Effects of α‐form or β‐form nuclei on polymorphic crystalline morphology of poly(butylene adipate)

The effects of α‐form and β‐form nuclei on polymorphic morphology of poly(butylene adipate) (PBA) upon recrystallization from the molten state up to various T_max values were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). In this study, PBA with complex melting and polymorphism behaviour was used as a model for examining different types and extents of residual nuclei. As the PBA initially containing the sole α‐crystal was brought to a molten state of various T_max, the extents of trace α‐form crystal nuclei varied and were dependent on T_max. Furthermore, it did not matter whether, initially, the PBA contained α‐ or β‐form crystals (or both) because only a single type of α‐nuclei could be left upon treatment to the molten liquid state at T_max. Therefore, only the α‐crystal in PBA had ‘memory capacity’ in the molten liquid state while the β‐crystal did not. This was so because the latter had been completely transformed into the solid state prior to being heated into a liquid. PBA crystallized before α‐nuclei could be packed into α‐crystal, regardless of the crystallization temperature (T_c). For recrystallization from molten PBA without any nuclei, the crystalline polymorphism was correspondingly influenced by T_c. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

High-temperature hydrothermal systems in West Yunnan Province, China

There are more than 660 thermal springs in West Yunnan Province, 30 of which are high-temperature hydrothermal systems with reservoir temperatures above 150°C.All thermal springs in West Yunnan are under the control of the tectonics, most of them being distributed at anticlinoria of metamorphic rocks and granites. This paper discusses the relationship between thermal areas and tectonics, the correlation between thermal springs in West Yunnan and North Thailand, and the geothermal prospects in West Yunnan.     

Methylaluminoxane/haloalkane as initiator system for styrene polymerization

Summary Styrene polymerization was initiated by methylaluminoxane in the presence of haloalkane. The propagating species are shown by trapping experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance to be both radicals and cations.     

Simulation of programmable logic controller

The development and test of a PLC control program takes time, increases equipment down-time, and might damage hardware due to program errors. All of these problems can be eliminated if there is a computer simulation system for testing control programs off line. This paper presented a new method, called Direct Sequential Method, for simulating PLCs. This method resolves a ladder logic sequentially by applying a series of logic deductions. This simulation system has been implemented in C and tested successfully.     

Structure Development Study of Pb (Zr, Ti)O3 Thin Films by an Optical Method

Lead zirconate titanates (Pb (Zr_xTi_1–x)O₃ or PZT) are well-known materials with useful ferroelectric properties for nonvolatile memory applications. The device applications usually require processes which form the ferroelectric perovskite phase at low temperatures. Understanding the various aspects of structure development of PZT films is the key to develop low-temperature processes. An effective, versatile, and nondestructive optical method was developed for the study of the structure development in PZT films. Also, models for the structure development were proposed and were verified by this optical method. Using this method, the characteristic temperatures at which both pyrochlore phase and perovskite phase are initiated and completed were identified. The pyrochloreperovskite transformation was initiated at lower temperature and completed faster for the films on the titanium-rich side than those on the zirconium-rich side. In addition, the volume fractions of the perovskite phase were obtained as a function of annealing temperature by this optical method.     

Surgical navigation by autostereoscopic image overlay of integral videography

This paper describes an autostereoscopic image overlay technique that is integrated into a surgical navigation system to superimpose a real three-dimensional (3-D) image onto the patient via a half-silvered mirror. The images are created by employing a modified version of integral videography (IV), which is an animated extension of integral photography. IV records and reproduces 3-D images using a microconvex lens array and flat display; it can display geometrically accurate 3-D autostereoscopic images and reproduce motion parallax without the need for special devices. The use of semitransparent display devices makes it appear that the 3-D image is inside the patient's body. This is the first report of applying an autostereoscopic display with an image overlay system in surgical navigation. Experiments demonstrated that the fast IV rendering technique and patient-image registration method produce an average registration accuracy of 1.13 mm. Experiments using a target in phantom agar showed that the system can guide a needle toward a target with an average error of 2.6 mm. Improvement in the quality of the IV display will make this system practical and its use will increase surgical accuracy and reduce invasiveness.     

High‐Tg Carbazole Derivatives as Blue‐Emitting Hole‐Transporting Materials for Electroluminescent Devices

A series of dicarbazolyl derivatives bridged by various aromatic spacers and decorated with peripheral diarylamines were synthesized using Ullmann and Pd‐catalyzed C–N coupling procedures. These derivatives emit blue light in solution. In general, they possess high glass‐transition temperatures (T_g > 125 °C) which vary with the bridging segment and methyl substitution on the peripheral amine. Double‐layer organic light‐emitting devices were successfully fabricated using these molecules as hole‐transporting and emitting materials. Devices of the configuration ITO/HTL/TPBI/Mg:Ag (ITO: indium tin oxide; HTL: hole‐transporting layer; TPBI: 1,3,5‐tris(N‐phenylbenzimidazol‐2‐yl)benzene) display blue emission from the HTL layer. The EL spectra of these devices appear slightly distorted due to the exciplex formation at the interfaces. However, for the devices of the configuration ITO/HTL/Alq₃/Mg:Ag (Alq₃ = tris(8‐hydroxyquinoline)aluminum) a bright green light from the Alq₃ layer was observed. This clearly demonstrates the facile hole‐transporting property of the materials described here.     

Kinetics of AuSn4 migration in lead-free solders

The relatively fast diffusion of Au atoms in eutectic PbSn matrix is considered one of the contributing factors to the Au embrittlement problem. In this study, we further investigated the Au embrittlement problem in high-Sn solders. Experimentally, Sn3.5Ag (wt.%) spheres with 500-μm diameter were soldered over the Au/Ni soldering pads. It was found that some of the AuSn₄ needles that formed after reflow inside the solder migrated back to the solder/pad interface during thermal aging. However, the migration kinetics in high-Sn solders was slower compared to that in eutectic PbSn. The difference in migration kinetics of AuSn₄ in eutectic PbSn and SnAg was ascribed to the difference in the magnitudes of the Au flux and the Ni flux. In eutectic PbSn, the Au flux was much greater than that of the Ni flux, and the Au and Ni flux were in the same order of magnitude in eutectic SnAg. The relative magnitude of the Au and Ni flux changed in eutectic PbSn and SnAg because the homologous temperatures of PbSn and SnAg were different.     

Optical DQPSK Receiver With Enhanced Dispersion Tolerance

We propose and analyze a novel differential quadrature phase-shift-keying (DQPSK) receiver architecture based on optical frequency discriminator filtering and direct detection. Our simulations show that such a receiver provides significantly enhanced tolerance to chromatic dispersion compared with the conventional delay-interferometer-based receiver. Preliminary measurement results demonstrate the novel DQPSK demodulator concept at 20 Gb/s.     

A Study of the Compatibility Between Asphalt and SBS

In this article, the compatibilities between different components of a base asphalt and styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) have been analyzed from microscopic structures. Specifically, the asphalt was separated into three components: saturates, aromatics, and resins, by Solvent Recycled Absorption Chromatography Separation Technology (SRACST). The compatibilities between these different components and the polymer were compared with the help of Fluorescence Microscope (FM) with which the existing state of the polymer SBS in these different components could be examined obviously. The modified effects indicated that aromatics could cause SBS swollen and, resins dissolved SBS better than saturates, though both the two components could partially dissolve SBS and the two mixtures presented two immiscible phase systems. In order to further investigate the compatibility between aromatics and SBS, from macroscopic properties, an additive rich in aromatics was added to the SBS/asphalt mixture, and the result was satisfactory.