Water sorption and transport in a series of polysulfones

Water sorption and transport properties for a series of polysulfones are presented and interpreted in terms of the changes in the structure of the repeat unit compared to that of bisphenol A polysulfone. The differences between the sorption and diffusion of water and of permanent gases in these materials are also discussed. Water has the ability to interact with the polymer and with itself through hydrogen bonding in a way that permanent gases cannot. The equilibrium solubility of water in the polymer, unlike permanent gases, does not have a simple dependence on free volume but correlates more strongly with the frequency of hydrogen bonding sites on the polymer. Analysis of the sorption isotherms using the method of Zimm and Lundberg suggests that water molecules cluster in these polysulfones to various extents. For each polysulfone except polyethersulfone, the water diffusion coefficient decreases with increasing activity, which also suggests water clustering. For most of these materials, the water diffusion coefficient is larger than that of bisphenol A polysulfone and is directly related to the polymer free volume. Water permeability in these materials broadly correlates with the polymer free volume, but a favorable water-polymer interaction can be an overriding factor. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Oriented noncrystalline structure in PET fibers prepared with threadline modification process

The development of an oriented noncrystalline phase in a semicrystalline polymer filament has been studied via X-ray scattering. These unique PET fibers contain a relatively high noncrystalline content and also have high tenacity, high modulus, and low breaking elongation. Fiber properties were found to be very responsive to the oriented amorphous phase content. This phase was utilized for interpreting noncrystalline orientation in PET fibers produced by a new extrusion technique. Here, the oriented noncrystalline regions in a series of PET fibers varies from 6% to 63%, depending strongly on the production conditions. In particular, samples produced with a newly developed threadline modification process possess a high content of oriented noncrystalline polymer. Measurements such as dynamic and static mechanical properties have been performed on various samples, and these properties are related to the oriented noncrystalline phase. The results provide direct evidence for the existence of highly oriented noncrystalline material in these unique PET fibers spun with a threadline modification process. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Recombination induced hypergraphs: A new approach to mutation-recombination isomorphism

Natural selection acts on genetic variation that comes from two principal sources: mutation and recombination. Because of the inherent differences between mutation and recombination, it is often assumed that they are qualitatively different ways to explore the genotype space. In this paper a new way of constructing recombination spaces is introduced and the topological features of the resulting hypergraphs are analyzed. It is shown that types which are neighbors in the point mutation space are also neighbors in the recombination space, i.e., mutation and recombination spaces are homomorphic. This implies that the shapes of the fitness functions explored by mutation and recombination are similar. However, the potential of one- and two-point recombination operators to explore the fitness landscape may differ dramatically from uniform recombination operators or mutation operators because of the limited number of recombinant types they can produce. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Complexes of tricoordinate hypervalent pnictogens with pentamethylcyclopentadienylruthenium

The complexes of a pentamethylcyclopentadienylruthenium moiety with hypervalent tricoordinate pnictogens are reported. A unique mode of complexation is observed for each of the different pnictogens (P, As, Sb). The phosphorus derived complex exhibits an 8-electron tetrahedral bonding environment at phosphorus. The antimony derived complex maintains a 10-electron bonding system at antimony with a pseudo-trigonalbipyramidal geometry at antimony. The arsenic-containing complex is formed with destruction of the original arsenic heterocycle and formation of a trinuclear Ru–Ru–As ring. Remarkably, the formation of the arsenic ruthenium complex can be reversed to reconstruct the original arsenic heterocycle.     

Structure and properties of Na-magadiite dependent on temperature

The mechanism of the thermal behaviour of Na-magadiite at a temperature range from 293–573 K was developed based on X-ray diffraction, DTA, DTL, Q-TG, and gravimetric measurements. A structure model (BRANDT et al.) previously proposed was additionally used. It is possible to show that there probably is a connection between the typical modifications of basal spacing and significant shiftings of silicate sheets. Different steps of dehydration, decrystallization and structure variations can be ascribed to the several thermal transitions. The results depend on sample treatment such as the existent or not existent solid-water vapour interaction and the establishment of equilibrium. It seems that there is a predominance of the first mentioned influence.     

Global and local performance metric with inertia effects

Nonlinear Dynamics - A complex system’s structural–dynamical interplay plays a profound role in determining its collective behavior. Irregular behavior in the form of macroscopic chaos,...