CALCULATION OF THE YOUNG''''S MODULUS OF AN ADSORBED POLYMER LAYER

Polymer layers adsorbed to a surface or in a confined environment often change their mechanical properties. There is even the possibility of solidification of the confined layer. To judge the stiffness of such a layer, we used the Hertz model to calculate the Young's modulus of the polymer layer in the confinement of AFM experiments with silicon nitride tip with a radius of curvature of R≈50 nm and a glass sphere attached to the cantilever R = 5μm. Since there is no visible indentation of the layer in the AFM experiments, the layer is either penetrated very easily, or the indentation is too small to be seen in a force curve. The latter would be the case for a polymer layer with a Young's modulus above 4×108 Pa in case of an experiment with a silicon nitride tip and 4×105 Pa in case of a glass sphere.     

Study on the separation of amino acids in modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchips

A mixture of five amino acids including arginine, histidine, phenylalanine, serine and glutamic acid was successfully separated in microchip capillary electrophoresis and detected with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detector. These amino acids were labeled with 5-(4, 6-dichloro-s-triazin-2-ylamino) fluorescein (DTAF). The analyses were performed on two kinds of modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchips. One kind of chip was simply treated with oxygen plasma (OP-chip), and the other was further modified by coating double layers of non-ionic polymer poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) after plasma oxidization (PVA-chip). The derivatization condition of amino acids by DTAF was optimized. The properties of the two modified PDMS microchips were studied and separation conditions, such as the buffer pH, buffer concentration and separation voltage, were also optimized. The column efficiencies of the two microchips were in the range of 193,000–1,370,000 plates/m. The DTAF-labeled amino acids were sufficiently separated within 50 s and 90 s in 2.5 cm channels on OP-chip and PVA-chip, respectively.     

Gecko-inspired composite micro-pillars with both robust adhesion and enhanced dry self-cleaning property

Enhanced dry self surfaces were fabricated which could dislodge up to 24.6% of contaminated particles with as few as 4 steps.     

SIMS studies of polymeric tertiary structures in monolayers: Polysiloxane helical coil structures

A static SIMS study was performed using poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) as a model system to investigate the effects of tertiary structure on the ion formation mechanism and ion formation probability of fragments in the high mass region (>1000 Da). PDMS produced from anionic polymerization with a narrow polydispersity, can form well-ordered helically coiled monolayers using Langmuir-Blodgett methods at the air water interface, either in a hairpin configuration, if the endgroups are functional or as flat helically coiled chains. Reflection absorption Fourier transform infrared (RA-FTIR) spectroscopic analysis shows the changes in bonding between flat helically coiled PDMS and cast films from dilute solvents, which produces a random coil configuration. Differences between the model systems in infrared spectrum show evidence of changes in structure, producing variation in band formation. Also observed are changes in the band shape and relative peak area between the model systems. These polymeric changes translate into differences in the relative intensities of fragments formed in the repeating pattern of clusters in the high mass ToF-SIMS spectra of the ordered versus the random cast films. Both statistical chain break analysis and molecular mechanics simulations of structure are used to support the analysis.     

Design of a Multi Mode Interferometer using LC:PDMS technology

Abstract

Multimode interference (MMI) couplers have received more attention in recent years due to their significant role played in telecommunications. Their unique features are compactness, relaxed design constrains, large optical bandwidth. In this paper a theoretical analysis and design of a MMI acting as multi/demultiplexer based on liquid crystals (LC) embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels named LC:PDMS waveguides is presented. Such a device is capable of operating at two different wavelengths, typically used in erbium-doped fiber optical amplifiers, 980 and 1550?nm with an extinction ratio higher than 11?dB. The LC:PDMS MMI operation is tuned by applying an electric field by using coplanar electrodes whose fabrication process is described.     

Characterization of azo-containing polydimethylsiloxanes and their copolymers with methyl methacrylate

Azo group-containing polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS–ACP), macroazoinitiators, were prepared by polycondensation reaction of 4,4′-azobis-4-cyanopentanoyl chloride (ACPC) with hydroxybutyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) of varying molecular weights. The activation energy (E_a), activation enthalpy (ΔH^‡), and activation entropy (ΔS^‡) of the thermodecomposition of PDMS-ACP in toluene increased with increase in poly-dimethyl-siloxane chain length (SCL) in PDMS moieties, while the activation free energy (ΔG^‡) was independent on the SCL. The polydimethylsiloxane-poly(methyl methacrylate) block copolymers (PDMS-b-PMMA) were prepared by the use of PDMS-ACP macroazoinitiators, and they were characterized by ¹H-, ²⁹Si-, and ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. The microstructure and morphology of copolymers were investigated by proton spin–spin relaxation measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

