Charge density effects in salt‐free polyelectrolyte solution rheology

Solution rheology of 2‐vinyl pyridine and N‐methyl‐2‐vinyl pyridinium chloride random copolymers in ethylene glycol was studied over wide ranges of concentration and effective charge. The fraction of quaternized monomers α and the fraction of monomers bearing an effective charge f of these copolymers were measured using counterion titration and dielectric spectroscopy, respectively. Ethylene glycol is a good solvent for neutral poly(2‐vinyl pyridine), with very few ionic impurities. The viscosity η and relaxation time τ of dilute and semidilute unentangled solutions exhibit the scaling with concentration and effective charge expected by the Dobrynin model. Reduced viscosity data are independent of concentration in dilute solution, giving an intrinsic viscosity that depends on effective charge, and the experimental data obey the Fuoss law in the semidilute unentangled regime. Scaling concentration with the overlap concentration (c/c*) reduces these data to common curves, and c* ～ f ^?12/7 as predicted by the Dobrynin model, where f is the fraction of monomers bearing an effective charge. While the overlap concentration depends strongly on effective charge until counterion condensation occurs, the entanglement concentration c_e is surprisingly insensitive to effective charge, indicating that entanglement effects are not understood using the Dobrynin model. The terminal modulus G = η/τ depends only on the number density of chains G = ckT/N for c* < c < c_e, and G ～ c^3/2 for c > c_e independent of the effective charge. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2001–2013, 2006     

Measurement and prediction of solubilities and diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide in starch–water mixtures at elevated pressures

The solubility and diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide in intermediate‐moisture starch–water mixtures were determined both experimentally and theoretically at elevated pressures up to 16 MPa at 50 °C. A high‐pressure decay sorption system was assembled to measure the equilibrium CO₂ mass uptake by the starch–water system. The experimentally measured solubilities accounted for the estimated swollen volume by Sanchez–Lacombe equation of state (S‐L EOS) were found to increase almost linearly with pressure, yielding 4.0 g CO₂/g starch–water system at 16 MPa. Moreover, CO₂ solubilities above 5 MPa displayed a solubility increase, which was not contributed by the water fraction in the starch–water mixture. The solubilities, however, showed no dependence on the degree of gelatinization (DG) of starch. The diffusion coefficient of CO₂ was found to increase with concentration of dissolved CO₂, which is pressure‐dependent, and decrease with increasing DG in the range of 50–100%. A free‐volume‐based diffusion model proposed by Areerat was employed to predict the CO₂ diffusivity in terms of pressure, temperature, and the concentration of dissolved CO₂. S‐L EOS was once more used to determine the specific free volume of the mixture system. The predicted diffusion coefficients showed to correlate well with the measured values for all starch–water mixtures. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 607–621, 2006     

Effect of the environment on the stability of surfactant–polypeptide self‐assembled complexes: Molecular dynamics simulations of stoichiometric complexes formed by N‐dodecyltrimethylammonium and poly(α,L‐glutamate) in chloroform,methanol, and water

A series of molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the supramolecular structure of self‐assembled complexes formed by N‐dodecyltrimethylammonium cations and the synthetic polypeptide poly(α,L ‐glutamate). The influence of the type of solvent has been investigated, considering explicit environments of chloroform, water, and methanol on a stoichiometric complex containing 15 residues. In chloroform, the complex stabilizes in a regular structure: the polypeptide adopts an α‐helix conformation that is regularly surrounded by surfactant molecules to form electrostatic interactions through a multiple interaction pattern. However, this structure destabilizes in methanol and water: (a) the α‐helix unfolds in the two solvents and (b) the electrostatic links between the surfactant molecules and the polyanion are disrupted in aqueous solution, although these interactions are still preserved in methanol. The role of the solvent environment in stabilizing or destabilizing the polypeptide secondary structure, the organization of the surfactant molecules, and predominantly the surfactant–polypeptide supramolecular organization is discussed in detail. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1122–1133, 2006     

USING A SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH TO MODEL SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN AUSTRALIA

ABSTRACT. An indicator defined as a function of the total water diversion through the Coleambally canal and the potential irrigation demand is selected to represent the sustainability of the irrigation water system in the Coleambally irrigation area, Australia. A simulation procedure using a system dynamics approach was developed to evaluate the indicator. The procedure includes water diversion assessment, potential crop water demand and total gross margin. Three cases of water supply options (surface water, ground water pumping and water trading), two cases of changes in the total agricultural area and three cropping pattern scenarios were simulated to better understand their impact on sustainability. The simulated results indicate that increasing the agricultural area reduces the sustainability of the irrigation system because the demand of water increased despite increase in the gross margin. The scenarios show that imposed water trading and ground water pumping would considerably increase the supply system having a positive impact on the sustainability. The paper concludes that a multi‐objective sustainability indicator taking account of economic and environmental issues could be more useful.     

