Microwave synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles used as a precursor of nanocomposites and ferrofluids

Methods to synthesize magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and to modify the surface of particles are presented in the present investigation. Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the co-precipitation of Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺, NH₃·H₂O was used as the precipitating agent to adjust the pH value, and the aging of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles was accelerated by microwave (MW) irradiation. The obtained Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The average size of Fe₃O₄ crystallites was found to be around 8–9 nm. Thereafter, the surface of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles was modified by stearic acid. The resultant sample was characterized by FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, lipophilic degree (LD) and sedimentation test. The FT-IR results indicated that a covalent bond was formed by chemical reaction between the hydroxyl groups on the surface of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and carboxyl groups of stearic acid, which changed the polarity of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The dispersion of Fe₃O₄ in organic solvent was greatly improved. Effects of reaction time, reaction temperature and concentration of stearic acid on particle surface modification were investigated. In addition, Fe₃O₄/polystyrene (PS) nanocomposite was synthesized by adding surface modified Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles into styrene monomer, followed by the radical polymerization. The obtained nanocomposite was tested by thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and XRD. Results revealed that the thermal stability of PS was not significantly changed after adding Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The Fe₃O₄ magnetic fluid was characterized using UV–vis spectrophotometer, Gouy magnetic balance and laser particle-size analyzer. The testing results showed that the magnetic fluid had excellent stability, and had susceptibility of 4.46×10⁻⁸ and saturated magnetization of 6.56 emu/g. In addition, the mean size d (0.99) of magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in the fluid was 36.19 nm.     

Performance Analysis for Mobile Ad Hoc Network in Random Graph Models with Spatial Reuse

In this paper,we present a random graph model with spatial reuse for a mobile ad hoc network(MANET) based on the dynamic source routing protocol.Many important performance parameters of theMANET are obtained,such as the average flooding distance (AFD),the probability generating function of theflooding distance,and the probability of a flooding route to be symmetric.Compared with the random graphmodel without spatial reuse,this model is much more effective because it has a smaller value of AFD and alarger probability for finding a symmetric valid route.     

On existence and regularity of solutions for 2‐D micropolar fluid equations with periodic boundary conditions

In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of a global solution for 2‐D micropolar fluid equation with periodic boundary conditions. Then we restrict ourselves to the autonomous case and show the existence of a global attractor. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

混凝土动态劈裂拉伸试验的数值模拟

采用LS-DYNA有限元编码程序，对混凝土的动态劈裂拉伸试验进行了数值模拟，给出了混凝土试样在不同类型加载情况下应力分布之间的差异，证实了动态劈裂拉伸试验的有效性，提出了改进试验方法的若干结论．     

Computational Complexity in Algebraic Systems

Computability and computational complexity were first considered over the fields of real and complex numbers and generalized to arbitrary algebraic systems. This article approaches the theory of computational complexity over an arbitrary algebraic system by taking computability over the list extension for a computational model of it. We study the resultant polynomial complexity classes and mention some NP-complete problems.     

Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis transitions of partially and fully substituted cellulose fatty esters

The main transitions of cellulose fatty esters with different degrees of substitution (DSs) were investigated with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Two distinct main relaxations were observed in partially substituted cellulose esters (PSCEs). They were attributed to the glass‐transition temperature and to the chain local motion of the aliphatic substituents. The temperatures of both transitions decreased when DS or the number of carbon atoms (n) of the acyl substituent increased. Conversely, all the transitions of fully substituted cellulose esters occurred within a narrow temperature range, and they did not vary significantly with n. This phenomenon was explained by the formation of a crystalline phase of the fatty substituents. The presence of few residual OH groups in PSCEs was responsible for a large increase in the storage bending modulus, and it eliminated the effect of n on damping. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 281–288, 2003     

