Large‐scale extrusion processing and characterization of hybrid nylon‐6/SiO2 nanocomposites

Solution impregnations, pulltrusion and film stacking are widely used methods to prepare thermoplastic composite materials. Extruders are used to melt the polymer and to incorporate fibers into the polymer in order to modify physical properties. In this article, the compounding of colloidal silica nanoparticles filled polyamide‐6 (PA‐6) is achieved using a twin‐screw extruder, which has a significant market share due to its low cost and easy maintenance. The experiments were performed at 250 rpm and the bulk throughput was 6 kg h^?1 with a pump pressure of 30 bars. The composites were characterized with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As determined by WAXD, the PA‐6 showed higher amounts of γ‐phase when compared to other synthesis methods such as in situ polymerization. TEM pictures showed that the silica particles aggregated nevertheless, upon addition of 14% (w/w) silica the E‐modulus increased from 2.7 to 3.9 GPa indicating that an effective mechanical coupling with the polymer was achieved. The behavior, illustrated with dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) curves, indicated that in general when a filled system is compared to unfilled material, the values of the moduli (E′ and E″) increased and tan δ decreased. Determination of molecular mass distribution of the samples by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled to a refractive index (RI), viscosity (DV) and light scattering (LS) detector revealed that the addition of silica did not decrease the average molecular weight of the polymer matrix, which is of importance for composite applications. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and molecular modeling study of Cu(Ⅱ) complexes derived from 2-(diphenylmethylene)hydrazinecarbothioamide derivatives with cholinesterase inhibitory activities

Thiosemicarbazones of 2-amino-5-chlorobenzophenone and 3-aminobenzophenone（L¹-L⁴） have been synthesized and their Cu（Ⅱ） complexes（1-4） were afforded via coordination with cupric chloride.All these compounds were characterized by UV-vis and IR spectroscopy together with CHN elemental analysis.NMR spectroscopy was also applied to characterize the ligands.In vitro chohnesterase inhibitory assays for the complexes（1-4） showed IC₅₀ values less than 10μmol/L,with complex 1 exhibiting the most activity,IC₅₀=2.15μmol/L and 2.16μmol/L for AChE and BuChE,respectively. Molecular modeling simulation revealed the binding interaction template for complex 1 with the AChE and BuChE receptors.In DPPH assay,the complexes also showed more in vitro antioxidant activities in comparison to their parent ligands.     

Synthesis of 2D Germanane (GeH): a New,Fast, and Facile Approach

Germanane (GeH), a germanium analogue of graphane, has recently attracted considerable interest because its remarkable combination of properties makes it an extremely suitable candidate to be used as 2D material for field effect devices, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Up to now, the synthesis of GeH has been conducted by substituting Ca by H in a β‐CaGe₂ layered Zintl phase through topochemical deintercalation in aqueous HCl. This reaction is generally slow and takes place over 6 to 14 days. The new and facile protocol presented here allows to synthesize GeH at room temperature in a significantly shorter time (a few minutes), which renders this method highly attractive for technological applications. The GeH produced with this method is highly pure and has a band gap (E_g) close to 1.4 eV, a lower value than that reported for germanane synthesized using HCl, which is promising for incorporation of GeH in solar cells.     

Noise Stability of SIS Receivers

There is a strong interest in the submillimeter astronomy community to increase the IF bandwidth of SIS receivers in order to better facilitate broad spectral linewidth and continuum observations of extragalactic sources. However, with an increase in receiver IF bandwidth there is a decrease in the mixer stability. This in turn effects the integration efficiency and quality of the measurement. In order to better understand the noise mechanisms responsible for reducing the receiver stability, we employed a technique first described by D.W. Allan and later elaborated upon by Schieder et al. In this paper we address a variety of factors that degrade the noise stability of SIS receivers. The goal of this exercise is to make recommendations aimed at maximizing SIS receiver stability.     

Phase equilibria in binary mixtures of ethane and hexadecane

This paper reports experimental results of a study of the phase behaviour of binary mixtures of ethane + hexadecane. In the near-critical region of ethane liquid + vapour and solid hexadecane + liquid two-phase boundaries have been measured. Also the three-phase equilibrium solid hexadecane + liquid + vapour has been determined experimentally. The experimental data cover the complete mole fraction range. Pressures up to 18 MPa were applied and the investigation was performed in a temperature region from about 260 K up to 450 K.     

Photoluminescent energy transfer from poly(phenyleneethynylene)s to near‐infrared emitting fluorophores

Photoluminescent energy transfer was investigated in conjugated polymer‐fluorophore blended thin films. A pentiptycene‐containing poly(phenyleneethynylene) was used as the energy donor, and 13 fluorophores were used as energy acceptors. The efficiency of energy transfer was measured by monitoring both the quenching of the polymer emission and the enhancement of the fluorophore emission. Near‐infrared emitting squaraines and terrylenes were identified as excellent energy acceptors. These results, where a new fluorescent signal occurs in the near‐infrared region on a completely dark background, offer substantial possibilities for designing highly sensitive turn‐on sensors. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3382–3391, 2010     

345 GHZ PROTOTYPE SIS MIXER WITH INTEGRATED MMIC LNA

We report on heterodyne measurements at submillimeter wavelengths using a receiver with a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer device and a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) cryogenic low noise amplifier (LNA) module integrated into the same block. The mixer characterization presented in this work demonstrates the feasibility of operating a MMIC LNA in close proximity to the SIS device without penalty in mixer performance due to heating effects. Verification of this functionality is crucial for the ongoing development of SuperCam, a 64-pixel focal plane array receiver consisting of eight, 1 × 8 integrated mixer/LNA modules. The test setup included a mixer block modified to accept a MMIC amplifier. Our tests show that the LNA can be operated over a broad range of V_drain voltages from 0.40–1.40 V, corresponding to dissipative powers of 2.6–29 mW. We observe no significant effect on the measured uncorrected receiver noise temperatures in the 345 GHz band.     

A safe harbor can protect an endangered species from its predators

The objective is the study of the dynamics of a prey–predator model where the prey species can migrate between two patches. The specialist predator is confined to the first patch, where it consumes the prey following the simple law of mass action. The prey is further “endangered” in that it suffers from the strong Allee effect, assumed to occur due to the lowering of successful matings. In the second patch the prey grows logistically. The model is formulated in a comprehensive way so as to include specialist as well as generalist predators, as a continuum of possible behaviors. This model described by a set of three ordinary differential equation is an extension of some previous models proposed and analysed in the literature on metapopulation models. The following analysis issues will be addressed: boundedness of the solution, equilibrium feasibility and stability, and dynamic behaviour dependency of the population and environmental parameters. Three types for both equilibria and limit cycles are possible: trivial, predator-free and coexistence. Classical analysis techniques are used and also theoretical and numerical bifurcation analysis. Besides the well-known local bifurcations, also a homoclinic connection as a global bifurcation is calculated. In view of the difficulty in the analysis, only the specialist case will be analysed. The obtained results indicate that the safe harbor can protect the endangered species under certain parametric restrictions.

     

Magnetization Transfer via Residual Dipolar Couplings: Application to Proton–Proton Correlations in Partially Aligned Proteins

A novel three-dimensional NMR experiment is reported that allows the observation of correlations between amide and other protons via residual dipolar couplings in partially oriented proteins. The experiment is designed to permit quantitative measurement of the magnitude of proton–proton residual dipolar couplings in larger molecules and at higher degree of alignments. The observed couplings contain data valuable for protein resonance assignment, local protein structure refinement, and determination of low-resolution protein folds.