不同层数单壁碳纳米管薄膜柔性应变传感器的性能研究

基于化学气相沉积法生长出的单壁碳纳米管(SWNTs)薄膜,利用聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)作为基底,制备出一种具有三明治结构的柔性应变传感器,具有良好的光学透明性和电阻响应。探究了不同碳纳米管薄膜层数对传感器性能的影响。实验表明,随着SWNTs薄膜层数的增加,应变传感器的透光性和电阻响应逐渐降低,由单层SWNTs薄膜得到的应变传感器具有最大的电阻变化率,在10%应变下可达100%,即使在微小应变(2%)下仍能检测到明显的电阻变化(18%)。该应变传感器具有良好的耐久性,可以监测人体关节的运动状态,在柔性电子皮肤等领域具有潜在的应用。     

Do complex matrices modify the sorptive properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for non-polar organic chemicals?

The partitioning of non-polar analytes into the silicone polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is the basis for many analytical approaches such as solid phase microextraction (SPME), stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and environmental passive sampling. Recently, the methods have been applied to increasingly complex sample matrices. The present work investigated the possible effect of complex matrices on the sorptive properties of PDMS. First, SPME fibers with a 30 μm PDMS coating were immersed in 15 different matrices, including sediment, suspensions of soil and humic substances, mayonnaise, meat, fish, olive oil and fish oil. Second, the surface of the fibers was wiped clean, and together with matrix-free control fibers, they were exposed via headspace to 7 non-polar halogenated organic chemicals in spiked olive oil. The fibers were then solvent-extracted, analyzed, and the ratios of the mean concentrations in the matrix-immersed fibers to the control fibers were determined for all matrices. These ratios ranged from 92% to 112% for the four analytes with the highest analytical precision (i.e. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 3, 28, 52 and brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) 3), and they ranged from 74% to 133% for the other three compounds (i.e. PCBs 101, 105 and γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)). We conclude that, for non-polar, hydrophobic chemicals, the sorptive properties of the PDMS were not modified by the diverse investigated media and consequently that PDMS is suited for sampling of these analytes even in highly complex matrices.     

基于PDMS基片的可变焦柱透镜

设计并制作了一种基于聚二甲基硅氧烷（Polydimethylsiloxane,PDMS）基片的可变焦微型柱透镜。这种柱透镜主要由一根埋入PDMS基片中的玻璃毛细管构成,通过选择毛细管内液体的折射率实现变焦功能。液体折射率为1.451 8～1.550 2时,柱透镜焦距可由21.369 mm减小到3.362 mm,变焦倍数达到6.4倍。用散射光成像方法观察并拍摄了平行光通过这种可变焦柱透镜后的光线轨迹图;用ZEMAX光学设计软件摸拟了成像过程,模拟结果和实验图像相符;用高斯光学的逐次成像方法推导出了这种柱透镜的焦距公式,焦距的计算结果和实验以及模拟结果吻合。PDMS基片中可变焦微型柱透镜的成功制作,为＂芯片上的实验室＂提供了一种重要的光学成像元件。     

On-site determination of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater by stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption GC-MS

The identification and quantification of semi-volatile contaminants dissolved in water is currently done in laboratory after a sampling step. This procedure is not satisfactory first because risks of samples contamination and analytes losses remain, in particular when these are present in ultra-trace concentrations, and secondly because procedures are time-consuming. The coupling of the stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), a new device of extraction technique, and a new generation of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the field apparatus EM 640 S from Bruker, could be an answer to the challenge of on-site analysis. This analytical system was used to analyze 24 PAHs, among them 15 EPA priority pollutants. It was shown that this coupling led to encouraging results with LODs around the sub-ppt level for most of the compounds and R.S.D. included between 1 and 48%. The existence of competition phenomena between the various analytes inside the absorbent phase was demonstrated with the release (up to 80%) of light compounds. This result shows the necessity to work on the kinetic domain rather than on the thermodynamic equilibrium that is influenced by nature and concentration of other compounds. The matrix effects were also studied through the comparative analysis of ultrapure water, artificial and natural seawaters spiked with PAHs and the influence of ionic strength and particulate organic matter was investigated.