Trefftz,collocation, and other boundary methods—A comparison

In this article we survey the Trefftz method (TM), the collocation method (CM), and the collocation Trefftz method (CTM). We also review the coupling techniques for the interzonal conditions, which include the indirect Trefftz method, the original Trefftz method, the penalty plus hybrid Trefftz method, and the direct Trefftz method. Other boundary methods are also briefly described. Key issues in these algorithms, including the error analysis, are addressed. New numerical results are reported. Comparisons among TMs and other numerical methods are made. It is concluded that the CTM is the simplest algorithm and provides the most accurate solution with the best numerical stability. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

Sensitive monitoring of humic acid in various aquatic environments with acidic cerium chemiluminescence detection.

In this research, a simple, sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of humic acid (HA) in water samples was first developed based on the redox reaction between humic acid and cerium(IV) in the acidic condition. Different with the former redox CL reaction which occurred in alkaline solution, no enhancers were needed and neither precipitation nor a second contamination would occur in the present CL system. Comparing with other spectrometric methods, we find that the proposed analysis system had better applicability and accuracy. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the CL peak height was linear with the concentration of HA in the range of 0.03 to 10.0 microg mL(-1). The detection limit is 0.01 microg mL(-1) (S/N = 3), and the relative standard deviation was 2.3% for 0.5 microg mL(-1) HA solution with eleven repeated measurements. The present CL method was successfully applied to the determination of HA in tap water, spring water and river water samples with good recovery from 90.0 to 110.0%. A possible CL mechanism was proposed based on the results of UV and fluorescence spectrometry and the CL spectrum of HA. It was speculated that the semi-quinone radicals in the excited state were the emitters.     

Kinetic behaviour of aluminum naphthenate/benzene system in process of gelation and degradation

The kinetic behaviour of aluminum naphthenate/benzene system in the process of gelation and degradation was systematically studied. The results obtained from the kinetic experiments indicated that the gelation stage was in accordance with a kinetic model of an auto-catalytic first-order reaction, and the degradation stage was a simple first-order reaction. The rate constants in these two stages at various temperaturs were measured. And the determined apparent activation energies for the gelation stage and for the degradation stage are 27.5±2.0 and 37.7±2.3 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Dialdehyde starch‐crosslinked chitosan films and their antimicrobial effects

For improved mechanical and water‐swelling properties of chitosan films, a series of transparent films were prepared with dialdehyde starch as a crosslinking agent. Fourier transform infrared and X‐ray analysis results demonstrated that the formation of Schiff's base disturbed the crystallization of chitosan. The mechanical properties and water‐swelling properties of the films were significantly improved. The best values of the tensile strength and breaking elongation were 113.1 MPa and 27.0%, respectively, when the dialdehyde starch content was 5%. All the crosslinked films still retained obvious antimicrobial effects toward S. aureus and E. coli, and they showed potential for biomedical applications. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 993–997, 2003     

Crystallographic report: Bis[bis(N,N‐dibenzyldithiocarbamato)cadmium(II)]

The centrosymmetric structure of {Cd[S₂CN(CH₂Ph)₂]₂}₂ features both bridging and chelating dithiocarbamate ligands so that a square pyramidal S₅ coordination geometry results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole in pharmaceuticals and urine.

A rapid and sensitive flow-injection spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole. This method is based on the diazotization of sulfonamide with sodium nitrite, and a coupling reaction of the diazo-compound with alpha-naphthylamine. The optimum experimental conditions are obtained by using the controlled and weighted centroid simplex method. The linear ranges for the determination of sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole are 0.2-20 microg ml(-1) and 0.1-20 microg ml(-1), and their detection limits are 0.06 microg ml(-1) and 0.05 microg ml(-1), respectively, and the sampling frequency is 130 samples per hour. The method has been used to determine sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole in pharmaceuticals and urine without separation. The results are in agreement with those obtained by a high-performance liquid chromatograph technique at the 95% confidence level.     

Synthesis of grafted poly(p‐phenyleneethynylene) with energy donor–acceptor architecture via atom transfer radical polymerization: Towards nonaggregating and hole‐facilitating light‐emitting material

In this contribution, we demonstrate a new effective methodology for constructing highly efficient and durable poly(p‐phenyleneethynylene) (PPE) containing emissive material with nonaggregating and hole‐facilitating properties through the introduction of hole‐transporting blocks into the PPE system as the grafting coils as well as building the energy donor–acceptor architecture between the grafting coils and the PPE backbone. Poly(2‐(carbazol‐9‐yl)ethyl methacrylate) (PCzEMA), herein, is chosen as the hole‐transporting blocks, and incorporated into the PPE system as the grafting coils via atom transfer radical polymerization. The chemical structure of the resultant copolymer, PPE‐g‐PCzEMA, was characterized by NMR and gel permeation chromatography, showing that the desirable copolymer was obtained with the narrow polydispersity. The increased thermal stability of PPE‐g‐PCzEMA was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry along with its macroinitiator. The optoelectronic properties of this copolymer were studied in detail by ultraviolet‐visible absorption, photoluminescence emission and excitation spectra, and cyclic voltammogram (CV). The results indicate that PPE‐g‐PCzEMA exhibits the solid‐state luminescent property dominated by individual lumophores, and also the energy transfer process from the PCzEMA blocks to the PPE backbone with a relatively higher energy transfer efficiency in the solid‐state compared to that of the solution state. Additionally, the hole‐injection property is greatly facilitated due to the presence of PCzEMA, as confirmed by CV profiles. All these data indicate that PPE‐g‐PCzEMA is a good candidate for use in optoelectronic devices. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3776–3787, 2007     

