Quantitative analysis of the dynamic behaviour of photochromic systems

The good understanding of a photochromic reaction mechanism requires the establishment of the list of all the transient species and the definition of their connecting processes. The purpose of kinetic studies is the determination of the main photochromic parameters, such as the quantum yields of photoisomerization, rate constants of thermal relaxation and spectra of transient species. These data allow the establishment of structure properties relationships in order to select the best substituents to improve photochromic performances within a given series. In this review, we describe the dynamic behaviour of various photochromic systems during thermal relaxation after irradiation, from the simplest mono-exponential decay to the more complicated multi-exponential dynamics. Then, we analyse the evolution of the long-lived isomers under continuous irradiation. Several pedagogical examples and tricks to perform easy kinetic analysis are given in the appendices.     

Functionality of nano titanium dioxide on textiles with future aspects: Focus on wool

The consumption of titanium dioxide in today's world is on the increase. As the most popular nano substance, TiO₂ is used in various industries notably in the textile industry. More and more recently, through a synergistic combination of photocatalytic features of nanoparticles, fabrics with novel properties are produced. Self-cleaning and stability against UV rays as well as chemical media, to name but a few, are among new prominent properties, obtained on textiles. A common subject reported in most studies has been the diverse approaches to immobilize the nanoparticles on the surface of fabrics. Wool is among common textile materials that have undergone numerous processes to be modified. This review intends to bring to light different aspects of application of nano titanium dioxide in the textile industry especially on wool, and also presents a concise overview on the rigorous pieces of research conducted in this realm.     

Rapid development of scalable scientific software using a process oriented approach

Scientific applications are often not written with multiprocessing, cluster computing or grid computing in mind. This paper suggests using Python and PyCSP to structure scientific software through Communicating Sequential Processes. Three scientific applications are used to demonstrate the features of PyCSP and how networks of processes may easily be mapped into a visual representation for better understanding of the process workflow. We show that for many sequential solutions, the difficulty in implementing a parallel application is removed. The use of standard multi-threading mechanisms such as locks, conditions and monitors is completely hidden in the PyCSP library. We show the three scientific applications: kNN, stochastic minimum search and McStas to scale well on multi-processing, cluster computing and grid computing platforms using PyCSP.     

Target training with soft computing tools

The personal capabilities and intentions of employees indicate their performance within their organization. It is important for the organization to capture this kind of tacit knowledge since the workforce are the true experts in perceiving the organization's current reality and evaluating which assets require development – including themselves as knowledge assets. The collective inner voice of the workforce helps the organization's management to steer the company and its assets in a sustainable direction.This article presents how the collective inner voice of the workforce can be captured and how it can be used for the benefit of the organization and its employees. The objective is to support individuals’ personal aspirations, as well as to save the money, time and resources that an organization spends on personnel training.The focus of this article is on demonstrating a possible soft-computing method used for competency simulation. The process starts with a linguistic self-evaluation conducted by employees, where individuals’ own perception of current and target competence levels is captured. The self-evaluation is conducted with the help of fuzzy logic. Clusters are formed from the result dataset using an unsupervised neural network clustering method: self-organizing maps. A demonstrator tool is then used to perform a “what-if” type of analysis/simulation on the clusters in the results. With the demonstrator tool, employees can roughly test the impact of alternative training scenarios for themselves. For individuals this may open up new directions for self-development, and for organizations this may allow the efficient use of training resources. We tested the approach with a dataset from a real human resource development project among nuclear power plant operators.The case study reveals the potential of soft-computing based collective competency simulation as one part of personnel development projects in the future. Yet the techniques and the demonstrator tool used in this experiment are far from being products that employees could easily use as part of their training project. Possible benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated in this article.     

