Control of self‐organized low‐dimensional morphology in poly(styrene‐b‐4vinylpyridine)/polystyrene blend thin films

The surface morphologies of poly(styrene‐b‐4vinylpyridine) (PS‐b‐P4VP) diblock copolymer and homopolystyrene (hPS) binary blend thin films were investigated by atomic force microscopy as a function of total volume fraction of PS (?_PS) in the mixture. It was found that when hPS was added into symmetric PS‐b‐P4VP diblock copolymers, the surface morphology of this diblock copolymer was changed to a certain degree. With ?_PS increasing at first, hPS was solubilized into the corresponding domains of block copolymer and formed cylinders. Moreover, the more solubilized the hPS, the more cylinders exist. However, when the limit was reached, excessive hPS tended to separate from the domains independently instead of solubilizing into the corresponding domains any longer, that is, a macrophase separation occurred. A model describing transitions of these morphologies with an increase in ?_PS is proposed. The effect of composition on the phase morphology of blend films when graphite is used as a substrate is also investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3496–3504, 2004     

Detection of Pb2+ using a hydrogel swelling microcantilever sensor.

Hydrogels containing benzo-18-crown-6 were used to modify microcantilevers for measurements of the concentration of Pb2+ in aqueous solutions. These microcantilevers undergo bending deflection upon exposure to solutions containing various Pb2+ concentrations as the result of a swelling of the hydrogels. It was found that a concentration of 10(-6) M Pb2+ can be detected using this technology. Other cations, such as Na+, have no effect on the deflection of this cantilever. The cation K+, which also complexes with benzo-18-crown-6, could interfere with Pb2+ detection, but only at high concentrations (> 10(-4) M).     

Electrospinning of ultrafine cellulose acetate fibers: Studies of a new solvent system and deacetylation of ultrafine cellulose acetate fibers

Electrospinning of cellulose acetate (CA) in a new solvent system and the deacetylation of the resulting ultrafine CA fibers were investigated. Ultrafine CA fibers (∼2.3 μm) were successfully prepared via electrospinning of CA in a mixed solvent of acetone/water at water contents of 10–15 wt %, and more ultrafine CA fibers (0.46 μm) were produced under basic pH conditions. Ultrafine cellulose fibers were regenerated from the homogeneous deacetylation of ultrafine CA fibers in KOH/ethanol. It was very rapid and completed within 20 min. The crystal structure, thermal properties, and morphology of ultrafine CA fibers were changed according to the degree of deacetylation, finally to those of pure cellulose, but the nonwoven fibrous mat structure was maintained. The activation energy for the deacetylation of ultrafine CA fibers was 10.3 kcal/mol. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 5–11, 2004     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the oligonucleotide with the modified phosphate/phosphonate internucleotide linkage

Impact of the internucleotide linkage modification by inserting a methylene group to the P-O bond (—O—PO ₂ ^— —O— chain changed for —O—PO ₂ ^— —CH₂—O—), on the modified oligonucleotide binding ability to the natural DNA strand was studied by molecular dynamics simulation. Complex of (dT)₁₁ with a deoxyadenosine undecamer containing alternating modified and natural internucleotide linkage was studied as a model system. The Amber force field was completed by a set of new parameters needed to model the modified part of the nucleotide. The simulations confirmed existence of a double-helical complex the melting point of which is considerably higher than 300 K. While the thymidine (unmodified) strand possesses a B-type secondary structure, the conformation of the adenosine (modified) strand is not stable at 300 K. The -ggt conformation of the modified linkages is highly preferred, temporary jumps to the -g-gt and ggt conformations were, however, observed.     

RANDOM EDGE can be exponential on abstract cubes

We prove that RANDOM EDGE, the simplex algorithm that always chooses a random improving edge to proceed on, can take a mildly exponential number of steps in the model of abstract objective functions (introduced by Williamson Hoke [Completely unimodal numberings of a simple polytope, Discrete Appl. Math. 20 (1988) 69-81.] and by Kalai [A simple way to tell a simple polytope from its graph, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 49(2) (1988) 381-383.] under different names). We define an abstract objective function on the n-dimensional cube for which the algorithm, started at a random vertex, needs at least exp(const·n^1/3) steps with high probability. The best previous lower bound was quadratic. So in order for RANDOM EDGE to succeed in polynomial time, geometry must help.     

Changes in the spectrum of Gaussian Schell-model beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, the spectrum of Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere is derived analytically. It is shown that, if the scaling law is valid, the normalized spectrum S(ω) of GSM beams propagating through turbulent atmosphere is the same as the normalized source spectrum S⁽⁰⁾(ω), whether GSM source is quasi-homogenous or not. On the other hand, if the scaling law fails, S(ω) of GSM is different from S⁽⁰⁾(ω). The structure constant of the refractive index, transverse coordinate of observation point and spatial correlation length of the source affect the spectrum, which is illustrated numerically.     

Mössbauer and X-ray diffraction characterization of Fe60Al40 coatings prepared by thermal spraying

Microstructured (atomized) and nanostructured (milled) Fe₆₀Al₄₀ powders together with their corresponding coatings synthesized by High Velocity Oxy-fuel (HVOF) or Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) thermal spraying techniques have been characterized by Mössbauer Spectroscopy (MS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The evolution of the microstructure and the atomic ordering degree in the powders and coatings are discussed at the light of the various processing conditions. The operational correlation between the parameters of the duplex morphology of coatings and the processing parameters is discussed.     

A Simple Bi-directional Mode Expansion Propagation Algorithm Based on Modes of a Parallel-plate Waveguide

The bi-directional mode expansion propagation algorithm (BEP) is known to be an accurate and efficient method for modelling field distribution in high-index contrast waveguide structures with strong back-reflections like Bragg gratings and photonic crystals. The main difficulty of this method is that for lossy structures, the propagation constants of modes are to be searched in the complex plane. To speed-up this procedure, a two-step algorithm for eigenmode calculation based on the expansion into the modes of an empty metallic waveguide has recently been proposed. Proper truncation rules possessing good convergence of the expansion method for both TE and TM modes have also been recently published. In this contribution, both these approaches are combined in the development of an extremely simple version of the two-dimensional BEP method that makes use of the field expansion into the eigenmodes of a parallel-plate waveguide. The method is strictly reciprocal and appeared to be computationally reliable also for strongly lossy structures. High numerical stability is ensured using the scattering matrix formalism, and an efficient method of calculating Bloch modes for symmetric as well as asymmetric periodic waveguide structures is adopted. A wide range of applicability of the method is demonstrated by a few examples.