Application of the essential work of fracture concept to nanostructured polymer materials

The first part of the paper deals with a critical discussion of the methodical basis of essential work of fracture (EWF) concept with respect to the specimen geometry (especially the notch depth) and application to polymers. In the second part, an in situ testing device, which combines a tensile testing machine with an optical strain-field measuring system, has successfully demonstrated possibility of characterization of fracture behaviour of polystyrene-polybutadiene block copolymers and block copolymer/homopolymer blends as examples of nanostructured polymer materials. It has been shown that knowledge of the time evolution of the strain field close to the crack tips leads to a simple verification of the basic precondition for the applicability of the EWF concept, the precondition “plastic zone coalescence-before-stable crack propagation”.     

Modification of the cation exchange resin properties by impregnation in polyethyleneimine solutions: application to the separation of metallic ions

A commercial cation exchange resin Amberlite 200 has been modified after immersion in solutions of polyethyleneimine (PEI). The kinetic of fixation of the metallic ions have been determined. The modification of the surface of the resin deals with a change in the order of the affinities of the resins towards cations. The retention is the function of the formation and the stability of the complex. The conditions of modification (pH, PEI concentration and time of immersion) have been examined and the modification was confirmed by the determination of the exchange capacities, the distribution coefficient (P) and the selectivity factors (S). The obtained results revealed the effect of PEI on the exchange properties of the resin. The pH range selected (6-8) permitted a good adherence of PEI onto the resin surface. The quantity of the adsorbed PEI was increased by raising the initial concentration and the immersion period. The exchange capacity for copper ion passed from 2.6 mmol g⁻¹, in the case of unmodified resin, to 3.9 mmol g⁻¹ for the modified one.     

醇在α-A12O3和硅胶G表面上的脱附规律

吸附质在两相界面上的吸附行为对多相催化、界面化学等有重要意义[1,2]。本文采用程序升温法分别测定了13种醇在α Al2O3和硅胶G表面上的脱附温度td,发现td与醇的沸点及烷基化效应指数[3](PEI)有定量关系。1　实验红外干燥箱100℃干燥30分钟后的吸附剂在所研究的吸附质的饱和蒸汽压、室温下平衡24-48h,以达到吸附平衡;取20-25mg吸附平衡后的吸附剂,用PCT 1A型差热天平进行TG/DTA分析,升温速率为2 5℃/min,升温范围从室温到250℃,由计算机进行数据采集(RSZ 200热分析系统软件),从DTA曲线的最高峰值确定脱附温度,每个样品重复3-5…     

Fluorescence observations on complex formation between linear and hyperbranched polyelectrolytes in dilute aqueous solutions

The complexation between poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) or AMPS copolymers was investigated with the relative excimer emission intensity I_E/I_M of a cationic probe 1-pyrenemethylamine hydrochloride (PyMeA · HCl), fluorescence nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) I_Py/I_Np of naphthalene to pyrene labels, the fluorescence anisotropy r and I_E/I_M of pyrene labels. PEI was a hyperbranched weak polycation in acid solution, which formed complex with anionic polyelectrolytes due to the electrostatic attraction. The I_E/I_M of PyMeA · HCl probe decreased to zero, the intra-, intermolecular NRET I_Py/I_Np and I_E/I_M of pyrene labels on the AMPS copolymers reached their maxima when χ was increased from 0 to 2.4, which was defined as the mole ratio of the amino group in PEI to the AMPS group in the polyanion. These facts indicated the formation of nonstoichiometric complex of the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes when χ = 2.4 at the concentration much lower than their overlap concentrations. The intermolecular aggregate appeared as indicated by an increase in the intermolecular I_Py/I_Np and r with χ up to 2.4 due to neutralizing and hydrophobizing the polyelectrolytes and the bridging effect of the PEI chain bound on different polyanion chains. At high pH, PEI became a neutral polymer and did not bind with the AMPS anion to form the complex as illustrated by the constant value of r for the pyrene labels attached to the AMPS polyanion as that without addition of PEI. The amino group in PEI quenched pyrene and naphthalene emission, resulting a decrease in both I_Np and I_Py.     

肿瘤靶向PEI包覆磁性纳米凝胶的光化学制备及表征

以聚乙烯亚胺(Polyethyleneimine, PEI)为预聚体, H2O2为抽氢剂, 采用光化学方法制备了PEI包覆的磁性纳米凝胶(PEI-Fe3O4), 在PEI-Fe3O4表面共价偶联具有肿瘤靶向作用的叶酸分子(Folate, FA), 制备得到肿瘤靶向PEI包覆磁性纳米凝胶(FA-PEI- Fe3O4). 采用多种手段对PEI-Fe3O4及FA-PEI-Fe3O4进行了表征. 结果表明, FA-PEI-Fe3O4平均粒径为140 nm, 形状规则, 具有超顺磁性, 磁含量达到22.4%, 饱和磁化强度达65.6 A·m2·kg-1, 磁性纳米凝胶较高的磁响应性能和具有肿瘤靶向作用的叶酸分子的修饰, 为其作为潜在的肿瘤靶向载体奠定了基础.     

