Preparation and characterization of three-dimen-sionally ordered macroporous polystyrene via atom-transfer radical polymerization

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous polystyrene(3DOM PS) with pore size of 350 nm was fabricated using Cp2Co/Ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate(EBiB) catalytic system by ATRP.The resulting polymers were detected by FT-IR,1H-NMR,SEM,and GPC.The microstructure of 3DOM PS was confirmed by FT-IR and 1H-NMR.SEM micrographs show that both silica spheres within the templates and pores in the 3DOM polystyrene are arranged in highly ordered fashion,and the shrinkage of the pores in the 3DOM PS is 24%.GPC curves show that the 3DOM PS possesses slightly lower Mn and narrow MWD compared with bulk one.This result indicats that living polymerization is different from non-living polymerizationin in the confined space.     

Compression behavior and equation of state of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy

The compression behavior of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is investigated at room temperature in a diamond-anvil cell instrument using insitu high pressure energy dispersive X-ray diffraction with a syn- chrotron radiation source. The equation of state is determined by fitting the experimental data accord- ing to Birch-Murnaghan equation: -ΔV/V0=0.08606P-3.2×10-4P2 5.7×10-6P3. It is found that the structure of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is stable under pressures up to 30.5 GPa.     

Styrene polymerization catalyzed by nickel complexes bearing hydroxyindanone-iminate ligands

Activated by methylaluminoxane, mononuclear bis（hydroxyindanone-iminate）nickel complexes Ni[ArN=CC2H3（CH3）C6H2（R）O]2 （Ar = 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3, R=Me（1）, R=CI（2）, and R=H（3）） showed good activity for the styrene polymerization. The effect of many reaction parameters including the AI/Ni ratio, temperature, and reaction time on catalytic activities of catalytic systems and the molecular weights of the obrained polystyrene was ascertained. The highest activity of 1.34×10^5g（PS）·mol^-1（Ni）·h^-1 was obtained under the optimum reaction condition. The ^13C NMR spectra of the polymers revealed that the polymer was isotactic-rich atactic polystyrene. And the coordination mechanism was confirmed by the analyses of the polymer chain end-groups.     

Synthesis and optical properties of poly[(4-(benzoxazole-2-yl)phenyl)methyl methacrylate] with 1,8-naphthalimide end group

A series of homopolymers, poly[(4-(benzoxazole-2-yl)phenyl)methyl methacrylate] (NAPH-PMABEs) containing benzoxazole side chain and 1,8-naphthalimide end group, were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and end-group modification. The structure of NAPH-PMABE was characterized by GPC, ¹H-NMR and UV-vis spectra. The polymer has good solubility in common organic solvents, such as dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), tetrahydrofuran (THF), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), chloroform (CHCl₃), acetone and toluene. The optical properties of NAPH-PMABE were investigated. Results show that NAPH-PMABE has a composite emission spectrum comprising an ultraviolet component originating from benzoxazole side chains and a green component originating from 1,8-naphthalimide end group in both solution and film. The intensity of the two emission bands can be easily tuned by changing molecular weight. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20476066 and 20571054), Science and Technology Project in Suzhou, China (Grant No. SG0718), and Project of High Technology of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BG2005021)     

Synthesis and self-assembly of amphiphilic ABA type triblock copolymer with well-defined glycopolymer segments

A novel amphiphilic ABA type triblock copolymer with well-defined glycopolymer segments was successfully synthesized via the atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP） technique, using a bromo-terminated difunctional polysulfone as macroinitiator. The difunctional polysulfone macroinitiator was prepared by esterifying the phenolic end groups of polysulfone to aaloesters. This macroinitiator was then used to initiate the polymerization of a glucose-carrying monomer, 3-O-methacryloyl-1,2：5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-D-glucofuranose （MAIpG）, resulting an ABA type triblock copolymer. After acidolysis treatment, the isopropylidenyl groups of the protected sugar residues were removed, thus the amphiphilic ABA type triblock copolymer with well-defined glycopolymer segments was obtained. The polymers obtained were identified by FT-IR, ^1H-NMR, GPC, and TGA. The self-assembly behavior of the amphiphilic glycopolymer in selective solvent （e.g. DMF/H2O） system was also preliminarily explored. The resultant amphiphilic glycopolymer shows potential applications in the fields of controlled release and delivery of drugs, micro-reactors, nano-materials, medical devices, and SO on.     

