Electrokinetic phenomena in fine-porous diaphragms at open chemical circuits

Classical electrokinetic phenomena are considered a coupling between electrical and hydraulic circuits where the diaphragm plays the role of an electromotive or a volumomotive force. Particular electrokinetic phenomena correspond to limiting conditions in those two circuits. Similarly, for fine porous diaphragms, equivalent chemical circuits are introduced to account for concentrational polarization. Classical electrokinetic phenomena turn out to be a particular mode occurring at closed chemical circuits. A new class of electrokinetic phenomena occurring at open chemical circuits is introduced. The examples of filtration potential and electro-osmotic pressure at charged chemical capacitors are considered in detail. The experimental conditions of observing the new phenomena and their advantages in terms of unambiguous interpretation of experimental data are then discussed.     

Features of the energy structure of acoustic fields in the ocean with two-dimensional random inhomogeneities

The paper is devoted to the analytic study and numerical simulation of mid-frequency acoustic signal propagation in a two-dimensional inhomogeneous random shallow-water medium. The study was carried out by the cross section method (local modes). We present original theoretical estimates for the behavior of the average acoustic field intensity and show that at different distances, the features of propagation loss behavior are determined by the intensity of fluctuations and their horizontal scale and depend on the initial regular parameters, such as the emission frequency and size of sound losses in the bottom. We establish analytically that for the considered waveguide and sound frequency parameters, mode coupling effect has a local character and weakly influences the statistics. We establish that the specific form of the spatial spectrum of sound velocity inhomogeneities for the statistical patterns of the field intensity is insignificant during observations in the range of shallow-water distances of practical interest.     

Dependence of the Mean Intensity of a Low-Frequency Acoustic Field on the Bottom Parameters of a Shallow Sea with Random Volumetric Water-Layer Inhomogeneities

The study is devoted to statistical modeling of low-frequency acoustic signal propagation in a twodimensionally inhomogeneous random shallow sea with a thermocline and differing penetrability of the bottom. Calculations are performed using the local-mode representation of the solution in the one-way propagation approximation. Plots are presented for the behavior of the mean acoustic field intensity for different sound velocity and density values in the bottom. It is shown that the earlier described effect of a decrease in propagation losses in a model randomly inhomogeneous shallow sea with an absorbing bottom significantly depends on the parameters of bottom sediments and is more strongly manifested for bottom boundaries with greater penetrability.     

Studies of electrochemical properties of compacted clays by concentration potential method

The development of concentration (membrane) potential upon step-wise change in salt concentration has been studied for diaphragms made of various strongly compacted clays (montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite) equilibrated with 0.1 M NaCl solution. Porous ceramic filters were used to confine the clays mechanically to be able to achieve high extent of compaction (dry density approximately 2000 kg/m3). A theoretical analysis has revealed that the relaxation pattern is primarily controlled by the properties of porous filters and only slightly depends on the clay properties. At the same time, quasi-stationary values of concentration potential are directly related to the electrochemical perm-selectivity of clay. This property has revealed considerable differences in the electrochemical behaviour of various clays used in this study. This has been attributed to the differences in the micro-structure of clays, in particular to the existence or nonexistence of the so-called interlayer water where cations may retain some mobility. It has also been shown that in clays with high electrochemical perm-selectivity, one can expect a strong increase in the diffusivity of cationic radio-tracers with decreasing ionic strength of equilibrium electrolyte solution. At the same time, low electrochemical perm-selectivity means no noticeable dependence of this kind. The correctness of this observation has been corroborated by the comparison of our findings with the literature data on the diffusion of cationic radio-tracers through compacted montmorillonite (high perm-selectivity) and kaolinite (low perm-selectivity). To check the self-consistency of our approach, we have also carried out sample measurements of diffusion of cationic and anionic radio-tracers through compacted illite. It has been found that the measured effective diffusion coefficients were in excellent agreement with the electrochemical perm-selectivity estimated for this clay from the measurements of concentration potential.     

Permeability and electrokinetic characterization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) capillary pore membranes with grafted temperature-responsive polymers

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) track-etched membranes with average pore diameters of 692 and 1629 nm were functionalized using the monomer N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and a photoinitiated "grafting-from" approach in which a surface-selective reaction has been most efficiently achieved by combinations of the unmodified PET surface with benzophenone and, alternatively, of an aminated PET surface with benzophenone carboxylic acid. Consistent estimations of the pore diameters of the base PET membranes and of the effective grafted polyNIPAAm layer thicknesses on the PET pore walls were possible only on the basis of the permeabilities measured with aqueous solutions of higher ionic strength (e.g., 0.1 M NaCl). However, the permeabilities measured with ultrapure water indicated that the "electroviscous effect" was significant for both base membranes. The influences of membrane pore diameter, surface charge, and solution ionic strength could be interpreted in the framework of the space-charge model. Functionalized membranes with collapsed grafted polymer hydrogel layer thicknesses of a few nanometers exhibited almost zero values of the zeta potential estimated from the trans-membrane streaming potential measurements. This was caused by a "hydrodynamic screening" of surface charge by the neutral hydrogel. Very pronounced changes in permeability as a function of temperature were measured for PET membranes with grafted polyNIPAAm layers, and the effective layer thickness in the swollen state--here up to approximately 300 nm--correlated well with the degree of functionalization. The subtle additional effects of solution ionic strength on the hydrodynamic layer thickness at 25 degrees C were different from the effects for the base PET membranes and could be explained by a variation in the degree of swelling, resembling a "salting-out" effect. Overall, it had been demonstrated that the functionalized capillary pore membranes are well suited for a detailed and quantitative evaluation of the relationships between the synthesis, the structure, and the function of grafted stimuli-responsive polymer layers.     

Factors in liquid crystal photoalignment on polymer films: photoorientation versus self-assembly

We demonstrate that photostimulated self-assembly, running in parallel with molecular photoorientation in the top layer of the aligning polymer film, breaks the bulk molecular order mainly determined by the symmetry of irradiation. This may substantially modify liquid crystal (LC) alignment. Depending on the chemical composition of the liquid crystal, the self-assembled layers may influence either homeotropic or planar LC alignment with extremely weak azimuthal anchoring. Effective self-assembly occurs in polymers having side chain chromophores with flexible spacers and polar terminal groups.     

On the role of the electrostatic factor in stabilization of dispersions protected by adsorption layers of polymers

A simple model was used to show that taking into account a reduced dissolving power of water inside the adsorption layers of nonionic polymers allows a high stability of protected dispersions with regard to the effect of electrolytes to be attributed to the electrostatic factor of a new type.     

Statistical properties of inhomogeneous waves

Statistical properties of inhomogeneous waves propagating in a randomly layered medium are simulated. It is shown that field instances can resonate near the interface and give shape to the averaged field.Pacific Institute of Oceanology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 34, No. 7, pp. 761–767, July, 1991.