Doping limits in II–VI compounds - Challenges, problems and solutions

Wide-band-gap II–VI semiconductors have a potential for a variety of applications especially in the areas of light-emitting and light-detecting devices, photovoltaic conversion (solar cells), X-ray and γ-ray detection, etc. In all applications, a good bipolar electrical conduction, i.e. efficient doping from both n- and p-side is essential, but due to the reasons which are not yet fully understood, it is still difficult to achieve. In this paper, a number of possible doping-limiting mechanisms in II–VI's are critically analyzed, in particular: self-compensation by spontaneous formation of native defects, amphoteric behavior of several potential dopants, lattice relaxation around some doping atoms, insufficient solubility of the others, and ‘softness’ of the lattice of the IIB-VI compounds. In the third part of the paper, various approaches to overcome doping difficulties have been analyzed, in particular growth and doping under non-equilibrium conditions (low-temperature growth/doping techniques, particularly MBE, MOVPE, MOCVD), doping by ion implantation, co-doping with more than one dopant, non-equilibrium doping using ultra-fast techniques, etc., as well as the reinforcement of crystal lattice by alloying with some IIA-VI compounds. The results of these efforts are overviewed, including the status of maximum p- and n-doping so far achieved in each of II–VI compounds. It is concluded that a much greater range of applications of the II–VI's, in accordance with their extraordinary properties and potential in many fields, can be expected in the foreseeable future.     

Implications of crystal growth theories for mass crystallization: Application to crystallization of sucrose

A survey of a set of growth theories as well as a discussion about the definition of the supersaturalion in a solution and the problem of growth rate dispersion arc given. Such theoretical aspects of crystal growth science may offer fundamental backgrounds for mass crystallization. Application of some of these theories to basic studies on sucrose crystallization as far as to the proposal of an innovative industrial process for sucrose production is reported in the second part of the paper.     

Polyolefin/layered silicate nanocomposites with functional compatibilizers

Polymer nanocomposites containing layered silicates have been considered as a new generation of composite materials due to their expected unique properties attributed to the high aspect ratio of the inorganic platelets. Nevertheless, addition of layered silicates to polyolefins mostly results in phase separated systems because of the incompatibility of the silicates with the non-polar polyolefins. Functional compatibilizers are required to enhance the interactions and alter the structure from phase separated micro-composites to intercalated and exfoliated nanocomposites. Commercial macromolecular compatibilizers (mainly maleic-anhydride-functionalized polyolefins) are most commonly used to improve the interfacial bonding between the fillers and the polymers whereas specifically synthesized functional homopolymers or copolymers have been utilized as well. In this article, we are reviewing a number of investigations, which studied the influence on the composite structure of various parameters like the compatilizer to inorganic ratio, the type and content of the functional groups and the molecular weight of the functional additive, the miscibility between the matrix polymer and the compatibilizer, the kind of surfactants modifying the inorganic surface, the processing conditions, etc. The most important results obtained utilizing maleic-anhydride-functionalized polyolefins are discussed first, whereas a summary is presented then of the studies performed utilizing other functional oligomers/polymers. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies supported by rheology indicate that the most important factor controlling the structure and the properties is the ratio of functional additive to organoclay whereas the miscibility between the matrix polymer and the compatibilizer is a prerequisite.     

Characterization of the photochromism of dihydropyrenes with photophysical techniques

Dihydropyrenes are negative photochromes and their photophysical characterization, achieved in the past decade, is reviewed. Special emphasis is given to the theoretical background and to the experimental details which are relevant for the characterization of bi-stable systems, such as photochromic ones. In contrast to most photochromic compounds, dihydropyrenes have long lifetimes for their photoreactive excited states making it possible to tune their reactivity with the introduction of substituents. This knowledge is applicable for the design of more efficient photochromic molecules and for multichromophoric systems.     

Magnetic polymer beads: Recent trends and developments in synthetic design and applications

The paper describes the synthesis, properties and applications of magnetic polymer beads. State-of-the-art, future challenges, and promising trends in this field are analyzed. New applications in oil recovery are described.