Encapsulation of nanocrystals with responsive gels for spatial optical identification

A tripeptide (β-AspFF) gelator was designed and synthesised using solid-phase peptide synthesis. The as-prepared gelator formed a stable and clear multi-responsive gel in toluene solution. Encapsulating the quantum dots with β-AspFF effectively increased stability and antioxidisation ability which are beneficial for optical identification.     

Effect of Longitudinal Magnetic Field on Vibration Response of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Embedded in Viscoelastic Medium

This paper aims to study the effect of externally applied longitudinal magnetic field on the transverse vibration of viscoelastic double-walled carbon nanotubes(visco-DWCNTs)embedded in a viscoelastic medium. The analyses are carried out based on the nonlocal viscoelastic model and Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Governing equations are derived for the vibration of the embedded visco-DWCNT subjected to a magnetic field, where the Lorentz magnetic force,the surrounding viscoelastic medium, the intertube van der Waals forces and viscoelasticity of the DWCNT are taken into consideration. In this study, the transfer function method is employed to solve the governing equations, which enables one to obtain the natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes in closed form for the DWCNTs with arbitrary boundary conditions.Here the developed mechanics model is first compared with the existing techniques available in the literature in a few particular cases, where excellent agreement is achieved. The validation of the model is followed by a detailed parametric study of the effects of longitudinal magnetic field,nonlocal parameter, boundary conditions, structural damping coefficient and aspect ratio of the DWCNTs on their vibration. The study demonstrates the efficiency of the present technique designed for vibration analysis of a complicated multi-physics system comprising DWCNTs, the viscoelastic medium and a magnetic field in longitudinal direction.     

Gradient estimates for porous medium equations under the Ricci flow

A local gradient estimate for positive solutions of porous medium equations on complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds under the Ricci flow is derived. Moreover, a global gradient estimate for such equations on compact Riemannian manifolds is also obtained.     

Organic–inorganic hybrid fluorous monolithic capillary column for selective solid‐phase microextraction of perfluorinated persistent organic pollutants

A novel construction strategy of monolithic capillary column for selectively enriching perfluorinated persistent organic pollutants was proposed. The organic–inorganic hybrid fluorous monolithic capillary column was synthesized by a “one‐pot” approach via the polycondensation of γ‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxy‐silane, then in situ copolymerization of 1H,1H,7H‐dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate and vinyl group on the precondensed siloxanes. The obtained monolithic columns were systematically characterized. The results demonstrated that the optimal column possessed good mechanical stability and high permeability. The adsorption capacities of the optimized monolithic column for perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate were 0.257 and 0.513 μg/mg, respectively. Adsorption capacities of the monoliths were proved to increasing with increasing the amounts of fluorinated monomers in the fluorous monoliths. Sodium 1‐octanesulfonate, as a comparison compound, was hardly adsorbed on the fluorous monolith. In addition, the trace amounts of perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate in water samples can be successfully concentrated about 160 times to their original concentrations by this monolithic column. These results demonstrated that the capacity and selectivity of the affinity fluorous column is high and can be applied to the selective enrichment for the perfluorinated persistent organic pollutants from environmental samples.     

Study of magnetotransport properties of interacting quantum dot systems using the ECA method

We study the magnetotransport of the interacting QD system in a magnetic field using the numerical method of embedded-cluster approximation (ECA). The spin-resolved conductances display different magnetic field dependences for different transport regimes. Through comparison of conductance polarization, the mixed-valence regime shows the largest polarization. The spin-resolved conductance as a function of the ratio between the magnetic field and Kondo temperature H/TK is found to exhibit an approximate universal behavior in the Kondo regime. We also investigate conductance dependence on interaction strength and find interesting inversion of sign of polarization in some cases.