Gold nanoparticle-templated assembly of oligothiophenes: preparation and film properties

Terthiophene-appended gold nanoparticles were prepared by the reduction of AuCl₄⁻(C₈H₁₇)₄N⁺ with NaBH₄ in the presence of bis[2,5-di(3-hexylthiophen-2-yl)thiophene-3-carboxyloxyhexanyl]disulfide. A hexagonal self-assembly of particles with gold core diameters (1.9±0.1 nm) was detected by high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The electric conductivity of the iodine-doped film was 9.1×10⁻⁶ S cm⁻¹, which was ascribable to the terthiophene-based inter-ligand π-π interactions. The Au/terthiophene hybrid spin-coated film consisted of a highly three-dimensional assembled structure of terthiophenes, as inferred from grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, indicating that such monodispersed and small-sized gold nanoparticles can serve as a template for this organization. In this study, a gold nanoparticle-templated assembly of oligothiophenes has been fabricated for proposing a method to develop tailor-made organizations of π-conjugated oligomers.     

Spectral measurements of inductively coupled and helicon discharge modes of a laboratory argon plasma source

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of several operational parameters in the emission spectra, in the 400-850 nm wavelength region, of a laboratory Argon plasma source. In particular, the emission spectra of the inductively coupled plasma and the Helicon plasma modes of operation were compared. Comparisons of spectra point to a significant increase in the ionization fraction of the plasma for the Helicon mode of operation. The spectral measurements allow one to determine the major trends in the plasma electron density for various parameters such as power delivered to the helical antenna, propellant mass flow rate, and applied external magnetic field intensity.Analysis of a prominent Argon single ion line, at 434.8 nm, points out that the plasma electron density increases linearly with the power delivered to the helical antenna, and that there is an optimum propellant mass flow rate for maximum ionization fraction. Additional analysis of the same line shows that above a minimum applied axial magnetic field intensity, the variation in the magnetic field strength has little effect on the plasma electron density.     

基于粗粒化模型对有机溶剂的分子动力学模拟

在基于Boltzmann分布对四种基本构象进行Monte Carlo取样后, 通过与全原子模型的范德华势比较得到了Gay-Berne (GB)参数. 又在对用量化计算得到的分子体系的电势进行电荷、偶极矩和四极矩的拟合后, 得到了电多极展开势(EMP)参数. 利用得到的粗粒化参数, 基于粗粒化模型, 对CHCl₃及四氢呋喃(THF)两种有机溶剂进行了分子动力学模拟(MDS), 并将结果同全原子模拟进行了比较. 计算结果表明用粗粒化模型从整体上能重复全原子模型的模拟结果, 但在某些细节的计算与全原子模型有偏差, 其原因可能是目前工作仅考虑了单位点情况, 为此今后在对具有复杂结构的分子进行粗粒化模拟时还应考虑合理放置及增加相互作用位点.     

Effects of electric and mechanical loads on the morphological evolution of a void in piezoelectric films

This paper reports the result of an investigation into the effect of electric and mechanical loads on the morphological evolution of a void in piezoelectric materials based on a model for the morphological evolution of a void, the thermodynamics potential and energy principle. Thus, the path and the bifurcation condition of the morphological evolution of the void in piezoelectric materials are described, which gives some insight into the reliability of piezoelectric films under electric and mechanical loads.     

Characteristics of wave propagation in piezoelectric bent rods with arbitrary curvature

The wave propagation in the piezoelectric bend rods with arbitrary curvature is studied in this paper. Basic three-dimensional equations in an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system (r, θ, s) are established. The Bessel functions in radial co-ordinate and triangle series in the angular co-ordinate are used to describe the displacements and electrical potential. Characteristics of dispersion, distributions of displacements and electrical potential over the cross section are calculated, respectively. In the numerical examples, the effects of the ratio of the two ellipse axes on the dispersion relations of the first three modes are observed. The characteristics of the distribution of displacements and electric potential in the cross section, along the radial and s direction are investigated.     