Harmonic hexagonal superlattice pattern in a dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure

We report a harmonic hexagonal superlattice pattern in a dielectric barrier discharge in air/argon mixture at atmospheric pressure. The bifurcation scenario of harmonic hexagonal superlattice pattern with the applied voltage increasing is given. The phase diagram of the pattern types as a function of the applied voltage and the air-concentration is obtained. The hysteresis of pattern transitions at the upward and downward stage of the applied voltage is observed. The correlation measurements indicate that harmonic hexagonal superlattice pattern is an interleaving of two different transient sublattices. The spatial power spectrum demonstrates that harmonic hexagonal superlattice pattern has two separate wave vectors. Both small wave vector qh and big wave vector Kh, belong to the harmonic mode, and they obey a triad resonant interaction qh^1 ＋ qh^2 = Kh.     

Novel trichromatic phosphor Co-doped with Eu, Tb in SiO2 gel matrix

The Eu, Tb co-doped SiO2 matrix tricolor fluorescence system was prepared by sol-gel technique. Red emission at 618 nm, green emission at 543 nm and blue emission at 350-500 nm were observed in the PL spectra of the sample, indicating that Eu^3＋, Eu^2＋ and Tb^3＋ ions coexisted in the matrix. In the co-doped sample, the blue emission of Eu^2＋ was much stronger than that of the sample single doped with Eu, which implied that the electron transfer between Eu^3＋ and Tb^3＋ maybe happened in the SiO2 matrix. The influences of the annealing temperature and Tb concentration on the PL spectra of the samples were investigated. The optimal doped concentration of Tb was determined to be 0.2% and the optimal annealing temperature 850℃. Annealed at 600℃, Tb^3＋ had a sensitizing effect on Eu^3＋ in the SiO2 matrix, and the emission intensity of Eu^3＋ in the Eu, Tb co-doped sample was more than four times that of the single doped sample, which could be attributed to the energy transfer from Tb^3＋ to Eu^3＋.     

Relaxor behavior of (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 ceramics

n the present work, the phase transitions and relaxor behavior of (1−x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbTiO₃ (PMN-PT, x = 0.2―0.4) ferroelectric ceramics have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, di-electric spectroscopy, the P-E hysteresis loop measurements and Raman scattering techniques. Structural analysis revealed that with the increase of PbTiO₃ content, PMN-PT ceramics experienced a gradual phase transition process from rhombohedral to tetragonal. It is usually believed that such kinds of phase transitions resulted in the linear decrease of relaxation degree. Surprisingly, our analy-sis of the dielectric spectra revealed that the indicator of the degree of diffuseness γ reached the maximum value near morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) (x = 0.32), then decreased with the further increase of PbTiO₃ content. The large dielectric relaxor feature near MPB may be attributed to the for-mation of ordered nanodomains, resulting from complex coexisting nanostructures. Further, the P-E hysteresis loop measurements and Raman analysis of the B-site cation order correlated well with the dielectric measurement results. It was found that the hysteresis loop squareness R_sq received the minimum value while the inverse of the value of full wide of half maximum (FWHM) of A_1g mode reached the maximum value at MPB composition, which showed similar trends to γ.     

Icariin suppresses bone resorption activity of rabbit osteoclasts in vitro

The effect of icariin on the bone resorption activity of rabbit osteoclasts is assessed in vitro. Osteoclasts were isolated from Japanese white rabbits and cultured on plates with a sterilized bone slice in each well. After treatment with icariin at various concentrations, the bone resorption activity of osteoclasts was evaluated by examining pit areas, superoxide anion (·O2-) generation, size and number of actin rings and intracellular calcium concentration [Ca2 ]i. As revealed by these data, icariin elicited continuous decline of [Ca2 ]i, making actin ring constricted and ·O2- generation decreased. These events resulted in smaller and fewer pits which indicate suppressed bone resorption activity of rabbit osteoclasts by icariin.     

