Influence of oxygen on soot formation during acetylene pyrolysis

Kinetic modeling of pyrolysis of acetylene diluted with argon showed a strong influence of small additives of oxygen on the routes of formation of soot nuclei. The influence of oxygen on various channels of formation and consumption of propargyl radicals C₃H₃, which are important precursors of soot formation, as well as the fundamental possibility of controlling the process of soot formation and its properties are considered.     

Estimating reaction parameters in mechanism-enabled population balance models of nanoparticle size distributions: A Bayesian inverse problem approach

In order to quantitatively predict nano- as well as other particle-size distributions, one needs to have both a mathematical model and estimates of the parameters that appear in these models. Here, we show how one can use Bayesian inversion to obtain statistical estimates for the parameters that appear in recently derived mechanism-enabled population balance models (ME-PBM) of nanoparticle growth. The Bayesian approach addresses the question of “how well do we know our parameters, along with their uncertainties?.” The results reveal that Bayesian inversion statistical analysis on an example, prototype nanoparticle formation system allows one to estimate not just the most likely rate constants and other parameter values, but also their SDs, confidence intervals, and other statistical information. Moreover, knowing the reliability of the mechanistic model's parameters in turn helps inform one about the reliability of the proposed mechanism, as well as the reliability of its predictions. The paper can also be seen as a tutorial with the additional goal of achieving a “Gold Standard” Bayesian inversion ME-PBM benchmark that others can use as a control to check their own use of this methodology for other systems of interest throughout nature. Overall, the results provide strong support for the hypothesis that there is substantial value in using a Bayesian inversion methodology for parameter estimation in particle formation systems.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of monodisperse/bidisperse polymer melt crystallization

We use large scale coarse‐grained molecular dynamics simulations to study the kinetics of polymer melt crystallization. For monodisperse polymer melts of several chain lengths under various cooling protocols, we show that short chains have a higher terminal crystallinity value compared to longer ones. They align at the early stages and then cease evolving. Long chains, however, align, fold into lamella structures and then slowly optimize their dangling ends for the remaining simulation time. We then identify the mechanism behind bidisperse blend crystallization. To this end, we introduce a new algorithm (called Individual Chain Crystallinity) that allows the calculation of the crystallinity separately for short and long chains in the blend. We find that, in general, bidispersity hinders crystallization significantly. At first the crystallinity of the long chain components exceeds that of the monodisperse melt, but subsequently falls below the corresponding monodisperse melt curve after a certain “crossover time.” The time of the crossover can be attributed to the time required for the full crystallization of the short chains. This indicates that at the early stages the short chains are helping long chains to crystallize. However, after all short chains have crystallized they start to hinder the crystallization of the long chains by obstructing their motion. Lastly, polymer crystallization upon various thermodynamic protocols is studied. Slower cooling is found to increase the crystallinity value. Upon an instantaneous deep quench and subsequent isothermal relaxation, the crystallinity grows rapidly with time at early stages and subsequently saturates. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2318–2326     

Application of SSA thermal fractionation and X‐ray diffraction to elucidate comonomer inclusion or exclusion from the crystalline phases in poly(butylene succinate‐ran‐butylene azelate) random copolymers

Poly(butylene succinate‐ran‐butylene azelate) random copolyesters were thermally fractionated by successive self‐nucleation and annealing (SSA). The samples before and after SSA were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X‐ray diffraction (WAXS and SAXS). WAXS results indicate that a small degree of comonomer inclusion is present in the crystalline phases that are formed in the copolymers depending on composition: a PBS‐like unit cell or/and a PBAz‐like unit cell, thus confirming the isodimorphic behavior of the samples. SSA on the other hand demonstrated that the degree of comonomer exclusion during crystallization is far larger than comonomer inclusion, as judged by the increase in fractionation degree with compositions leading to the pseudo‐eutectic point. Furthermore, WAXS, SAXS, and SSA results show that the isodimorphic behavior is not highly dependent on kinetic factors, as the degree of comonomer inclusion or exclusion in the samples was not significantly altered by SSA thermal fractionation, a thermal treatment that promotes annealing and molecular segregation of defects to the amorphous regions of the material. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2346–2358     

不同nCu2+:nCit3-的Cu(Ⅱ)-Cit3--SiO2溶胶中电沉积制备CuxO-SiO2复合薄膜

以醋酸铜(Cu(Ac)2)和正硅酸乙酯(TEOS)为前驱体,柠檬酸钠(Na_3Cit)为配合剂,在室温下制备出物质的量之比n_(Cu~(2+))∶n_(Cit~(3-)) 为1∶1和1∶2的2种透明稳定的Cu(Ⅱ)-Cit~(3-)-SiO_2复合溶胶。以此为电解液,采用恒电位方法,在ITO阴极上直接制备出了Cu_xO-SiO_2复合薄膜。CV(循环伏安)和XRD(X射线衍射)结果表明,在低过电位和高过电位分别得到Cu2_O-SiO_2和Cu/Cu_2O-SiO_2薄膜。XRD和EDX(X射线散射能谱)结果表明,相同沉积条件下,n_(Cu~(2+))∶n_(Cit~(3-)) 为1∶1溶胶中得到的薄膜中Cu含量较1∶2溶胶中的高。薄膜在2种溶胶中的电化学形成机理不同,其原因在于溶胶中Cu(Ⅱ)存在的形式不同。CA(计时安培)和SEM(扫描电镜)结果一致表明,Cu和Cu_2O在2种溶胶中的成核机理与电位有关,随着过电位增大,成核机理从三维连续成核逐渐转向瞬时成核。     

