Effect of spacer length on mesomorphic behaviours of chiral liquid crystal compounds containing (-)-menthyl

ABSTRACT

A homologous series of new chiral liquid crystal compounds, MnBEB (n = 4–10), was prepared by covalently linking a chiral (–)-menthyl with biphenyl-benzoate via a dicarboxylic spacer of varying length and parity. A combination of analysis methods, such as FT-IR, ¹H NMR spectra, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarised optical microscopy (POM) and X-ray diffraction was carried out to systematically investigate their phase structures and phase transition behaviours. The length and parity of the flexible spacers has a profound influence on the T_m and T_c and a modest odd-even effect is observed for the chiral liquid crystal compounds MnBEB. Only compound M4BEB developed an N* phase with selectively reflection on heating and a blue phase on cooling process. In addition, increasing the length of the flexible spacers tends to narrow the temperature range of the N* phase and widen the smectic phase, moreover, the pitch becomes longer with the spacer increases.     

Important unanswered questions—1970

This paper was given as the opening address at the 1970 Albany International Conference on Radiation Effects in Semiconductors, and it attempts to establish a general overview of the field by concentrating on recent research developments and important unanswered questions. The continuing importance of impurity-defect interactions, of microscopic defect identification, and of the necessity for more theoretical calculations are emphasized. The rapid development of the field of ion implantation and its close relationship with radiation effects studies are pointed out. It is predicted that research in compound semiconductors will increase rapidly with close beneficial interaction with ion implantation studies.     

Issue Information

Three‐dimensional direct numerical simulation results of flow past a circular cylinder are influenced by numerical aspects, for example the spanwise domain length and the lateral boundary condition adopted for the simulation. It is found that inappropriate numerical set‐up, which restricts the development of intrinsic wake structure, leads to an over‐prediction of the onset point of the secondary wake instability (Re_cr). A best practice of the numerical set‐up is presented for the accurate prediction of Re_cr by direct numerical simulation while minimizing the computational cost. The cylinder span length should be chosen on the basis of the intrinsic wavelength of the wake structure to be simulated, whereas a long span length is not necessary. For the wake transitions above Re_cr, because the wake structures no longer follow particular wavelengths but become disordered and chaotic, a span length of more than 10 cylinder diameters (approximately three times the intrinsic wavelength) is recommended for the simulations to obtain wake structures and hydrodynamic forces that are not strongly restricted by the numerical set‐up. The performances of the periodic and symmetry lateral boundary conditions are compared and discussed. The symmetry boundary condition is recommended for predicting Re_cr, while the periodic boundary condition is recommended for simulating the wake structures above Re_cr. The general conclusions drawn through a circular cylinder are expected to be applicable to other bluff body configurations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of graft length and density of well‐defined graft polymers on the thermoresponsive behavior and self‐assembly morphology

A series of well‐defined thermoresponsive graft polymers with different lengths and graft densities, poly(glycidyl methacrylate)‐graft‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylate) (PGMA‐g‐PNIPAM), were successfully prepared by combination of controlled/living free radical polymerization and click chemistry. Effects of grafting length and density on the thermoresponsive behavior, aggregating mean diameter, and self‐assembly morphology are systematically investigated. The thermosensitive characteristics of graft polymers in aqueous solution prove that the length and graft density had positive co‐relationship with the lower critical solution temperature value and mean diameter of micelles as well as the size distribution, while the effect of graft length of polymers is more significant than that of density. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the conformations of PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM₂₀ and PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM₄₆ with longer length and bigger grafting density in aqueous solutions are spherical nanoparticles with the increasing trend of the diameters, while that of PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM_{(73, 50%)} shows a spherical‐like morphology, which indicates that the graft length and density have a significant effect on the mean diameter of micelle but not on the self‐assembly morphology. These results reveal that to obtain desired thermoresponsive behavior and self‐assembly morphology of functional polymers, it is essential to design and fabricate the structure of graft polymers with proper length and graft density. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2442–2453     

