Meshless simulation of equilibrium swelling/deswelling of pH‐sensitive hydrogels

Hydrogels have been widely used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Bio‐MEMS devices. In this article, the equilibrium swelling/deswelling of the pH‐stimulus cylindrical hydrogel in the microchannel is studied and simulated by the meshless method. The multi‐field coupling model, called multi‐effect‐coupling pH‐stimulus (MECpH) model, is presented and used to describe the chemical field, electric field, and the mechanical field involved in the problem. The partial differential equations (PDEs) describing these three fields are either nonlinear or coupled together. This multi‐field coupling and high nonlinear characteristics produce difficulties for the conventional numerical methods (e.g., the finite element method or the finite difference method), so an alternative—meshless method is developed to discretize the PDEs, and the efficient iteration technique is adopted to solve the nonlinear problem. The computational results for the swelling/deswelling diameter of the hydrogel under the different pH values are firstly compared with experimental results, and they have a good agreement. The influences of other parameters on the mechanical properties of the hydrogel are also investigated in detail. It is shown that the multi‐field coupling model and the developed meshless method are efficient, stable, and accurate for simulation of the properties of the stimuli‐sensitive hydrogel. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 326–337, 2006     

Effect of substituents (NH2, OH, F) on structures and stability of lithofluorosilylenoids

Isomeric structures and energies of three kinds of lithofluorosilylenoids, R₂SiLiF (R = NH₂, OH, F) were studied using theab initio molecular orbital theory. The calculations show that thermal stability of the three-membered ring structures of these three kinds of silylenoids decreases in the order of substituents NH₂ > OH > F because of the conjugation between NH₂, OH or F and Si atom. The interaction of substituents R with Li atom makes R₂SiLiF have a structure with two Li-A-Si-F (A = N, O, F) four-membered rings, which is the most stable of the isomers of each of three kinds of silylenoids and whose stability decreases in the order of substituents F > OH > NH₂. Inductive effect of substituents influences the thermal stability of the linear structure of silylenoids.     

Theoretical studies on the reaction path and dynamics of the reaction CH_3+H_2O→CH_4+OH

The reaction path, the dynamical properties along the reaction path and CVT rate constants are computed by the ab initio MO method, the reaction path Hamiltonian theory and the variational transition state theory. The results show that the effect of the electron correlation energy on activation barrier is large, the recrossing and tunneling effects exist in the reaction.     

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE ab initio CALCULATION OF INTERMOLECULAR INTERACTION——NON-BONDED INTERACTION IN THE HYDROGEN BOND COMPLEX (HF)_2

An ab initio calculation of the hydrogen bond complex (HF)_2 is given with the 6-311 G~(**) basis set, according to which the potential surface around the balance point of the distancès and the orientations between two HF molecules is obtained. The atomic charges in the system are calculated with the PD/LSF method (potential-derived/least-square-fitting method) and then an analysis of the hydrogen bond interaction between two HF molecules is given with the (exp-6-1) potential function, by means of which it is shown that the main interaction between them is not an electro-static but a charge transfer one. The potential curve between two HF molecules is like a Morse function.     

Numerical Study of Pore Sizes Distribution in Gels

We introduce a new numerical technique for the calculation of the pore size distribution in two-dimensional disordered systems. Our method is based on a triangulation technique which allows a closer measurement of pores surface without any morphological hypothesis.In this work, we focus our calculations in simulated gels. Such materials are modeled in two different conditions: by means of the Diffusion-Limited and Reaction-Limited Cluster-cluster Aggregation algorithms, DLCA and RLCA, respectively. In both situations, when the particles concentration decreases, the average pores size increases. The more compact cluster in RLCA, compared with DLCA, is consistent with the pore size distribution we have calculated. The simulated mean pore size is quantitatively in agreement with experimental data from literature.     

