Generating Birth and Death Processes

Associated with an ordered sequence of an even number 2N of positive real numbers is a birth and death process (BDP) on {0, 1, 2,…, N} having these real numbers as its birth and death rates. We generate another birth and death process from this BDP on {0, 1, 2,…, 2N}. This can be further iterated. We illustrate with an example from tan(kz). In BDP, the decay parameter, viz., the largest non-zero eigenvalue is important in the study of convergence to stationarity. In this article, the smallest eigenvalue is found to be useful.     

Field-theoretical Renormalization-Group approach to critical dynamics of crosslinked polymer blends

We consider a crosslinked polymer blend that may undergo a microphase separation. When the temperature is changed from an initial value towards a final one very close to the spinodal point, the mixture is out equilibrium. The aim is the study of dynamics at a given time t, before the system reaches its final equilibrium state. The dynamics is investigated through the structure factor, S(q, t), which is a function of the wave vector q, temperature T, time t, and reticulation dose D. To determine the phase behavior of this dynamic structure factor, we start from a generalized Langevin equation (model C) solved by the time composition fluctuation. Beside the standard de Gennes Hamiltonian, this equation incorporates a Gaussian local noise, ζ. First, by averaging over ζ, we get an effective Hamiltonian. Second, we renormalize this dynamic field theory and write a Renormalization-Group equation for the dynamic structure factor. Third, solving this equation yields the behavior of S(q, t), in space of relevant parameters. As result, S(q, t) depends on three kinds of lengths, which are the wavelength q ⁻¹, a time length scale R(t) ∼ t ^1/z , and the mesh size ξ ^*. The scale R(t) is interpreted as the size of growing microdomains at time t. When R(t) becomes of the order of ξ ^*, the dynamics is stopped. The final time, t ^*, then scales as t ^* ∼ ξ ^{* z}, with the dynamic exponent z = 6−η. Here, η is the usual Ising critical exponent. Since the final size of microdomains ξ ^* is very small (few nanometers), the dynamics is of short time. Finally, all these results we obtained from renormalization theory are compared to those we stated in some recent work using a scaling argument.     

单分散键合型含铕聚苯乙烯微球的制备与荧光传感性能

制备了一种可定性定量检测水溶液中三价铁离子的含铕聚苯乙烯微球, 分别用固体核磁碳谱(¹³C CP/MAS NMR)、 傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、 X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、 扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、 透射电子显微镜(TEM)、 元素分析、 粒度分析和ζ电位分析等对其化学组成和结构形貌进行表征. 当铕配合物单体用量低于2.5%时, 可以得到稳定的单分散键合型含铕聚苯乙烯微球. 用紫外光激发时, 该含铕聚苯乙烯微球发射铕离子的特征红光. Fe³⁺能猝灭该微球的荧光, 酸根离子和其它金属离子对其干扰较少; 猝灭效率与Fe³⁺浓度在0~300 μmol/L浓度范围内均呈线性关系; 随着铕配合物单体用量的增加, 微球的荧光增强, 其在检测Fe³⁺的荧光时, 猝灭常数(K_SV)增加, 检测限(LOD)下降. 调节铕配合物单体的用量, 可获得热性能优异、 红光发射强度高且稳定性好的单分散聚苯乙烯荧光微球, 对Fe³⁺荧光检测显示出较高的选择性, 在生物检测和环境保护等领域具有较高的应用价值.     

骨架非稠合的电子受体在聚合物太阳能电池中的应用

Non-fullerene electron acceptors have attracted enormous attention of the research community owing to their advantages of optoelectronic and chemical tunabilities for promoting high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs). Among them, fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) are the most popular ones with the good structural planarity and rigidity, which successfully boost the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of PSCs to over 14%. In considering the cost-control of future scale-up applications, it is also worthwhile to explore novel structures that are easy to synthesize and still maintain the advantages of FREAs. In this work, we design and synthesize a new electron acceptor with an unfused backbone, 5, 5'-((2, 5-bis((2-hexyldecyl)oxy)-1, 4-phenylene)bis(thiophene-2-yl))bis(methanylylidene)) bis(3-oxo-2, 3-dihydro-1H-indene-2, 1-diylidene))dimal-ononitrile (ICTP), which contains two thiophenes and one alkoxy benzene as the core and 2-(3-oxo-2, 3-dihydroinden-1-ylidene) malononitrile (IC) as the terminal groups. The synthetic route to ICTP involves only three steps, with high yields. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the non-covalent interactions, O…H and O…S, help reinforce the space conformation between the central core and the terminals. ICTP shows broad and strong absorption in the long-wavelength range between 500 and 760 nm. The highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels of ICTP were measured to be -5.56 and -3.84 eV by cyclic voltammetry. The suitable absorption and energy levels make ICTP a good acceptor candidate for medium bandgap polymer donors. The best devices based on PBDB-T:ICTP showed a PCE of 4.43%, with an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.97 V, a short circuit current density (J_SC) of 8.29 mA∙cm^-2, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.55, after adding 1% 1, 8-diiodooctane (DIO) as the solvent additive. Atomic force microscopy revealed that DIO could ameliorate the strong aggregation in the blended film and lead to a smoother film surface. The hole and electron mobilities of the optimized device were measured to be 9.64 and 2.03 × 10^-5 cm²∙V^-1∙s^-1, respectively, by the space-charge-limited current method. The relatively low mobilities might be responsible for the moderate PCE. Further studies can be performed to enlarge the conjugation length by including more aromatic rings. This study provides a simple strategy to design non-fullerene acceptors and a valuable reference for the future development of PSCs.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel functional poly(vinyl alcohol-co-styrene sulfonic acid) copolymers