Numerical modeling of chlorine concentration in water storage tanks

In this paper, we describe a numerical model to simulate the evolution in time of the hydrodynamics of water storage tanks, with particular emphasis on the time evolution of chlorine concentration. The mathematical model contains several ingredients particularly designed for this problem, namely, a boundary condition to model falling jets on free surfaces, an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation to account for the motion of the free surface because of demand and supply of water, and a coupling of the hydrodynamics with a convection–diffusion–reaction equation modeling the time evolution of chlorine. From the numerical point of view, the equations resulting from the mathematical model are approximated using a finite element formulation, with linear continuous interpolations on tetrahedra for all the unknowns. To make it possible, and also to be able to deal with convection‐dominated flows, a stabilized formulation is used. In order to capture the sharp gradients present in the chlorine concentration, particularly near the injection zone, a discontinuity capturing technique is employed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A puzzle of the radio-quiet quasar PG 1407+265: Are optical and X-ray emissions produced from a relativistic jet?

PG 1407+265 is a radio quiet quasar that has a relativistic jet.In this report,we show some peculiar properties of its optical and X-ray emissions,which indicate possible non-thermal origins produced from the jet.We use a simple synchrotron + synchrotron self Compton (SSC) model to fit the emissions with different ratios of energy densities between the magnetic field and electrons (η≡U B/U e),which predicts a different γ-ray luminosity.The First LAT AGN Catalog (1LAC) did not include PG 1407+265,which indic...     

Reinvestigation of the ν2 + 2ν3 subband in the overtone icosad of 12CH4 using cavity ring-down (CRD) spectroscopy of a supersonic jet expansion

We report a detailed reinvestigation of the ν₂?+?2ν₃ combination band of methane ¹²CH₄ centred at (7510.3378?±?0.003)?cm^?1 ((225.154263?±?0.0001)?THz) within the icosad of the overtone absorption. A new experimental setup is described, allowing us to carry out cw-laser cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) at instrumental resolution in the MHz range in seeded supersonic jet expansions down to rotational temperature of 7?K compared to previous cw-CRDS measurements in our group achieving about 50?K in expansions of neat CH₄. We provide a careful re-analysis on the basis of our new experimental results for the Q and R branch transitions including data obtained between about 7 and 300?K under various conditions. We resolve previously observed discrepancies of assignments and are able to present a definitive assignment for lines involving angular momentum quantum numbers up to J?=?4. The analysis of relative intensities in spectra taken at rotational and effective translational temperatures between about 50?K and less than 10?K indicate conservation of nuclear spin symmetry upon supersonic jet expansion, in agreement with previous results using other techniques and covering other spectral ranges.     

Dynamics of plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun

Lumped parameter models for describing dynamics of the plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun are compared with the experimental results obtained from two plasma guns with different rail geometries. Comparison between the experiments and the numerical calculations reveals that the lumped parameter models can be utilized to describe the dynamic motion of the plasma channel quite well. Parametric study shows that minimizing the line inductance and increasing the charging voltage on a capacitor as well as minimizing the gas injection time for reducing the mass of the plasma channel are the key factors to increase the flow velocity of the plasma jet ejected from the plasma gun.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Amphiphilic Copolymer Acrylic Acid-co-p-Chloromethylstyrene

The free radical copolymerization of acrylic acid (M₁) with p-chloromethylstyrene (M₂) in dioxane and in the presence of α,α′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) at 65°C is reported. Copolymer compositions of six copolymer samples obtained from feed ratios of M₁:M₂ = 95.2:4.8 to 21.4:78.6 were determined by ¹H-NMR. The reactivity ratios of AA/p-CMS copolymerization system calculated by the F-R method were r ₁ = 0.50 ± 0.06 and r ₂ = 1.52 ± 0.15, almost the same as r ₁ = 0.43 ± 0.21 and r ₂ = 1.31 ± 0.14 by the extended K-T method. On the basis of the reactivity ratios of two monomers, the sequence length distribution in the AA/p-CMS copolymers was obtained. For f₂ = 4.77%, the monomer unit of p-CMS is individually separated in the chain of AA; for f₂ = 35.53%, the alternating tendency prevails and a large number of mono-sequences are formed. The number-average ( _n) and weight-average ( _w) molecular weights were determined by gel permeation chromatography. The effect on molecular weights of feed composition is also discussed. In the presence of constant initiator concentration, the gradual increase in the ratio of M₂:M₁ (from14.7:85.3 to 78.6:21.4) was accompanied by a decrease in molecular weights ( _n from 11907 to 3961).