Rotational barrier for 1-acetyl-2-(p-methoxy benzyl)-3-pyrroline

Calculation of the rotational barriers for the trans- and cis-forms of 2-(p-methoxy)-1-acetyl-pyrroline are presented in this paper. It is found that thetrans-isomer is slightly more favourable energetically, while the rotations of the cis-form are highly impeded. Hence the relevant rotations are in thetrans-form which stabilizes its energy by forming a weak inner proton bond between the carbonyl oxygen and the pyrroline ring. The acetyl rotational barrier is of the order of 8 kcal, which is well in accord with experimental data reported in the literature for other acetyl-amide derivatives.[/p]Work supported in part by Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo.     

Dynamics of the formation of two-dimensional ordered structures

The growth of ordered domains in lattice gas models, which occurs after the system is quenched from infinite temperature to a state below the critical temperatureT _c, is studied by Monte Carlo simulation. For a square lattice with repulsion between nearest and next-nearest neighbors, which in equilibrium exhibits fourfold degenerate (2×1) superstructures, the time-dependent energy E(t), domain size L(t), and structure functionS(q, t) are obtained, both for Glauber dynamics (no conservation law) and the case with conserved density (Kawasaki dynamics). At late times the energy excess and halfwidth of the structure factor decrease proportional tot ^–x, whileL(t) t ^x, where the exponent x=1/2 for Glauber dynamics and x1/3 for Kawasaki dynamics. In addition, the structure factor satisfies a scaling lawS(k,t)=t ^2xS(kt^x). The smaller exponent for the conserved density case is traced back to the excess density contained in the walls between ordered domains which must be redistributed during growth. Quenches toT>T _c, T=T_c (where we estimate dynamic critical exponents) andT=0 are also considered. In the latter case, the system becomes frozen in a glasslike domain pattern far from equilibrium when using Kawasaki dynamics. The generalization of our results to other lattices and structures also is briefly discussed.     

Synthesis and properties of p-benzoquinone-fused hexadehydro[18]annulenes

A series of hexadehydro[18]annulenes fused with different numbers of p-benzoquinone, 4-6, were synthesized by stepwise transformation of the p-dimethoxybenzene moiety of the precursor dehydroannulene 3 fused with three 3,6-dimethoxy-4,5-dimethylbenzene units at 1,2-positions into p-benzoquinone using ceric ammonium nitrate. The UV-vis spectra of compounds 4 and 5, which have both electron-donating p-dimethoxybenzene unit(s) and electron-accepting p-benzoquinone unit(s) in the π-systems, showed the maximum absorption bands bathochromically shifted in comparison with 3 having only p-dimethoxybenzene units and 6 having only p-benzoquinone units. However, the solvatochromism expected for 4 and 5 was found to be quite weak possibly because the HOMO and LUMO (B3LYP/6-31G(d)) are not localized but rather delocalized over the whole π-systems.     

Nioboxidfluoride mit Blockstrukturen — Elektronenmikroskopische Durchstrahlungsaufnahmen und ihre Simulation

Niobiumoxidefluorides Nb₅₉O₁₄₇F, Nb₃₁O₇₇F, Nb₆₅O₁₆₁F₃ and Nb₃₄O₈₄F₂ were prepared by reaction of Nb₂O₅ and Nb₃O₇F at 1 270°C. These niobiumoxidefluorides have blockstructures which were examined by high resolution electron microscopy. The observed images of the crystal structures were compared with computer simulated images.

     

Equilibrium structures of isolated (halogenated) fluorolithiomethanes

Equilibrium structures of isolated fluorolithiomethanes (1-3), chlorofluorolithiomethanes (4-6), bromofluorolithiomethanes (7-9), and bromochlorofluorolithiomethane (10) have been calculated at the HF/6-31+G(d,p) and MP2/6-31+G(d,p) levels. Depending on the number of halogens and the computational method employed, five distinct minimum structures could be recognized, viz. normal tetrahedral without coordination of halogen (T), trigonal bidentate with coordination of carbon and halogen to lithium (BCX), tetrahedral tridentate with coordination of carbon and two halogens to lithium (TCX2), quadrilateral bidentate with coordination of two halogens to lithium (BX2), and bipyramidal tridentate with coordination of three halogens to lithium (TX3).