Routing a mix of conventional,plug-in hybrid,and electric vehicles

We introduce an electric vehicle routing problem combining conventional, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are constrained in their service range by their battery capacity, and may require time-consuming recharging operations at some specific locations. Plug-in hybrid vehicles have two engines, an internal combustion engine and an electric engine using a built-in rechargeable battery. These vehicles can avoid visits to recharging stations by switching to fossil fuel. However, this flexibility comes at the price of a generally higher consumption rate and utility cost.To solve this complex problem variant, we design a sophisticated metaheuristic which combines a genetic algorithm with local and large neighborhood search. All route evaluations, within the approach, are based on a layered optimization algorithm which combines labeling techniques and greedy evaluation policies to insert recharging stations visits in a fixed trip and select the fuel types. The metaheuristic is finally hybridized with an integer programming solver, over a set partitioning formulation, so as to recombine high-quality routes from the search history into better solutions. Extensive experimental analyses are conducted, highlighting the good performance of the algorithm and the contribution of each of its main components. Finally, we investigate the impact of fuel and energy cost on fleet composition decisions. Our experiments show that a careful use of a mixed fleet can significantly reduce operational costs in a large variety of price scenarios, in comparison with the use of a fleet composed of a single vehicle class.     

Incentivizing the adoption of electric vehicles under subsidy schemes: A duopoly analysis

We analyze the competition between an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer and an internal combustion vehicle manufacturer, under a government's subsidy scheme that provides a per-unit subsidy to the EV manufacturer or a price discount subsidy to EV consumers. The government should adopt the per-unit subsidy scheme, because, compared to the price-discount scheme, the government under the per-unit scheme can achieve the same EV sales and social welfare but pay for a smaller total subsidy.     

电场诱导水的太赫兹透射特性研究

许多生物分子自身的转动、振动或分子团的整体振动模式都位于太赫兹波段内,因此可以利用太赫兹光谱技术对生物分子进行检测。同时又由于太赫兹波的光子能量仅为毫电子伏量级,不会对分子的内部结构造成破坏,所以太赫兹时域光谱技术在生物检测方面具有良好的应用前景。众所周知,绝大多数的生物分子只有在液体条件下才能发挥其生物活性,所以研究液体环境下生物分子之间的相互作用就非常必要。然而水分子的转动模式、振动模式以及和氢键有关的能量均处于太赫兹波段,从而对其产生强烈的吸收;另外,水分子为极性分子,而极性分子对太赫兹波有强烈的共振吸收,这就使利用太赫兹技术对生物分子活性进行动态表征产生了困难。因此在研究溶液中的生物分子与太赫兹波的相互作用时,最大限度地减小水分子对太赫兹波的吸收就成为近年来的研究热点。目前,减少水对太赫兹波吸收的主要方法有：在溶液样品中加入抑制氢键缔合的离子来减小水对太赫兹的吸收;通过改变溶液的温度来调节水对太赫兹的吸收;利用微流控芯片技术,通过减小被测样品与太赫兹波的作用距离来减小水对太赫兹波的吸收。另外,激光的激励、电场或磁场的处理,也能改变水对太赫兹波的吸收,将盛有去离子水的微流控芯片放于电场中,研究经电场处理不同时间的去离子水对太赫兹吸收强度的影响。结果发现,太赫兹波的透射强度随着去离子水在电场当中静置时间的增加而增强,当在电场中静置60 min时,太赫兹的频谱强度达到最大,与空气的频谱强度接近。由此可以推断外加电场使水分子的偶极矩发生了变化,从而对整体水分子的振动和转动产生了影响,并且改变了水中的氢键结构,导致了太赫兹透射光谱强度的增强。     

Self polarization in GaAs–(Ga, Al)As quantum well wires: electric field and geometrical effects

The response of an electron to an external electric field in different shapes of infinite quantum well wires has been investigated. The self-polarization effect which can be defined as the influence of the barrier potential on the impurity electron is studied for the quantum well wire of square, rectangular and cylindrical cross-sections. An external electric field vanishes due to the self-polarization effect has been calculated. It is shown that the self-polarization effect outside of the center depends on both the geometrical form of the wire and the impurity position in the same structure.