A low-cost and low-temperature processable zinc oxide-polyethylenimine (ZnO:PEI) nano-composite as cathode buffer layer for organic and perovskite solar cells

Nanocomposite buffer layer based on metal oxide and polymer is merging as a novel buffer layer for organic solar cells, which combines the high charge carrier mobility of metal oxide and good film formation properties of polymer. In this work, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and a commercialized available polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed and used as the cathode buffer layer (CBL) for the inverted organic solar cells and p-i-n heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The cooperation of PEI in nano ZnO offers a good film forming ability of the composite material, which is an advantage in device fabrication. In addition, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO:PEI CBL based device was also improved when compared to that of ZnO-only and PEI-only devices. The highest PCE of P3HT:PC₆₁BM and PTB7-Th:PC₆₁BM devices reached to 3.57% and 8.16%, respectively. More importantly, there is no obvious device performance loss with the increase of the layer thickness of ZnO:PEI CBL to 60 nm in organic solar cells, which is in contrast to the PEI based devices, whose device performance decreases dramatically when the PEI layer thickness is higher than 6 nm. Such a nano composite material is also applicable in inverted heterojunction perovskite solar cells. A PCE of 11.76% was achieved for the perovskite solar cell with a thick ZnO:PEI CBL (150 nm) CBL, which is around 1.71% higher than that of the reference cell without CBL, or with ZnO CBL. In addition, stability of the organic and perovskite solar cells having ZnO:PEI CBL was also found to be improved in comparison with that of PEI based device.     

Effect of PEI cathode interlayer on work function and interface resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted polymer solar cells

In this paper, we investigated the effect of PEI cathode interlayer on the work function and the interface resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on PBDTTT-C-T:PC₇₀BM. It is found that a very thin layer of PEI (⩽5.5 nm), either linear PEI (l-PEI) or branched PEI (b-PEI) with different molecular weights, is enough to lower the work function of the ITO electrode and to enhance the photovoltaic performance of the devices. The champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the devices with the PEI cathode interlayer is 7.84%, more than doubled of that without the interlayer. However, a thicker PEI interlayer (⩾10 nm) results in abrupt decrease of the PCEs due to the increase of the resistance. Interestingly, for the thicker interlayers, the l-PEI shows high photovoltaic performance than that of b-PEI, which can also be explained by their difference in the resistances. This work supplies an insight into the function of PEI cathode interlayer on improving the work function and resistance of ITO electrode in the inverted PSCs, and provides some instructions on the future design of interlayer materials in PSCs.     

Antimicrobial silica particles loaded with quaternary ammonium polyethyleneimine network

Silica particles functionalized with quaternary ammonium groups were prepared by interpenetrating polyethylenimine (PEI) into silica particles and crosslinking with diiodopentane, followed by octyliodide alkylation and methyliodide quaternarization (S‐QA‐PEI). The synthesized S‐QA‐PEI particles were identified with a slight particle size increase of 2–3 µm. Different ratios of PEI:silica particles were prepared and analyzed. While silica particles are negatively charged, ?16.7 ± 5.11 mV, the prepared S‐QA‐PEI particles are positively charged, +50–60 mV. These particles were embedded in poly(ethylene vinyl acetate) and poly(ethylene methacrylic acid) coatings which exhibited strong antibacterial activity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Molecularly engineered graphene surfaces for sensing applications: A review

Graphene is scientifically and commercially important because of its unique molecular structure which is monoatomic in thickness, rigorously two-dimensional and highly conjugated. Consequently, graphene exhibits exceptional electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties. Herein, we critically discuss the surface modification of graphene, the specific advantages that graphene-based materials can provide over other materials in sensor research and their related chemical and electrochemical properties. Furthermore, we describe the latest developments in the use of these materials for sensing technology, including chemical sensors and biosensors and their applications in security, environmental safety and diseases detection and diagnosis.     

PEI/PMMA共混有机聚合物的成膜性和对硫化氢气体的响应

采用主客掺杂的方法制备PEI/PMMA共混有机聚合 物,并采用旋涂的方法研究了共混有机聚合物的成膜特性,包括薄膜厚度、平整度与旋涂薄 膜转速的关系,测量发现匀胶机 转速越高薄膜厚度越均匀,高速为1500r/min 时薄膜最大厚度差为0.626μm。有机聚合物 薄 膜的紫外透过光谱表明共混有机聚合物所成的薄膜对H₂S气体有良好的响应,当混合液中 含有0.04g的PEI时,紫外透射率由86.81%下 降到55.54%,非常明显。紫外吸收光谱表明 薄膜和低浓度H₂S气体的反应不明显,但是对高浓度的H₂S有响应。通过高温处理与H₂S气体反应后的薄膜,可以增大薄膜的紫外吸收强度。