Properties and Printability of Inkjet and Screen-Printed Silver Patterns for RFID Antennas

We report the modeling, and geometrical and electrical characterization, of inkjet and screen-printed patterns on different polymeric substrates for use as antennas in radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications. We compared the physical and electrical characteristics of two silver nanoparticle-based commercial inkjet-printable inks and one screen-printable silver paste, when deposited on polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyetherimide (PEI) substrates. First, the thickness of the inkjet-printed patterns was predicted by use of an analytical model based on printing conditions and ink composition. The predicted thickness was confirmed experimentally, and geometrical characterization of the lines was completed by measuring the root-mean-square roughness of the patterns. Second, direct-current electrical characterization was performed to identify the printing conditions yielding the lowest resistivity and sheet resistance. The minimum resistivity for the inkjet-printing method was 8.6 ± 0.8 μΩ cm, obtained by printing four stacked layers of one of the commercial inks on PEI, whereas minimum resistivity of 44 ± 7 μΩ cm and 39 ± 4 μΩ cm were obtained for a single layer of screen-printed ink on polyimide (PI) with 140 threads/cm mesh and 90 threads/cm mesh, respectively. In every case, these minimum values of resistivity were obtained for the largest tested thickness. Coplanar waveguide transmission lines were then designed and characterized to analyze the radio-frequency (RF) performance of the printed patterns; minimum transmission losses of 0.0022 ± 0.0012 dB/mm and 0.0016 ± 0.0012 dB/mm measured at 13.56 MHz, in the high-frequency (HF) band, were achieved by inkjet printing on PEI and screen printing on PI, respectively. At 868 MHz, in the ultra-high-frequency band, the minimum values of transmission loss were 0.0130 ± 0.0014 dB/mm for inkjet printing on PEI and 0.0100 ± 0.0014 dB/mm for screen printing on PI. Although the resistivity achieved is lower for inkjet printing than for screen printing, RF losses for inkjetted patterns were larger than for screen-printed patterns, because thicker layers were obtained by screen printing. Finally, several coil inductors for the HF band were also fabricated by use of both printing techniques, and were used as antennas for semi-passive smart RFID tags on plastic foil capable of measuring temperature and humidity.     

Successive stepwise evolution of host layer‐stacking framework upon the intercalation of mobile vapor guests within side‐chain layers

For the ordered phases of hairy‐rod semiconductive poly(2,5‐bis(3‐tetradecylthiophene‐2‐yl)thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene) (PBTTT) sandwiched in between crystalline platelets of hexamethylbenzene, the successive stepwise evolution of layer‐stacking framework upon guest intercalation has been studied in this research. The direct consequence of the guest intercalation into side‐chain layers is evaluated to cause the lateral shift of thiophene backbones along π–π stacking, resulting in stepwise shift of ultraviolet absorption wavelength. The thermal motions of vapor guests within disordering side‐chain layers subsequently cause progressive expansion of host stacking framework. With the increase in side‐chain length, thicker layers of disordering side chains in liquid crystals (LCs) accommodate additional vapor guests and larger amplitudes of thermal motions of guests, hence promoting the level of reversible d‐spacing change. The mixing between mobile vapor guests and aliphatic side chains is clarified as the mechanism of guest intercalation, which rationalizes successive guest intercalation during heating and the contribution of disordering side‐chain layers. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1448–1456     

Structural and electronic properties of type-I and type-VIII Ba8Ga16Sn30 clathrates under compression

The total energy and electronic structures for type-I (β phase) and type-VIII (α phase) Ba₈Ga₁₆Sn₃₀ clathrates under hydrostatic pressure have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the type-VIII phase is more stable than the type-I one at ambient conditions and that β→α phase transition can not occur under hydrostatic pressure. The band structures show that the type-I and type-VIII Ba₈Ga₁₆Sn₃₀ are indirect semiconductors with band gaps of 0.24 eV and 0.19 eV, respectively. The results suggested that type-I clathrate Ba₈Ga₁₆Sn₃₀ has a larger value of the thermoelectric (TE) power than that of type-VIII clathrate. We found that pressure tuning changes the k-point of conduction band minimum (CBM) in the Brillouin zone for β-phase, but it is not the case for α-phase. Furthermore, the results show that the pressure can change the interaction between guest atoms and the host lattice, and consequently results in the decrease of the band gap of β-phase and the increase of the band gap of α-phase, indicating that the pressure effect can play an important role in the magnitude of the TE power.     

