A new VOF‐based numerical scheme for the simulation of fluid flow with free surface. Part II: application to the cavity filling and sloshing problems

Finite element analysis of fluid flow with moving free surface has been performed in 2‐D and 3‐D. The new VOF‐based numerical algorithm that has been proposed by the present authors (Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, submitted) was applied to several 2‐D and 3‐D free surface flow problems. The proposed free surface tracking scheme is based on two numerical tools; the orientation vector to represent the free surface orientation in each cell and the baby‐cell to determine the fluid volume flux at each cell boundary. The proposed numerical algorithm has been applied to 2‐D and 3‐D cavity filling and sloshing problems in order to demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of the scheme. The proposed numerical algorithm resolved successfully the free surfaces interacting with each other. The simulated results demonstrated applicability of the proposed numerical algorithm to the practical problems of large free surface motion. It has been also demonstrated that the proposed free surface tracking scheme can be easily implemented in any irregular non‐uniform grid systems and can be extended to 3‐D free surface flow problems without additional efforts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear rheological behavior of silica filled solution‐polymerized styrene butadiene rubber

The reinforcement and nonlinear viscoelastic behavior have been investigated for silica (SiO₂) filled solution‐polymerized styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR). Experimental results reveal that the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the filled rubber is similar to that of unfilled SSBR, which is inconsistent with the general concept that this characteristic comes from the breakdown and reformation of the filler network. It is interesting that the curves of either dynamic storage modulus (G′) or loss tangent (tan δ) versus strain amplitude (γ) for the filled rubber can be superposed, respectively, on those for the unfilled one, suggesting that the primary mechanism for the Payne effect is mainly involved in the nature of the entanglement network in rubbery matrix. It is believed there exists a cooperation between the breakdown and reformation of the filler network and the molecular disentanglement, resulting in enhancing the Payne effect and improving the mechanical hysteresis at high strain amplitudes. Moreover, the vertical and the horizontal shift factors for constructing the master curves could be well understood on the basis of the reinforcement factor f(φ) and the strain amplification factor A(φ), respectively. The surface modification of SiO₂ causes a decrease in f(φ), which is ascribed to weakeness of the filler–filler interaction and improvement of the filler dispersion. However, the surface nature of SiO₂ hardly affects A(φ). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2594‐2602, 2007     

Phenylene vinylene‐based electroluminescent polymers with electron transport block in the main chain

We report a new route for the design of soluble phenylene vinylene (PV) based electroluminescent polymers bearing electron‐deficient oxadizole (OXD) and triazole (TZ) moieties in the main chains with the aryloxy linkage. Both series of the PV‐based polymers were prepared by Wittig reaction. By properly adjusting the OXD and/or TZ content through copolymerization, we can achieve an enhanced balance of hole‐ and electron injections, such that the device efficiency is significantly improved. Light‐emitting diodes fabricated from P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, and P7 with the configuration of Indium–Tin Oxide (ITO)/Poly (styrene sulfonic acid) doped poly (ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/polymer/Ca/Al, emit bright green light with the maximum peak around 500 nm. For the device using the optimal polymer (P4) as emitting layer, a maximum brightness of 1300 cd/m² at 20 V and a maximum luminance efficiency of 0.325 cd/A can be obtained. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3469–3478, 2006     

Polymerization of cyclopentadiene initiated by methylaluminoxane

The polymerization of cyclopentadiene (CPD) was effectively initiated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) to generate poly(cyclopentadiene) (polyCPD). The effects on the polymerization of some reaction parameters such as the monomer concentration, the initiator concentration, and solvents were investigated. The conversion of CPD was monitored with gas chromatography to investigate the reaction kinetics. The polymerization rate was proportional to the concentrations of MAO in the first order and of the CPD monomer in the second order, and a reasonable cationic polymerization mechanism was suggested on the basis of the kinetic study. PolyCPD obtained at a low temperature could be dissolved in toluene or chloroform, and this indicated lower cross‐coupling during the polymerization reaction. ¹H NMR and IR analysis of the polymer indicated that there were almost equal amounts of 1,2‐enchainment and 1,4‐enchainment in the polymer chain. The measurement of polyCPD showed its unique properties as a potential candidate for stable wrappings or electronic packaging materials. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 264–272, 2006     

Synthesis and properties of poly(amic acid)s and polyimides based on 2,2′,6,6′‐biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride

