On the integration of Poisson homogeneous spaces

We study a reduction procedure for describing the symplectic groupoid of a Poisson homogeneous space obtained by quotient of a coisotropic subgroup. We perform it as a reduction of the Lu–Weinstein symplectic groupoid integrating Poisson Lie groups, that is suitable even for the non-complete case.     

Ring Opening Polymerization of Lactide under Solvent‐Free Conditions Catalyzed by a Chlorotitanium Calix[4]arene Complex

A novel chlorotitanium calix[4]arene complex was synthesized and tested, without activator, as catalyst for the polymerization of L ‐ and rac‐lactide under solvent‐free conditions. The catalyst displayed high activity, which depended on the monomer‐to‐catalyst molar ratio, and led to highly isotactic PLLA. Despite concomitant transesterification during the polymerization, polylactide formation was well‐controlled, the molar mass distribution indexes remaining in the restricted range of 1.2–1.4.

     

Antistatic Epoxy Coatings With Carbon Nanotubes Obtained by Cationic Photopolymerization

Antistatic epoxy coatings are obtained, for the first time, by cationic UV curing of an epoxy resin in the presence of a very low content of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). It is shown that the addition of only 0.025 wt.‐% of CNTs into the resin is sufficient to obtain a composite suitable for applications that require electrostatic discharge. An extended percolative structure that forms a conductive CNT network is clearly evidenced within the polymeric matrix, notwithstanding the very small CNT content. The use of such UV‐cured epoxy material systems for antistatic coatings is quite realistic and promising.

     

Study of spatial inhomogeneity in inverted all‐polymer solar cells: Effect of solvent and annealing

The efficiency optimization of bulk heterojunction solar cells requires the control of the local active materials arrangement in order to obtain the best compromise between efficient charge generation and charge collection. Here, we investigate the large scale (10–100 μm) inhomogeneity of the photoluminescence (PL) and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) in inverted all‐polymer solar cells (APSC) with regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐co‐benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) active blends. The morphology and the local active polymer mixing are changed by depositing the active layer from four different solvents and by thermal annealing. The simultaneous PL and EQE mapping allowed us to inspect the effects of local irregularities of active layer thickness, polymer mixing, polymer aggregation on the charge generation and collection efficiencies. In particular, we show that the increase of the solvent boiling point affects the EQE non‐uniformity due to thickness fluctuations, the density non‐uniformity of rrP3HT aggregate phase, and the blend components clustering. The thermal annealing leads to a general improvement of EQE and to an F8BT clustering in all the samples with locally decrease of the EQE. We estimate that the film uniformity optimization can lead to a total EQE improvement between 2.7 and 6.3 times. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 804–813     

Nonlinear vibrations and damping of fractional viscoelastic rectangular plates

Nonlinear Dynamics - A new model-free robust control scheme for payload swing angle attenuation of two-dimensional crane systems with varying rope length is introduced in this work. The proposed...     

Flow Technology for the Genesis and Use of (Highly) Reactive Organometallic Reagents

In the field of organic synthesis, the advent of flow chemistry and flow microreactor technology represented a tremendous novelty in the way of thinking and performing chemical reactions, opening the doors to poorly explored or even impossible transformations using batch methods. In this Concept article, we would like to highlight the impact of flow chemistry for exploiting highly reactive organometallic reagents, and how, alongside the well-known advantages concerning safety, scalability, and productivity, flow chemistry makes possible processes that are impossible to control by using the traditional batch approach.