Brush macro‐RAFT agent mediated dispersion polymerization of styrene in the alcohol/water mixture

Dispersion RAFT polymerization of styrene in the alcohol/water mixture mediated with the brush macro‐RAFT agent of poly[poly(ethylene oxide) methyl ether vinylphenyl‐co‐styrene] trithiocarbonate [P(mPEGV‐co‐St)‐TTC] with similar molecular weight but different chemical composition is investigated. Well‐controlled RAFT polymerization including an initial slow homogeneous polymerization and a subsequent fast heterogeneous polymerization at almost complete monomer conversion is achieved. The molecular weight of the synthesized block copolymer increases linearly with the monomer conversion, and the polydispersity is relatively narrow (PDI < 1.3). The RAFT polymerization kinetics is dependent on the chemical composition in the brush macro‐RAFT agents, and those with high content of hydrophobic segment lead to fast RAFT polymerization. The growth of the block copolymer nano‐objects during the RAFT polymerization is explored, and various block copolymer nano‐objects such as nanospheres, worms, vesicles and large‐compound‐micelle‐like particles are prepared. The parameters such as the chemical composition in the brush macro‐RAFT agent, the chain length of the solvatophobic block, the concentration of the feeding monomer and the solvent character affecting the size and morphology of the block copolymer nano‐objects are investigated. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3177–3190     

Single- and multi-shot laser-induced damages of Ta_2O_5/SiO_2 dielectric mirrors at 1064 nm

Ta2O5/SiO2 dielectric mirrors deposited by ion beam sputtering (IBS) are studied. The multi-shot laserinduced damage threshold (LIDT) and its dependence on the number of shots are investigated, after which we find that the multi-shot LIDT is lower than that of single-shot. The accumulation effects of defects play an important role in the multi-shot laser damage. A simple model, which includes the conduction band electron production vsa multiphoton and impact ionizations, is presented to explain the experimental phenomena.     

Notes on the optimal variational iteration method

Here, various variational iteration algorithms are compared. An auxiliary parameter can be introduced in the iteration procedure, and can be identified optimally, which results in Turkyilmazoglu’s optimal variational iteration method. Some unknown auxiliary parameters can be also included in the initial solution, and can be optimally determined, that is Heri?anu and Marinca’s optimal variational iteration method.     

Evaluation of in vitro antioxidant activities of soyasaponins from soy hypocotyls in human HepG2 cell line

Soyasaponins were shown to have a wide range of biological activities in previous studies; however, the activities of their monomeric compounds are unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activities of soyasaponins in HepG2 cells. Four soyasaponins were isolated from soy hypocotyls and identified as soyasaponin Aa, Ab, Ba, and Bb. The protective effects of these soyasaponins against production of hydrogen peroxide-induced reactive oxygen species in cells were investigated. The cellular antioxidant activity of soyasaponins was found to be in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations ranging between 25 and 400 μg/mL in 24 h. Finally, based on cell morphology observations, group A soyasaponins showed better cellular antioxidant activity and anti-oxidative enzyme activity than group B ones, with an optimal concentration of 100 μg/mL.     

NIR light and enzyme dual stimuli‐responsive amphiphilic diblock copolymer assemblies

Using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and macromolecular azo coupling reaction, both o‐nitrobenzyl (ONB) group and azobenzene group were efficiently incorporated into the center of the amphiphilic diblock copolymer chain. The prepared diblock copolymer was well characterized by UV–vis, ¹H NMR, and GPC methods. Self‐assembly of the amphiphilic copolymer in selected solvents can result in uniform self‐assembly aggregates. In the presence of external stimuli [upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs)/NIR light or enzyme], the amphiphilic diblock copolymer chain could be broken by the cleavage of ONB or azobenzene group, which would lead to the disruption of the self‐assembly aggregates. This photo‐ and enzyme‐triggered disruption process was proved by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and GPC method. Fluorescence emission spectra measurements indicated that the release of Nile red, a hydrophobic dye, encapsulated by the self‐assembly aggregates, could be successfully realized under the NIR light and enzyme stimuli. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2450–2457     

