Study of the polymerization of acrylic resins by photocalorimetry: interactions between UV initiators and absorbers

Photocurable finishes should be extensively used for industrial wood joinery in the near future even if some technical problems have still to be solved and if the durability of the finishing system has to be enhanced. In a previous work, we studied the curing reaction of acrylic resins containing some particular photoinitiators by photocalorimetry and showed that curing can be achieved under daylight with these compounds (i.e. solving the problem of restoration on site). The aim of this work is to enhance the durability of these systems by incorporating UV absorbers into the formulations. The consequences of such an addition onto the curing kinetics are again investigated by photocalorimetry.     

Dynamic DSC Characterization of Epoxy Resin by Means of the Avrami Equation

A phenomenological approach was used to characterize the cure processes of epoxy resins (a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and its modifier CTBN) from dynamic experiments by DSC. Various kinetic parameters were obtained by using a modified Avrami expression. The resulting overall activation energies for the two systems agreed very well with the published data in the whole cure temperature range. In contrast with the isothermal results and the general dynamic models, a change in the exponent and the non-linear temperature dependence of the rate constant were also observed.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Preparing of coherent superposition state in serial multi-A-type system by stimulated Raman adiabatic passage

A scheme for creating an arbitrary coherent superposition of two atomic states in serial multi-A-type system is proposed.This technique with the application of a control field is based on the existence of two degenerate dark states and their interaction.The mixing of the dark states can be controlled by changing the relative delay time of the control pulse.One can get any desired superposition by changing the delay time of the control pulse.     

Maximum likelihood estimation in the proportional hazards cure model

The proportional hazards cure model generalizes Cox’s proportional hazards model which allows that a proportion of study subjects may never experience the event of interest. Here nonparametric maximum likelihood approach is proposed to estimating the cumulative hazard and the regression parameters. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators are established using the modern empirical process theory. And the estimators for the regression parameters are shown to be semiparametric efficient.     

Acetylene-grafted resins derived from phenolics via azo coupling reaction

Novel phenolic resins with high ethynyl contents were realized via azo coupling reaction between phenol units and diazonium of 3-ethynylaniline. If Novolac and high-ortho Novolac resins were used as the starting materials directly, the ratio of ethynyl groups to phenolic rings was ca 70%; while the ratio was 100% for the resin from Friedel-Craft polycondensation of 4-(3-ethynylphenyl)salicyl alcohol. All the resins were readily soluble in acetone and ethanol, and meltable at temperatures below 100 °C. The resins underwent thermal addition-type cure with a broad exotherm of around 140-280 °C, and the starting curing temperature showed a downward drift with increase in the ethynyl content. The thermal properties of the cured resins, determined from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), were considerably superior to those of Novolac- and Resole-type phenolic resins. The initial decomposition temperatures were at ca 400 °C, and the anaerobic carbon yields were ca 80% for all the resins.     

A new gravitational model for dark energy

A new gravitational model for dark energy is presented based on the model of de Sitter gauge theory of gravity.In the model,in addition to the cosmological constant,the homogeneous and isotropic torsion and its coupling with curvature play an important role for dark energy.The model may supply the universe with a natural transit from decelerating expansion to accelerating expansion.     

Joule–Thomson expansion of RN-AdS black hole immersed in perfect fluid dark matter

In this paper, we study the Joule–Thomson expansion for RN-Ad S black holes immersed in perfect fluid dark matter. As perfect fluid dark matter is one of the dark matter candidates, we are interested in how it influences the thermodynamic properties of black holes. Firstly, the negative cosmological constant could be interpreted as thermodynamic pressure and its conjugate quantity as the thermodynamic volume, which give us more physical insights into the black hole. Moreover, we derive the thermodynamic definitions and study the critical behaviour of the black hole. Secondly,the explicit expression of Joule–Thomson coefficient is obtained from the basic formulas of the pressure, the volume, the entropy and the temperature. Then, we obtain the inversion curves in terms of charge Q and parameter λ. Furthermore, we analyse the isenthalpic curve in T–P graph with the cooling–heating region determined by the inversion curve. At last, we derive the ratio of minimum inversion temperature to critical temperature and compare the result with that in the RN-Ad S case.     

Quantum reflection of a Bose-Einstein condensate with a dark soliton from a step potential

We study dynamical behaviors of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) containing a dark soliton reflected from potential wells and potential barriers, respectively. The orientation angle of the dark soliton and the width of the potential change play key roles on the reflection probability R_s. Variation of the reflection probability with respect to the orientation angle θ of the dark soliton can be well described by a cosine function R_s~cos[λ(θ-π/2)], where λ is a parameter determined by the width of the potential change. There are two characteristic lengths which determine the reflection properties. The dependence of the reflection probability on the width of the potential change shows distinct characters for potential wells and potential barriers. The length of the dark soliton determines the sensitive width of potential wells, whereas for potential barriers, the decay length of the matter wave in the region of the barrier qualifies the sensitive width of the barrier. The time evolution of the density profiles of the system during the reflection process is studied to disclose the different behaviors of matter waves in the region of the potential variation.     

Interrelationship between total volatile organic compounds emissions,structure and properties of natural rubber/polycaprolactone bio-blends cross-linked with peroxides

Natural rubber/polycaprolactone (NR/PCL) bio-based blends with different organic peroxides were prepared using an internal batch mixer and subsequently cross-linked at 170 °C. Two types of commonly used organic peroxides, dicumyl peroxide and di(tert-butylperoxyisopropyl)benzene peroxide, were applied as free-radical initiator. Cross-linking efficiency of NR/PCL blends were investigated using oscillating disc rheometer measurements, followed by infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile testing. Total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) emissions were determined using headspace analysis integrated with gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. Determined TVOCs emissions varying in range 21.6–52.1 μg/g and generally value of this parameter decreased with increasing content of PCL phase in studied blends or with application of more efficient di(tert-butylperoxyisopropyl)benzene peroxide as cross-linking agent. It was found that increasing of TVOCs parameter indicated deterioration of mechanical properties of NR/PCL blends, which corresponded with the changes in chemical structure and thermal properties of cross-linked NR/PCL. This confirms that evaluation of TVOCs parameter is interesting alternative for “conventional methods” to characterization of the studied bio-based blends.     

Double dark resonances and the dispersion properties in a four-level inverted-Y atomic system

The electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and its dispersion properties in a four-level inverted-Y atomic system are investigated. The absorption spectrum of a weak probe field shows two EIT windows (dark resonances) whose location, width, and depth can be controlled by manipulating the parameters of the coupling fields; the corresponding dispersion properties are also measured by using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The experimental measurements agree well with the theoretical calculations. This kind of system can find important applications in two-channel quantum communication and information storage.