Supported hydrotalcites as highly active solid base catalysts

Mg-Al hydrotalcite platelets with a lateral size of 20 nm were deposited on carbon nanofibers and the resulting supported catalyst exhibited a specific activity in the condensation of acetone four times that of unsupported hydrotalcites due to the higher number of active edge sites.     

Entanglement networks of 1,2-polybutadiene crosslinked in states of strain. VII. Stress-birefringence relations

Crosslinks are introduced by γ irradiation into 1,2-polybutadiene while strained in uniaxial extension near T_g with stretch ratio λ₀, thereby trapping a proportion of the entanglements originally present. The stress at any subsequent strain λ is accurately given by the sum σ_N + σ_x, where σ_N is the stress contributed by a trapped entanglement network with λ = 1 as reference and a Mooney–Rivlin stress-strain relation, and σ_x is that contributed by a crosslink network with λ = λ₀ as reference and neo-Hookean stress-strain relation. The birefringence is accurately given as δn = ?_Nσ_N + ?_xσ_x, where the ?'s are the respective stress-optical coefficients. From measurements at λ = λ₀ where σ_x = 0, ?_N can be determined separately. For polymer with 88% 1,2 microstructure, ?_N and ?_x are nearly equal and independent of irradiation dose, though strongly dependent on temperature. For polymer with (95–96)% 1,2, ?_N and ?_x are different (even opposite in sign) and dependent on dose. This behavior is associated with a side reaction of cyclization by the γ irradiation, which is inhibited by the 1,4 moiety in the polymer with lesser 1,2 content. It is responsible for residual birefringence in the state of ease (λ = λ_s) where σ_N = –σ_x and the stress is zero.     

Excited-state absorption in a terpyridyl platinum(II) pentynyl complex

The singlet excited-state lifetime of a terpyridyl platinum(II) pentynyl complex was determined to be 268+/-87 ps by fitting femtosecond transient absorption data, the triplet excited-state lifetime was found to be 62 ns by fitting nanosecond transient absorption decay data, and the triplet quantum yield was measured to be 0.16. A ground-state absorption cross section of 2.5 x 10(-19) cm(2) at 532 nm was deduced from UV-vis absorption data. Excited-state absorption cross sections of 3.5 x 10(-17) cm(2) (singlet) and 4.5 x 10(-17) cm(2) (triplet) were obtained by using a five-level dynamic model to fit open-aperture Z scans at picosecond and nanosecond pulse widths and a variety of pulse energies.     

Effective potentials and the onset of quantization in ultrasmall MOSFETs

The connection between the minimum size of an electron wavepacket, and the introduction of an effective potential is discussed. The effective potential approach has a long history of use in trying to transition the gap between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics. An effective potential is one in which the quasi-classical regime is approximated through a density which arises from the effective potential W(x) through exp[ − βW(x)]. The generation of the effective potentialW (x) gives the effects of the onset of quantization in the system. In this paper, we study the use of the effective potential in a triangular well formed between the oxide and the depletion field of the semiconductor. We determine the quantization energy of the carriers in the potential well and their mean set-back from the interface. Finally, we show the connection between the effective potential and the Bohm-derived quantum potentials that have become of interest in simulations.     

Influence of the fibre/matrix interface on ageing mechanisms of glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites (PA-6,6, PET, PBT) in a hygrothermal environment

A study of the properties of short glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites based on poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(butylene terephthalate) and polyamide-6,6 in an aggressive environment is reported. The influence of the fibre/matrix interface on the composite behaviour in a moist environment is especially studied. Competitive phenomena may explain differences observed according to the nature of the fibre surface treatment. Among them these characteristics may be an intrinsic fragility of some chemical interfacial bonds, the hydrophilicity of some chemical groups, the presence of long macromolecular chains neighbouring the interface or of a transcrystalline interfacial area.     

Oligothiophene Self‐Assembly on the Surface of ZnO Nanorods: Toward Coaxial p–n Hybrid Heterojunctions

We describe herein the design, synthesis and detailed structural characterization of hybrid 1D nanostructures. They are prepared by supramolecular self‐assembly of oligothiophene molecules on the surface of zinc oxide nanorods in solution at room temperature. Electronic absorption spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction show that both organic and inorganic components in the coaxial p–n heterojunctions are crystalline. Especially, it is demonstrated that the organic compounds form a self‐assembled monolayer at the surface of the nanorods, which is not the case when zinc oxide quantum dots are instead used. As a result of their hybrid nature, the 1D nanostructures lead to ambipolar semiconducting nanostructured materials as active layers in field‐effect transistors.