Effect of pure and mixed solvents on the solubility, crystal growth and morphology of ethyl p-dimethylamino benzoate (EDMAB): An organic nonlinear optical material

The effects of pure and mixed solvents of ethanol and acetone on solubility, nucleation and growth of ethyl p-dimethylamino benzoate (EDMAB) were investigated. It was found that solubility of EDMAB increased as the volume ratio of acetone increased in the mixed solvent. Growth experiments were performed at 32 °C using pure and mixed solvents with different volume ratios of ethanol and acetone. Bulk single crystals of EDMAB were grown-in the experiment conducted using mixed solvent of 25% acetone and 75% of ethanol, whereas thin platelet crystal of EDMAB was obtained in the experiment conducted using pure ethanol. The acetone rich system resulted in uncontrolled nucleation with large number of tiny crystals, possibly due to high vapor pressure of acetone. The grown crystals were subjected to various analytical studies such as powder X-ray diffraction, Vickers microhardness, dielectric studies as a function of frequency and optical transmission and the powder Kurtz method.     

能量色散型X射线荧光光谱法测定聚合物材料中镉和铅含量

提出了能量色散型X射线荧光光谱测定聚合物材料中镉和铅的测试分析方法及制样技巧。按照仪器分析条件测定同时含有镉和铅的6块不同浓度级别的标准物质来建立校准工作曲线,其线性范围分别在250ug·g-1、1100ug·g-1以内。镉和铅的方法检出限依次为4.7ug·g-1、4.1ug·g-1。该方法应用于测定欧洲标准物质ERM-EC680和ERM-EC681k,其镉和铅的实际测定值与标准物质证书的标称值相符,测定实际样品中的镉和铅的回收率介于90~110%。该方法测定标准物质和实际样品中镉和铅的精密度均小于10%。     

Blue-phase liquid crystal display with high dielectric material

A blue-phase liquid crystal display (BPLCD) with low operating voltage and high transmittance is demonstrated by using a high dielectric material, which is used as an insulation layer or protrusion fixed on the pixel and common electrodes in in-plane switching (IPS) mode. The operating voltage is reduced to about 14 V and the transmittance is improved for the BPLCD with high dielectric constant protrusion. Compared with the conventional protrusion electrode structure, the proposed protrusion can make manufacturing process simple and easy because the electrode has no complex shape. The results will be significant in designing optimal BPLCDs.     

Influence of magnetic powders on the tribological performance of a novel magnetic brake material

By adding magnetic powders into matrix material, it has been proved to be a creative approach to improve tribological properties of brake materials. In this paper, a novel magnetic brake material with Nd–Fe–B and nano-Fe₃O₄ was developed, and the influential mechanism of these two magnetic powders and their content on the friction and wear performance was deeply discussed. Firstly, some experiments were carried out to investigate the tribological performance and influential mechanisms of four groups of brake pad samples with different magnetic powders. Furthermore, based on these results, further experiments for investigating the influence that Nd–Fe–B contents have on the tribological properties were conducted. According to the theoretical analysis about experiments, it was concluded that nano-Fe₃O₄ is beneficial to promote the formation of friction film and has certain lubricant effects. However, Nd–Fe–B has double effects on the formation of friction film. It will have positive effects when its content is less than a certain value. Otherwise, it will destroy the structure of friction film. Conclusively, it is believed that this study will be significantly valuable and meaningful for developing new brake materials and improving safety reliability of mechanical brakes.     

Magnetic and electronic properties of NiAs-type chromium chalcogenides

We have computed spin-dependent energy bands, spin moments and density of states of NiAs-type CrX (X=S, Se and Te) chalcogenides using linear combination of atomic orbitals method within density functional theory as well as full potential augmented plane wave method. In addition, magnetic properties have also been computed using spin polarized relativistic Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method. We have also obtained the first ever theoretical electron momentum densities of CrX compounds considering linear combination of atomic orbitals and compared the results with the isotropic Compton profiles measured using 20 Ci ¹³⁷Cs Compton spectrometer. The Fermi surface topology and magnetic properties are discussed in terms of majority and minority energy bands and density of states. In addition, to highlight the role of Cr (3d) electrons in such type of chalcogenides, we have also reported the magnetic Compton profile of CrTe using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method.     