The response of microstructure to processing in a series of poly(siloxaneimide) copolymers

Poly(siloxaneimide) (PSI) segmented copolymers exhibit organized microdomains if the blocks are sufficiently incompatible. As with neat diblock and triblock copolymers, the processing route employed to prepare films of PSI materials is expected to influence the dimensions and/or morphology of the resultant microstructure. In this work, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is utilized to characterize the disordered microstructure found in films of a series of PSI copolymers which are subjected to solvent casting and various thermal treatments. Microstructural dimensions such as the periodicity and correlation length are deduced from the Teubner-Strey (TS) model for disordered microemulsions. The scattering intensity of each copolymer up to q = 5.0 nm^?1, where q is the scattering vector, is found to scale as q^?2.8+?0.1. Results indicate that processing the materials as cast films or as melt-pressed films allowed to cool slowly has a small, but discernible, effect on microstructural characteristics. SANS profiles of films quenched from elevated temperatures reveal a clear transition in microdomain periodicity, which correlates well with the glass transition temperature of the imide microphase in these and other materials of similar chemical structure. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Photothermal determination of vertical crack lengths in silicon nitride

In this paper we describe the use of thermal microscopes in measuring the lengths of vertical cracks in silicon nitride. Results of theoretical calculations for temperature profiles in samples near the end of the cracks are demonstrated. These calculations showed that the effect of the crack decreases to a non-measurable level at distances of about 10 m from the end of the crack. Experimental measurements showed that thermally obtained crack lengths were at least 34% longer than those that were optically measured. The obtained crack length was independent of the heat modulation frequency used.     

Influences of local polymer-solvent π-π-interaction on dynamics of phenyl ring rotation and its role on photophysics of conjugated polymer

In this report, the role of local polymer-solvent π-π-interaction on rotational dynamics of phenyl rings of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) is examined by utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We have found that an aromatic solvent can couple strongly with the phenyl rings via favorable local π-π-interaction, causing a restriction of the ring rotation. The dynamic process takes place at much faster rate in a non-aromatic solvent. NMR line shape analysis indicates the existence of two side chain configurations with relatively long life-time in toluene and pyridine while a single time-averaged configuration is detected in chloroform and tetrahydrofuran. Addition of chloroform or cyclohexane to a solution of MEH-PPV in toluene is accompanied by an increase of the rotational dynamics. This indicates that the expansion or collapse of main chain upon varying solvent quality play a minor role on the rotational dynamics. The relationship between the dynamics of ring rotation and photophysics of MEH-PPV in solution is discussed.     

Molecular dynamics studies on octadecylammonium chloride at the air/liquid interface

Molecular dynamics simulations on surfactant octadecylammonium chloride at the air/liquid interface were performed. It was found that the alkyl chains of octadecylammonium would change to order with increasing the concentration of octadecylammonium at the air/liquid interface. Some functions, such as the concentration distributions, the radial distribution function and the mean squared displacement (MSD) were evaluated to investigate the structural properties of interface. We found that the salts can affect octadecylammonium aggregate at the interface: (1) univalent ions, such as chloride and sodium ions, affect slightly the structure of monolayer and (2) bivalent ions, such as sulfate or calcium ions, affect greatly, especially for the bivalent negative ions.     

Beryllium diffusion across GaAs/(Al,Ga)As heterojunctions and GaAs/AlAs superlattices during MBE growth

Beryllium diffusion during MBE growth of (Al, Ga)As layers, (Al, Ga)As/GaAs heterojunctions and GaAs/AlAs superlattices has been studied by electrochemical C-V and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) concentration profiling, in conjunction with transmission electron microscopy. Diffusion times were comparatively short since they were limited to part of the growth sequence, so non-equilibrium effects had a significant influence. The results are consistent with an interstitial-substitutional mechanism in which lattice site incorporation becomes more difficult with increasing band gap enthalpy. Incorporation involves a kick-out reaction which leads to the observed disordering of the superlattices.     

Chemiluminescent determination of reactive hydrocarbons

Summary Chemiluminescent reactions of ozone with several classes of compounds at different temperatures are described. In a reaction chamber in front of a photomultiplier ozone is mixed with the compounds studied such as alkanes, olefins, alcohols, aromatics, C₂H₂, NO, vinyl chloride or H₂S. The chemiluminescent emission is proportional to the concentration of the compound involved. At room temperature only olefinic hydrocarbons respond but at temperatures above 150°C also a response for alkanes, alcohols, CO etc. is obtained. It is suggested that next to the ozonide-excited formaldehyde mechanism the CO-CO ₂ ^* mechanism is responsible for the chemiluminescent emission at high temperature. A detection limit of a few ppb is achieved. Possible applications are a selective gas-chromatographic detector, an air pollution monitor for instance for CO, and a photochemical reactivity monitor.

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Bestimmung reaktiver Kohlenwasserstoffe durch Chemiluminescenz

Zusammenfassung Chemiluminescenzreaktionen von Ozon mit verschiedenen Verbindungsgruppen (hauptsächlich Kohlenwasserstoffe) bei unterschiedlichen Temperaturen werden beschrieben. In einer Reaktionskammer werden die Verbindungen vor einem Photomultiplier mit Ozon vermischt. Es handelt sich u. a. um folgende Verbindungstypen: Alkane, Olefine, Alkohole, Aromaten, C₂H₂, NO, Vinylchlorid, H₂S. Die Emissionsintensität ist proportional der Konzentration. Bei Raumtemperatur sprechen nur Olefine an, die übrigen Verbindungen erst über 150°C. Die Emission bei höherer Temperatur wird neben der Bildung von Formaldehyd auf die Reaktion CO-CO ₂ ^* zurückgeführt. Die Nachweisgrenze beträgt wenige ppb. Als mögliche Anwendungsgebiete werden ein selektiver GC-Detektor, ein Monitor für Luftverunreinigungen (z.B. für CO) sowie ein Monitor zur Messung photochemischer Reaktivität der Luft genannt.

Presented at the 6th Annual Symposium on Recent Advances in the Analytical Chemistry of Pollutants, April 21–23, 1976; Vienna, Austria.