Luminescent copolymers for applications in multicolor‐light‐emitting devices

Light‐emitting diodes based on organic materials [organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs)] have attracted much interest over the past decade. Several different attempts have been made to realize multicolor OLEDs. This article describes a new approach based on energy transfer in a donor/acceptor system. A copolymer containing both donor and acceptor compounds as comonomer units is prepared. The polymer consists of a derivative of a luminescent dye [4‐dicyanmethylene‐2‐methyl‐6‐4H‐pyran (DCM); acceptor compound], which is copolymerized with fluorene (donor compound) to combine the properties of an electroactive polymer with a highly luminescent dye. Photochemical processing is achieved by UV irradiation of this copolymer in the presence of gaseous trialkylsilanes. This reagent selectively saturates the C?C bonds in the DCM comonomer units while leaving the fluorene units essentially unaffected. As a result of the photochemical process, the red electroluminescence of the acceptor compound vanishes, and the blue‐green electroluminescence from the polyfluorene units is recovered. Compared with previous approaches based on polymer blends, this copolymer approach avoids problems associated with phase‐separation phenomena in the active layer of OLEDs. © 2006Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4317–4327, 2006     

Evaluation of piezoelectric PVDF polymers for use in space environments. III. Comparison of the effects of vacuum UV and gamma radiation

Films of piezoelectric PVDF and P(VDF‐TrFE) were exposed to vacuum UV (115–300 nm VUV) and γ‐radiation to investigate how these two forms of radiation affect the chemical, morphological, and piezoelectric properties of the polymers. The extent of crosslinking was almost identical in both polymers after γ‐irradiation, but surprisingly, was significantly higher for the TrFE copolymer after VUV‐irradiation. Changes in the melting behavior were also more significant in the TrFE copolymer after VUV‐irradiation due to both surface and bulk crosslinking, compared with only surface crosslinking for the PVDF films. The piezoelectric properties (measured using d₃₃ piezoelectric coefficients and D‐E hysteresis loops) were unchanged in the PVDF homopolymer, while the TrFE copolymer exhibited more narrow D‐E loops after exposure to either γ‐ or VUV‐radiation. The more severe damage to the TrFE copolymer in comparison with the PVDF homopolymer after VUV‐irradiation is explained by different energy deposition characteristics. The short wavelength, highly energetic photons are undoubtedly absorbed in the surface layers of both polymers, and we propose that while the longer wavelength components of the VUV‐radiation are absorbed by the bulk of the TrFE copolymer causing crosslinking, they are transmitted harmlessly in the PVDF homopolymer. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3253–3264, 2006     

Methods in carbon K-edge NEXAFS: Experiment and analysis

Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS) is widely used to probe the chemistry and structure of surface layers. Moreover, using ultra-high brilliance polarised synchrotron light sources, it is possible to determine the molecular alignment of ultra-thin surface films. However, the quantitative analysis of NEXAFS data is complicated by many experimental factors and, historically, the essential methods of calibration, normalisation and artefact removal are presented in the literature in a somewhat fragmented manner, thus hindering their integrated implementation as well as their further development. This paper outlines a unified, systematic approach to the collection and quantitative analysis of NEXAFS data with a particular focus upon carbon K-edge spectra. As a consequence, we show that current methods neglect several important aspects of the data analysis process, which we address with a combination of novel and adapted techniques. We discuss multiple approaches in solving the issues commonly encountered in the analysis of NEXAFS data, revealing the inherent assumptions of each approach and providing guidelines for assessing their appropriateness in a broad range of experimental situations.     

Effect of a thermal radiation field on the γ-luminescence of alkali-silicate glass

We revealed the changes in the γ-luminescence spectra under the influence of a thermal radiation field on high-purity alkali-silicate glasses (I) and those with addition of Fe³⁺ ions (II). We explain the obtained results within the framework of the L-model of edge absorption and electron-hole recombination processes. Samarkand State University, 15, Universitetskii Bul., Samarkand, 703004, Republic of Uzbekistan. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 453–455, May–June, 1998.     

