Analysis of the anisotropy of group velocity error due to spatial finite difference schemes from the solution of the 2D linear Euler equations

Numerical differencing schemes are subject to dispersive and dissipative errors, which in one dimension, are functions of a wavenumber. When these schemes are applied in two or three dimensions, the errors become functions of both wavenumber and the direction of the wave. For the Euler equations, the direction of flow and flow velocity are also important. Spectral analysis was used to predict the error in magnitude and direction of the group velocity of vorticity–entropy and acoustic waves in the solution of the linearised Euler equations in a two‐dimensional Cartesian space. The anisotropy in these errors, for three schemes, were studied as a function of the wavenumber, wave direction, mean flow direction and mean flow Mach number. Numerical experiments were run to provide confirmation of the developed theory. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infrared evidence for the folded-chain model of trans-1,4-polybutadiene

The influence of the first-order crystalline transformation at about 60°C on the infrared bands of trans-1,4-polybutadiene yields microscopic information that supports the two-component microcrystalline model of a folded chain having loose and tight end loops at the lamellar surfaces. The temperature dependence of the band parameters of the 908-cm^?1 vinyl band indicates that 1,2-(side vinyl) units are not easily taken into the crystalline component, thus forming long loops at the crystal surface that account for the micro-Brownian motion detected in the low-temperature phase. The results argue that infrared band parameters are excellent probes for details of the thermodynamics and morphology of polymers.     

Melt spinning of propylene carbonate‐plasticized poly(acrylonitrile)‐co‐poly(methyl acrylate)

The primary use of poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) fibers, commonly referred to as acrylic fibers, is in textile applications like clothing, furniture, carpets, and awnings. All commercially available PAN fibers are processed by solution spinning; however, alternative, more cost‐effective processes like melt spinning are still highly desired. Here, the melt spinning of PAN‐co‐poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) plasticized with propylene carbonate (PC) at 175°C is reported. The use of methyl acrylate (MA) as comonomer and PC as an external plasticizer renders the approach a combination of internal and external plasticization. Various mixtures of PAN and PC used in this work were examined by rheology, subjected to melt spinning, followed by discontinuous and continuous washing, respectively. The best fibers were derived from a PAN‐co‐PMA copolymer containing 8.1 mol‐% of MA having a number‐average molecular weight M _n of 34 000 g/mol, spun in the presence of 22.5 wt.‐% of PC. The resulting fibers were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS), and were subjected to mechanical testing.     

Powder‐XRD and 14N magic angle‐spinning solid‐state NMR spectroscopy of some metal nitrides

Some metal nitrides (TiN, ZrN, InN, GaN, Ca₃N₂, Mg₃N₂, and Ge₃N₄) have been studied by powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and ¹⁴N magic angle‐spinning (MAS) solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. For Ca₃N₂, Mg₃N₂, and Ge₃N₄, no ¹⁴N NMR signal was observed. Low speed (ν_r = 2 kHz for TiN, ZrN, and GaN; ν_r = 1 kHz for InN) and ‘high speed’ (ν_r = 15 kHz for TiN; ν_r = 5 kHz for ZrN; ν_r = 10 kHz for InN and GaN) MAS NMR experiments were performed. For TiN, ZrN, InN, and GaN, powder‐XRD was used to identify the phases present in each sample. The number of peaks observed for each sample in their ¹⁴N MAS solid‐state NMR spectrum matches perfectly well with the number of nitrogen‐containing phases identified by powder‐XRD. The ¹⁴N MAS solid‐state NMR spectra are symmetric and dominated by the quadrupolar interaction. The envelopes of the spinning sidebands manifold are Lorentzian, and it is concluded that there is a distribution of the quadrupolar coupling constants Q_cc's arising from structural defects in the compounds studied. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Preliminary Study on Preparation of the Aromatic/Aliphatic Co‐polyurea as Spun Fibers

Aromatic‐aliphatic co‐polyurea has been synthesized from 4,4 prime‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), m‐phenylene diamine (m‐PDA), and 1,6‐diaminohexane (HDA) in DMAc by solution polymerization. The chemical structure of the co‐polyurea has been characterized by ¹H‐NMR. The thermal properties of the copolymers were measured by DSC and TGA. The co‐polyurea solutions were spun into fibers by means of wet spinning. The effects of coagulation conditions on the morphologies and mechanical properties of the co‐polyurea as spun fibers are discussed.     