反馈电压偏置型Hopfield 网络电域盲检测相干光通信信号

为解决无线分集相干光接收机的自适应盲检测问题,提出了一种新的离散时间连续状态的网络输出反馈偏置型的复Hopfield 神经网络用以解决多值QAM 信号的盲检测问题。反馈电压偏置的引入即不脱离传统Hopfield 模型,又能有效满足多值信号检测时所需的搜索空间变大的特殊要求。全文完成多值信号盲检测的优化问题构造和能量函数的映射,给出能量函数的证明、分析和它的约束条件,给出适用该问题的激活函数的基本特征,正确盲检测信号的权矩阵的配置方法。最后,通过详细的仿真结果展示和与其他算法性能对比进一步验证算法的有效性和优越性并指出算法所存在的问题和下一步的研究方向。     

Preparation and solution properties of a novel cationic hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide for enhanced oil recovery

Abstract

A novel cationic water-soluble monomer allyldimethylisooctylammonium bromide (ADIAB) containing a short-chain alkane was synthesized successfully. This monomer was copolymerized with acrylamide and sodium acrylate to produce hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide (HMPAM) using solution polymerization without surfactants. The structures of monomer ADIAB and HMPAM were characterized with infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Influence of preparation condition on viscosities of products was studied. The aqueous solution viscosity of the terpolymer was also investigated as functions of concentration, temperature and salinity. The results showed that when the temperature exceeds the 60?°C and NaCl concentration exceeds about 2000?mg/L, the temperature and salt tolerance characters of terpolymer were demonstrated. The enhanced oil recovery tests were initially carried out using homogeneous sandpack models.     

Microwave solid phase synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial activity of 3,5-diiodo-salicylalidene-glycine-cobalt(II)

One mononuclear complex, C₉H₇I₂NO₄Co(II) (I) with 3,5-diiodo-salicylalidene, glycine and Co(CH₃COO)₂ · 4H₂O were microwave solid synthesized. The complex was characterized by X-ray crystallography, UV, IR, ESI-MS, and elemental analyses. In addition, further investigation revealed that the central cobalt(II) atom in complex is five-coordinated by one nitrogen atom and four oxygen atoms. The complex was assayed for antibacterial (B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and E. cloacae) activities by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl trtrazolium bromide) method. Complex I showed favorable antimicrobial activity with MICs of 3.125, 6.25, 6.25, 6.25, 3.125, and 6.25 μg/mL against B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and E. cloacae, respectively.     

Synthesis of 2-(1-Arylcarbonyl-1-arylazomethylidene)-thiazolidines by the Reaction of 2-(Arylcarbonyl-methylidene)thiazolidines with Diazobenzenes

A variety of 2-(1-arylcarbonyl-1-arylazomethylidene)-thiazolidenes were synthesized in excellent yields by the reaction of 2-(arylcarbonylmethylidene)thiazolidines with diazobenzenes.     

Improved staining of phosphoproteins with high sensitivity in polyacrylamide gels using Stains‐All

An improved Stains‐All (ISA) staining method for phosphoproteins in SDS‐PAGE was described. Down to 0.5–1 ng phosphoproteins (α‐casein, β‐casein, or phosvitin) can be successfully selectively detected by ISA stain, which is approximately 120‐fold higher than that of original Stains‐All stain, but is similar to that of commonly used Pro‐Q Diamond stain. Furthermore, unlike the original Stains‐All protocol that was time consuming and light unstable, ISA stain could be completed within 60 min without resorting to protect the gels from light during the whole staining procedure. According to the results, it is concluded that ISA stain is a rapid, sensitive, specific, and economic staining method for a broad application to the research of phosphoproteins.     

Indecomposable representations and boson realizations of the nonlinear deformed angular momentum algebra of Witten’s first type

In this paper indecomposable representations and boson realizations of the nonlinear angular momentum algebra $\mathcal{R}_{q,p}^{c_1,c_2,c_3}$ of Witten’s first type are investigated in a purely algebraic manner. Explicit form of the master representation of $\mathcal{R}_{q,p}^{c_1,c_2,c_3}$ on the space of its universal enveloping algebra is given. Then, from this master representation, other indecomposable representations are obtained in explicit form. Various kinds of single-boson, single inverse boson, and double-boson realizations of $\mathcal{R}_{q,p}^{c_1,c_2,c_3}$ are respectively obtained by generalizing the Holstein–Primakoff realization, the Dyson realization, and the Jordan–Schwinger realization of the Lie algebras SU(2) and SU(1,1). For each kind, the unitary realization, the nonunitary realization, and their connection by the corresponding similarity transformation are respectively discussed. Using a kind of double-boson realizations, the irreducible representation of $\mathcal{R}_{q,p}^{c_1,c_2,c_3}$ in the angular momentum basis is given.     

A novel efficient protocol for preparation of 3-formyl-2-arylbenzo[b]furan derivatives

An efficient method for preparation of 3-formyl-2-arylbenzo[b]furan derivatives 4 from 3-chloro-2-(2-methoxyaryl)-1-arylprop-2-en-1-one 2 was developed, and the desired product was obtained in good to excellent yields. By converting 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxo-3-phenylpropanal 1 to 2, the regioselectivity problem occurring in the reaction when using 1 as the starting material was successfully avoided. Furthermore, a one-pot procedure for the successive demethylation, cyclization, and hydrolysis was evolved, although the intermediate 3-(dibromomethyl)-2-phenylbenzo[b]furan 3a could be isolated. A plausible mechanism was proposed based on some in situ investigations.