Thermal density fluctuations in amorphous polymers as revealed by small angle X-ray diffraction

Summary Thermal density fluctuations in amorphous polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate were studied by means of small angle X-ray scattering. The measurements were performed in a temperature range from 20 °C up to about 50 °C above the glass transition temperatureT _g of the individual sample.AboveT _g the experimental values of the fluctuations are proportional to the isothermal compressibility and the temperature of the sample as predicted by the fluctuation theory for a system in thermodynamic equilibrium.At temperatures belowT _g this relation is no longer correct. The experimentally determined fluctuations are now proportional to the compressibility of the sample in the equilibrium state atT _g and to the actual temperature of the glassy sample. By considering a statistical ensemble with exchange of energy, particles and order between the systems of the ensemble an equation can be derived for the fluctuations of the number of particles per given volume which predicts the observed behaviour. The order parameter takes into account the fact that the properties of the glassy state depend on the way by which the state was produced.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurden thermische Dichtefluktuationen in amorphem Polymethylmethacrylat, Polycarbonat und Polyäthylenterephthalat mit Hilfe der Röntgenkleinwinkelstreuung untersucht. Die Messungen erstrecken sich über einen Temperaturbereich von 20 °C bis zu etwa 50 °C oberhalb der GlastemperaturT _g der jeweiligen Probe.In Übereinstimmung mit den Ergebnissen der Fluktuationstheorie sind die Fluktuationen oberhalb vonT _g proportional zur isothermen Kompressibilität und zur Temperatur der Probe.Unterhalb der Glastemperatur ist diese Beziehung nicht mehr erfüllt. Hier ist die Fluktuation proportional zur Kompressibilität der Probe im Gleichgewichtszustand beiT _g und zur Temperatur. Auf der Basis einer statistischen Gesamtheit mit der Austauschmöglichkeit von Energie, Partikel und Ordnung zwischen den Systemen der Gesamtheit kann eine Beziehung für die Dichtefluktuation abgeleitet werden, die mit den experimentellen Ergebnissen übereinstimmt. Der zusätzliche Ordnungsparameter berücksichtigt die Tatsache, daß die Eigenschaften im Glaszustand wegabhängig sind.

     

The electronic structure of molecules by a many-body approach: V. Ionization potentials and one-electron properties of cyclopentadiene and 1-sila-cyclopentadiene-(2,4)

The valence ionization potentials (IP's) of cyclopentadiene and 1-sila-cyclopentadiene-(2,4) are studied by an ab initio many-body approach which includes the effect of electron correlation and reorganization beyond the Hartree-Fock approximation. The Hartree-Fock approximation gives the correct ordering of the IP's for cyclopentadiene but this ordering does not agree with the results of the previous experimental and theoretical studies. The ordering is 1a₂(π), 2b₁(π), 4b₂, 6a₁, 5a₁, 3b₂, 1b₁ (π), 4a₁, 2b₂, 3a₁. For sila-cyclopentadiene the ordering of the IP's is: 1a₂(π), 4b₂, 2b₁(π), 6a₁, 1b₁(π), 5a₁, 3b₂, 4a₁, 3a₁, 2b₂. The Hartree-Fock approximation is found to be incorrect with respect to the ordering of the 4b₂ and 2b₁(π) IP's. A number of one-electron properties are calculated in the one-particle approximation and compared with the available experimental data.     

Ab initio MO-SCF calculation on a model of anomalous water

Ab initio calculations are carried out on the planar hexamer model of anomalous water using a variety of basis sets. The results are compared to results of similar calculations on free water and water in the ice I-like puckered ring configurations.

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Zusammenfassung Es werden ab initio-Rechnungen für das planare Hexamer-Modell von anomalem Wasser unter Verwendung mehrerer BasissÄtze durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Resultaten Ähnlicher Rechnungen über freies Wasser und Wasser in der I-Eis Ähnlichen Konfiguration verzerrter Ringe verglichen.