This paper first time reports the preparation of random anionic copolymers from vinyl acetate (VAc) bearing electro-donating substituent and sodium 4-vinylbenzenesulfonate (SSA) having electro-withdrawing substituent. Copolymers (PVA-co-SSA) of different composition have been successfully prepared by a simple free radical solution polymerization technique. Resulting final copolymer contained neutral hydrophilic as well as ionizable ion exchange sites. Evaluation of spectral data obtained from Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and ¹H Nuclear magnetic resonance helped in identifying and confirming the chemical structure of copolymers. Characterization of copolymers by gel permeation chromatography revealed high molecular weight with moderate polydispersity index. Analysis of thermal stability and glass transition temperature of copolymers by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were found in between corresponding homopolymers. Physicochemical properties of PVA-co-SSA can be beneficial for prospective advanced application in the niche area of smart membrane technology for energy and environment.     

Nd(OTf)3-catalyzed intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction: An access to phenanthro[9,10-b]furan derivatives

An intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction via multi metal-carbene intermediates has been developed. This reaction uses catalytic amount of Nd(OTf)₃, which actives both alkyne and aldehyde moieties. This protocol provides a novel strategy for the synthesis of phenanthro[9,10-b]furans.     

Determination of acidic drugs in biological and environmental matrices by membrane‐based dual emulsification liquid‐phase microextraction followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography

A simple method is introduced providing a highly clean microextraction for the determination of some anti‐inflammatory drugs as the model analytes in human urine and environmental matrices. This method is based upon the implementation of two consecutive emulsification liquid‐phase microextractions, which are separated by a syringe filtration step. In this method, the organic extraction solvent (dihexyl ether) is dispersed into the aqueous sample solution (20 mL), and the resulting cloudy mixture is passed through a hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene syringe filter. By this action, the extraction phase containing the analytes and many interfering species that could be transferred into the organic phase is retained behind the hydrophilic membrane. The filter is then detached from the syringe and attached to another syringe containing an aqueous solution (pH 12.0, 150 μL), and by the in‐syringe dispersion of the organic phase into the aqueous phase, the analytes are selectively back‐extracted into the aqueous phase. The developed method is centrifuge‐free and very simple, and provides a high sample clean‐up in a few minutes. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the developed method provided a linearity in the range of 2.0–2000 ng/mL, a low limit of detection (0.5 ng/mL), and enrichment factors of 47–53.     

A rapid,sensitive, and widely applicable method for quantitative analysis of underivatized amino acids in different biological matrices by UHPLC‐MS/MS

A rapid, sensitive, and widely applicable method for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of 20 underivatized amino acids in different biological matrices, including serum, plasma, and tissue homogenates, using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated. Only 4 µL of serum, plasma, or tissue homogenate was extracted with 996 µL of solution (1.7 mM ammonium formate in 85% acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid) containing 100 ng/mL phenylalanine‐d5 as an internal standard without any further derivatization step. In addition, the matrix effects were small because a large volume of extraction solution was used. The total run time including reequilibration was 13 min. The results of linearity, accuracy, repeatability, precision, limits of detection, limits of quantification, and sample stability were sufficient to allow the measurement of the amino acids in different biological matrices. We conclude that our method is rapid, sensitive, and widely applicable and represents an improvement over other currently available technologies.     

Hybrid fluorescent polymer-zinc oxide nanoparticles: Improved efficiency for luminescence conversion LED

An incorporation of few weight percentage of n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) on the surface of yellow-emitting fluorescent polymer under mild conditions was demonstrated. Here, a deep level emissive ZnO was selectively deposited on the surface of fluorescent polymer via a simple chemical deposition bath method, at relatively low temperature. The polymer-zinc oxide hybrids, consisting of uniform nanosized spherical fluorescent polymer, having mean diameter ca. ∼500-700 nm were subjected as core molecules capped with different weight ratio of ZnO on the surfaces were prepared successfully. The relative photoluminescence emission efficiency was drastically enhanced as two-fold with just 4 wt% of ZnO incorporation and also more than 10-fold improvement in 50 wt% of ZnO content with respect to pure fluorescent polymer. Bright and efficient white light-emitting devices have been fabricated with these hybrid materials, such as luminescence converter light-emitting diodes (LUCO LEDs), using commercially available GaN LED (460 nm), as a primary pumping source. A device containing 20 wt% of ZnO incorporated hybrid material (2 wt%) exhibits nearly pure white light, having Commission Internationale de I’Eclairage coordinates of (0.30, 0.36) and total luminous flux of 1.80 lm, at an operating voltage of 20 mA. The lifetime measurement data of fabricated device containing polymer-ZnO hybrid materials showed significant improvements over the pure counterpart, due to the “caging effect” of the ZnO shell, which can reduce the self-quenching of the polymer molecules in the core.