High diffusion barrier and piezoelectric nanocomposites based on polyvinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene copolymer and hydrophobized clay

Nanocomposites based on polyvinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene copolymer and up to 4 vol % of hydrophobized clay nanoparticles are investigated. The structure, piezoelectric properties, and oxygen permeability of solvent cast films are analyzed before and after annealing above the Curie temperature of the polymer. Exfoliation of the clay takes place at concentrations up to 1 vol %, beyond which it rapidly drops and is absent at a concentration of 4 vol %. The presence of clay does not change the crystallinity of the polymer, but leads to a threefold decrease of the oxygen permeability at a concentration of 0.5 vol %. Annealing at 130 °C increases the crystallinity, the proportion of β phase up to 94%, and the piezoelectric coefficient by 20–40% at clay fractions below 1 vol %. Annealing also leads to a remarkable 3‐ to 10‐fold decrease of O₂ permeability and to intriguing changes of the activation energy for O₂ transport, which decreases from 56 kJ/mol for the as‐cast polymer to below 10 kJ/mol for the polymer and exfoliated composite. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1828–1836     

Optimal orientation field to manufacture magnetostrictive composites with high magnetostrictive performance

Magnetostrictive properties have relationship with the applied orientation field during the preparation of giant magnetostrictive composites. To understand the dependence of the optimal orientation field on particle volume fraction, composites with 20%, 30% and 50% particles by volume were fabricated by distributing Terfenol-D particles in an unsaturated polyester resin under various orientation fields. Their magnetostrictive properties were tested without pre-stress at room temperature. The results indicate that as the particle volume fraction increases, the optimal orientation field increases. The main reason for this phenomenon is the packing density for the composites with higher particle volume fraction is larger than that for those with lower particle content.     

Quantification of Tin and Lead in Binary Alloys Using Voltammetry of Immobilized Microparticles

Voltammetry of immobilized microparticles (VMP) has been used in this work for the quantitative determination of tin and lead particles in their binary alloys. Carbon paste electrodes, which contained small amounts of tin and lead or their mixtures, were used as working electrodes and square wave voltammograms of each electrode were recorded. Quantification was performed using optimum experimental conditions, obtained by an experimental design technique. The calibration was made by measuring the percentage peak height of each metal taking the sum of peak currents of the both metals as 100 %. The results were compared with quantitative results of X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) technique to evaluate the capability of VMP method in its quantitative determination of solid samples.     

同轴电喷法制备PCL-蛋清体系复合微胶囊

以鸡蛋的卵清蛋白作为蛋白质药物模板、生物可降解材料聚己内酯(PCL)为药物载体模板,采用同轴电喷法制备PCL-蛋清体系的复合微球.研究了电导率、黏度对于电喷微球成型的影响.核壳溶液推进速率比、电压、溶液质量分数和接收距离等对于所得微球表面形态和结构的影响.利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)研究了微球的表面形态,用荧光显微镜表征了微球的包覆模式.结果表明:同轴电喷法可以制备PCL-蛋清体系的复合结构微胶囊,其中推进速率比对微球形貌、粒径及其分布的影响比较明显,当PCL与蛋清溶液推进速率比大于10时,将出现具有包覆结构的微球.     

Individual strings of conducting carbon cones and discs in a polymer matrix: Electric field‐induced alignment and their use as a strain sensor

We demonstrate micromechanical strain sensors with integrated readout based on carbon nanocones and discs (CNCs) which are aligned into a string‐like formation using an alternating electric field and studied by AC impedance spectroscopy and electromechanical methods. The CNC particles are first dispersed into a polymer matrix with a particle fraction of 0.1 vol %. This value is well below the percolation threshold (～ 2 vol %), which suppresses particle aggregation and facilitates transparency allowing the use of an UV‐curable polymer. Alignment was carried out with a 1 kHz, 4 kV/cm electric field and is a consequence of dielectrophoretic effect. It develops in minutes and makes the initially insulating, nonaligned material conductive. This is followed by UV curing of the polymer matrix, which renders a solid state device. The stretching of the aligned strings in the cured polymer leads to a reversible piezoresistive effect, and a gauge factor of about 50 is observed. This is in a sharp contrast to CNC films with particle fraction above percolation threshold (13 vol %), which are conductive but not sensitive to stretching. The strings are Ohmic in nature and moreover show higher DC conductivity (22–500 S/m) compared to identically prepared carbon black strings (1–22 S/m). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011