Liquid–Liquid Transition and Detrapping of Trapped Carriers of P(MMA/BA) Copolymers by Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Current

Poly (methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate) [P(MMA/BA)] copolymers (M _η～2×10⁵) with different mass percentages of PMMA (100/0, 90/10, 81/19, and 75/25), were synthesized by the method of solution polymerization. In addition to the normal α and ρ peak, a third τ peak is observed in thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) spectra of the copolymers in the high temperature region. The α peak‐corresponds to the glass transition, the ρ peak originates from the detrapping of trapped carriers in the bulk amorphous structure related with flexible side groups, and the τ peak can be attributed to the charge detrapping related to the liquid–liquid transition of the copolymers. The three peaks all move to lower temperature with an increase of the BA component, indicating that the flexible side groups of butyl acrylate not only have an effect of plasticization on the glass transition and liquid–liquid transition, but also make the trap depth shallower and the detrapping process easier for the ρ and τ peaks. The experimental results confirm that TSDC analysis is very sensitive for investigating the liquid–liquid transition of polymers. The liquid–liquid transition temperature (T _LL) of the copolymers follows a type of the Fox equation. Fitting the results gives a T _LL of 102°C for polybutyl acrylate.     

Low temperature growth and dimension- dependent photoluminescence efficiency of semiconductor nanowires

Low temperature growth and dimension dependent photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of semiconductor nanowires were investigated with CdS as a model system. The CdS nanowires were prepared with a simple, low temperature metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process via the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism. The low growth temperature of 360 °C was made possible with a newly developed single-source precursor of CdS and by using sputtered Au as the catalyst for the VLS growth. The length and diameter of the nanowires were adjusted by reaction time and sputtering conditions of Au, respectively. Nanowires of up to several μm in length and 20 to 200 nm in diameter were obtained. The PL quantum yield of the nanowires was found to decrease with increasing wire length, but to increase with decreasing wire diameter. This dimension-dependent PL efficiency of one-dimensional nanostructure, unlikely resulting from the quantum size confinement effect, appears to be a new observation that carries application significance. PACS 74.25.Gz; 78.55.Et; 78.67.Lt     

Femtosecond laser ablation of Au film around single pulse threshold

Ablation process of 1-kHz femtosecond lasers (pulse duration of 148 fs, wavelength of 775 nm) of Au film on silica substrates is studied. The thresholds for single and multi pulses can be obtained directly from the relation between the squared diameter D2 of the ablated craters and the laser fluence φo. From the plot of the accumulated laser fluence Nφth(N) and the number of laser pulses N, incubation coefficient of Au film is obtained to be 0.765. Some experimental data obtained around the single pulse threshold are in good agreement with the theoretical calculation.     

Study of three rotating radio transients with FAST

Rotating radio transients(RRATs) are peculiar astronomical objects whose emission mechanism remains under investigation.In this paper, we present observations of three RRATs, J1538+2345, J1854+0306 and J1913+1330, carried out with the Fivehundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST). Specifically, we analyze the mean pulse profiles and temporal flux density evolutions of the RRATs. Owing to the high sensitivity of FAST, the derived burst rates of the three RRATs are higher than those in previous reports. RRAT J1854+0306 exhibited a time-dynamic mean pulse profile, whereas RRAT J1913+1330 showed distinct radiation and nulling segments on its pulse intensity trains. The mean pulse profile variation with frequency is also studied for RRAT J1538+2345 and RRAT J1913+1330, and the profiles at different frequencies could be well fitted with a cone-core model and a conal-beam model, respectively.     

Field Patterns of the TE Modes in Ridge-Trough Waveguide

A single-ridge waveguide with a symmetrical longitudinal trough, designated as a ridge-trough waveguide has been used as a transition in a V-band (50-75 GHz) wafer probe recently. In this paper, the field patterns for the dominant TE mode and the first higher TE mode in ridge-trough waveguide with different configurations are presented by finite element method. The field patterns in this paper have important values for us to understand the transmission characteristics of ridge-trough waveguide, and will be of practical significance in designing ridge-trough waveguide components in microwave and millimeter wave engineering.     

Sonochemical fabrication of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide for biosensors

This study synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles of 30–40 nm by a sonochemical method, and these particles were uniformly dispersed on the reduced graphene oxide sheets (Fe₃O₄/RGO). The superparamagnetic property of Fe₃O₄/RGO was evidenced from a saturated magnetization of 30 emu/g tested by a sample-vibrating magnetometer. Based on the testing results, we proposed a mechanism of ultrasonic waves to explain the formation and dispersion of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles on RGO. A biosensor was fabricated by modifying a glassy carbon electrode with the combination of Fe₃O₄/RGO and hemoglobin. The biosensor showed an excellent electrocatalytic reduction toward H₂O₂ at a wide, linear range from 4 × 10^?6 to 1 × 10^?3 M (R² = 0.994) as examined by amperometry, and with a detection limit of 2 × 10^?6 M. The high performance of H₂O₂ detection is attributed to the synergistic effect of the combination of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and RGO, promoting the electron transfer between the peroxide and electrode surface.     

Visualization of mouse spinal cord intramedullary arteries using phase‐ and attenuation‐contrast tomographic imaging

Many spinal cord circulatory disorders present the substantial involvement of small vessel lesions. The central sulcus arteries supply nutrition to a large part of the spinal cord, and, if not detected early, lesions in the spinal cord will cause irreversible damage to the function of this organ. Thus, early detection of these small vessel lesions could potentially facilitate the effective diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. However, the detection of such small vessels is beyond the capability of current imaging techniques. In this study, an imaging method is proposed and the potential of phase‐contrast imaging (PCI)‐ and attenuation‐contrast imaging (ACI)‐based synchrotron radiation for high‐resolution tomography of intramedullary arteries in mouse spinal cord is validated. The three‐dimensional vessel morphology, particularly that of the central sulcus arteries (CSA), detected with these two imaging models was quantitatively analyzed and compared. It was determined that both PCI‐ and ACI‐based synchrotron radiation can be used to visualize the physiological arrangement of the entire intramedullary artery network in the mouse spinal cord in both two dimensions and three dimensions at a high‐resolution scale. Additionally, the two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional vessel morphometric parameter measurements obtained with PCI are similar to the ACI data. Furthermore, PCI allows efficient and direct discrimination of the same branch level of the CSA without contrast agent injection and is expected to provide reliable biological information regarding the intramedullary artery. Compared with ACI, PCI might be a novel imaging method that offers a powerful imaging platform for evaluating pathological changes in small vessels and may also allow better clarification of their role in neurovascular disorders.     

Comparison of performance between rescaled range analysis and rescaled variance analysis in detecting abrupt dynamic change

In the present paper, a comparison of the performance between moving cutting data-rescaled range analysis(MCR/S) and moving cutting data-rescaled variance analysis(MC-V/S) is made. The results clearly indicate that the operating efficiency of the MC-R/S algorithm is higher than that of the MC-V/S algorithm. In our numerical test, the computer time consumed by MC-V/S is approximately 25 times that by MC-R/S for an identical window size in artificial data. Except for the difference in operating efficiency, there are no significant differences in performance between MC-R/S and MC-V/S for the abrupt dynamic change detection. MC-R/S and MC-V/S both display some degree of anti-noise ability. However, it is important to consider the influences of strong noise on the detection results of MC-R/S and MC-V/S in practical application processes.