Numerical simulation of gas-assisted polymer-melt electrospinning: Parametric study of a multinozzle system for mass production

In this study, we developed a multiphysics model for simulation of a gas-assisted melt-electrospinning (GAME) process, focusing on jet formation and propagation behavior. By numerically calculating the stresses acting on the jet during a single-nozzle GAME process, the shear viscous stress was identified as the main factor with respect to jet stretch; thus, the relationship between shear viscous stress and jet thickness was investigated. The jet stretch ratio increased sharply when shear viscous stress reached the level at which jet sharpening occurred, leading to stable jet formation. We defined this stress as the critical shear viscous stress to determine stable spinnability. By imposing an electric field distribution calculated for a multi-nozzle array (number of nozzles, tip-to-tip distance, and applied voltage) on the boundary condition of the single-nozzle GAME simulation model, multinozzle GAME was simulated; this enabled proposal of a spinnability diagram for stable spinning.     

Synthesis of Isopropyl Palmitate by Lipase Immobilized on a Magnetized Polymer Matrix

Penicillium camemberti lipase immobilized on a magnetized poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) was used as a biocatalyst for isopropyl palmitate synthesis. The reaction conditions were determined by 2² factorial central composite design. A mathematical model based on a simplified kinetic approach was developed to describe the system and validated with the experimental data. An assay carried out in a stirred-tank reactor confirmed the proposed model. The ester was purified and the properties such as density and water content were similar to those found in commercially available isopropyl palmitate.     

A coupled and interactive influence of operational parameters for optimizing power output of cleaner energy production systems under uncertain conditions

The mechanisms in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) cannot be explicitly represented by a mathematical function because the PEMFC system is multi‐dimensional and complex and represents uncertainty in operation variables, which cannot be modeled by experiments or by trial‐and‐error approach. Therefore, this work proposes to study the coupled and interactive influence of stack current (SC), stack temperature (ST), oxygen excess ratio (OER), hydrogen excess ratio (HER), and inlet air humidity (IAH) for optimizing the power output of PEMFC. The data obtained from the experiments have been inserted into architecture of automated neural‐network search, which automates the selection of error function, activation function, uncertainties in inputs and number of hidden neurons in formulation of a robust and accurate model for power density as a function of five operational variables. Among the operational variables, the correlation coefficient between the SC and the output power is the highest, followed by OER, and the ST. However, for HER and IAH, the power output follows negative nonlinear relation. The optimization converged at 130^th iteration results in maximum power output of 3410 W for an optimum value of SC (51A), ST (59°C), OER (3:2), HER (1:10), and IAH (0.8).     

Preparation and properties of lithium sulfonated polyoxadiazoles electrolyte

以硫酸肼（HS）、对苯二甲酸（TPA）、4，4'-联苯醚二甲酸（DPE）为单体，发烟硫酸做溶剂和脱水剂一步合成了一系列不同TPA和DPE单体配比的磺化聚芳噁二唑（SPOD），再通过氢氧化锂中和得到聚芳噁二唑磺酸锂（Li-SPOD）聚合物电解质，采用浇铸成膜法制得Li-SPOD电解质膜，研究改变TPA和DPE两种单体配比对Li-SPOD结构及性能的影响。结果表明，几种不同单体配比均能实现在聚合过程中一步得到SPOD，磺酸基团接枝在DPE结构的苯环上，并且可以达到理论接枝量；同时Li-SPOD电解质膜的聚集态结构差异很小；热性能的表现均非常优异，初始热分解温度都在450 ℃以上；力学性能随DPE单体含量的增加稍有下降但依然保持在较高的水平；电导率约为10^-5S/cm级别，随DPE含量增加而逐渐降低；Li-SPOD固态电解质电化学稳定性较好，对锂稳定电化学窗口均在4.0 V以上。     

Activity pulses induce spontaneous flow reversals in viscoelastic environments

Complex interactions between cellular systems and their surrounding extracellular matrices are emerging as important mechanical regulators of cell functions, such as proliferation, motility and cell death, and such cellular systems are often characterized by pulsating actomyosin activities. Here, using an active gel model, we numerically explore spontaneous flow generation by activity pulses in the presence of a viscoelastic medium. The results show that cross-talk between the activity-induced deformations of the viscoelastic surroundings and the time-dependent response of the active medium to these deformations can lead to the reversal of spontaneously generated active flows. We explain the mechanism behind this phenomenon based on the interaction between the active flow and the viscoelastic medium. We show the importance of relaxation time scales of both the polymers and the active particles and provide a phase space over which such spontaneous flow reversals can be observed. Our results suggest new experiments investigating the role of controlled pulses of activity in living systems ensnared in complex mircoenvironments.     

