Dynamic and reversible electrowetting with low voltage on the dimethicone infused carbon nanotube array in air

Unremitting efforts have been intensively making for pursuing the goal of the reversible transition of electrowetting owing to its vital importance to many practical applications, but which remains a major challenge for carbon nanotubes due to the irreversible electrochemical damage. Herein, we proposed a subtly method to prevent the CNT array from electrochemical damage by using liquid medium instead of air medium to form a liquid/liquid/solid triphase system. The dimethicone dynamically refills in CNT arrays after removing of voltage that makes the surface back to hydrophobic, which is an elegant way to not only decrease energy dissipation in electrowetting process but also obtain extra energy in reversible dewetting process. Repeated cycles of in situ experiments showed that more than four reversible electrowetting cycles could be achieved in air. It worth mention that the in situ reversible electrowetting voltage of the dimethicone infused CNT array has been lowered to 2 V from 7 V which is the electrowetting voltage for the pure CNT array. The surface of the dimethicone infused CNT array can maintain hydrophobicity with a contact angle of 145.6° after four cycles, compared with 148.1° of the initial state. Moreover, a novel perspective of theoretical simulations through the binding energy has been provided which proved that the charged CNTs preferred binding with water molecules thereby replacing the dimethicone molecules adsorbed on the CNTs, whereas reconnected with dimethicone after removing the charges. Our study provides distinct insight into dynamic reversible electrowetting on the nanostructured surface in air and supplies a way for precise control of wettability in surface chemistry, smart phase-change heat transfer enhancement, liquid lenses, microfluidics, and other chemical engineering applications.     

Fabrication of Melamine/Tb3+-Intercalated Polydiacetylene Nanosheets and Their Thermochromic Reversibility

Polydiacetylene (PDA) is one kind of the conjugated polymer with layered structure, which can serve as a host to accommodate the guest components through intercalation. In these intercalated PDAs, some of them were reported to have a nearly perfect organized structure and perform completely reversible thermochromism. Till now, these reported intercalated PDAs were made by only introducing a single component for intercalation. Here, we chose 10, 12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) as the monomer, of which the carboxyl-terminal groups can interact with either Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ions or melamines (MAs). When the feeding molar ratio of PCDA, MA, and Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ion was 3:267:1, only Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ions were intercalated though excess MAs existed. Such Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document}-intercalated poly-PCDA exhibited completely reversible thermochromism, where almost all the carboxyl groups interacted with Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ions to form the nearly perfect structure. When the feeding molar ratio of PCDA, MA, and Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ion was 3:267:0.6, both Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document} ions and MAs were intercalated. There existed some defects in the imperfect MA-intercalated domains and at the domain boundaries. The MA/Tb\begin{document}$ ^{3+} $\end{document}-intercalated poly-PCDA exhibits partially reversible thermochromism, where the backbones near the defects are hard to return the initial conformation, while the rest, those at nearly perfect organized domains, are still able to restore the initial conformation.     

干细胞迁移机理的近场扫描光学显微术研究

将内皮细胞生长因子(VEGF)置于甲基纤维素碟中形成VEGF的浓度梯度分布,并将人脐带间充质干细胞(Mesenchymal stem cells,MSCs)于此浓度梯度中培养,观察VEGF能否诱导MSCs定向迁移。应用近场扫描光学显微术(Near-field scanning optical microscopy,NSOM)同时获取了VEGF诱导前后的MSCs的形貌和光学信息。结果表明,近场光学图观测到形貌图上所没有的黑色斑点,分析认为这些黑斑为细胞的黏着斑。近场光学图显示经过VEGF诱导后细胞的黏着斑数量明显增加。同时,对诱导前后干细胞的骨架蛋白进行免疫荧光标记并用共聚焦显微镜进行观察,结果表明细胞骨架由诱导前的无序状态转变为诱导后的有序状态,说明诱导后的干细胞处于迁移状态。光学超微结构图则显示了诱导后干细胞表面的光学细节比诱导前细胞大量增加,出现了大量直径约200 nm的光斑,这是由于细胞表面大量分泌黏附分子等蛋白分子引起的,这些结果为VEGF能够诱导MSCs进行定向迁移提供了实验依据和可视化证明。也表明NSOM不但能提供高分辨的光学分辨率,还可提供生物细胞精细结构的更深层次的光学信息。     

Effect of nitrogen plasma treatment on the crystallinity and self‐bonding of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) for biomedical applications

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a thermoplastic material with outstanding properties and high potential for biomedical applications, including hermetic encapsulation of active implantable devices. Different biomedical grade PEEK films with initial degree of crystallinity ranging from 8% to 32% (with or without mineral filling) were inspected. PEEK surfaces were treated with nitrogen RF plasma and the effects on materials crystallinity and self‐bonding were evaluated. In particular, the relationship between auto‐adhesive properties and crystalline content of PEEK before and after plasma treatment was examined. PEEK samples showed different bonding strength depending on their degree of crystallinity, with higher self‐bonding performance of mineral‐filled semi‐crystalline films. XRD did not show any modification of the PEEK microstructure as a result of plasma treatment, excluding a significant influence of crystallinity on the self‐bonding mechanisms. Nevertheless, plasma surface treatment successfully improved the self‐bonding strength of all the PEEK films tested, with larger increase in the case of semi‐crystalline unfilled materials. This could be interpreted to the increase in chain mobility that led to interfacial interpenetration of the amorphous phase.     

