Monodisperse polymer/metal composite particles by electroless chemical deposition: Effect of surface functionality of polymer particles

Micron‐sized polymer particles were coated with layers of nickel compounds by plating electrolessly in the presence of aqueous solutions of nickel chloride, sodium hypophosphite, sodium citrate, and ammonium chloride at elevated temperature. The uniform functional polymer particle could be obtained by seeded polymerization. To investigate the effect of surface functionality on the conditions for nickel deposition, the polymer particle was functionalized with the thiol group. From morphological observation, it was found that the mode of nickel deposition was greatly dependent on the surface functionality of the polymer particle. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 420–424, 2003     

Evaluation of Polyester Resin as a New Compatibilizer for SBR/PVC Blends

A polyester (PE) based on the glycolyzed products of PET was prepared and added in different concentrations to a series of SBR/PVC blends. The addition of the polyester showed that all properties of SBR/PVC blends were improved by incorporation of PE. Highest mechanical strength values were obtained at a polyester concentration of 7.5 phr. Thermal analysis as well as dynamic mechanical properties of SBR/PVC blends after the addition of 7.5 and 10 phr polyester indicated one single glass transition temperature. The dielectric losses (?") were analyzed in the frequency domains in the two terms of Fröhlich related to the Maxwell Wagner effect and the orientation of the aggregates caused by the movement of the main chain. The permittivity (?') values were found to increase by increasing the polyester content. This increase was followed by a decrease in the ?" up to a 7.5 phr polyester content after which no pronounced change was noticed.     

Thermal and crystallization characteristics of poly(ethylene terephthalate) with poly(oxybenzoate‐p‐trimethylene terephthalate) copolymer

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was blended with two different poly(oxybenzoate‐p‐trimethylene terephthalate) copolymers, designated T28 and T64, with the level of copolymer varying from 1 to 15 wt %. All samples were prepared by solution blending in a 60/40 (by weight) phenol/tetrachloroethane solvent at 50°C. The crystallization behavior of the samples was studied by DSC. The results indicate that both T28 and T64 accelerated the crystallization rate of PET in a manner similar to that of a nucleating agent. The acceleration of PET crystallization rate was most pronounced in the PET/T64 blends with a maximum level at 5 wt % of T64. The melting temperatures for the blends are comparable to that of pure PET. The observed changes in crystallization behavior are explained by the effect of the physical state of the copolyester during PET crystallization as well as the amount of copolymer in the blends. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 1599–1606, 2002     

High catalytic activity of PdOx/MnO2 for CO oxidation and importance of oxidation state of Mn

PdO_x/MnO₂ has been examined as a catalyst for CO oxidation using a conventional flow reactor at reaction temperatures between 50 and 150°C. In the reaction conditions of GHSV (gashourlyspacevelocity) of 1.22 × 10⁵/h and CO concentration of 2000 ppm, PdO_x/MnO₂ showed higher catalytic activity compared with PdO_x/Mn₂O₃, which had been previously reported as an effective catalyst due to the cooperative action of Pd and Mn₂O₃ for this reaction. The reason for higher activity of PdO_x/MnO₂ than PdO_x/Mn₂O₃ has been investigated using TPR (temperatureprogrammed reduction) and XPS studies. TPR showed that PdO_x/MnO₂ could be reduced by CO at much lower temperature than PdO_x/Mn₂O₃. During the experiment of reduction and oxidation, XPS showed that the valence of Mn in the PdO_x/MnO₂ was between 4+ and 3+, which is higher than that of Mn in the PdO_x/Mn₂O₃ catalyst of which the valence has been reported to be between 3+ and 2+. It is known that in this catalyst system the support supplies oxygen onto Pd, where the oxidation occurs with adsorbed CO, and the ability of the support to provide oxygen improves the performance of the catalyst. Therefore, it was concluded that the readiness of MnO₂ to be reduced with maintaining a higher oxidation state showed higher CO oxidation activity than Mn₂O₃ as support for PdO_x.     

A voltammetric study concerning the structural stability of Li-overstoichiometric Mg-doped LiCoO2 powders

The effect of Mg-doping and Li overstoichiometry on the structural stability of LiCoO₂ powders has been investigated with emphasis to voltammetric properties. Microparticle cyclic voltammetry (CV) conducted in caustic NaOH to best simulate a non-aqueous electrolyte shows a marked improvement of the structure stability of doped LiCoO₂. In contrast to the unsubstituted LiCoO₂ sample which shows voltammetric peaks associated to the well-known two-phase domain and monoclinic distortion reactions, in Li_1.08Mg_0.06CoO₂, LiMg_0.06CoO₂ and Li_1.08CoO₂ samples these peaks are strongly suppressed providing direct evidence for the existence of a stable solid solution with negligible phase transitions in the reversible intercalation region (3.8-4.2 V vs. Li) as well as in the overcharged region. The effect is higher with Mg-doping, irrespective of the Li overstoichiometry. However, the concomitant presence of Mg and Li excess in the structure is important for obtaining small particle sizes. Since Mg-doping induces a quasi metallic behavior in the samples, whereas the Li excess may provide an higher initial capacity, it is suggested that the Li_1.08Mg_0.06CoO₂ composition may be of interest as positive cathode for advanced Li-ion batteries.     

The kinetics of B‐a and P‐a type copolybenzoxazine via the ring opening process

The structure of benzoxazines is similar to that of phenolic resin through thermal self‐curing of the heterocyclic ring opening reaction that neither requires catalyst nor releases any condensation byproduct. These polybenzoxazine resins have several outstanding properties such as high thermal stability and high glass transition temperature. To better understand the curing kinetics of this copolybenzoxazine thermosetting resin, dynamic and isothermal differential scanning calorimetry measurements were performed. Three models, the Kissinger method, the Flynn–Wall–Osawa method, and the Kamal method, were used to describe the curing process. Dynamic kinetic activation energies based on Kissinger and Flynn–Wall–Osawa methods are 72.11 and 84.06 KJ/mol, respectively. The Kamal method based on an autocatalytic model results in a total order of reaction between 2.66 and 3.03, depending on curing temperature. Its activation energy and Arrhenius preexponential are 50.3 KJ/mol and 7959, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 730–737, 2005     

Smooth Loops from Unconstrained Video

Converting unconstrained video sequences into videos that loop seamlessly is an extremely challenging problem. In this work, we take the first steps towards automating this process by focusing on an important subclass of videos containing a single dominant foreground object. Our technique makes two novel contributions over previous work: first, we propose a correspondence‐based similarity metric to automatically identify a good transition point in the video where the appearance and dynamics of the foreground are most consistent. Second, we develop a technique that aligns both the foreground and background about this transition point using a combination of global camera path planning and patch‐based video morphing. We demonstrate that this allows us to create natural, compelling, loopy videos from a wide range of videos collected from the internet.     

Efficient wavelet-based ECG processing for single-lead FHR extraction

This paper describes a novel model for fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring from single-lead mother?s abdomen ECG (AECG) measurements. This novel method is divided in two stages: the first step consists on a one-step wavelet-based preprocessing for simultaneous baseline and high-frequency noise suppression, while the second stage efficiently detects fetal QRS complexes allowing FHR monitoring. The presented structure has been simplified as much as possible, in order to reduce computational cost and thus enable possible custom hardware implementations. Moreover, the proposed scheme and its fixed-point modeling have been tested using real abdominal ECG signals, which allow the validation of the presented approach and provide high accuracy.