Combination of “living” nitroxide-mediated and photoiniferter-induced “grafting from” free-radical polymerizations: From branched copolymers to unimolecular micelles and microgels

We report on solution properties of lightly grafted copolymers composed of polystyrene (PS) backbone (degree of polymerization of PS backbone, N_b=95) and variable length of poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) P(tBuMA) side chains (degree of polymerization of side chains, N_sc=14-222) at fixed number of grafting sites n = 11 and polydispersity index (M_w/M_n) ranging from 1.05 to 2.63. Synthesis of these graft copolymers is based on a novel synthetic route [Gromadzki D, Makuška R, Netopilík M, Holler P, Lokaj J, Janata M, et al. Eur Polym J 2008;44:59-71] involving two independent controlled/“living” polymerization mechanisms, namely nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMP) for the synthesis of the backbone and photoinduced “grafting from” iniferter process for building of P(tBuMA) branches. The viscosity-related contraction factors g^′<1 confirmed high degree of branching of the studied graft copolymers. Dilute solutions of graft copolymers in non-selective solvent (THF), examined by dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and viscometry, revealed a transition from comb-like conformation through wormlike-star to a microgel architecture under increasing number of monomeric units in side chains. These data were further supported by the structure factors R_η/R_h and R_g/R_h obtained by independent measurements and extrapolated to infinite dilution. Persistence lengths of the samples exhibiting comb-like topology were larger compared to linear polystyrene backbone and P(tBuMA) side chains in THF suggesting stiffening of the main chain with increasing size of the attached side chains. Unimolecular micelles were detected by DLS and SAXS in solvent selective for grafts, tert-amyl alcohol.     

Vacuum solution and quasineutral limit of semiconductor drift-diffusion equation

The first half of this paper is concerning with the nonlinear drift-diffusion semiconductor model in d (d?3) dimensional space. The global estimate is achieved on the evolution of support of solution and the finite speed of propagation. The proof is based on the estimate of the weighted norm with special designed weight functions. In the second half, we prove the quasineutral limit locally for 1-dimensional standard drift-diffusion model with discontinuous, sign-changing doping profile.     

Complete and Nondestructive Atomic Bell‐State Analysis Assisted by Inverse Engineering

A protocol for complete and nondestructive atomic Bell‐state analysis by using inverse engineering is presented. The setups for the Bell‐state analysis contain four atoms trapped in four separated cavities, respectively. The laser pulses designed by inverse engineering help in the manipulation of the transitions of atoms in a robust manner. By using the protocol, the information for distinguishing four Bell states of two information‐carrying atoms is encoded on two auxiliary atoms. Therefore, the four Bell states can be distinguished without being destroyed by detecting the states of the two auxiliary atoms. Moreover, as shown by the numerical simulations, the protocol has high successful probabilities to distinguish four Bell states when decoherence is considered. Thus, the protocol may provide some helpful perspectives for the quantum information tasks based on Bell states.     

椭圆偏振强激光场中准直的乙炔分子的高次谐波发射

We perform an experimental study on high-order harmonic generation (HHG) of aligned acetylene molecules induced by a 35-fs 800-nm strong laser field, by using a home-built HHG spectrometer. It is observed that the molecular HHG probability declines with increasing the laser ellipticity, which is in consistence with the deduction from the well-known tunneling-plus-rescattering scenario. By introducing a weak femtosecond laser pulse to nonadiabatically align the molecules, we investigated the molecular orbital effect on the HHG in both linearly and elliptically polarized driving laser fields. The results show that the harmonic intensity is maximum for the molecular axis aligned perpendicularly to the laser electric field. It indicates that both the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) and HOMO-1 contribute to the strong-field HHG of acetylene molecules. Our study should pave the way for understanding the interaction of molecules with ultrafast strong laser fields.     

Effects of Cu2−xS phase removal on surface potential of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-films grown by electroplating

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) has an optical band gap of 1.4–1.5 eV, which is similar to that of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS), and a high absorption coefficient (>10⁴ cm⁻¹) in the visible light region. In previous reports, CIGS thin-film solar cells have been shown to improve the performance of the device since the secondary phase is removed by Potassium cyanide (KCN) etching treatment. Therefore, in this study we applied a KCN etching treatment on CZTS and measured the effects. We confirmed the removal of Cu_2−xS via Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The effects of the experiment indicate that we can define with precision the location of the secondary phases, and therefore the control of the secondary phases will be easier and more efficient. Such capabilities could improve the solar cell performance of CZTS thin-films.     

