Change in the molecular weight distribution of poly(ethylene oxide) caused by the complexation with poly(acrylic acid)

The complexation between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was made by using double the molar quantity of either polymer component at pH 2 where the resulting complex completely precipitates. After the removal of the precipitate, PEO or PAA remaining in the supernatant was subjected to gel permeation chromatography to investigate the change in the molecular weight distribution (MWD) caused by the complexation. No remarkable difference is observed in the MWD curves for PEO[1] (M_w=1.37 × 10⁴) before and after the complexation with PAA[1] (M_w=1.10 × 10³) and PAA[2] (M_w=4.16 × 10⁵). However, the MWD curves of PEO[2] (M_w=1.26 × 10⁵) and PAA[2] become shortened and shift to the low molecular weight side after the complexation with PAA[1] or [2] and PEO[2], respectively. This tendency is enhanced by increasing the complexation temperature. From these results, it is indicated that the complexation between PEO and PAA deals with an equilibrium reaction, and the equilibrium constant is dependent on the chain length of both polymer components and also on the complexation temperature.     

Gel chromatographic investigation of p-benzoquinone and styrene products copolymerized in the presence of BF3·OEt2

The molecular weight distribution of copolymers of p-benzoquinone and styrene was studied by g.p.c.. It was shown that the products synthesized have low molecular weights and narrow MWD. p-Benzoquinone was found to be a copolymer macromolecule regulator.     

Temperature Dependence of the Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in Nd_2Co_(14)B Compound

Easy and hard magnetization curves of Nd_2Co_(14)B compound have been measured withextracting-sample-magnetometer(μ_0H_(max)=6T)at 10～300 K.Magnetic anisotropy constants K_1 and K_2have been determined by fitting the hard magnetization curves,in which only K_1 ,K_2 and misalignment anglehave been taken as fitting parameters.The values of K_1 and K_2 at 4.2 K were derived by extrapolation.Anisotropy coefficients,x_2~° and x_4~°were derived from the anisotropy constants.The anisotropy constant K_2increases rapidly with increasing temperature when TT_(sr).The temperature depen-dence of the magnetic anisotropy coefficient x_2~° was fitted with the formula.The anisotropy coefficients x_2~°can be well described by the tenth-power law from 4.2 K to T_(sr)and by the sixth-power law from T_(sr_ to 300 K.     

一种计算氢扩散系数的新方法

利用电化学氢渗透曲线来计算室温附近氢在金属中的扩散系数是一种广为应用的方法。从理论上讲,在氢渗透曲线上的任何一点上都可以计算出氢在金属晶格中的扩散系数。但是从实际获得的氢渗透曲线各点算得的氢扩散系数并不一致。这是因为在金属中,一般都不可避免地存在一些氢的陷阱,如位错、晶界、杂质原子等,它们会不同程度地阻碍氢在金属晶格中的扩散过程。而理论推导本身并没有考虑到氢陷阱存在的影响,因此实际得     

Recent development and applications of an optical method for measurements of thermophysical properties

The experimental determination of thermophysical properties has been greatly improved by the introduction of laser technology. The laser beam is used for sensing and also for heating (or exciting) the specimen. The advantage of using a laser beam is most strongly felt in the measurement of the thermal conductivity or the thermal diffusivity, which are some of the most difficult properties to measure. Interesting features of new techniques for investigating various aspects of thermal conductivity in fluids and solids are reviewed. An optical method, the so-called forced Rayleigh scattering method, or the laser-induced optical-grating method, has been developed and used extensively by the present author's group. The method is a high-speed remote-sensing method which can also quantitatively detect anisotropy, namely, direction dependence of heat conduction in the material. It was used for determination of the thermal diffusivity and its anisotropic behavior for high-temperature materials such as molten salts, liquid crystals, extended polymer samples, and flowing polymer melts under shear. Interesting applications of the method were demonstrated also for thermal diffusivity mapping and microscale measurement.Invited paper presented at the Twelfth symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Proximity-Induced Fully Ferromagnetic Order with Eightfold Magnetic Anisotropy in Heavy Transition Metal Oxide CaRuO3

