On the effect of longitude-dependent fields on convection in stellar atmospheres

In rotating stellar convective zones, heat transfer is shown to be associated with unbalanced azimuth forces arising in the radially ascending (heated) or descending (cold) matter. The presence of a longitude-dependent magnetic field generates additional azimuth forces, hence, new ways of compensating for the unbalanced forces. Generally speaking, this magnetic field is variable but may be nearly static in layers where convective equilibrium is replaced by radiative equilibrium. The condition for the coexistence of the static and usual fields is derived. To this end, an axisymmetric azimuth magnetic field of energy comparable to the energy of rotation should be introduced into models under consideration. In such configurations, conditions for magnetic field generation, as in the Sun, may appear.     

Graft polymerization of vinyl monomers inside macroporous polyacrylamide gel,cryogel, in aqueous and aqueous‐organic media initiated by diperiodatocuprate(III) complexes

Graft polymerization initiated by diperiodatocuprate(III) complex (Cu(III)) initiator was found to be an effective and convenient method for graft polymerization of vinyl monomers onto macroporous polyacrylamide gels, the so‐called cryogels (pAAm‐cryogels). The effect of time, temperature, monomer and initiator concentration during the graft polymerization in aqueous and aqueous‐organic media was studied. The graft polymerization of water‐soluble monomers as [2‐(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]‐trimethylammonium chloride, 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate, N‐isopropylacrylamide, and N,N‐dimethylacrylamide proceeds with higher grafting yield in aqueous medium, as compared with that in aqueous‐organic media. Graft polymerization in aqueous‐organic media such as water–DMSO solutions allows grafting of water‐insoluble monomers such as glycidyl methacrylate and N‐tert‐butylacrylamide with high grafting degrees of 100 and 410%, respectively. It was found that the deposition of initiator on the pore surface of cryogels promoted graft polymerization by facilitating the formation of the redox couple Cu(III)‐acrylamide group. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1952–1963, 2006     

Highly soluble and optically transparent poly (ether imide)s based on 2,6‐ or 2,7‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride and aromatic bis(ether amine)s bearing trifluoromethyl groups

Two series of novel fluorinated poly(ether imide)s (coded IIIA and IIIB ) were prepared from 2,6‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride and 2,7‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride, respectively, with various trifluoromethyl‐substituted aromatic bis(ether amine)s by a standard two‐step process with thermal or chemical imidization of the poly(amic acid) precursors. These fluorinated poly(ether imide)s showed good solubility in many organic solvents and could be solution‐cast into transparent, flexible, and tough films. These films were nearly colorless, with an ultraviolet–visible absorption edge of 364–386 nm. They also showed good thermal stability with glass‐transition temperatures of 221–298 °C, 10% weight loss temperatures in excess of 489 °C, and char yields at 800 °C in nitrogen greater than 50%. The 2,7‐substituted IIIB series also showed better solubility and higher transparency than the isomeric 2,6‐substituted IIIA series. In comparison with nonfluorinated poly (ether imide)s, the fluorinated IIIA and IIIB series showed better solubility, higher transparency, and lower dielectric constants and water absorption. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5909–5922, 2006     

Synthesis and characterization of novel perfluorinated polyimides with 3D‐controlled structures for photonic applications

We have designed and synthesized novel perfluorinated polyimides with 3D controlled structure. At first, we successfully developed the new synthetic routes to diamines with pendant bulky perfluorinated aromatic units in a multi‐step synthetic procedure. Novel perfluorinated polyimides were prepared in a two‐step reaction in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP) solution: The first step was for the synthesis of polyamic acids (PAAs) and the second reaction was for the imidization of PAA. The polymer yield was over 89% and the inherent viscosity of PAAs was in the range of 0.24–0.36 dL/g. The thin films were prepared by spin‐coating the PAA solution in NMP onto various substrates such as a Si wafer or a KBr pellet, dried at 80 °C and further cured at 230 °C. The resultant polyimides are thermally stable over 400 °C. The refractive index and birefringence of the resultant polyimides are 1.5858–1.6452 and 0.01–0.005, respectively. The refractive index of polyimide decreases with increasing the fluorine content. The copolymerization and the ether linkages into the backbone reduce the birefringence of polyimides. Surprisingly, the pendant ether linkage is not a crucial factor in reducing the polyimide birefringence. Their birefringence is comparatively very low, compared with that of previous polyimides. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1326–1342, 2006     

Synthesis and luminescence characteristics of conjugated dendrimers with 2,4,6‐triaryl‐1,3,5‐triazine periphery

