Determination of critical molecular weight for entangled macromolecules using the tensile strength data

The multivariable power dependence of polymer properties on molecular characteristics (Dobkowski, 1981) has been applied to molecular weight dependence of tensile strength, and the known equation of Flory (1945) has been extended taking polydispersity of polymers into account. Constant parameters of the relevant regression equations have been calculated using experimental data on tensile strength and molecular weight averagesM _n andM _w of polystyrene (PS) and polycarbonate (PC). Then, the critical molecular weight for entanglementsM _c has been obtained from the following relationship:A=K M _cwhereA and are parameters of the extended Flory equation for the tensile strength, and the constantK = 2 is assumed for linear polymers. It has been found thatM _c of injection and compression moulded PS is equal to 34000 and 37350g/mole, respectively, whileM _c of injection moulded PC equals to 5000 g/mole. The values ofM _c calculated from the polymer tensile strength are consistent with published data obtained by other methods and with the computer modeling calculations. Branched polymers have only qualitatively been discussed. Dimensionless equations have been proposed for tensile strength characteristics for polymer materials.The described procedure can be suggested as applicable to various polymers for the determination of theirM _c values. However, more experimental data on another polymer materials will be necessary to support hitherto obtained results.The essential part of a lecture presented during the NATO Advanced Study Institute Rheological Fundamentals of Polymer Processing, Alvor, Portugal, 26 September–7 October 1994     

Mechanisms of fibrinogen adsorption at solid substrates

Adsorption of fibrinogen, modeled as a linear chain of touching beads of various sizes, was theoretically studied using the random sequential adsorption (RSA) model. The adsorption process was assumed to consist of two steps: (i) formation of an irreversibly bound fibrinogen monolayer under the side-on orientation, which is independent of the bulk protein concentration and (ii) formation of the reversibly bound, end-on monolayer, whose coverage was dependent on the bulk concentration. Calculation based on the RSA model showed that the maximum surface concentration of the end-on (reversible) monolayer equals N(⊥∞) = 6.13 × 10(3) μm(-2) which is much larger than the previously found value for the side-on (irreversible) monolayer, equal to N(∞) = 2.27 × 10(3) μm(-2). Hence, the maximum surface concentration of fibrinogen in both orientations is determined to be 8.40 × 10(3) μm(-2) corresponding to the protein coverage of 5.70 mg m(-2) assuming 20% hydration. Additionally, the surface blocking function (ASF) was determined for the end-on fibrinogen adsorption, approximated for the entire range of coverage by the interpolating polynomial. For the coverage approaching the jamming limit, the surface blocking function (ASF) was shown to vanish proportionally to (θ(⊥∞) - θ(⊥))(2). These calculation allowed one to theoretically predict adsorption isotherms for the end-on regime of fibrinogen and adsorption kinetics under various transport conditions (diffusion and convection). Using these theoretical results, a quantitative interpretation of experimental data obtained by TIRF and ellipsometry was successfully performed. The equilibrium adsorption constant for the end-on adsorption regime was found to be 8.04 × 10(-3) m. On the basis of this value, the depth of the adsorption energy minimum, equal to -17.4 kT, was predicted, which corresponds to ΔG = -41.8 kJ mol(-1). This is in accordance with adsorption energy derived as the sum of the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions. Besides having significance for predicting fibrinogen adsorption, theoretical results derived in this work also have implications for basic science providing information on mechanisms of anisotropic protein molecule adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces.     

Product numerical range in a space with tensor product structure

We study operators acting on a tensor product Hilbert space and investigate their product numerical range, product numerical radius and separable numerical range. Concrete bounds for the product numerical range for Hermitian operators are derived. Product numerical range of a non-Hermitian operator forms a subset of the standard numerical range containing the barycenter of the spectrum. While the latter set is convex, the product range needs not to be convex nor simply connected. The product numerical range of a tensor product is equal to the Minkowski product of numerical ranges of individual factors.     

Application of h-adaptive,high order finite element method to solve radial Schrödinger equation

The h-adaptive, high order finite element method is applied to solve a second order one dimension eigenvalue problem. The finite element formulation for the Lobatto basis is given, for which basis functions of arbitrary order can be constructed. The adaptive algorithm is simple, yet very efficient and straightforward to implement. The algorithm is based on the observation that the expansion coefficients of Lobatto basis functions decay rapidly. It allows evaluating the smallest eigenvalues simultaneously with the comparable accuracy for all eigenvalues. The presented algorithm is applied to solve the radial Schrödinger equation with the Coulomb and the Woods–Saxon potentials. For both potentials the convergence rate is presented. After seven adaptive iterations nine-digit accuracy was obtained.     

Highly conducting solid electrolytes based on poly (ethylene oxide-co-propylene oxide)

The conducting properties of solid electrolytes comprising random poly(ethylene oxide-co-propylene oxide) (of 84 : 16 monomer units mole ratio) and lithium, sodium, potassium, cesium, and rubidium salts have been studied. The systems containing some lithium or sodium salts achieved conductivity levels as high as 10^?5–10^?4 S/cm at ambient temperature and greater than 10^?3 S/cm at 100°C. However, the systems with rubidium and cesium salts exhibit conductivities a few orders of magnitude smaller. DSC studies show that the electrolytes studied are characterized by a high content of an amorphous phase (95–100%). It is suggested that the copolymer exhibits lower complexing abilities than that of poly(ethylene oxide), which results in a higher flexibility of electrolytes containing small cations and poor dissociation of the salts having large cations. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A Unified Approach to Shifts Induced by Right Invertible Operators

In this paper, shifts for a right invertible operator D induced by an analytic function acting in a linear complete metric space are considered. The case when these shifts coincide with the operator - valued function on a set which contains the set of all D-polynomials and the set of all exponentials is studied. It is shown that in this case these shifts are R-shifts and D-shifts (cf. [1], [10]).     

Rotational spectrum of trans-trans diethyl ether in the ground and three excited vibrational states

We report the results of a comprehensive reinvestigation of the rotational spectrum of diethyl ether based on broadband millimetre-wave spectra recently recorded at The Ohio State University and in Warsaw, covering the frequency region 108-366 GHz. The data set for the ground vibrational state of trans-trans diethyl ether has been extended to over 2000 lines and improved spectroscopic constants have been determined. Rotational spectra in the first excited vibrational states of the three lowest vibrational modes of trans-trans-diethyl ether, ν₂₀, ν₃₉, and ν₁₂ have been assigned. The v₂₀ = 1 and v₃₉ = 1 states are near 100 cm⁻¹ in vibrational term value and are coupled by a strong c-axis Coriolis interaction, which gives rise to many spectacular manifestations in the rotational spectrum. All of these effects have been successfully fitted for a dataset comprising over 3000 transitions, leading to precise determination of the energy difference between these states, (ΔE/hc)=10.400222(5) cm⁻¹. A newly developed software package for assignment and analysis of broadband spectra is described and made available.     

Reactions of the N,N-dialkylpyridylcarboxylic amides with lithium amides. Regioselective lithiation of N,N-diisopropylpyridylcarboxylic amides,a useful method for synthesis of 2,3- and 3,4-disubstituted pyridines

The behaviour of the N,N-dimethyl-, N,N-diethyl- and N,N-diisopropylpyridylcarboxylic amides in the reactions with Et₂NLi and iPr₂NLi, and a convenient way of synthesis of 2,3- and 3,4-disubstituted pyridines, by the direct lithiation of N,N-diisopropylamides leading subsequently to the ortho new CC bonds formation, are described.