Water-assisted mechanical testing of polymeric thin-films

Thin films with a nanometer-scale thickness are of great interest to both scientific and industrial communities due to their numerous applications and unique behaviors different from the bulk. However, the understanding of thin-film mechanics is still greatly hampered due to their intrinsic fragility and the lack of commercially available experimental instruments. In this review, we first discuss the progression of thin-film mechanical testing methods based on the supporting substrate: film-on-solid substrate method, film-on-water tensile tests, and water-assisted free-standing tensile tests. By comparing past studies on a model polymer, polystyrene, the effect of different substrates and confinement effect on the thin-film mechanics is evaluated. These techniques have generated fruitful scientific knowledge in the field of organic semiconductors for the understanding of structure–mechanical property relationships. We end this review by providing our perspective for their bright prospects in much broader applications and materials of interest.     

Interactions of the vector breathers for the coupled Hirota system with $$4\times 4$$ 4 × 4 Lax pair

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this paper, we investigate the interactions of the vector breathers for the coupled Hirota system with $$4\times 4$$ Lax pair. Firstly, we give the first-order breather...     

Formation of Azulene-Embedded Nanographene: Naphthalene to Azulene Rearrangement During the Scholl Reaction

Incorporation of a non-hexagonal ring into a nanographene framework can lead to new electronic properties. During the attempted synthesis of naphthalene-bridged double [6]helicene and heptagon-containing nanographene by the Scholl reaction, an unexpected azulene-embedded nanographene and its triflyloxylated product were obtained, as confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis and 2D NMR spectroscopy. A 5/7/7/5 ring-fused substructure containing two formal azulene units is formed, but only one of them shows an azulene-like electronic structure. The formation of this unique structure is explained by arenium ion mediated 1,2-phenyl migration and a naphthalene to azulene rearrangement reaction according to an in-silico study. This report represents the first experimental example of the thermodynamically unfavorable naphthalene to azulene rearrangement and may lead to new azulene-based molecular materials.     

Identification of metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine by liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry

Rupestonic acid, a potential anti‐influenza agent, is an important and characteristic compound in Artemisia rupestris L., a well‐known traditional Uighur medicine for the treatment of colds. In the present study, high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect and identify the metabolites in rat urine after oral administration of rupestonic acid. A total of 10 metabolites were identified or partially characterized. The structure elucidations of the metabolites were performed by comparing the changes in accurate molecular masses and fragment ions with those of the parent compound. The results showed that the main metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine were formed by oxidation, hydrogenation and glucuronidation. A metabolism pathway was proposed for the first time based on the characterized structures. This metabolism study can provide essential information for drug discovery, design and clinical application of rupestonic acid. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multiaxial elastic potential with error-minimizing approximation to rubberlike elasticity

This study is concerned with a new,explicit approach by means of which forms of the large strain elastic potential for multiaxial rubberlike elasticity may be obtained based on data for a single deformation mode.As a departure from usual studies,here for the first time errors may be estimated and rendered minimal for all possible deformation modes and,furthermore,failure behavior may be incorporated.Numerical examples presented are in accurate agreement with Treloar's well-known data.     

Study on the Relationship between Emulsion Properties and Interfacial Rheology of Sugar Beet Pectin Modified by Different Enzymes

The contribution of rheological properties and viscoelasticity of the interfacial adsorbed layer to the emulsification mechanism of enzymatic modified sugar beet pectin (SBP) was studied. The component content of each enzymatic modified pectin was lower than that of untreated SBP. Protein and ferulic acid decreased from 5.52% and 1.08% to 0.54% and 0.13%, respectively, resulting in a decrease in thermal stability, apparent viscosity, and molecular weight (Mw). The dynamic interfacial rheological properties showed that the interfacial pressure and modulus (E) decreased significantly with the decrease of functional groups (especially proteins), which also led to the bimodal distribution of particle size. These results indicated that the superior emulsification property of SBP is mainly determined by proteins, followed by ferulic acid, and the existence of other functional groups also promotes the emulsification property of SBP.