Poly(amic acid)s (PAAs) having the high solution stability and transmittance at 365 nm for photosensitive polyimides have been developed. PAAs with a twisted conformation in the main chains were prepared from 2,2′,6,6′‐biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (2,2′,6,6′‐BPDA) and aromatic diamines. Imidization of PAAs was achieved by chemical treatment using trifluoroacetic anhydride. Among them, the PAA derived from 2,2′,6,6′‐BPDA and 4,4′‐(1,3‐phenylenedioxy)dianiline was converted to the polyimide by thermal treatment. The heating at 300 °C under nitrogen did not complete thermal imidization of PAAs having glass‐transition temperatures (T_g)s higher than 300 °C to the corresponding PIs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6385–6393, 2006     

Sulfonated poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone)s containing fluorinated moieties as proton exchange membrane materials

A series of sulfonated poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone)s statistical copolymers with high molecular weights were synthesized via an aromatic nucleophilic substitution polymerization. The sulfonation content (SC), defined as the number of sulfonic acid groups contained in an average repeat unit, could be controlled by the feed ratios of monomers. Flexible and strong membranes in sodium sulfonate form could be prepared by the solution casting method, and readily transformed to their proton forms by treating them in 2 N sulfuric acid. The polymers showed high T_gs, which increased with an increase in SC. Membranes prepared from the present sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone ketone) copolymers containing the hexafluoroisopropylidene moiety (SPEEKK‐6F) and copolymers containing the pendant 3,5‐ditrifluoromethylphenyl moiety (SPEEKK‐6FP) had lower water uptakes and lower swelling ratios in comparison with previously prepared copolymers containing 6F units. All of the polymers possessed proton conductivities higher than 1 × 10^?2 S/cm at room temperature, and proton conductivity values of several polymers were comparable to that of Nafion at high relative humidity. Their thermal stability, oxidative stability, and mechanical properties were also evaluated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2299–2310, 2006     

Chiral separation of synthetic vicinal diol compounds by capillary zone electrophoresis with borate buffer and beta-cyclodextrin as buffer additive.

The investigation on capillary electrophoretic enantioseparation of six synthetic compounds containing vicinal diol groups has been undertaken to acquire the optimum conditions using native beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as chiral selector and borate as a background electrolyte. The separation was carried out in an uncoated capillary (58.5 cm x 75 microm i.d., effective length 48.5 cm) and the effects of several important factors were investigated in detail. The results showed that beta-CD as a chiral selector exhibited good enantioselectivity and that the enantioseparation was greatly influenced by the structure of the diols, the borate concentration and the buffer pH. The optimum performance was obtained for the chiral vicinal diols under the conditions of 200 mM borate buffer of pH 9.8 containing 1.7% beta-CD at an applied voltage of 15 kV and a capillary temperature of 20 degrees C. Under the conditions, four diols were baseline separated with fast analysis time and the good theoretical plate numbers (above 10 x 10(4)) and favorable migration-time reproducibilities (RSDs below 3.0%) were obtained. The separation results were satisfactory.     

Characteristics of a protein error in determination of serum protein in the presence of inorganic salt.

There is a possibility that the color development of the dye-binding method based on a protein error of a pH indicator is affected by the coexisting inorganic salt. Thus, the author theoretically and experimentally investigated the effect of the inorganic salt on the protein error. In a theoretical analysis, the anion of an inorganic salt, like the dissociated dye and buffer anions, was assumed to react with the protein, forming a colorless anion-protein complex. The calculated results were compared with those obtained by experiments using three pH indicators and various kinds of inorganic salts. The calculated results obtained are as follows: (1) The color development decreases with increasing the concentration of the inorganic salt and the equilibrium constant of the reaction between the inorganic salt and protein; (2) The rate of the absorbance decrease is larger for a lower concentration of the inorganic salt than for a higher one; (3) The larger is the equilibrium constant, the larger is the absorbance decrease. The absorbance decrease was caused by the anion, and was increased by increasing the anion concentration. The magnitude of the effect of the anion was iodide > bromide > chloride, which was associated with their ionic radius. The difference in the effect of the anion was thought to indicate that the equilibrium constant, in other words, the bonding strength of the anion to protein is iodide > bromide > chloride.     

Determination of 17 kinds of banned organochlorine pesticides in water by activated carbon fiber-solid phase microextraction coupled with GC-MS.

Activated carbon fiber (ACF) as extraction fiber for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and its application for the analysis of banned organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were investigated. Firstly, ACF was activated by different concentration of zinc chloride, which indicated that ACF activated by 60% zinc chloride had a reasonable specific surface area, pore volume and pore distribution. Secondly, the parameters for the ACF-SPME procedure, the adsorption and desorption conditions, were also optimized when coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirdly, the ACF-SPME was used to analyze 17 kinds of OCPs in water. The linearity of most pesticides was found to be between 0.2 and 50 microg/l with GC-MS under the selected ion monitoring (SIM) acquisition mode. The limits of detection (LOD) at the sub microg/l were obtained. The work demonstrated here shows that ACF is a promising alternative for the SPME procedure.