Preparation and applications of novel fluoroalkyl end‐capped vinyltrimethoxysilane oligomer/hydroxyapatite nanocomposites

Novel fluoroalkyl end‐capped vinyltrimethoxysilane oligomer/hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocomposites were prepared by the reaction of calcium nitrate tetrahydrate and phosphoric acid in the presence of the corresponding oligomer. These fluorinated oligomer/HAp composites thus obtained are nanometer size‐controlled fine particles (83–173 nm), and were found to exhibit good dispersibility in methanol, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol. These fluorinated HAp nanocomposites were applied to the surface modification of glass and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to exhibit good hydro‐ and oleophobic characteristics imparted by fluorine on their surface. In addition, the surface structural changes of the modified polyethylene terephtalate and PMMA films treated with these fluorinated nanocomposites before and after soaking in a simulated body fluid (SBF) were analyzed by using SEM, XRD, and EDX to observe the formation of spherical HAp deposits on the surface. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of a non-thermal surface plasma discharge in wet condition for gas exhaust treatment: NOx removal

This paper deals with the NOx removal with the help of a non-thermal surface plasma discharge in wet conditions. The gas treatment device consisting of a surface discharge and a wet-type reactor, was characterized through FTIR and electrical measurements. The ability of the proposed system for the cleaning of gas exhaust was studied. NOx as gaseous pollutant was decomposed effectively. To improve the chemical conversion, a coil was inserted in the electric circuit then a catalyst was placed in the plasma area. Results showed an improvement of NOx removal by an increase in radical species produced and synergistic effect, respectively.     

Electrical properties of nanointerface at poly(3-hexylthiophehe) and metal junctions probed directly with potential tip

Electrical properties at the nanointerfaces of head-to-tail coupled poly(3-hexylthiophene), PHT and metals (Au, Al) in sandwich type Al/PHT/Au diodes have been investigated using a nanomanipulator with the potential probing tip. It has been directly found that the highly insulating layer and the appreciable contact resistance are formed at Al/PHT with the thickness of several tens nanometer and PAT/Au, respectively. The bias dependence of the interface resistances at Al/PHT shows the origin of rectification. It has also been found that the interface resistance at PAT/Au is unexpectedly large, though the current–voltage behavior is ohmic. The results indicate the contact resistances between PHT and metals at the nanometric region are important factors to determine the diode performance.     

Volume reduction and tritium retention factor in electrolytic enrichment of water

Volume reduction(N), tritium retention factor (R), tritium concentration factor(Z) and apparent separation factor(beta) were measured on the large and small electrolytic cell systems. The relative variation of R was smaller than that of Z. So, it is recommended to use R in calculation of tritium concentrations in water samples. Furthermore, it was empirically revealed that R can be obtained only from N if a reliable beta-value is previously known. Therefore, it is possible to obtain R without electrolysis of the tritium standard solution. Taking into account the above facts, the so-called non-spike analysis of tritium, in which electrolytic enrichment and liquid scintillation counting are combined, becomes practicable.     

Dimeric and trimeric tetrathiafulvalenes with strong intramolecular interactions in the oxidized states

New dimeric and trimeric TTF derivatives with methylenedithio spacers (1a,b, 2a, and 2b) have been synthesized. X-ray structure analysis revealed that TTF units of the dimer 1b adopted distorted face-to-face overlapping arrangement both in intra- and intermolecular stacking. Cyclic voltammetric study indicated that trimeric 2a was in favor of taking di- and tetracationic states, while the dimeric 1a was in favor of taking a monocation. The absorption spectroscopic study suggested an existence of the strong face-to-face interaction particularly in di-, tri-, and tetracationic state of the trimeric TTF derivatives.     

Selective photoinduced energy transfer from a thiophene rotaxane to acceptor

An energy transfer process was investigated using cyclodextrin-oligothiophene rotaxanes (2T-[2]rotaxane). The excited energy of 2T-[2]rotaxane is transferred to the sexithiophene derivative which is included in the cavity of β-CD stoppers of 2T-[2]rotaxane.     

Quantum set theory: Transfer Principle and De Morgan's Laws

In quantum logic, introduced by Birkhoff and von Neumann, De Morgan's Laws play an important role in the projection-valued truth value assignment of observational propositions in quantum mechanics. Takeuti's quantum set theory extends this assignment to all the set-theoretical statements on the universe of quantum sets. However, Takeuti's quantum set theory has a problem in that De Morgan's Laws do not hold between universal and existential bounded quantifiers. Here, we solve this problem by introducing a new truth value assignment for bounded quantifiers that satisfies De Morgan's Laws. To justify the new assignment, we prove the Transfer Principle, showing that this assignment of a truth value to every bounded ZFC theorem has a lower bound determined by the commutator, a projection-valued degree of commutativity, of constants in the formula. We study the most general class of truth value assignments and obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for them to satisfy the Transfer Principle, to satisfy De Morgan's Laws, and to satisfy both. For the class of assignments with polynomially definable logical operations, we determine exactly 36 assignments that satisfy the Transfer Principle and exactly 6 assignments that satisfy both the Transfer Principle and De Morgan's Laws.