Enhanced spin capturing polymerization: Numerical investigation of mechanism

Simulation on the kinetic scheme of enhanced spin capturing polymerizations (ESCP) were performed to reveal the influence of different parameters, e.g., initiation rate, spin capturing and side reactions on the properties (the monomer conversion, degree of polymerization, polydispersity index, and the fraction of “living” chains) of polymer obtained. The kinetic scheme of ESCP was solved numerically as well as the method of statistical moments of molecular weight distribution was applied to get some numerical expressions for analysis. The simulations showed that fast initiation rate can lead to decrease of living fraction and broadening of molecular weight distribution. Whereas high rate of spin capturing makes the polymer chains shorter but increases living character. And side reactions always decrease livingness of the polymer obtained. Finally in the case of absence of side reaction we were able to formulate criteria for formation of polymer with target molecular weight and quota of living chains via ESCP process. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2546–2556     

Application of topological degree theory to semi-definite complementarity problem

The topological degree theory is applied to study the problem of existence of solutions to the semi-definite complementarity problem (SDCP). A notion of an exceptional family of matrices is introduced, and assertions of a non-strict alternative type are obtained. Namely, for a continuous mapping, there exists at least one of the following two items: either a solution to the SDCP, or an exceptional family of matrices. Hence, if there is no exceptional family, then at least one solution exists     

Periodic solutions to a class of biological diffusion models with hysteresis effect

This paper is concerned with a class of biological models which consists of a nonlinear diffusion equation and a hysteresis operator describing the relationship between some variables of the equations. By the viscosity approach, we show the existence of periodic solutions of the problem under consideration. More precisely, with the help of the subdifferential operator theory and Leray–Schauder theorem, we show the existence of periodic solutions to the approximation problem and then obtain the solution of the original problem by using a passage-to-limit procedure.     

Synthesis Optimization of Quaternized Chitosan and its Action as Reducing and Stabilizing Agent for Gold Nanoparticles

The optimal conditions for synthesizing quaternized chitosan (QCS) via microwave irradiation were explored. The microwave temperature, time, power, mole ratio between chitosan and 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (ETA), volume ratio between isopropanol and water, and pH value of the reaction system were studied to evaluate the effect on the degree of substitution (DS). The structure of QCS was characterized by means of FT-IR, NMR, XPS and XRD. TGA and DTG were used to measure its thermal stability. At last, QCS acted as a reducing and stabilizing agent to greenly synthesize gold nanoparticles without adding any other chemical reagent.     

Study of the Molecular Mobility in Polymers with the Thermally Stimulated Recovery Technique—A Review

Thermally stimulated recovery (TSR) is a non‐conventional mechanical spectroscopy technique that allows to analyse in detail the relaxation processes of polymeric systems in the low frequency region. This work reviews the main aspects and potentialities of this technique. The different kinds of TSR experiments that can be performed, global and thermal sampling (TS) experiments, are described and illustrated with several examples. Also, the different methods for the determination of the thermokinetic parameters (activation energy and pre‐exponential factor) of the thermal sampling (TS) procedure are explained and compared. In this context, the compensation phenomenon, which always appears in TSR results when the studies are performed in the glass transition region of a given system, is discussed. Examples of the application of this technique to different polymeric systems during the last 20 years are provided. An emphasis will be made on the analysis of the effect of crystallinity degree and crosslink density on the TSR response. A comparison between the results (characteristic times and activation energies) obtained by different techniques, namely TSR, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), is made.     

Nonstationarity and related measures for time‐dependent hartree–fock and multiconfigurational models

Based on an earlier article (Eberly and Singh, Phys. Rev. D 1973 , 7, 359) and related works on short‐time evolution, this article proposes a many‐electron formulation for the nonstationarity degree which can be assigned to quantum system at each time point. The key measure introduced, , is a nonstationarity index that can be thought of as an inverse nominal lifetime at each instance of time. The index is directly computed from the time derivative of one‐electron density matrix and is a size‐consistent quantity. In this article, the approach is developed for the time‐dependent Hartree–Fock (TDHF), single‐excitation (TDCIS), and time‐dependent full configuration interaction (TDFCI) models. As a rule, nonstationarity effects are more pronounced in correlated electron systems, and a joint analysis of and the multiconfigurational character of wave functions apparently provide a deeper insight into dynamical molecular processes. The performed calculations on small molecules in laser fields show a preference for the TDCIS model when comparing TDCIS and TDHF with the “exact” TDFCI model. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A characterization of almost simple K 3-groups

It is a well-known fact that characters of a finite group can give important information about the group's structure. Also it was proved by the third author of this article that a finite simple group can be uniquely determined by its character table. Here the authors attempt to investigate how to characterize a finite almost simple group by using less information of its character table, and successfully characterize the almost simple K₃-groups by their orders and at most three irreducible character degrees of their character tables.     

Determination of Required HLB of Capryol 90

The required hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) of an oily substance indicates the HLB of the surfactants required to prepare a stable emulsion using the oil. This study utilizes empirical method to calculate required HLB (RHLB) of Capryol 90 using surfactant blends (Span 20, Tween 20, vitamin E TPGS, Pluronic F68, Span 60, and Tween 80). The methods used were assessment of degree of creaming after centrifugation and after shelf storage for 28 days at room temperature, turbidimetric method, accelerated stability study, and droplet size analysis. The droplet size was found to be in the range of 15 to 2 µm and v/v% separation after centrifugation was found to be 0–82%. The RHLB for Capryol 90 was found to be 15. The effect of various surfactant blends was investigated. Results revealed that a blend of tocopherol polyethylene glycol succinate (TPGS) and Pluronic F68 gave the most stable emulsion for Capryol 90.