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Résumé Calculs ab initio sur le modèle hexamérique plan de l'eau anormale en utilisant différentes bases. Les résultats sont comparés à ceux de calculs similaires sur l'eau libre et sur l'eau dans une configuration cyclique compacte analogue à celle de la glace I.

     

Structure and conformational isomerism of the major dimer of 2,3-naphthoquinodimethane

The major product from 2,3-naphthoquinodimethane formed by cyclisation of $\text{o}$-dipropadienylbenzene was found to be the dimer 5 containing an eight-membered ring, for which the inversion barrier was determined by dynamic ¹H NMR spectrometry, ΔG3 = 18 kcal/mole.     

Die Platiniodide PtI2 und Pt3I8

Platinum Iodides PtI₂ and Pt₃I₈ Powder samples of tetragonal Pt₃I₈ (a = 1166.4(1); c = 1068.2(2) pm) and the cubic α-form of PtI₂ (a = 1109 pm) were obtained by thermal decomposition of PtI₄ in closed quarz ampoules at a I₂ pressure of 2–3 bar and 8 bar, respectively, and at 320°C and 430°C and 430°C, respectively. Single crystals of the monoclinic α-Form of PtI₂ (a = 658.77(6); b = 871.50(34), c = 688.94(11) pm; β = 102.76°; Z = 4) were formed by hydrothermal synthesis from PtI₄, KI, and I₂ at 420°C. In the crystal structure of β-PtI₂ two square planar PtI₄-units are connected by a common edge to planar Pt₂I₆ groups which are linked by common corners to puckered layers. Crystals of Pt₃I₈ synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis from PtI₄, KI, and I₂ at 350°C were twinned and showed defects. As the result of X-ray studies the compound can be formulated as a mixed-valence platinum(II,IV) iodide PtI₄ · 2 PtI₂. Octahedral PtI₆ and square planar PtI₄ units are linked together to a three dimensional skeleton.     

A novel intramolecularly stabilized nitronic acid, 2-aci-nitro-1,3-propanediol

A stable nitronic acid, 2-aci-nitro-1,3-propanediol, may be prepared from nitromethane and paraformaldehyde under fluoride ion catalysis.     

Structure and magnetism of Eu2IrD5

A powder neutron diffraction study of Eu¹⁵³₂IrD₅ has shown it to be isostructural with Sr₂IrD₅ at room temperature. Unlike the latter compound, it does not undergo a deuterium-ordering transition at low temperatures. Magnetic scattering at helium temperatures confirms the suggestion that it becomes ferromagnetic below 20 K with a moment corresponding to that of divalent europium.     

Lithium bromide in acetonitrile: Thermodynamics,theory, and simulation

A variety of methods has been used for the study of lithium bromide solutions in acetonitrile yielding by their combination reliable information on different levels of approximation. Osmotic coefficients based on precise vapor pressure measurements are reproduced by CM (chemical model) and HNC (hypernetted chain) calculations and by BD (brownian dynamics) simulations. The results of neutron scattering experiments are treated with the help of HNC and BD methods. Hartree-Fock calculations on isolated LiBr pairs and solvated lithium ions yield reliable particle distances and reveal the geometry of the lithium solvation sphere.     

Challenges in the structural characterization of thin organic films

This review addresses the special problems associated with the micro-structural characterization of thin and ultrathin organic films, primarily by optical spectroscopies. Films which are deposited by Langmuir-Blodgett techniques, self-assembly chemistry, and bulk film deposition techniques are considered. The use of enhanced optical excitation using surface phasma resonances and integrated optical structures is discussed extensively, as is the use of ellipsometry. Discussion of the spectroscopies used is broken into a section on electronic spectroscopies and an extensive discussion of vibrational spectroscopies. Vibrational information may be obtained with photons (absorption or scattering) or electrons (loss spectra), and the types of experimental systems amenable to each, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each are explored.