A NOVEL ZWITTERIONIC SILANE COUPLING AGENT FOR NONTHROMBOGENIC BIOMATERIALS

A novel silane coupling agent bearing sulfobetaine group, N,N-diethyl-N-（3-sulfopropyl）-aminopropyl- trimethoxysilane （DESATS）, was first designed, synthesized and characterized. Its solution property was studied by means of dynamic light scattering. DESATS was successfully bonded onto the surface of the glass and proved by ESCA. Platelet adhesion assay in vitro indicated that the nonthrombogenicity of glass slide modified with DESATS is greatly improved.     

Overview: The Potential of silanes for chromate replacement in metal finishing industries

Trialkoxysilanes (or silanes) have emerged as a very promising alternative for chromates in metal finishing industries. Compared to the conventional chromating processes, the major merits of silane-based surface treatments include: eco-compliance, easy-control processing, comparable corrosion protection of metals as well as paint adhesion to a variety of topcoats. In this overview paper, we report the recent status of silane studies including results of corrosion performance tests, the mechanism of corrosion protection of metals by silanes and the themal stabilities of silane films. We also address the new fields that we are beginning to explore such as nano-structured silane films, “self-healing” silane films, and “super-primers”.     

RAFT法合成两亲性嵌段共聚物PSt-b-PAA-b-PSt及其在离子液体[BMIM][PF_6]中的自组装

用三硫代碳酸二(α,α′-二甲基-α-乙酸)酯(BDATC)作为链转移剂,苯乙烯St作为第一单体,通过可逆加成-断裂链转移聚合(RAFT)方法合成出大分子链转移剂PSt-CTA,以丙烯酸AA作为第二共聚单体合成出3个不同嵌段比的两亲性嵌段共聚物聚苯乙烯-b-聚丙烯酸-b-聚苯乙烯(PSt-b-PAA-b-PSt).通过傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和核磁共振氢谱(1H-NMR)确定了PSt-b-PAA-b-PSt结构,使用凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)测定了大分子引发剂PSt-CTA和嵌段共聚物PSt-b-PAA-b-PSt的分子量及分子量分布.将这3个不同嵌段比的两亲性嵌段共聚物在离子液体1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑六氟磷酸盐[BMIM][PF6]中进行自组装,用透射电子显微镜(TEM)观察聚合物在离子液体中自组装结构.研究发现,当PSt的链段长度固定时,胶束的自组装形态主要依赖于PAA链的长度.当PAA链段较长时,胶束呈球形;PAA链段变得较短时,胶束的形态则由球形转变为核壳结构,并且胶束形态在25℃至100℃之间不受温度影响.     

可逆加成-断裂链转移自由基聚合与点击化学相结合在制备特殊结构聚合物中的应用

可逆加成一断裂链转移(RAFT)聚合作为一种新型活性自由基聚合方法,由于其具有单体适用面广、聚合条件温和、不受聚合方法的限制等优点,已经成为聚合物分子设计的有效手段之一.点击化学(Click chaemistry)是近几年发展起来的一种快速合成的新方法,是指选用易得原料,通过可靠、高效而又具有选择性的化学反应来实现碳杂...     

可逆加成-断裂链转移自由基聚合法合成梳型磺化聚醚醚酮

以带双硫酯取代基聚醚醚酮为大分子链转移剂, 采用可逆加成-断裂链转移自由基聚合(RAFT)法合成不同接枝率的磺化聚醚醚酮(g-SPEEK), 并对其结构进行表征. 在单体/链转移剂/引发剂的投料比(摩尔比)为50:4:1, 温度为70 ℃, 反应24 h, 得到聚合物膜的离子交换容量和吸水率分别为1.312 mmol/g和43.51%, 其溶胀率为5.05%, 低于Nafion膜的11.50%. 热重分析(TGA)结果表明该梳型g-SPEEK具有较好的热力学稳定性, 且该聚合物膜具有与Nafion膜相当的抗氧化性. 在相同的离子交换容量下, 梳型g-SPEEK比主链型SPEEK具有更好的H⁺离子透过性能.     

乙二醇溶剂热合成的CeO2的可逆氧化还原性及CO2捕获性能

利用乙二醇的还原性,采用乙二醇溶剂热法制备了表面具有丰富氧空穴的CeO₂-GST纳米晶,对其进行了X射线衍射、透射电镜、X射线光电子能谱、原位H₂还原-O₂氧化循环和CO₂原位红外漫反射表征,并研究了其可逆氧化还原性及CO₂捕获性能. 结果表明,与CeO₂-nanorod和柠檬酸溶胶法合成的CeO₂-CA样品相比,CeO₂-GST纳米晶具有最好的可逆氧化还原性能和循环稳定性,同时在50 ℃下具有最好的CO₂吸附性能（149 μmol/g）. 利用原位红外漫反射光谱研究了CO₂在还原CeO₂表面的吸附情况,发现CO₂主要以双齿碳酸盐和桥连碳酸盐两种形式吸附在CeO₂表面,其中桥连碳酸盐物种不稳定,He吹扫可脱附. 此外,CO₂在CeO₂-nanorod上还会生成稳定的甲酸盐和单齿碳酸盐物种.