Study on detection of mutation DNA fragment in gastric cancer by restriction endonuclease fingerprinting with capillary electrophoresis

The DNA fragment detection focusing technique has further enhanced the sensitivity and information of DNA targets. The DNA fragment detection method was established by capillary electrophoresis with laser‐induced fluorescence detection and restriction endonuclease chromatographic fingerprinting (CE‐LIF‐REF) in our experiment. The silica capillary column was coated with short linear polyarclarylamide (SLPA) using nongel sieving technology. The excision product of various restricted enzymes of DNA fragments was obtained by REF with the molecular biology software Primer Premier 5. The PBR322/BsuRI DNA marker was used to establish the optimization method. The markers were focused electrophoretically and detected by CE‐LIF. The results demonstrate that the CE‐LIF‐REF with SLPA can improve separation, sensitivity and speed of analysis. This technique may be applied to analysis of the excision product of various restricted enzymes of prokaryotic plasmid (pIRES2), eukaryote plasmid (pcDNA3.1) and the PCR product of codon 248 region of gastric cancer tissue. The results suggest that this method could very sensitively separate the excision products of various restricted enzymes at a much better resolution than the traditional agarose electrophoresis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elastic Organic Crystals Based on Barbituric Derivative: Multi-faceted Bending and Flexible Optical Waveguide

Elastic organic single crystals with light-emitting and multi-faceted bending properties are extremely rare. They have potential application in optical materials and have attracted the extensive attention of researchers. In this paper, we reported a structurally simple barbituric derivative DBDT , which was easily crystallized and gained long needle-like crystals (centimeter-scale) in DCM/CH₃OH (v/v=2/8). Upon applying or removing the mechanical force, both the (100) and (040) faces of the needle-like crystal showed reversible bending behaviour, showing the nature of multi-faceted bending. The average hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) were 0.28±0.01 GPa and 4.56±0.03 GPa for the (040) plane, respectively. Through the analysis of the single crystal data, it could be seen that the van der waals (C−H⋅⋅⋅π and C−H⋅⋅⋅C), H-bond (C−H⋅⋅⋅O) and π⋅⋅⋅π interactions between molecules were responsible for the generation of the crystal elasticity. Interestingly, elastic crystals exhibited optical waveguide characteristics in straight or bent state. The optical loss coefficients measured at 627 nm were 0.7 dBmm⁻¹ (straight state) and 0.9 dBmm⁻¹ (bent state), while the optical loss coefficient (α) were 1.5 dBmm⁻¹ (straight state) and 1.8 dBmm⁻¹ (bent state) at 567 nm. Notably, the elastic organic molecular crystal based on barbituric derivative could be used as the candidate for flexible optical devices.     

Combined effect of modified zeolite 13X and β-nucleating agent on improving β-crystal content and toughening polypropylene random copolymer

Although addition of β-NUCLEATING agent directly into homo-polypropylene(PPH) is a useful method to improve β-CRYSTAL content and toughen PPH, polypropylene random copolymer(PPR) makes this method powerless due to its random structure and low crystallinity. In this study, the-nucleated PPR with high β-CRYSTAL content was prepared by a novel high effective β-NUCLEATING system which consists of-nucleation agent(TMB-5) and modified zeolite 13X(M13X). It was found that M13X and TMB-5 had a synergistic influence on improving β-CRYSTAL content and toughening PPR. The content of β-CRYSTAL in PPR/M13X/TMB-5 was significantly larger than the sum of that in PPR/M13X and PPR/TMB-5. Besides,fracture behavior, phase morphology and relaxation of matrix chain segments were also investigated. The results showed that M13X and TMB-5 improved the mobility of amorphous chain segments at low temperature and contributed to much energy dissipation. This work provides a powerful method to modify PPR.