Numerical study of simultaneous natural convection heat transfer from both surfaces of a uniformly heated thin plate with arbitrary inclination

 Numerical studies were conducted to investigate the natural convection heat transfer around a uniformly heated thin plate with arbitrary inclination in an infinite space. The numerical approach was based on the finite volume technique with a nonstaggered grid arrangement. For handling the pressure–velocity coupling the SIMPLE-algorithm was used. QUICK scheme and first order upwind scheme were employed for discretization of the momentum and energy convective terms respectively. Plate width and heating rate were used to vary the modified Rayleigh number over the range of 4.8×10⁶ to 1.87×10⁸. Local and average heat transfer characteristics were compared with regarding to the inclination angle. The empirical expressions for local and average Nusselt number were correlated. It has been found that for inclination angle less than 10^∘, the flow and heat transfer characteristics are complicated and the average Nusselt number can not be correlated by one equation while for inclination angle larger than 10^∘, the average Nusselt number can be correlated into an elegant correlation. Received on 18 April 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Synthesis and characterization of novel thermoresponsive‐co‐biodegradable hydrogels composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide,poly(L‐lactic acid), and dextran

A series of novel multifunctional hydrogels that combined the merits of both thermoresponsive and biodegradable polymeric materials were designed, synthesized, and characterized. The hydrogels were copolymeric networks composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) as a thermoresponsive component, poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) as a hydrolytically degradable and hydrophobic component, and dextran as an enzymatically degradable and hydrophilic component. The chemical structures of the hydrogels were characterized by an attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) technique. The hydrogels were thermoresponsive, showing a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at approximately 32 °C, and their swelling properties strongly depended on temperature changes, the balance of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic components, and the degradation of the PLLA component. The degradation of the hydrogels caused by hydrolytic cleavage of ester bonds in the PLLA component was faster at 25 °C below the LCST than at 37 °C above the LCST, determined by the ATR–FTIR technique. Due to their multifunctional properties, the designed hydrogels show great potential for biomedical applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5054–5066, 2004     

Formation of β‐iPP in isotactic polypropylene/ethylene–propylene rubber blends: Effects of preparation method,composition, and thermal condition

The effects of preparation method, composition, and thermal condition on formation of β‐iPP in isotactic polypropylene/ethylene–propylene rubber (iPP/EPR) blends were studied using modulated differential scanning calorimeter (MDSC), wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and phase contrast microscopy (PCM). It was found that the α‐iPP and β‐iPP can simultaneity form in the melt‐blended samples, whereas only α‐iPP exists in the solution‐blended samples. The results show that the formation of β‐iPP in the melt‐blended samples is related to the crystallization temperature and the β‐iPP generally diminishes and finally vanishes when the crystallization temperature moves far from 125 °C. The phenomena that the lower critical temperature of β‐iPP in iPP/EPR obviously increases to 114 °C and the upper critical temperature decreases to 134 °C indicate the narrowing of temperature interval, facilitating the formation of β‐iPP in iPP/EPR. Furthermore, it was found that the amount of β‐iPP in melt‐blended iPP/EPR samples is dependent on the composition and the maximum amount of β‐iPP formed when the composition of iPP/EPR blends is 85:15 in weight. The results through examining the effect of annealing for iPP/EPR samples at melt state indicate that this annealing may eliminate the susceptibility to β‐crystallization of iPP. However, only α‐iPP can be observed in solution‐blended samples subjected to annealing for different time. The PCM images demonstrate that an obvious phase‐separation happens in both melt‐blended and solution‐blended iPP/EPR samples, implying that compared with the disperse degree of EPR in iPP, the preparation method plays a dominant role in formation of β‐iPP. It is suggested that the origin of formation of β‐iPP results from the thermomechanical history of the EPR component in iPP/EPR. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1704–1712, 2007     

A novel route for waste water treatment: photo-assisted Fenton degradation of dye pollutants accumulated in natural polyelectrolyte microshells

The efficient accumulation of dyes in constructed natural polyelectrolyte microshells under moderate conditions, combined with the photo-assisted Fenton reagent, opens a new route for the effective elimination of dye pollutants from waste water.     

Potential energy surfaces for HenNe+ ions: ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule results

The potential energy surface of He2Ne+ has been reinvestigated using a combination of ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule (DIM) calculations. In contrast to the reports of two recent studies the ion is found to have an asymmetric linear He-Ne-He structure, with no barrier to formation from the separated atoms on the ground-state surface. The He-Ne+ bond lengths at the potential minimum are 1.51 and 1.81 A, and the total bonding energy is 0.717 eV. Comparing the He2Ne+ energy to that of HeNe+, the bonding energy for the second helium atom is 0.06 eV, about 10% of that of the first He atom. The saddle point between the two equivalent minima is a symmetric structure, 0.0074 eV above the potential minimum. A symmetric geometry becomes the overall potential minimum if the 2s hole on the Ne is excluded from the reference states of a multireference configuration interaction calculation. A DIM potential was created for the HenNe+ family of ions. The DIM potential is consistent with the asymmetric He2Ne+ ion serving as a core; it predicts a slightly more asymmetric geometry than the ab initio results. Additional helium atoms form five-membered rings around the bonds of the core ion to fill the first shell and then add to the ends of the cluster. The asymmetric core ion and the highly compact structure help to account for the lack of apparent shell structure in the mass spectrometry of HenNe+ clusters. Finally, we recommend that the value De=0.63+/-0.04 eV be adopted for the ground state of HeNe+.     

UV-blocking property of dumbbell-shaped ZnO crystallites on cotton fabrics

A facile process to prepare uniform dumbbell-shaped ZnO crystallites was presented. The evidence in this Article discovered a unique morphological effect on the UV-blocking property. The as-prepared ZnO crystallites were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, FESEM, UV-blocking, and Raman scattering spectra. Our tentative investigation created a breakthrough to both the ultrahigh "Ultraviolet protection factor" (UPF) and the overall-range of complete UV-radiation blocking. Therefore, the as-prepared structural material demonstrated a significant advance in protective functional treatment and provided a potential commercialization.     

Concatenation of two molecular switches via a Fe(II)/Fe(III) couple

[reaction: see text] Modulation of the fluorescein fluorescence in the presence of spiropyran and ferric ion by light was observed. Such fluorescence modulation was due to the low oxidation potential of complex MC.Fe(2+), which made the electron transfer from MC.Fe(2+) to Flu(+)()(*)() thermodynamically favorable. As a result, the communication between two molecular switches based on fluorescein and spiropyan, respectively, was realized via the reversible Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple. The communicating behavior corresponds well to the function of an INHIBIT logic gate.     

A general method for the preparation of 4- and 6-azaindoles

Nitropyridines reacted with an excess of vinyl Grignard reagent to produce 4- or 6-azaindoles. Improved yields were obtained when a halogen atom was present at the position alpha to the nitrogen atom in the pyridine ring.