Microwave Assisted Graft Copolymerization of N-Isopropyl Acrylamide and Methyl Acrylate on Cellulose: Solid State NMR Analysis and CaCO3 Crystallization

Summary: Graft copolymerization of N-isopropyl acrylamide and methyl acrylate on α-cellulose was carried out under microwave irradiation at specific cut off temperatures with cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate and potassium persulfate (KPS) as the initiating system. The role of KPS was to oxidize Ce (III) to Ce (IV) which is the active species in radical formation. The reactions at a temperature cut off of 60 °C were confirmed by ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance cross-polarization with magic- angle spinning (¹³C NMR CP/MAS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The extent of grafting was calculated from weight gain and ¹³C resonances. The grafted cellulose was thermally more stable than the parent cellulose. An attempt to do grafting at a higher cut off temperature of 80 °C was made, however, no grafting was observed from ¹³C NMR CP/MAS but TGA results showed that a cellulose having more thermal stability resulted which was attributed to cross linking. Crystallization of CaCO₃ was carried out using the grafted materials as templates showed better nucleation and different crystal structure was observed.     

异相成核和拉伸诱导对生物基PHBV复合纤维结晶结构与力学性能的影响

采用熔融纺丝法制备了聚(3-羟基丁酸酯-co-3-羟基戊酸酯)(PHBV)/二硫化钨(WS_2)复合纤维.利用示差扫描量热仪(DSC)、热台偏光显微镜、二维广角射线衍射仪(2D-WXRD)、纤维强力仪研究了WS_2异相成核作用和牵伸诱导作用对纤维的结晶结构和力学性能的影响.研究表明,WS_2显著提高了PHBV的结晶温度,当使用2 wt%WS_2时,复合材料的结晶温度提高到115~130oC,比纯PHBV(99~105oC)提高了约25oC.WS_2不仅没有影响PHBV球晶的径向生长速率,且明显提高了PHBV/WS_2复合材料的晶核密度,熔体成核活性Φ由1.0降低为0.49.随着牵伸倍率和WS_2用量的增加,纤维的拉伸强度呈现出先增加后减小的趋势.当添加1 wt%WS_2并采用单向牵伸3.8倍时,纤维中的晶体取向产生了β晶结构,使复合纤维的拉伸强度由纯PHBV的37 MPa提高至155 MPa,断裂伸长率由2.4%增加至45%.     

Crack growth in medical-grade silicone and polyurethane ether elastomers

One major problem with ball and socket artificial discs is the migration of wear particles to the surrounding tissues. This debris can cause inflammation that can lead to implant loosening. Encapsulating the artificial disc with an elastomer sheath could prevent this problem by retaining the wear particles within the disc. The encapsulation sheath will face millions of tensile cycles during the implant life and, therefore, it must have the ability to withstand large strains without fracture. Using cyclic displacement, crack nucleation was applied on dumbbell specimens and crack growth was applied on rectangular specimens with an initial crack. Both tests were performed on Silex silicone and polyurethane ether elastomer specimens, both with a Shore durometer hardness of 40 shore A. No samples completely failed during the crack nucleation tests after five million cycles. The polyurethane ether elastomer showed a slower rate of crack growth life (421 k cycles to reach 70 mm crack length) than silicone elastomer (221 k cycles to reach the same crack length) in the control group. Accelerated ageing decreased the hardness and the crack growth rate of the polyurethane elastomer but had the opposite effect for the silicone elastomer. Gamma sterilization increased the crack growth rate and did not affect the hardness of the polyurethane elastomer. The hardness and the crack growth rate of the silicone elastomer were increased after gamma sterilization.     

Prevalence and Significance of Approximate Symmetry in Organic Pc Structures

A survey has been made of the well determined (R≤0.050) organic crystal structures that have only a single glide plane (e. g., are in space group Pc) and that have more than one crystallographically independent formula unit (Z′>1); the goal was to discover what fraction have additional approximate symmetry. Of the 377 unique structures examined 8 % should almost certainly been refined in a higher-symmetry unit cell; 86 % of the remaining 347 have approximate symmetry that is periodic in at least one dimension. While these percentages are similar to those found for P1 structures (C. P. Brock, Acta Crystallogr., Sect. B 2022 , 78, 576–588), the types of approximate symmetry differ because 89 % of the P1, Z′>1 structures were composed of enantiopure material. The 347 reliable Pc structures include 118 that are slightly distorted or mimicked Cc and P2₁/c structures, 15 of which were reported as having been determined at room temperature. The distortions in another 72 are so large that the approximate symmetry must be seen as periodic in two dimensions only. These results suggest that symmetry lowering may accompany transformation of a crystal nucleus to a macroscopic crystal.