Ferromagnetic materials with a strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) have attracted much attention in recent years because of their exotic properties and potential applications in energy-efficient spintronics. However, such materials are scarce in nature. Here, a proximity-induced paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition for the heavy transition metal oxide CaRuO₃ in (001)-(LaMnO₃/CaRuO₃) superlattices is reported. Anomalous Hall effect is observed in the temperature range up to 180 K. Maximal anomalous Hall conductivity and anomalous Hall angle are as large as ∼15 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and ∼0.93%, respectively, by one to two orders of magnitude larger than those of the typical 3d ferromagnetic oxides such as La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃. Density functional theory calculations indicate the existence of avoid band crossings in the electronic band structure of the ferromagnetic CRO layer, which enhances Berry curvature thus strong anomalous Hall effects. Further evidences from polarized neutron reflectometry show that the CaRuO₃ layers are in a fully ferromagnetic state (∼0.8 μ_B/Ru), in sharp contrast to the proximity-induced canted antiferromagnetic state in 5d oxides SrIrO₃ and CaIrO₃ (∼0.1 μ_B/Ir). More than that, the magnetic anisotropy of the (001)-(LaMnO₃/CaRuO₃) superlattices is eightfold symmetric, showing potential applications in the technology of multistate data storage.     

Epitaxial growth of large-area and highly crystalline anisotropic ReSe<Subscript>2</Subscript> atomic layer

The anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) layered material rhenium disulfide (ReSe2) has attracted considerable attention because of its unusual properties and promising applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.However,because of its low lattice symmetry and interlayer decoupling,anisotropic growth and out-of-plane growth occur easily,yielding thick flakes,dendritic structure,or flower-like structure.In this study,we demonstrated a bottom-up method for the controlled and scalable synthesis of ReSe2 by van der Waals epitaxy.To achieve controllable growth,a micro-reactor with a confined reaction space was constructed by stacking two mica substrates in the chemical vapor deposition system.Within the confined reaction space,the nucleation density and growth rate of ReSe2 were significantly reduced,favoring the large-area synthesis of ReSe2 with a uniform monolayer thickness.The morphological evolution of ReSe2 with growth temperature indicated that the anisotropic growth was suppressed at a low growth temperature (＜600 ℃).Field-effect transistors employing the grown ReSe2 exhibited p-type conduction with a current ON/OFF ratio up to 10s and a hole carrier mobility of 0.98 cm2/(V.s).Furthermore,the ReSe2 device exhibited an outstanding photoresponse to near-infrared light,with responsivity up to 8.4 and 5.1 A/W for 850-and 940-nm light,respectively.This work not only promotes the large-scale application of ReSe2 in high-performance electronic devices but also clarifies the growth mechanism of low-lattice symmetry 2D materials.     

Fatigue Crack Growth and Fracture of 30 wt% B4C/6061Al Composites

This paper focuses on studying the fatigue crack growth (FCG) characteristics and fracture behaviours of 30 wt% B₄C/6061Al composites fabricated by using powder metallurgy and hot extrusion method. Compact tension (CT) specimens having incisions parallel to the extrusion direction (T‐D) and perpendicular to the extrusion direction (E‐D) were investigated through FCG tests. Results show that, at low/medium stress‐intensity factor range levels (ΔK ≤ 9), crack propagation rate in E‐D specimens is lower than that in T‐D specimens because the elongated B₄C particles parallel to the extrusion direction in E‐D specimens can deflect the crack. The scanning electron microscope micrographs of the fractured surface illustrate that crack mainly propagates in the matrix alloy at the initial stage of its propagation and propagates more remarkably near the particle‐matrix interface with the increase of ΔK value. B₄C particles are also found to be easy to fracture during the rapid crack propagation. Based on fracture analyses, considering the impacts of factors like crack deviation, plastic zone size at the crack tip, and crack driving force, a 2‐D crack propagation model was developed to study the fatigue crack propagation mechanism in the 30 wt% B₄C/6061Al composite.     

Drug self-assembly: A phenomenon at the nanometer scale with major impact in the structure–biological properties relationship and the treatment of disease

Under water-rich conditions, small amphiphilic and hydrophobic drug molecules self-assemble into supramolecular nanostructures. Thus, substantial modifications in their interaction with cellular structures and the ability to reach intracellular targets could happen. Additionally, drug aggregates could be more toxic than the non-aggregated counterparts, or vice versa. Moreover, since self-aggregation reduces the number of effective “monomeric” molecules that interact with the target, the drug potency could be underestimated. In other cases, the activity could be ascribed to the non-aggregated molecule while it stems from its aggregates. Thus, drug self-assembly could mislead from drug throughput screening assays to advanced preclinical and clinical trials. Finally, aggregates could serve as crystallization nuclei. The impact that this phenomenon has on the biological performance of active compounds, the inconsistent and often controversial nature of the published data and the need for recommendations/guidelines as preamble of more harmonized research protocols to characterize drug self-aggregation were main motivations for this review. First, the key molecular and environmental parameters governing drug self-aggregation, the main drug families for which this phenomenon and the methods used for its characterization are described. Then, promising nanotechnology platforms investigated to prevent/control it towards a more efficient drug development process are briefly discussed.