Anisotropy of the electrical conductivity in W-type hexagonal ferrites BaFe18O27 and BaCo2Fe16O27 from first principles

The electronic ground structure and the anisotropy of the electrical conductivity in W-type hexagonal ferrite BaFe₁₈O₂₇ and BaCo₂Fe₁₆O₂₇ have been investigated using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) plus Hubbard U (GGA+U) calculation. In BaFe₁₈O₂₇, because of the presence of mixed valence states at Fe 6g sites, a half metallic peak appears in energy gap and it results in an “electrical conductive layer”. Using a model in which Fe at 6g sites is assumed to be partially replaced by Co, the electronic ground structure of BaCo₂Fe₁₆O₂₇ and the origin of the electrical conductive anisotropy have been studied. Replacement of Fe at 6g site of BaFe₁₈O₂₇ by Co causes the mixed valence states of Fe cations at 6g sites to vanish and the carrier density to lower. Also, it is shown that effective mass of carrier along c axis is much heavier than that perpendicular to c axis in both of materials from electronic energy band calculation. This is the reason why the electrical resistivities of both materials along c axis are much higher than that perpendicular to axis.     

Sampling Moiré Method for Accurate Small Deformation Distribution Measurement

In this paper, a novel accurate deformation distribution measurement technique by using sampling moiré method is proposed. The basic principle and an experimental result of a steel beam in symmetric three-point bending are reported. In this method, the measurement area of a target is attached with an adhesive tape of a known pitch grating firstly. An ordinary CCD camera is installed on a fixed point to record the image during deformation. The captured image is analyzed by performing easy image processing, i.e., thinning-out and linear interpolation, to obtain the multiple phase-shifted moiré patterns. Then, the phase distribution of the moiré pattern can be calculated using phase-shifting method. Finally, the deformation distribution is calculated by the grating pitch times the phase difference of before deformation and after deformation. The experimental results in symmetric three-point bending test show that the displacement of the steel beam at loading point agree well with those obtained by an accurate displacement sensor. The average error of displacement measurement is less than 4 μm when 2 mm grating pitch is used, and it corresponds to 1/500 of the grating pitch accuracy. This indicates that noncontact deformation distribution measurement is possible by simple and easy procedure with high accuracy, high speed, and low cost for the structural evaluation of infrastructures.     

Study on new typical ionic clusters K+ (KNO3)n and NO3‐(KNO3)m

The sample solution of KNO₃ is ejected into the gas phase and the ionic dusters of K⁺(KNO₃)_n and NO₃ (KNO₃)_m are formed and observed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS). Hie full mass spectra of both the positive ion and the negative ion show that the differences between each peak nearby are all about 101 (m/z), which correspond to the molecular weight of KNO₃. The general formula of the ionic clusters can be assigned as K⁺(KNO₃)_n and NO₃′‐(KNO₃)_m..     

HAsS2异构体结构与稳定性

在MP2/6-311++G(d,p)和QCISD(t)/6-311++G(3df,2p)(单点)水平下计算得到9个异构体和10个过渡态的HAsS₂体系势能面.异构体cis-HSAsS(E1)的能量最低,其次是trans-HSAsS(E2)、具有AsSS三元环的立体HAs(S)S(C_{s,E3)和HAs(S)S(C2v,E4)结构的异构体,能量分别比cis-HSAsS高1.46,60.78和93.63kJ/mol.根据体系的势能面,异构体E1,E2,E3和E4具有一定的动力学稳定性.AsH和S2第一步反应产物将会异构化为具有较高动力学稳定性的异构体E3,而SH和AsS第一步反应产物将会异构化为E1.计算结果与HNO2,HNS2,HPO2,HPS2和HAsO2等价电子相同的分子的势能面进行了比较.}     

Surface-Deactivated Core–Shell Metal–Organic Framework by Simple Ligand Exchange for Enhanced Size Discrimination in Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are an attractive catalyst support for stable immobilization of the active sites in their scaffold due to the high tunability of organic ligands. The active site-functionalized ligands can be easily employed to construct MOFs as porous heterogeneous catalysts. However, the existence of active sites on the external surfaces as well as internal pores of MOFs seriously impedes the selective reaction in the pore. Herein, through a simple post-synthetic ligand exchange (PSE) method we synthesized surface-deactivated (only core-active) core–shell-type MOF catalysts, which contain 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) groups on the ligand as active sites for aerobic oxidation of alcohols. The porous but catalytically inactive shell ensured the size-selective permeability by sieving effects and induced all reactions to take place in the pores of the catalytically active core. Because PSE is a facile and universal approach, this can be rapidly applied to a variety of MOF-based catalysts for enhancing reaction selectivity.