Superhydrophobic brocades modified with aligned ZnO nanorods

A superhydrophobic ZnO oriented nanorods coating on brocade substrate was prepared by a low-temperature wet chemical route, and the corresponding waterproof properties were evaluated. From wetting measurement, the modified brocades have a water contact angle of ∼152° and roll-off angle of 9° to a 10 μL water-droplet. A direct immersion of the modified brocades in water gives a strongly water-repellent behavior. The obtained waterproof brocades offer an opportunity for fabricating some special and protective drygoods.     

Transparent titania nanotubes of micrometer length prepared by anodization of titanium thin film deposited on ITO

Transparent TiO₂ nanotube arrays of micrometer lengths were prepared by anodization of titanium thin film RF sputtered on indium tin oxide (ITO) which was coated on glass substrate. The sputtering process took place at elevated temperature of 500 °C. The structures of the films were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) while the optical properties of the films were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy. Two types of electrolytes were used in this work: an aqueous mixture of acetic acid and HF solution and a mixture of NH₄F and water dissolved in ethylene glycol. The concentration of NH₄F, voltage and the thickness of the sputtered titanium film were varied to study their effect on the formation of TiO₂ nanotube arrays. It is demonstrated in this work that the nanoporous layer is formed on top of the ordered array of TiO₂ nanotubes. Furthermore, the optical transmittance of TiO₂ nanotubes annealed at 450 °C is much lower than the non annealed TiO₂ nanotubes in the visible wavelength region.     

Ni-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays on shape memory alloy

Self-organized Ni-Ti-O nanotube arrays were fabricated through a direct anodization of NiTi shape memory alloy in glycerol-based electrolyte. The growth of Ni-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays was mainly affected by anodization voltage and temperature. Higher anodization voltage facilitated the growth of uniform nanotube arrays. Large-area open-ended Ni-Ti-O nanotube arrays could form on the surface of the shape memory alloy under a higher anodization temperature. The oxide nanotubes had a gradually changed composition along the growth direction of the nanotube and presented a thermal stability up to 400 °C. The nanotubular oxide demonstrated a much better hydrophilic behavior than that of the traditional oxide layer grown on NiTi substrate through air oxidization. The successful fabrication of Ni-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays here makes it feasible to further explore excellent physical and chemical as well as biomedical properties of the nanotube-modified surfaces of the NiTi shape memory alloy.     

Evidence for shape coexistence at medium spin in Rb

Four previously known rotational bands in ⁷⁶Rb have been extended to moderate spins using the Gammasphere and Microball γ ray and charged particle detector arrays and the ⁴⁰Ca(⁴⁰Ca, 3pn) reaction at a beam energy of 165 MeV. The properties of two of the negative-parity bands can only readily be interpreted in terms of the highly successful Cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky model calculations if they have the same configuration in terms of the number of g9/2 particles, but they result from different nuclear shapes (one near-oblate and the other near-prolate). These data appear to constitute a unique example of shape coexisting structures at medium spins.     

Comparison of three methods for fractionation and enrichment of low molecular weight proteins for SELDI-TOF-MS differential analysis

In most diseases, the clinical need for serum/plasma markers has never been so crucial, not only for diagnosis, but also for the selection of the most efficient therapies, as well as exclusion of ineffective or toxic treatment. Due to the high sample complexity, prefractionation is essential for exploring the deep proteome and finding specific markers.In this study, three different sample preparation methods (i.e., highly abundant protein precipitation, restricted access materials (RAM) combined with IMAC chromatography and peptide ligand affinity beads) were investigated in order to select the best fractionation step for further differential proteomic experiments focusing on the LMW proteome (MW inferior to 40,000 Da). Indeed, the aim was not to cover the entire plasma/serum proteome, but to enrich potentially interesting tissue leakage proteins. These three methods were evaluated on their reproducibility, on the SELDI-TOF-MS peptide/protein peaks generated after fractionation and on the information supplied.The studied methods appeared to give complementary information and presented good reproducibility (below 20%). Peptide ligand affinity beads were found to provide efficient depletion of HMW proteins and peak enrichment in protein/peptide profiles.     