We have synthesized conjugated dendrimer with triazine peripheries, and their luminescence properties were investigated. The dendrimers consist of dendritic triazine wedges for electron transport, distyrylbenzene core as an emitting moiety, and t‐butyl peripheral groups for good processing properties. The dendrimers have LUMO values of about ?2.7 eV possibly because of the triazine moiety with high electron affinity. Photoluminescence study indicates that energy transfer occurs from the triazine wedges to the stilbene bridge, and finally to the core chromophore units due to a cascade decrease of bandgap from the peripheral wedge to core moiety. Therefore, the emission wavelength was determined by the structure of the core unit. The energy transfer efficiency of distyrylbenzene‐cored dendrimers was about 75 and 55% for Trz‐1GD‐DSB and Trz‐2GD‐DSB, respectively. A preliminary electroluminescence property also was investigated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 254–263, 2006     

Synthesis and application as polymer electrolyte of hyperbranched polyether made by cationic ring‐opening polymerization of 3‐{2‐[2‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxymethyl}‐3′‐methyl‐oxetane

A novel cyclic ether monomer 3‐{2‐[2‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy‐methyl}‐3′‐methyloxetane (HEMO) was prepared from the reaction of 3‐hydroxymethyl‐3′‐methyloxetane tosylate with triethylene glycol. The corresponding hyperbranched polyether (PHEMO) was synthesized using BF₃·Et₂O as initiator through cationic ring‐opening polymerization. The evidence from ¹H and ¹³C NMR analyses revealed that the hyperbranched structure is constructed by the competition between two chain propagation mechanisms, i.e. active chain end and activated monomer mechanism. The terminal structure of PHEMO with a cyclic fragment was definitely detected by MALDI‐TOF measurement. A DSC test implied that the resulting polyether has excellent segment motion performance potentially beneficial for the ion transport of polymer electrolytes. Moreover, a TGA assay showed that this hyperbranched polymer possesses high thermostability as compared to its liquid counterpart. The ion conductivity was measured to reach 5.6 × 10^?5 S/cm at room temperature and 6.3 × 10^?4 S/cm at 80 °C after doped with LiTFSI at a ratio of Li:O = 0.05, presenting the promise to meet the practical requirement of lithium ion batteries for polymer electrolytes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3650–3665, 2006     

Preparation and characterization of optically active polystyrene via a chiral nitroxide‐mediated polymerization

2,2,6,6‐Tetramethyl‐4‐[d‐(+)‐10‐camphorsulfonyl]‐1‐piperidinyloxy was synthesized and used as a chiral nitroxide for the bulk polymerizations of styrene initiated with benzoyl peroxide (BPO), tetraethylthiuram disulfide (TETD), and thermal initiation. The results showed that the polymerizations proceeded in a controlled/living way; that is, the kinetics presented approximately first‐order plots, and the number‐average molecular weights of the polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight) increased with the monomer conversion linearly. The molecular weight distributions in the case of thermal initiation were narrower than those in the case of BPO and TETD, whereas the polymerization rate with BPO or TETD as an initiator was obviously faster than that with thermal initiation. In addition, successful chain‐extension reactions were carried out, and the structures of the obtained polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography and ¹H NMR. The specific rotations of the polymers were also measured by polarimetric analysis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1522–1528, 2006     

Melting behaviors,crystallization kinetics,and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) and its copolyester modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride

This article investigated the melting behaviors, crystallization kinetics, and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and its copolyester (PBSR) modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride, using wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and polarized optical microscope. Subsequent DSC scans of isothermally crystallized PBS and PBSR exhibited two melting endotherms, respectively, which was due to the melt‐recrystallization process occurring during the DSC scans. The equilibrium melting point of PBSR (125.9 °C) was lower than that of PBS (139 °C). The commonly used Avrami equation was used to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics. For nonisothermal crystallization studies, the model combining Avrami equation and Ozawa equation was employed. The result showed a consistent trend in the crystallization process. The crystallization rate was decreased, the perfection of crystals was decreased, the recrystallization was reduced, and the spherulitic morphologies were changed when the huge hydrogenated phenanthrene ring was added into the chain of PBS. The activation energy (ΔE) for the isothermal crystallization process determined by Arrhenius method was 255.9 kJ/mol for PBS and 345.7 kJ/mol for PBSR. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 900–913, 2006     

Electrochemical characteristics of gatifloxacin and its interaction with DNA.

The electrochemical behavior of gatifloxacin (GTFX) and its interaction with natural calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) is investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) on a carbon paraffined electrode. According to the suggested electrochemical equation, a binding constant of 1.7058 x 10(5) (mol L(-1))(-1) and binding sizes s = 3.09 (base pairs) of GTFX with ctDNA are obtained by nonlinear fit analysis of electrochemical data. The results demonstrate that GTFX has the properties of an intercalative binder.