Renoprotective Angiographic Polymersomes

Computed tomography (CT) angiography is powerful for the diagnosis of vascular diseases. Unfortunately, this method usually requires a high dosage of iodinated contrast agents, which can lead to severe elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels within kidneys. This causes oxidative stress, apoptosis, and hence contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), a leading cause of iatrogenic renal failure, especially for patients with renal insufficiency. Herein, a route is shown to circumvent such problems with the usage of rationally designed renoprotective angiographic polymersomes (RAPs) as blood pool CT contrast agents. RAPs are biodegradable nanoparticles prepared via self-assembly of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(triiodobenzoic chloride-conjugated polylysine-stat-phenylboronic acid pinacol ester-conjugated polylysine) (PEO₄₅-b-P[(Lys-IBC)₄₅-stat-(Lys-PAPE)₁₅]). The key to the efficiency of such nanoparticles as renoprotective contrast agents arises from the rationally chosen repeat units: Lys-IBC exhibits a concentration-dependent X-ray attenuation capability and Lys-PAPE introduces an ROS-scavenging ability to the polymersome. The study shows that RAPs can reduce the risk of CIN in mice with kidney injury. Additionally, a 5-fold increase in angiographic live time is observed using RAPs, compared to commonly used iodinated small molecule contrast agents. In summary, a new strategy is proposed for the design of a renoprotective angiographic contrast agent that is capable of reducing the risk of CIN.     

Suppressing Ion Migration across Perovskite Grain Boundaries by Polymer Additives

Passivation of organometal halide perovskites with polar molecules has been recently demonstrated to improve the photovoltaic device efficiency and stability. However, the mechanism is still elusive. Here, it is found that both polymers with large and small dipole moment of 3.7 D and 0.6 D have negligible defect passivation effect on the MAPbI₃ perovskite films as evidenced by photothermal deflection spectroscopy. The photovoltaic devices with and without the polymer additives also have comparable power conversion efficiencies around 19%. However, devices with the additives have noticeable improvement in stability under continuous light irradiation. It is found that although the initial mobile ion concentrations are comparable in both devices with and without the additives, the additives can strongly suppress the ion migration during the device operation. This contributes to the significantly enhanced electrical-field stress tolerance of the perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). The PVSCs with polymer additives can operate up to −2 V reverse voltage bias which is much larger than the breakdown voltage of −0.5 V that has been commonly observed. This study provides insight into the role of additives in perovskites and the corresponding device degradation mechanism.     

水性抗菌羟基丙烯酸树脂的制备及性能

以甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)、丙烯酸丁酯(BA)、丙烯酸(AA)、丙烯酸羟丙酯(HPA)为单体,过氧化二苯甲酰(BPO)为引发剂,乙醇为助溶剂,采用半连续溶液聚合法合成得到了水性羟基丙烯酸树脂(hs-WA),再用三乙胺(TEA)中和,最后引入季铵盐抗菌剂3-(甲氧基硅烷基)丙基二甲基十八烷基氯化铵(TSA),合成得到了水性抗菌羟基丙烯酸树脂(hs-WAT)。利用FTIR、1HNMR、接触角、SEM、TG和DSC对样品进行了分析,并采用菌落计数法和抑菌圈法对样品进行了抗菌测试。结果表明:引入TSA反应后,树脂的表面形貌没有改变;水接触角从78.5?增大至87.5?;样品的分解温度范围为299～456℃,热稳定性提高;聚合物链柔韧性增强(Tg=8.3℃)。抗菌性能分析表明:当引入TSA的质量分数为4%(以树脂的固含量计)时,hs-WAT膜对大肠杆菌(革兰氏阴性菌)以及金黄色葡萄球菌(革兰氏阳性菌)的杀灭率达99.9%以上,TSA未发生迁移,合成的聚合物为水性非渗透性接触型抗菌材料。