Comparison of two types of vertically aligned ZnO NRs for highly efficient polymer solar cells

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods (NR) are prepared by two different syntheses methods and applied on polymer solar cells (PSCs). The ZnO electrodes work as the electron transport layer with the P3HT:PCBM blend acting as the active material. Several organic blend solution conditions are optimized: concentration, solvent, and deposition speed. The effect of different NR electrode morphologies is analyzed on the solar cell performance and characterized by current–voltage curves and IPCE analyses. The photovoltaic performance of the solar cells was observed to be influenced by many factors, among them infiltration of the organic P3HT:PCBM blend within the ZnO NR layer. The infiltration of the active layer was monitored by cross section SEM and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses. Our results show that higher power conversion efficiencies are achieved when shorter NRs lengths are applied. The best power conversion efficiency obtained was 2.0% for a 400 nm ZnO NR electrode. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Hyperbranched polymers as scaffolds for multifunctional reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer agents: A route to polystyrene‐core‐polyesters and polystyrene‐block‐poly(butyl acrylate)‐core‐polyesters

Polydisperse hyperbranched polyesters were modified for use as novel multifunctional reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT) agents. The polyester‐core‐based RAFT agents were subsequently employed to synthesize star polymers of n‐butyl acrylate and styrene with low polydispersity (polydispersity index < 1.3) in a living free‐radical process. Although the polyester‐core‐based RAFT agent mediated polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate displayed a linear evolution of the number‐average molecular weight (M_n) up to high monomer conversions (>70%) and molecular weights [M_n > 140,000 g mol^?1, linear poly(methyl methacrylate) equivalents)], the corresponding styrene‐based system reached a maximum molecular weight at low conversions (≈30%, M_n = 45,500 g mol^?1, linear polystyrene equivalents). The resulting star polymers were subsequently used as platforms for the preparation of star block copolymers of styrene and n‐butyl acrylate with a polyester core with low polydispersities (polydispersity index < 1.25). The generated polystyrene‐based star polymers were successfully cast into highly regular honeycomb‐structured microarrays. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3847–3861, 2003     

Multimode squeezed states produced by a confocal parametric oscillator

We investigate the spatial behaviour of the quantum-noise-reduction spectrum of the vacuum state emitted by a degenerate optical parametric oscillator below threshold. In view of possible experimental implementations, we consider a mode-degenerate resonator and two matching lenses and show that, for the realistic case of a finite-width pump, significant level of squeezing can be observed in a very small region of the beam. Received 25 September 2002 Published online 11 February 2003     

含纳米棒银溶胶的制备及其光谱性质研究

以CTAB表面活性剂胶束为模板用化学还原法制备出含有银纳米棒的银胶体,用透射电镜(TEM)对颗 粒形貌进行了表征.UV Vis吸收谱显示,含银纳米棒溶胶有两个吸收蜂,其中长波长吸收峰位置随胶粒长径比增 加迅速红移和宽化.用多尺寸统计平均的Mie散射模型计算了纳米棒银胶体的吸收谱,较好地解释了长波长吸收 峰的宽化.以此胶体为衬底材料,测量了染料分子的表面增强拉曼散射(SERS),结果显示,SERS强度随胶体中 所含纳米棒长径比的增加呈现先显著增强后缓慢减弱的变化规律,用电磁增强理论对有关现象进行了分析.     

一种新型微透镜阵列成象式投影光刻系统的研究

从理论和实验两方面入手,系统地研究了微透镜阵列的形成原理和制作工艺,分析了微透镜阵列的面形结构,得到了联系微透镜阵列矢高与制作工艺参量的经验公式.并且将四片微透镜阵列耦合,形成一个深紫外光刻的1:1成象的多孔径微小光刻系统.从几何光学理论出发,分析了这个光刻系统综合成象的特点,讨论了这种光刻系统的光学性能,并给出了实验测量方法.