DETERMINATION OF THRESHOLD N-FACTORS OF THE LAMINAR–TURBULENT TRANSITION IN A SUBSONIC BOUNDARY LAYER ON A PROLATE SPHEROID

Journal of Applied Mechanics and Technical Physics - Results of a numerical study of the laminar-turbulent transition in the boundary layer of a prolate spheroid obtained with the use of the ANSYS...     

Photosensitive cholesteric copolymers with spiropyran-containing side groups II. Kinetic features of the photo- and thermo-chromic processes

Kinetic features of the photo- and thermo-chromic behaviour of new cholesteric triple copolymers with photosensitive spiropyran-containing side groups are considered. The kinetics of the back thermal process at different temperatures have been studied; activation energies for this process for the copolymers with different contents of the dye units have been obtained. The photochromic homopolymer and copolymers with a low content of dye units are shown to possess maximum values of the activation energy.     

Photosensitive cholesteric copolymers with spiropyran-containing side groups I. Phase behaviour and photo-optical properties

A number of terpolymers were synthesized by copolymerization of nematogenic, chiral and photochromic monomers with different contents of spiropyran photosensitive side groups. The synthesized copolymers possess selective light reflection in the visible region of the spectrum. Action of UV light on planarly-oriented films of the copolymers leads to the formation of the merocyanine form of the dye with a maximum of absorbance coinciding with the selective light reflection peak. The 'degeneration' of the selective light reflection is observed during this process. It was shown that such types of material can be used for reversible information storage; the principal scheme for the processes of optical data recording and reading is suggested.     

A comparative study of photo-optical behaviour of photosensitive chiral copolymers with cholesteric mesophases induced in nematogenic and smectogenic matrices

The photo-optical behaviour of two series of chiral photochromic acrylic copolymers with a chiral nematic phase has been studied. These copolymers contain identical chiral photochromic units, but have different structures of the phenyl benzoate mesogenic side groups which are responsible for the development of LC phases. This approach allowed us to examine specific features of the photo-optical behaviour of the copolymers as a function of the nature of the LC 'matrix' in which the cholesteric phase was induced. The action of UV irradiation was shown to lead to the E-Z isomerization of the chiral side groups and, as a consequence, to untwisting of the cholesteric helix of the copolymers. For copolymers of both series, the effective quantum yields of this photochemical process were calculated. In the case of copolymers in which the cholesteric mesophase is induced in a smectogenic matrix, the corresponding values of the quantum yield are lower and depend slightly on temperature. A plausible explanation of the above phenomena is suggested.     

Surface segregation in blends of miscible amorphous polymers

The isothermal luminescence decay kinetics in near-surface nanolayers of plasma-activated bulk samples of amorphous polystyrene (PS) and poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) and their miscible blends with weight ratios PS/PPO of 75/25 and 50/50 has been studied at 77 K. The intensities of isothermal luminescence (I) of homopolymer and blend surfaces have been compared. It has been found that the ratio between the luminescence intensities for PS and PPO (I(PS)/I(PPO)) may be as high as 50, while the luminescence intensities for the PS–PPO blends are close to I(PPO). The results obtained indicate that the PPO concentration in the surface layers of the blends is higher than that in the bulk.     

Orientational optical torque in a nematic liquid crystal,caused by trans- and cis-isomers of low- and high-molecular compounds

The effect of light on the conformational composition of low- and high-molecular (fifth-generation dendrimer) azobenzene dyes in a nematic host is studied. The orientational optical response of the nematic liquid crystal (NLC), caused by the presence of these compounds in the nematic host, is measured. The contributions of isomers to the orientational optical torque affecting the NLC director are determined. The results obtained suggest that the increase in the optical orientation efficiency in NLCs when using high-molecular dopants instead of low-molecular ones is unrelated to the difference in their conformational composition in the light field, but is caused by deceleration of orientational motion of chromophores.     

Evolution of the structure of near-surface ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene nanolayers during orientational drawing

A comparative investigation of the surface structure of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene film filaments obtained with different draw ratios from xerogels prepared from 1.5 wt % polymer solutions in decaline and mineral oil has been performed using a SUPRA-55V scanning electron microscope and a nanoluminograph for recording thermoluminescence of ultrathin near-surface layers of solids. It has been found that, with an increase in the draw ratio, the luminescence intensity decreases, and the peaks responsible for the segmental mobility are shifted toward higher temperatures. It has been assumed that this is associated with the improvement of the structure of near-surface layers of the polymer (with a decrease in the number of microcavities and segments of molecules with a high degree of coiling). It has also been revealed that the peaks observed in glow curves of the oriented gel samples from polymer solutions in decaline are shifted more significantly than those of the gel samples from polymer solutions in mineral oil, and the extremely oriented films are characterized by a large discretization of kinetic units of motion.