dr,t R,v(0) = v′(0) = 0, has a unique strong solution for everyg L¹_locandx, y X; (5) the problemw″(t) = Aw(t) + Cg(t),t R,w(0) = Cx,w′(0) = Cy, has a unique weak solution for everyg L¹_locandx, y X. Finally, as an application, it is shown that for any bounded operatorBwhich commutes withCand has range contained in the range ofC,A + Bis also a generator.     

Mn的价态对La0.8Ba0.2MnO3电磁性能的影响

在2—390K温度之间研究了La_0.8Ba_0.2MnO₃的 磁矩、磁电阻与温度的关系.发 现以不同价态的Mn元素引入得到的La_0.8Ba_0．2MnO₃ ，性能虽然都存在金属 —绝缘体转变，以及在磁场作用下居里温度附近电阻率变化非常显著的特点，但是价态对磁 性转变温度T_C，金属—绝缘体转变温度T_mi，以及磁电阻极大 值温度T_MR的影 响都非常显著.三种价态相比较，使用二价Mn的电阻率最低以及磁性转变温度更接近室温.认 为影响材料性能的主要因素是材料制备时引进的Mn元素的价态，由于原料价态的不同而形成 的氧空位浓度变化，进而影响了Mn⁴⁺/Mn³⁺的比. 关键词： 价态 磁电阻 居里温度 金属—绝缘体转变     

The effects of experimental parameters in the thermal diffusivity measurements of oriented polymer films using mirage effect: Computer simulation

Computer simulations have been carried out to study the effects of the experimental parameters when the mirage method has been applied to thermal diffusivity measurements of oriented polymer films. The parameters under study are the thermal diffusivity of the fluid surrounding the sample, the modulation frequency and the radius of the heating beam, the height and the radius of the probe beam, and the sample thickness and thermal diffusivity. Proposals for the optimum parameter values to maximize the measurement sensitivity for the sample diffusivity are made and the difficulties arising from the low diffusivity of the samples are described. It is also concluded that because the thermal properties of the fluid surrounding the sample have a strong contribution to the mirage signals, the signals do not include any simple feature corresponding to the sample diffusivity. Therefore it should be determined from the entire measurement data using regression methods.