Effect of Polycondensation Reaction Conditions on the Properties of Thermotropic Liquid‐Crystalline Copolyester

In this study a range of wholly aromatic copolyesters based on kink m‐acetoxybenzoic acid (m‐ABA) monomer (33 mol%) and equimolar‐linear p‐acetoxybenzoic acid (p‐ABA), hydroquinone diacetate (HQDA) and terephthalic acid (TPA) monomers (67 mol%) have been synthesized by melt polycondensation reaction process at 280°C and 260°C for different time intervals. Characterization of copolyesters were performed by solution viscosity measurement, wide–angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), hot‐stage polarized light microscopy, proton‐nuclear magnetic resonance analysis (¹H‐NMR). According to the results obtained, copolyesters showed thermotropic liquid crystalline behavior in an appropriate temperature range. The copolyesters were prepared in high yields. It was observed that the intrinsic viscosities of the copolyesters are increased regularly with increasing polymerization time and temperature. All the copolyesters were soluble in a trifluoroacetic acid/dichloromethane (30:70 v/v) except the copolyesters which were synthesized at 280°C in 5 h. According to the WAXD results; the degree of crystallinity of copolyesters were found to be between 5–15%. DSC and hot stage polarized light microscopy results showed that all the copolyesters are melt processable and a significant molecular interaction exist in a very broad temperature range (160°C and 165°C) in the nematic mesophase. The T_g values are increased with an increasing polycondensation reaction time and temperature and they were observed between 93–126°C. Fibers prepared by a hand‐spinning technique from the polymer melt exhibit well‐developed fibrillar structure parallel to the fiber axis.     

On‐Line Monitoring of Chemical Reactions by using Bench‐Top Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Real‐time nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy measurements carried out with a bench‐top system installed next to the reactor inside the fume hood of the chemistry laboratory are presented. To test the system for on‐line monitoring, a transfer hydrogenation reaction was studied by continuously pumping the reaction mixture from the reactor to the magnet and back in a closed loop. In addition to improving the time resolution provided by standard sampling methods, the use of such a flow setup eliminates the need for sample preparation. Owing to the progress in terms of field homogeneity and sensitivity now available with compact NMR spectrometers, small molecules dissolved at concentrations on the order of 1 mmol L^?1 can be characterized in single‐scan measurements with 1 Hz resolution. Owing to the reduced field strength of compact low‐field systems compared to that of conventional high‐field magnets, the overlap in the spectrum of different NMR signals is a typical situation. The data processing required to obtain concentrations in the presence of signal overlap are discussed in detail, methods such as plain integration and line‐fitting approaches are compared, and the accuracy of each method is determined. The kinetic rates measured for different catalytic concentrations show good agreement with those obtained with gas chromatography as a reference analytical method. Finally, as the measurements are performed under continuous flow conditions, the experimental setup and the flow parameters are optimized to maximize time resolution and signal‐to‐noise ratio.     

Morphology optimization of solution blow spun polystyrene to obtain superhydrophobic materials with high ability of oil absorption

In this study, Polystyrene based materials, PS, with tailored morphologies are prepared by solution blow spinning, SBS. It is demonstrated that this tailored morphology of PS can be designed through the choice of particular SBS processing conditions. Several SBS processing conditions, including solution concentration, gas pressure and solution feeding rate are changed to consider their individual and combined effects on the final polymer morphology. The morphology of the PS samples is inspected by scanning electron microscopy, SEM. This morphology is analyzed in terms of fiber diameter and relative amount of fibers respect to other morphological features such as lumps or fibers aggregates. Coupling the experimental analysis with the use of Box-Behnken method and the desirability function, particular values of parameters controlling the SBS processing conditions are able to be obtained in order to achieve certain morphologies of PS, in particular, maximum amount of fibers with the minimum diameter. Influence of PS morphology on hydrophobicity and the ability of oil absorption is studied by contact angle measurements. The use of Box-Behnken design together with the desirability function is revealed as a reliable and accurate method for designing polystyrene materials through the optimal election of SBS processing conditions for the production of the polymer with particular morphologies and therefore, with especial performance regarding adsorption and absorption of liquid wastes. SBS PS constituted by the maximum amount of fibers with the shortest diameters lead to superhydrophobic materials with the highest ability of oil absorption for the PS.     

Bioinspired and Mechanically Strong Fibers Based on Engineered Non‐Spider Chimeric Proteins

Silk‐protein‐based fibers have attracted considerable interest due to their low weight and extraordinary mechanical properties. Most studies on fibrous proteins focus on the recombinant spidroins, but these fibers exhibit moderate mechanical performance. Thus, the development of alternative structural proteins for the construction of robust fibers is an attractive goal. Herein, we report a class of biological fibers produced using a designed chimeric protein, which consists of the sequences of a cationic elastin‐like polypeptide and a squid ring teeth protein. Remarkably, the chimeric protein fibers exhibit a breaking strength up to about 630 MPa and a corresponding toughness as high as about 130 MJ m^?3, making them superior to many recombinant spider silks and even comparable to some native counterparts. Therefore, this strategy is a novel concept for exploring bioinspired ultrastrong protein materials through the development of new types of structural chimeric proteins.