Dimensionally and thermally stable polymer,containing disordered graphitic structure and adamantane

In an attempt to develop a low‐k interlayer dielectric, adamantane‐diphenyldiethynyl moiety containing oligomer is prepared. Oligomerization of 1,3,5,7‐tetrakis[3/4‐ethynylphenyl]adamantane ( 4 ) is accomplished by a Glaser–Hay oxidative coupling with 1,3,5‐triethynylbenzene and phenylacetylene end‐capping agent. The CHCl₃ soluble oligomer is then thermally treated by step‐curing at 200, 300, 380, and 450 °C for 30 min at each temperature under nitrogen flow to render a shiny void‐free black polymer. TGA analysis indicates that the polymer is stable under nitrogen up to 500 °C with a marginal decomposition up to 800 °C. Solid‐state ¹³C NMR, Raman scattering, and FTIR are used to characterize the structure of the polymer. The polymer consists of amorphous carbon networks with the adamantane moieties and nanosized graphitic regions (clusters), which are generated from the thermal crosslinking of the diphenyldiethynyl units. It shows a remarkably low linear coefficient of thermal expansion (～25 ppm/°C), presumably due to the presence of the disordered graphitic structure. Its high density (～1.21 g/cm³), refractive index (～1.80 at 632 nm), and Young's modulus (～17.0 GPa) are also consistent with the interpretation. This study reveals important details about the effect of microscopic structure on the macroscopic properties of the highly crosslinked polymer. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6909–6925, 2006     

Effects of the architecture and environment on polymeric molecular assemblies of novel amphiphilic diblock copolynorbornenes with narrow polydispersity via living ring‐opening metathesis polymerization

Diblock copolymers of 5‐(methylphthalimide)bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐2‐ene (NBMPI) and 1,5‐cyclooctadiene were synthesized by living ring‐opening metathesis polymerization with a well‐defined catalyst {RuCl₂(CHPh)[P(C₆H₁₁)₃]₂}. Unhydrogenated diblock copolymers showed two glass transitions due to poly(NBMPI) and polybutadiene segments, such as two glass‐transition temperatures at ?86.5 and 115.3 °C for poly 1a and ?87.2 and 115.3 °C for poly 1b . However, only one melting temperature could be observed for hydrogenated copolymers, such as 119.8 °C for poly 2a and 121.7 °C for poly 2b . The unhydrogenated diblock copolymer with the longer poly(NBMPI) chain (poly 1a ; temperature at 10% mass loss = 400 °C) exhibited better thermal stability than the one with the shorter poly(NBMPI) chain (poly 1b ; temperature at 10% mass loss = 385 °C). Two kinds of hydrogenated diblock copolymers, poly 2a and poly 2b , exhibited relatively poor solubility but better thermal stability than unhydrogenated diblock copolymers because of the polyethylene segments. Poly[(hydrochloride quaternized 2‐norbornene‐5‐methyleneamine)‐b‐butadiene]‐1 (poly 3a ) was obtained after the hydrolysis and quaternization of poly 1a . Dynamic light scattering measurements indicated that the hydrodynamic diameters of the cationic copolymer (poly 3a ) in water (hydrodynamic diameter = 1580 nm without salt), methanol/water (4/96 v/v; hydrodynamic diameter = 1500 nm without salt), and tetrahydrofuran/water (4/96 v/v; hydrodynamic diameter = 1200 nm without salt) decreased with increasing salt (NaCl) concentration. The effect of temperature on the hydrodynamic diameter of hydrophobically modified poly 3a was also studied. The inflection point of the hydrodynamic diameter of poly 3a was observed at various polymer concentrations around 30 °C. The critical micelle concentration of hydrophobically modified poly 3a was observed at 0.018 g dL^?1. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2901–2911, 2006     

Viscometric study of gelatin in dilute aqueous solutions

The viscosities of aqueous solutions of gelatin at different temperatures were carefully measured in a common glass‐capillary Ubbelohde viscometer at dilute to extremely dilute concentrations. The adsorption effect that occurred in the viscosity measurements was theoretically analyzed and discussed. A theory based on Langmuir isotherms could adequately describe the existing data. Some structural information was obtained by the use of an iterative fitting procedure to treat the reduced viscosity data, which disclosed that individual gelatin chains underwent a coil‐to‐helix transition as the solution cooled from 40 to 15 °C. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1804–1812, 2006