Room-temperature multiferroic properties of Co-doped KNbO3 ceramics

KNb_0.95Co_0.05O₃ (KN–Co) ceramic was prepared via a solid-state reaction method, and the effect of cobalt dopant on the structural, electric, and magnetic properties was studied. The KN–Co ceramic with polycrystalline perovskite structure exhibited ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties simultaneously at room temperature, and the coupling of them was confirmed by a large magnetocapacitance effect (about 13%) near the Curie temperature. The possible causes for the magnetism and magnetoelectric properties are discussed.     

Study of the purifying affects of thermal annealing for polymer‐wall liquid crystal cells

The thermal annealing process was proposed to purify the pixel regions of a liquid crystal (LC) cell with polymer walls. This technique, based on thermal‐induced phase separation, successfully evicts the residual monomers from the LC volume and significantly improves electro‐optical properties of the polymer‐wall LC devices. The influence of the annealing process on the purity of LC‐rich domain and the electro‐optic properties of a LC cell was explored with a series of experiments. According to the experimental results, the annealing technique is extremely prospective for constructing flexible polymer‐wall LC display applications.     

Preparation and characterization of vanadium(IV) oxide supported on SBA-15 and its catalytic performance in benzene hydroxylation to phenol using molecular oxygen

Preparation of dispersed transition metal oxides catalyst with low oxidation state still remains a challenging task in heterogeneous catalysis.In this study,vanadium oxides supported on zeolite SBA-15 have been prepared under hydrothermal condition using V 2 O 5 and oxalic acid as sources of vanadium and reductant,respectively.The structures of samples,especially the oxidation state of vanadium,and the surface distribution of vanadium oxide species,have been thoroughly characterized using various techniques,including N 2-physisorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),UV-visible spectra(UV-Vis) and UV-visible-near infrared spectra(UV-Vis-NIR).It is found that the majority of supported vanadium was in the form of vanadium(IV) oxide species with the low valence of vanadium.By adjusting hydrothermal treatment time,the surface distribution of vanadium(IV) oxide species can be tuned from vanadium(IV) oxide cluster to crystallites.These materials have been tested in the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol in liquid-phase with molecular oxygen in the absence of reductant.The catalyst exhibits high selectivity for phenol(61%) at benzene conversion of 4.6%,which is a relatively good result in comparison with other studies employing molecular oxygen as the oxidant.     

Epoxidation reaction of perfluoroalkenes with tert-amine N-oxide

Straight-chain aliphatic terr-amine N-oxides were found to be useful oxidizing agent for epoxidation of tri- and tetra-substituted perfluoroalkenes under mild conditions in high yields.The process for epoxidation by employing tri-n-butylamine N-oxide gave the best result in the reagent survey.     

Development and validation of LC‐MS/MS method for the estimation of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate in rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic studies

A simple, sensitive and specific high‐performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of β‐hydroxy‐β‐methyl butyrate (HMB) in small volumes of rat plasma using warfarin as an internal standard (IS). The API‐4000 LC‐MS/MS was operated under the multiple reaction‐monitoring mode using the electrospray ionization technique. A simple liquid–liquid extraction process was used to extract HMB and IS from rat plasma. The total run time was 3 min and the elution of HMB and IS occurred at 1.48 and 1.75 min respectively; this was achieved with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in a water–acetonitrile mixture (15:85, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min on a Agilent Eclipse XDB C₈ (150 × 4.6, 5 µm) column. The developed method was validated in rat plasma with a lower limit of quantitation of 30.0 ng/mL for HMB. A linear response function was established for the range of concentrations 30–4600 ng/mL (r > 0.998) for HMB. The intra‐ and inter‐day precision values for HMB were acceptable as per Food and Drug Administration guidelines. HMB was stable in the battery of stability studies, viz. bench‐top, autosampler freeze–thaw cycles and long‐term stability for 30 days in plasma. The developed assay method was applied to a bioavailability study in rats. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于RSM和FEM的辊锻件长度控制技术

以某钩尾框精密辊锻工艺为研究对象,首次应用响应面法(RSM)和有限元数值模拟法(FEM)对精密辊锻件的长度控制问题进行了研究.首先以满足辊锻件长度和降低轧辊最大扭矩为目标,采用FORGE3有限元软件建立了RSM与FEM相结合的二阶分析模型,研究了轧辊间隙、摩擦因子、轧辊转速和坯料温度对辊锻件的长度和轧辊最大扭矩的显著性和影响规律;其次采用优化后的工艺参数对该辊锻工艺进行了再模拟,提出了辊锻件长度的调试原则,利用该原则和点的反追踪技术对辊锻模具进行了再设计,同时分析了设计、模拟和生产辊锻件的长度和辊锻过程的功率耗散和分布.研究结果表明:应用RSM和FEM可准确有效地掌握精密辊锻件的长度控制技术.     

Studies on the Molecular Chain Conformation Stability of Aminated Konjac Glucomannan

Konjac glucomannan （KGM） was aminated by 2-chloroethyl-amine （CEA） as reagent so as to study the influence of concentration of CEA （based on the amount of KGM）, concentration of NaOH, reaction time and temperature on the extent of amination. And the molecular simulation technology was adopted to analyze the conformation stability of aminate （AKGM）. The results indicate that when the amount of CEA is higher, the extent of amination is higher. The optimum concentration of NaOH, reaction time and temperature are 10% NaOH, 70 ℃ and 45 rain, respectively. IR shows KGM is successfully aminated. The conformation of AKGM is in a random clew-like shape.     

Enhanced cyclability of sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries with Na-alginate as a binder

Na-alginate as a binder in an aqueous solvent has been applied in the preparation of sulfur cathodes for lithium-sulfur batteries.Their electrochemical performances have been investigated by a charge-discharge cycle test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).The EIS tests indicated that the alginate sulfur cathode had lower resistance and better kinetic characteristics than those of the poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) sulfur cathode using PVDF as a binder in a N-methy-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent.The charge-discharge tests showed that the discharge capacity and the capacity retention rate of Na-alginate sulfur cathode were 508 mAh·g-1and 65.4% at the 50th cycle with a current density of 335 mA·g-1.Compared with PVDF sulfur cathode,the alginate sulfur cathode showed a remarkably better cycle performance.These results show that the alginate binder has promising potential for lithium-sulfur battery applications.     

Breakdown Pattern of Hydrocarbons by Laser Breakdown Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

The laser breakdown time-of-flight mass spectrometry was developed and applied to detect the breakdown patterns of hydrocarbons that are significant to improve the detectability of heavy metals compounded in various mixtures such as particles and hydrocarbons. The laser wavelength dependence of this method was evaluated using 1064, 532, and 266 nm laser outputs. Breakdown processes using 1064 and 532 nm outputs showed less interference of fragmentation for the detection of various heavy metals. The method was applied to various hydrocarbons and it showed the possibility of categorization of hydrocarbon groups using the pattern of breakdown products.