Synthesis and properties of sulfonated poly(arylene ether)s containing azole groups

Random and multiblock sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (SPEs) containing various azole groups such as oxadiazole and triazole were synthesized and characterized for fuel cell application. Successful preparation of SPE membranes depended on the structure of azole groups, which affected solubility of precursors and the resulting SPEs. Although oxadiazole groups were incorporated into hydrophobic component, they were found to be hydrophilic to give higher proton conductivity. Introduction of oxadiazole groups into random SPE gave comparable proton conductivity to that of Nafion NRE at >60% relative humidity at 80 °C. Block copolymer structure further increased the proton diffusion coefficient without increasing ion exchange capacity. Hydrolytic and oxidative stability of the SPE membranes was affected by both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components. Oxadiazole groups gave negative impact on hydrolytic and mechanical stability to the SPE membranes. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Growth of undoped and Zn-doped GaN nanowires

Undoped and Zn-doped GaN nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the effects of substrates, catalysts and precursors were studied. A high density of GaN nanowires was obtained. The diameter of GaN nanowires ranged from 20 nm to several hundreds of nm, and their length was about several tens of μm. The growth mechanism of GaN nanowires was discussed using a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) model. Furthermore, room-temperature cathodoluminescence spectra of undoped and Zn-doped GaN nanowires showed emission peaks at 364 and 420 nm, respectively.     

Balanced decomposition of a vertex-colored graph

A balanced vertex-coloring of a graph G is a function c from V(G) to {−1,0,1} such that ∑{c(v):v∈V(G)}=0. A subset U of V(G) is called a balanced set if U induces a connected subgraph and ∑{c(v):v∈U}=0. A decomposition V(G)=V₁∪?∪V_r is called a balanced decomposition if V_i is a balanced set for 1≤i≤r.In this paper, the balanced decomposition number f(G) of G is introduced; f(G) is the smallest integer s such that for any balanced vertex-coloring c of G, there exists a balanced decomposition V(G)=V₁∪?∪V_r with |V_i|≤s for 1≤i≤r. Balanced decomposition numbers of some basic families of graphs such as complete graphs, trees, complete bipartite graphs, cycles, 2-connected graphs are studied.     

Finite-Difference Time-Domain Analysis of the Interaction of Gaussian Evanescent Light with a Single Dielectric Sphere or Ordered Dielectric Spheres

The interaction of gaussian evanescent light with a single dielectric sphere or ordered dielectric spheres in an attenuated total reflection (ATR) geometry was analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain method. Various aspects of this interaction were investigated in terms of spatial visualizations of light intensity, reflectance vs. wavelength characteristics, the transient behavior of reflectances, and so forth. In the case of a single sphere, it was evident that the whispering gallery mode can be excited in ATR geometries, but such excitation cannot be easily confirmed only through the observation of wavelength-scanned ATR spectra. In the case of a closely packed two-dimensional array of dielectric spheres, it was found that an easy axis and also a difficult axis for light propagation exist.This paper was originally presented at the 5th International Conference on NEAR FIELD OPTICS and RELATED TECHNOLOGIES (NFO-5), which was held on December 6–10, 1998 at Coganoi Bay Hotel, Shirahama, Japan, in cooperation with the Japan Society of Applied Phisics and Mombusho Grantin Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas “Near-field Nano-optics” Project, sponsored by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.     

InGaN growth with various InN mole fractions on m-plane ZnO substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We have demonstrated In_xGa_1−xN epitaxial growth with InN mole fractions of x=0.07 to 0.17 on an m-plane ZnO substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy for the first time. The crystalline quality of the epilayers was found to be much higher than that of epilayers grown on a GaN template on an m-plane SiC substrate.     

Dissipative crystallization of aqueous solutions of hydroxypropyl cellulose

Drying dissipative structures of aqueous solutions of hydroxypropyl cellulose, their viscosities of 2 wt.% solutions ranging from 2 to 2,000 mPa.s were studied on a cover glass, a watch glass, and a Petri glass dish. The thickness profile of the dried film shows the coexistence of a low round hill and a high broad ring on a cover glass. The broad ring size increased as molecular weight and/or concentration of the polymers increased on a cover glass and a watch glass. Microscopic drying crystal patterns of HPC changed as a function of the distance from the film center, which is one of the typical results of the dissipative crystallization. Rod-like microscopic drying patterns originated in the cholesteric liquid crystalline structures were observed. The rods oriented mainly parallel and in some case perpendicularly to the radial direction of the dried film except the central area, where the rods distributed at random. These orientation effects were significant for low molecular weight samples and in a watch glass.     

Dissipative crystallization of sodium salt of deoxyribonucleic acid

Drying patterns of aqueous solutions of sodium salt of deoxyribonucleic acid (NaDNA) were studied on a cover glass, a watch glass, and a Petri glass dish at room temperature. Orientation of the rod-like single crystals of NaDNA molecules in the radial direction was observed especially at low polymer concentrations. The ratios of the size of the broad ring against initial size of the liquid on a cover glass and a watch glass were very small between 0.05 and 0.1 compared with those of the typical polyelectrolytes. Main cause is the compact conformation of NaDNA forming single or double stranded helix structures in the dried film. Microscopic drying patterns were long rods accompanied with the many short rods especially on a cover glass. Thick and short rods and dendritic crystals were fogrmed at the inward and outward areas of the dried films, respectively, on a watch glass and a Petri glass dish. Rod-like and dendritic crystals resembled the distorted hedrite and/or spherulite structures. Dissipative crystallization such as the orientation and accumulation of the single crystals of NaDNA were observed and the importance of the convectional and sedimentation processes was demonstrated during the course of crystallization.     

Thermal cured epoxy resins using certain calixarenes and their esterified derivatives as curing agents

The acetyl esterified calixarene (CA) derivatives were prepared from calix[4]resorcinarene (CRA), and p‐tert‐butylcalixarene (BCA[n], n = 4, 6, 8), respectively. Using these CA derivatives as curing agents, the thermal curing reactions of two multifunctional epoxy resins (jER 828, 186 g/equiv., and ESCN, 193.7 g/equiv.) were investigated. The temperatures of glass transition (T_g) and decomposition (T) were measured by DSC and TGA, respectively. Based on the yields, T_gs, and T_ds of the thermal cured jER 828 epoxy resin with CRA‐E100, the curing conditions were optimized to be tetrabutylphosphonium bromide (TBPB) as catalyst in NMP at 160 °C for 15 h. Under this curing condition, the cured materials of jER 828 or ESCN using various CA derivatives as curing agents were prepared. Except for BCA4 derivatives, the yields of thermal curing reaction were higher than 90%. T_gs and Ts of the resultant cured materials were in the range of 113–248 °C and 363–404 °C, respectively. These results mean that the cured epoxy resins with excellent T_gs were successfully formed by using CA derivatives as curing agents. It was also found that the T_gs of cured epoxy resins were strongly affected by the degree of esterification of CA derivatives. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1931–1942, 2010