Sulfonated poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone)s containing fluorinated moieties as proton exchange membrane materials

A series of sulfonated poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone)s statistical copolymers with high molecular weights were synthesized via an aromatic nucleophilic substitution polymerization. The sulfonation content (SC), defined as the number of sulfonic acid groups contained in an average repeat unit, could be controlled by the feed ratios of monomers. Flexible and strong membranes in sodium sulfonate form could be prepared by the solution casting method, and readily transformed to their proton forms by treating them in 2 N sulfuric acid. The polymers showed high T_gs, which increased with an increase in SC. Membranes prepared from the present sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone ketone) copolymers containing the hexafluoroisopropylidene moiety (SPEEKK‐6F) and copolymers containing the pendant 3,5‐ditrifluoromethylphenyl moiety (SPEEKK‐6FP) had lower water uptakes and lower swelling ratios in comparison with previously prepared copolymers containing 6F units. All of the polymers possessed proton conductivities higher than 1 × 10^?2 S/cm at room temperature, and proton conductivity values of several polymers were comparable to that of Nafion at high relative humidity. Their thermal stability, oxidative stability, and mechanical properties were also evaluated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2299–2310, 2006     

Melting behaviors,crystallization kinetics,and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) and its copolyester modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride

This article investigated the melting behaviors, crystallization kinetics, and spherulitic morphologies of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and its copolyester (PBSR) modified with rosin maleopimaric acid anhydride, using wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and polarized optical microscope. Subsequent DSC scans of isothermally crystallized PBS and PBSR exhibited two melting endotherms, respectively, which was due to the melt‐recrystallization process occurring during the DSC scans. The equilibrium melting point of PBSR (125.9 °C) was lower than that of PBS (139 °C). The commonly used Avrami equation was used to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics. For nonisothermal crystallization studies, the model combining Avrami equation and Ozawa equation was employed. The result showed a consistent trend in the crystallization process. The crystallization rate was decreased, the perfection of crystals was decreased, the recrystallization was reduced, and the spherulitic morphologies were changed when the huge hydrogenated phenanthrene ring was added into the chain of PBS. The activation energy (ΔE) for the isothermal crystallization process determined by Arrhenius method was 255.9 kJ/mol for PBS and 345.7 kJ/mol for PBSR. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 900–913, 2006     

Rapid determination of vitellogenin in fish plasma by anion exchange high performance liquid chromatography using postcolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde.

An analytical method involving anion exchange high performance liquid chromatographic determination of vitellogenin (Vtg) in fish plasma after postcolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) was developed. The retention time of Vtg was about 11 min. The reagent variables for derivatization were optimized. The fluorophore was excited at 335 nm and detected at 435 nm. A calibration curve was established ranging from 0.13 to 11.28 microg. The determination limit of Vtg was found to be as low as 0.13 microg. The spiked recovery was 93.6% and interassay variability was less than 4%. The method developed was used to determine Vtg in fish plasma obtained from red sea bream (Pagrosomus major), black porgy (Sparus macrocephalus) and skew band grunt (Hapalogenys nitens), without complicated sample pretreatment. The results confirmed that the method showed advantages of being simple, rapid, reproducible and sensitive.     

Simultaneous electrochemical determination of uric acid and ascorbic acid on a glassy carbon electrode modified with cobalt(II) tetrakisphenylporphyrin.

A cobalt(II) tetrakisphenylporphyrin (Co(II)TPP) film modified glassy carbon electrode (Co(II)TPP-GCE) was prepared by just coating Co(II)TPP solution on the surface of the electrode. It can be used for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and uric acid. The anodic peaks of AA and UA can be separated well. Owing to the strongly hydrophobic property of porphyrin, the modified electrode has good stability and long life. The linear range for UA and AA were 2.0 x 10(-6)-1.0 x 10(-4) M and 9.0 x 10(-6)-2.0 x 10(-3) M with detection limits of 5.0 x 10(-7) and 5.0 x 10(-6) M, respectively. Furthermore, metalloporphyrins of other kinds were also used to construct modified electrodes. Their performances were inferior compared with that of the Co(II)TPP modified electrode.     

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.     

Discrete-time GI/Geo/1 queue with multiple working vacations

Consider the discrete time GI/Geo/1 queue with working vacations under EAS and LAS schemes. The server takes the original work at the lower rate rather than completely stopping during the vacation period. Using the matrix-geometric solution method, we obtain the steady-state distribution of the number of customers in the system and present the stochastic decomposition property of the queue length. Furthermore, we find and verify the closed property of conditional probability for negative binomial distributions. Using such property, we obtain the specific expression for the steady-state distribution of the waiting time and explain its two conditional stochastic decomposition structures. Finally, two special models are presented.      

Multivariable identification and controller design of an integrated flight control system

This paper investigates the multivariable identification and controller design for the longitudinal channel of a Boeing 747 transport. The transfer function matrix of the system is identified using the prediction error (PE) identification method with multivariable ARX model. An ellipsoidal parametric uncertainty set is constructed from the covariance matrix of the identified parameters. It contains the parameters of actual system at a certain probability level. The identified models and the associated uncertainty sets are validated by measuring the worst-case ν-gap and then compared with the maximum value of the generalized stability margin. In automatic flight control system or autopilots, multiple specifications criteria are needed to be satisfied concurrently, such as good holding (small static altitude holding error), fast response, smooth transition (less oscillation, overshoot). The design of a Multiple Simultaneous Specifications (MSS) controller effectively and practically is a very significant and challenging job. Liu and Mills [H.H.T. Liu, J.K. Mills, Multiple specification design in flight control system, in: Proceedings of the American Control Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2000, pp. 1365–1369] proposed a MSS controller design method using a convex combination approach. In this paper, we apply the method [H.H.T. Liu, J.K. Mills, Multiple specification design in flight control system, in: Proceedings of the American Control Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2000, pp. 1365–1369; H.H.T. Liu, Design combination in integrated flight control, in: Proceedings of the American Control Conference, Arlington, Virginia, 2001, pp. 494–499; H.H.T. Liu, Multi-objective design for an integrated flight control system: a combination with model reduction approach, in: Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Computer Aided Control System Design, Glasgow, 2002, pp. 21–26] to design a MSS controller based on the identified models of the Boeing 747 transport aircraft longitudinal channel. The controllers are also validated by simulation using the true plant transfer functions.     

Strong instability of solitary waves for nonlinear Klein–Gordon equations and generalized Boussinesq equations

We study here instability problems of standing waves for the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equations and solitary waves for the generalized Boussinesq equations. It is shown that those special wave solutions may be strongly unstable by blowup in finite time, depending on the range of the wave's frequency or the wave's speed of propagation and on the nonlinearity.     

Simulation of soliton propagation in a directional coupler

Soliton propagation in a directional fiber coupler is investigated. By using Fourier series analysis technique (FSAT), the effects of radii ratio and intermodal dispersion on soliton switching have been investigated.     

Novel photoswitching dithienylethenes with ferrocene units

Two novel dithienylethenes with ferrocene units were synthesized by Wittig reaction. The structure of 2a has been established by X‐ray diffraction studies. They could reversibly interconvert between two thermally stable forms, an open and a closed one, using light of different wavelengths as triggers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.