Gamma radiation effects on an amine antioxidant added in an ethylene-propylene copolymer

The aim of this work was to compare the gamma radiation induced effects on samples of an ethylene-propylene copolymer antioxidant free with samples loaded with an antioxidant characterised by the presence of an -NH functional group. The employed techniques were Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy (ESR) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Stable radicals R---NO° due to the interaction of free radicals produced in the irradiated polymer with the antioxidant have been observed by ESR at room temperature. The time evolution of the ESR signals following the irradiation was examined at different doses. The amount of antioxidant not involved in the oxidation reactions has been determined using HPLC.     

The effect of UV light on the thermooxidative stability of linear low density polyethylene films crosslinked by ionizing radiation

The effect of ultraviolet (UV) light on the thermooxidative stability of Linear Low Density Polyethylene(LLDPE) films was studied. LLDPE was stabilized with phenolic type antioxidant known as Irganox 1010, hindered amine light stabilizer known as Chimmasorb 944 and phenolic type gamma stabilizer. The influence of these additives on the thermooxidative stability of gamma and UV irradiated LLDPE were investigated by isothermal Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). The oxidation induction time (OIT) experiments indicate that antirad free LLDPE films which contains antioxidant and UV stabilizer are more sensitive to gamma and UV radiation. On the other hand, films which contain antirad and irradiated to different doses of γ-radiation demonstrated improved thermooxidative stability.     

流通池介质交换差示脉冲阳极溶出伏安法用于多元素重叠峰的分离及其同时测定

本文用流通池介质交换差示脉冲阳极溶出伏安法在盐酸介质中富集,而以碳酸钠-碳酸氢钠缓冲溶液为溶出介质,有效地分离了酸性介质中Cu(Ⅱ)、Sb(Ⅲ)、Pb(Ⅱ)、Tl(Ⅰ)、Cd(Ⅱ)、In(Ⅲ)的重叠溶出峰,实现了多离子的同时测定。     

Hydrogen cycling induced diffraction peak broadening in C14 and C15 Laves phases

The diffraction peak broadening induced by hydrogen absorption-desorption cycling has been analyzed in four different Laves phase compounds with the C14 and C15 structures. The broadening is due to strain most probably originating from dislocations generated at the interface between the α and β hydride phases in connection with the cell volume difference between the two phases. It has been shown that it is strongly compound dependent. In the case of the C14 structure, the broadening is large and isotropic, and the latter can be related to the isotropy of the elastic constants of the metallic phase. The broadening is less for the compounds with the C15 structure, which can be related to a possibly softer lattice. Better ageing properties after long-term cycling are predicted for this crystal structure.     

Efficiency of four different techniques in coupled HPLC-UV/VIS to quantify overlapping peaks with known spectral features

Summary Four different techniques to quantify unresolved chromatographic peaks with known spectral features combined with photodiode array detection, are investigated as regards their efficiency for the accurate and precise determination of drugs in the low g-range. The comparison includes peak suppression utilising difference chromatograms, first-order derivative chromatograms, selective chromatograms, generated by the calculation of orthogonal polynomial shares, and the powerful least-squares multicomponent analysis approach. Each of these methods uses UV-spectra taken throughout, the peak. The results presented and conclusions reached should enable the chromatographer to come to a decision about the reasonable use of these options now provided by multichannel detection in HPLC.     

Product or sum: comparative tests of Voigt,and product or sum of Gaussian and Lorentzian functions in the fitting of synthetic Voigt‐based X‐ray photoelectron spectra

A comparative study for the fitting of X‐ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) using different model functions is presented. Synthetically generated test spectra using Gaussian/Lorentzian convolution and a real measured spectrum are fitted with the three commonly used models: product, sum and Gaussian/Lorentzian convolution functions. In these limited tests, it was found that the sum function is superior to the product function, particularly for low‐noise spectra. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.