Double‐hydrophilic block copolymer for encapsulation and two‐way pH change‐induced release of metalloporphyrins

A double hydrophilic block copolymer composed of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(4‐vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) was obtained through hydrolysis of diblock copolymer of poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) (PtBA) and P4VP synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization. Water‐soluble micelles with PAA core and P4VP corona were observed at low (acidic) pH, while micelles with P4VP core and PAA corona were formed at high (basic) pH. Two metalloporphyrins, zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) and cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP), were used as model compounds to investigate the encapsulation of hydrophobic molecules by both types of micelles. UV–vis spectroscopic measurements indicate that micelles with P4VP core are able to entrap more ZnTPP and CoTPP as a result of the axial coordination between the transition metals and the pyridine groups. The study found that metalloporphyrins encapsulated by the micelles with PAA core could be released on pH increase, while those entrapped by the micelles with P4VP core could be released on pH decrease. This behavior originates from the two‐way pH change‐induced disruption of PAA‐b‐P4VP micelles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1734–1744, 2006     

Investigation of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone sulfone)/heteropolyacid composite membranes for high temperature fuel cell applications

The sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone sulfone) (SPEEKS)/heteropolyacid (HPA) composite membranes with different HPA content in SPEEKS copolymers matrix with different degree of sulfonation (DS) were investigated for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Composite membranes were characterized by Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR band shifts suggested that the sulfonic acid groups on the copolymer backbone strongly interact with HPA particles. SEM pictures showed that the HPA particles were uniformly distributed throughout the SPEEKS membranes matrix and particle sizes decreased with the increment of copolymers' DS. The holes were not found in SPEEKS‐4/HPA30 (consisting of 70% SPEEKS copolymers with DS = 0.8 and 30% HPA) composite membrane after composite membranes were treated with boiling water for 24 h. Thermal stabilities of the composite membranes were better than those of pure sulfonated copolymers membranes. Although the composite membranes possessed lower water uptake, it exhibited higher proton conductivity for SPEEKS‐4/HPA30 especially at high temperature (above 100 °C). Its proton conductivity linearly increased from 0.068 S/cm at 25 °C to 0.095 S/cm at 120 °C, which was higher than 0.06 S/cm of Nafion 117. In contrast, proton conductivity of pure SPEEKS‐4 membrane only increased from 0.062 S/cm at 25 °C to 0.078 S/cm at 80 °C. At 120 °C, proton conductivity decreased to poor 0.073 S/cm. The result indicated that composite membranes exhibited high proton conductivity at high temperature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1967–1978, 2006     

Independence of the brittle–ductile transition from the rubber particle size for impact‐modified poly(vinyl chloride)

A series of acrylic impact modifiers (AIMs) with different particle sizes ranging from 55.2 to 927.0 nm were synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization, and the effect of the particle size on the brittle–ductile transition of impact‐modified poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was investigated. For each AIM, a series of PVC/AIM blends with compositions of 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15 phr AIM in 100 phr PVC were prepared, and the Izod impact strengths of these blends were tested at 23 °C. For AIMs with particle sizes of 55.2, 59.8, 125.2, 243.2, and 341.1 nm, the blends fractured in the brittle mode when the concentration of AIM was lower than 10 phr, whereas the blends showed ductile fracture when the AIM concentration reached 10 phr. It was concluded that the brittle–ductile transition of the PVC/AIM blends was independent of the particle size in the range of 55.2–341.1 nm. When the particle size was greater than 341.1 nm, however, the brittle–ductile transition shifted to a higher AIM concentration with an increase in the particle size. Furthermore, the critical interparticle distance was found not to be the criterion of the brittle–ductile transition for the PVC/AIM blends. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 696–702, 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.     

Scanning mirror on a vibrating membrane for dynamic optical trapping

A study of the variation of the spectral shape and the harmonic distribution of the high-order harmonics generated from silver plasma on the frequency chirp of the driving laser radiation (793 nm 48 fs) is reported. The results of the systematic study of the harmonic generation from the 21st order up to the 61st order (λ=13 nm) are presented. A tuning of the harmonic wavelength up to 0.8 nm can be accomplished by variation of the laser chirp. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.79.Nv; 52.38.Mf     

Effect of a low magnetic field on crystallinity and magnetic susceptibility of molecular magnet {NBu4[FeCr(ox)3]}x (NBu4=tetra( n-butyl) ammonium ion; ox=oxalate ion)

Molecular magnet {NBu₄[Fe Cr(ox)₃]}_x (NBu₄⁺=tetra(n-buty1) ammonium ion; ox²⁻=oxalate ion) was synthesized under an applied low magnetic field of 0.3 T in comparison to that synthesized without a field. Their crystallinities, morphologies and magnetic properties were characterized by using the X-ray diffractionmeter, the transmission electron microscope, and a superconducting quantum interference device. It is found that the average size of particles synthesized under the applied field appears larger than that synthesized without a field. Moreover, its crystallinity, morphology and magnetic susceptibility have also been improved. However, its chemical structure and ferromagnetic phase transition temperature T_c do not change. Possible reasons to explain this effect are also discussed.     

Generalized Solution of a Kind of Nonparametric Curvature Evolution with Boundary Condition

The existence and uniqueness of the generalized solution for a kind of nonparametric curvature flow problem are obtained. This kind of curvature flow problem describes the evolution of graphs with speed depending on the reciprocal of the Gauss curvature.     

合肥同步辐射软X射线显微术研究

合肥国家同步辐射实验室首期建设的光束线之一用于软Ｘ射线显微成像研究。实验站现已装置初型的扫描透射Ｘ射线显微镜，并正在进行亲一代的扫描显微建设，同时还使同步辐射光进行接触软Ｘ射线呈微成像研究，并对选取的一些生物样品进行了成像试验。本文介绍了合肥同步辐射光源上软Ｘ射线显微术实验线站的建设及完成的一些实验结果。     

醌蛋白——猪肾二胺氧化酶的提取和性质

新鲜猪肾匀浆后，经热处理、盐析、羟基磷灰石和ＤＥＡＥ－纤维素柱层析等纯化步骤，二胺氧化酶的收得率为２３．９％，纯化倍数为４２５．该酶进行凝胶电泳后，经氨基黑、酶活性和ＮＢＴ溶液染色分别得到相对应的蛋白质、酶活性及醌辅基谱带．该酶可与腐胺、尸胺、己二胺、组胺等底物作用，释放出Ｈ２Ｏ２，当底物为腐胺时，最适浓度为５ｍｍｏｌＬ－１，Ｋｍ值为０．５ｍｍｏｌＬ－１，最适ｐＨ为７．０，最适温度为４０°Ｃ．在非酶系统中，该酶可与ＮＢＴ溶液反应，呈现紫色，并随时间延长而加深．经ＳＤＳ板状不连续聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳，得该酶亚基分子量为８．３×１０４．     

高分子阳离子絮凝剂用于炼油废水处理研究

用聚二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵型高分子阳离子絮凝剂处理炼油废水考察了险油和化学耗氧量的动态变化规律。对产生的浮渣性质及滤饼的成份进行了研究。并且与聚合铝的处理效果进行对照。研究结果表明，ＨＣＡ除油和化学耗管氧量的性能优于ＰＡＣ，ＨＣＡ产生的浮渣是ＰＡＣ的三分之一，而浮渣中的含油量则是ＰＡＣ的三倍。