Chemically controlled pattern formation in phase-separating materials

Summary The role of chemical reactions in the selection of patterns in phase-separating mixtures is presented. Linearized theory and computer simulation show that the initial long-wavelength instability characteristic of spinodal decomposition is suppressed by chemical reactions, which restrict domain growth to intermediate length scales even in the late stages of phase separation. Our findings suggest that chemical reactions may provide a novel way to stabilize and tune the steady-state morphology of phase-separating materials. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994.     

Underbody and ground effects on rotating disc flow: a global scale inviscid study

The flow induced by a finite disc rotating near horizontal ground is considered, including the effects of an underbody. This paper concentrates on determining the shape of the free layer beyond the rim of the disc which is horizontal in the absence of the underbody and ground but forced to deform to ensure that conditions across the layer are satisfied when the underbody or ground is added. The far-field behaviour, the inviscid flow produced by a nominally infinite disc near the ground and the global solution for small ground clearances are considered analytically, and the full problem is posed as an integral problem. This is then solved numerically and analytically. Results are presented for various heights of the disc above the ground and for discs with an axisymmetric underbody present. A universal form is found for the farfield shape (which is controlled by entrainment into the free layer) but both the underbody and the ground effects are found to increase very significantly for reduced clearances.     

Dialdehyde starch‐crosslinked chitosan films and their antimicrobial effects

For improved mechanical and water‐swelling properties of chitosan films, a series of transparent films were prepared with dialdehyde starch as a crosslinking agent. Fourier transform infrared and X‐ray analysis results demonstrated that the formation of Schiff's base disturbed the crystallization of chitosan. The mechanical properties and water‐swelling properties of the films were significantly improved. The best values of the tensile strength and breaking elongation were 113.1 MPa and 27.0%, respectively, when the dialdehyde starch content was 5%. All the crosslinked films still retained obvious antimicrobial effects toward S. aureus and E. coli, and they showed potential for biomedical applications. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 993–997, 2003     

Collisional Relaxation of Luminescence Anisotropy in Rarefied Gases in the Condensed Phase

The orientational relaxation of optically induced anisotropy in rarefied gases and at a damped rotation has been investigated. It has been found that the anisotropy relaxation in rarefied gases is described by a reduced kinetic equation depending only on free rotation integrals. The behavior of the integral anisotropy of luminescence for free symmetric and asymmetric top molecules has been elucidated. The law of luminescence depolarization has been obtained for asymmetric top molecules in the Gordon J-diffusion model. It represents the sum of two Stern–Volmer-type dependences, whose relative contribution is determined by the orientation of the dipole moments of transitions with absorption and emission of light in the molecular coordinate system and by the principal moments of inertia of the molecular top. It has been established that in the limit of a strongly damped rotation, kinetic equations of the general form reduce to equations of rotational diffusion. A number of modified diffusion equations correctly describing the contribution of inertial effects to the orientational relaxation of anisotropy have been obtained.     

Modification of Spatial Coherence by Means of Low-Order Zernike-Mode Adaptive Optics

Spatial coherence of the field modified by low-order adaptive optics is analyzed to establish a theoretical basis for the recent idea of using adaptive optics as a spatial coherence modifier. In this context low-order adaptive optics has the ability to correct some of the low-order aberrations specified by Zernike polynomials. The initial field to be modified is assumed to be a spatially partially coherent one resulting from phase disturbance. It is demonstrated, as in the previous study, that low-order adaptive optics serves to enhance the spatial coherence of the resultant field and that the effect of the enhancement becomes stronger as the spatial coherence of the initially partially coherent field increases. Potential applications of low-order adaptive optics as a spatial coherence modifier are briefly discussed.     

Quantum-Chemical Evaluation of the Protolytic Properties of Thiophenols

The enthalpies and free energies of proton affinity (PA) were calculated by the PM3 method for 27 thiophenoxide anions. For thiophenols, linear correlation has been found between the PAs and the values of pK _a measured by different authors in aqueous acetone, aqueous ethanol, and methanol media. The dependences found permit one to predict a priori the protolytic properties of thiophenols. The differential effects of aqueous ethanol media with different ethanol contents on thiophenol acidity were evaluated based on quantum-chemical data.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by A. N. Pankratov and A. V. Shalabai__________Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 800–806, September–October, 2004.     

Weak Attractive Ligand–Polymer and Related Interactions in Catalysis and Reactivity: Impact,Applications, and Modeling

The notion of weak attractive ligand–polymer interactions is introduced, and its potential application, importance, and conceptual links with “cooperative” ligand–substrate interactions are discussed. Synthetic models of weak attractive ligand–polymer interactions are described, in which intramolecular weak C? H???F? C interactions (the existence of which remains contentious) have been detected by NMR spectroscopy and neutron and X‐ray diffraction experiments. These C? H???F? C interactions carry important implications for the design of catalysts for olefin polymerization, because they provide support for the practical feasibility of ortho‐F???H_β ligand–polymer contacts proposed for living Group 4 fluorinated phenoxyimine catalysts. The notion of weak attractive noncovalent interactions between an “active” ligand and the growing polymer chain is a novel concept in polyolefin catalysis.     

Field Theory Approach to the Dynamics of a Continuous Medium: A Perturbation Theory

We propose a perturbation theory that allows solving the equations of motion for the displacement vector in the body of the Earth in the framework of the linear theory of elasticity. We show that tectonic processes are primarily determined by tidal actions. We analyze the tidal effects in the Earth–Moon–Sun system.