CAU-3: a new family of porous MOFs with a novel Al-based brick: [Al2(OCH3)4(O2C-X-CO2)] (X = aryl)

A new family of Al-based MOFs denoted as CAU-3 (CAU = Christian-Albrechts-Universit?t) was discovered in the solvothermal system Al(3+)/aryldicarboxylic acid/NaOH/methanol by applying high-throughput-methods. The three compounds reported in this article [Al(2)(OCH(3))(4)BDC], [Al(2)(OCH(3))(4)BDC-NH(2)] and[Al(2)(OCH(3))(4)NDC] (BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; NDC = 2,6-naphtalenedicarboxylate) are all based on the same unprecedented inorganic building unit [Al(12)(OCH(3))(24)](12+), which is a dodecameric cyclic aluminium-methanolate-cluster. The material CAU-3-NDC was found to exhibit the highest surface area as well as the highest micropore volume of all Al-based MOFs reported until now.     

Synthesis,characterization, and field‐effect transistor performance of poly[2,6‐bis(3‐tridecanoxythiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b;4,5‐b′]dithiophene]

A new copolymer of benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene and 3,3′‐bis(tridecanoxy)‐5,5′‐bithiophene was synthesized through Stille copolymerization. The bis‐(3‐alkoxythiophene) monomer was synthesized through a silver fluoride mediated, palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling, in which bromide functional groups were preserved instead of consumed. The copolymer has been characterized and applied in field‐effect transistors, giving a hole mobility of 2 × 10^?3 cm²/Vs and an on/off ratio >10⁶, with negligible hysteresis, on standard silicon substrates. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1973–1978, 2010     

Automatic decoding of sensor types within randomly ordered,high-density optical sensor arrays

In this paper automatic sensor identification of sensor classes within a high-density randomized array, without a priori knowledge of sensor locations, is demonstrated. Two different fluorescence-based sensor types, with hundreds of replicates each, were randomly distributed into an optical imaging fiber array platform. The sensor element types were vapor-sensitive microspheres with the environmentally-sensitive fluorescent dye Nile Red adsorbed on their surface. Nile Red undergoes spectral changes when exposed to different microenvironmental polarity conditions, e.g. microsphere surface polarity or odor exposure. These reproducible sensor spectral changes, or sensor-response profiles, enable sensors within a randomized array to be grouped into categories by optical decoding methods. Two computational decoding methods (supervised and unsupervised) are introduced; equal classification rates were achieved for both. By comparing sensor responses from a randomized array with those obtained from known (control) arrays, 587 sensors were correctly classified with 99.32% accuracy. Although both methods were equally effective, the unsupervised method, which uses sensor response changes to odor exposure, is a better decoding model for the vapor-sensitive arrays studied, because it relies only on the odor-response profiles. Another decoding technique employed the emission spectra of the sensors and is more applicable to other types of multiplexed fluorescence-based arrays and assays. The sensor-decoding techniques are compared to demonstrate that sensors within high-density optical chemosensor arrays can be positionally-registered, or decoded, with no additional overhead in time or expense other than collecting the sensor-response profiles.     

Determination of the ionization constants of weak electrolytes by capillary zone electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis in untreated fused silica capillaries has proved suitable for the determination of the ionization constants of weak electrolytes. Several fundamental equations relating the electrophoretic mobilities of ionized solutes to hydronium ion concentrations in the running electrolyte have been verified experimentally. The observed dependence of the electrophoretic mobilities of weak bases and ampholytes on the pH of the electrolyte showed good agreement with predicted behavior. The pK_a values calculated from electrophoretic mobility data obtained by capillary zone electrophoresis were reasonably close to those reported in the literature.     

Surface tension of concentrated cellulose solutions in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate

Four sources of cellulose with different molecular weights were dissolved in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate at 100 °C over a 10 h period. The solution densities were determined and these results were subsequently utilised to access the influence of dissolved cellulose on surface tension properties of cellulose/ionic liquid solutions. Surface tension measurements revealed increasing molecular weight and concentration reduced surface tension while temperature increases showed the opposite effect. These results are consistent with that of repulsive polymer-wall interactions near the interface in good solvent conditions. The semi-flexible nature of this carbohydrate in solution can help explain deviations of these results when compared to ideal flexible chains.     

Mapping forces in a 3D elastic assembly of grains

Our understanding of the elasticity and rheology of disordered materials, such as granular piles, foams, emulsions or dense suspensions relies on improving experimental tools to characterise their behaviour at the particle scale. While 2D observations are now routinely carried out in laboratories, 3D measurements remain a challenge. In this paper, we use a simple model system, a packing of soft elastic spheres, to illustrate the capability of X-ray microtomography to characterise the internal structure and local behaviour of granular systems. Image analysis techniques can resolve grain positions, shapes and contact areas; this is used to investigate the material's microstructure and its evolution upon strain. In addition to morphological measurements, we develop a technique to quantify contact forces and estimate the internal stress tensor. As will be illustrated in this paper, this opens the door to a broad array of static and dynamical measurements in 3D disordered systems.     

Theoretical and numerical comparison of relaxation methods for mathematical programs with complementarity constraints

Mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPECs) are difficult optimization problems whose feasible sets do not satisfy most of the standard constraint qualifications. Hence MPECs cause difficulties both from a theoretical and a numerical point of view. As a consequence, a number of MPEC-tailored solution methods have been suggested during the last decade which are known to converge under suitable assumptions. Among these MPEC-tailored solution schemes, the relaxation methods are certainly one of the most prominent class of solution methods. Several different relaxation schemes are available in the meantime, and the aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical and numerical comparison of these schemes. More precisely, in the theoretical part, we improve the convergence theorems of several existing relaxation methods. There, we also take a closer look at the properties of the feasible sets of the relaxed problems and show which standard constraint qualifications are satisfied for these relaxed problems. Finally, the numerical comparison is based on the MacMPEC test problem collection.     

On the existence and uniqueness of pairwise stable networks

In this paper we show how externalities between links affect the existence and uniqueness of pairwise stable (PS) networks. For this we introduce the properties ordinal convexity (concavity) and ordinal strategic complements (substitutes) of utility functions on networks. It is shown that there exists at least one PS network if the profile of utility functions is ordinal convex and satisfies the ordinal strategic complements property. On the other hand, ordinal concavity and ordinal strategic substitutes are sufficient for some uniqueness properties of PS networks. Additionally, we elaborate on the relation of the link externality properties to definitions in the literature.     

Groups acting simply transitively on the vertices of a building of typeà 2, I

If a group acts simply transitively on the vertices of an affine building with connected diagram, then must be of typeà _n–1 for somen2, and must have a presentation of a simple type. The casen=2, when is a tree, has been studied in detail. We consider the casen=3, motivated particularly by the case when is the building ofG=PGL(3,K),K a local field, and when G. We exhibit such a group whenK=F _q ((X)),q any prime power. Our study leads to combinatorial objects which we calltriangle presentations. These triangle presentations give rise to some new buildings of typeà ₂.