A two-stage parallel branch and bound algorithm for mixed integer programs

Mixed integer programming (MIP) models are extensively usedto aid strategic and tactical decision making in many businesssectors. Solving MIP models is a computationally intensive processand there is a need to develop solution approaches that enablelarger models to be solved within acceptable timeframes. Inthis paper, we describe the implementation of a two-stage parallelbranch and bound (PB & B) algorithm for MIP. In stage 1of the algorithm, a multiple heuristic search is implementedin which a number of alternative search trees are investigatedusing a forest search in the hope of finding a good solutionquickly. In stage 2, the search is reorganized so that the branchesof a chosen tree are investigated in parallel. A new heuristicis introduced, based on a best projection criterion, which evaluatesalternative B & B trees in order to choose one for investigationin stage 2 of the algorithm. The heuristic also serves as away of implementing a quality load balancing scheme for stage2 of the algorithm. The results of experimental investigationsare reported for a range of models taken from the MIPLIB libraryof benchmark problems.     

Viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene interpenetrating polymer networks

The effects of the blend ratio and initiating system on the viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene‐based interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were investigated in the temperature range of ?80 to 150 °C. The studies were carried out at different frequencies (100, 50, 10, 1, and 0.1 Hz), and their effects on the damping and storage and loss moduli were analyzed. In all cases, tan δ and the storage and loss moduli showed two distinct transitions corresponding to natural rubber and polystyrene phases, which indicated that the system was not miscible on the molecular level. However, a slight inward shift was observed in the IPNs, with respect to the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the virgin polymers, showing a certain degree of miscibility or intermixing between the two phases. When the frequency increased from 0.1 to 100 Hz, the T_g values showed a positive shift in all cases. In a comparison of the three initiating systems (dicumyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, and azobisisobutyronitrile), the dicumyl peroxide system showed the highest modulus. The morphology of the IPNs was analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. The micrographs indicated that the system was nanostructured. An attempt was made to relate the viscoelastic behavior to the morphology of the IPNs. Various models, such as the series, parallel, Halpin–Tsai, Kerner, Coran, Takayanagi, and Davies models, were used to model the viscoelastic data. The area under the linear loss modulus curve was larger than that obtained by group contribution analysis; this showed that the damping was influenced by the phase morphology, dual‐phase continuity, and crosslinking of the phases. Finally, the homogeneity of the system was further evaluated with Cole–Cole analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1680–1696, 2003     

Second order parabolic equations in Banach spaces with dynamic boundary conditions

In this paper, we exhibit a unified treatment of the mixed initial boundary value problem for second order (in time) parabolic linear differential equations in Banach spaces, whose boundary conditions are of a dynamical nature. Results regarding existence, uniqueness, continuous dependence (on initial data) and regularity of classical and strict solutions are established. Moreover, several examples are given as samples for possible applications.

     

Modeling of the Kinetics of Intramolecular Processes and Transient Spectra with Allowance for Nonradiative Transitions

It has been shown that the kinetics of intramolecular processes and time-resolved spectra with allowance for the quantum beats of the resonant states of isomers or isolated subsystems of levels of one isomeric form can be described with the use of a molecular model interpreting the effect of beats as a nonradiative transition. We have obtained an expression for the nonradiative transition probability, which is directly proportional to the beat frequency and depends oscillatorily on time, thus modeling the effect of beats. The parameter of the molecular system model is the beat frequency directly related to the parameter characterizing the intramolecular interisomeric interactions (the corresponding nondiagonal element of the energy matrix) rather than the value of the nonradiative transition probability. The character of the change in the level populations and, accordingly, in the band intensities in the spectra in the proposed model is in good agreement with the experiment, including the fine structure of the time dependences — oscillations of the line intensities. In analyzing the temporal experiment with a high resolution, it is necessary to take into account the instrument function leading to quantitative and qualitative changes in the time dependences. The traditional model of nonradiative transitions with a constant probability value has a very limited range of applicability — very high beat frequencies compared to the probability of optical transitions.