Photovoltaic properties of MEH-PPV/TiO2 nanocomposites

Photovoltaic properties of photodiodes based on nano-TiO2 and poly[2-methoxy,5-（2＇-ethlhexyloxy）-p-phenylenevinylene] （MEH-PPV） composites are investigated. By comparing composite devices with the same weight of TiO2 （nanoparticles and nanotubes）：MEH-PPV, it was found that the device with TiO2 nanotubes exhibited better performance. By further optimizing the weight radio of TiO2 nanotubes： MEH-PPV, we gained the device with a short circuit current density of 9.27μA/cm^2 with a light intensity of 16.7mW/cm^2 at the 500 nm wavelength, the highest open-circuit voltage of 1.1V, and a photosensitivity of 332 at reverse bias of -0.6V. The photosensitivity is improved by a factor of 33 compared with the undoped MEH-PPV device.     

Pollen flux and vertical dispersion in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains

The pollen flux in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains is presented in one year's experiments. The results indicate that arboreal pollen percentages are more than 65% and pollen flux is higher than 5000 grain·cm-2·a-1,while less than 2% and lower than 1000 grain·cm-2·a-1 for shrubby pollen,and less than 20% and lower than 3000 grain·cm-1·a-1 for herbaceous pollen for most samples at different heights. The pollen assemblages are similar to those in the samples under 8 m height where Pinus and Ouercus are dominant and followed by the few non-local pollen types,and Fraxinus percentages are high with a few non-local pollen types at 16 m to 32 m height as well as non-local pollen clearly increased at 40 m height. Comparisons between pollen assemblages and vegetation composition suggest that similarities are higher for pollen trap samples than for surface moss samples.     

Low temperature thermodynamic study of the stable and metastable phases of vanadium

The low temperature thermodynamics of the stable phase of vanadium has been assessed by the polynomial and Debye models from the experimental data available in literature. By means of the con-strained nonlinear least squares curve fitting arithmetic,two sets of parameter values have been de-termined. Expressions of the thermodynamic functions Cp(T) and G(T)-H(298.15 K) at 0―298.15 K are presented. The low temperature thermodynamics of the metastable phase of vanadium can only be extrapolated by the Debye model. The expression of the thermodynamic function Cp(T) at 0―298.15 K is presented.     

Tunable multiple-channel filters based on photonic heterostructures using single-negative materials

We studied the multiple-channel filters based on photonic heterostructures consisting of single-negative permittivity and single-negative permeability media. The results showed that the number of resonance modes inside the zero-φeff gap increases as the number of heterogenous interface M increases. The number of resonance modes inside the zero-φeff, gap is equal to that of heterogenous interface M, and it can be used as M channels filter. This result provides a feasible method to adjust the channel number of multiple-channel filters. When losses are involved, the results showed that the electric fields of the resonance modes decay largely with the increase of the number of heterogenous interface and damping factors. Besides, the relationship between the quality factor of multiple-channel filters and the number of heterogenous interface M is linear, and the quality factor of multiple-channel filters decreases with the increase of the damping factor. These results provide feasible methods to adjust the quality factor of multiple-channel filters.     

Measurement of GaAs start duration in different solution concentration using infrared images

This paper proposes a new infrared method to measure the start duration of GaAs substrate in chemical etching. When etching starts, the temperature of liquid-film will change because of heat release in the chemical reaction. As a result, the start duration of GaAs can be tested by collecting real-time in-frared thermal images in the course of temperature variation. Both theoretical analysis and experi-mental results show that the line shape liquid film of a 2-mm width is a good monitoring subject. By making use of the grey distribution change of a certain cross section of the line shape liquid film, the start duration of reaction between GaAs and H2SO4-H202-H20 is obtained. The start durations of reac-tion between GaAs substrate and H2SO4： H202： H20 （=5：1：50 and 15：3：50） solution are about 0.2 s and 0.3-0.4 s, respectively. This result and relative method will impulse the research of wet chemical etching technology of GaAs and so on.     

Preparation of pH-responsive ceramic composite membranes by grafting acrylic acid onto α-alumina membranes

A pH-responsive ceramic composite membrane was prepared by chemical graft polymerization of acrylic acid （AA） onto the KH-570 modified （x-alumina membrane. The influence of monomer concentration on the gating characteristics of the pH-responsive membrane was investigated. The FT-IR spectrum, contact angle and water filtration rate of the membrane were measured. The monomer concentration was found to have a remarkable effect on the pH-response coefficient and the water filtration rate. In addition, the grafted membrane exhibited fast and reversible response to the pH change in the external solution.     

Visible light photocatalytic decoloration of methylene blue on novel N-doped TiO2

Novel N-doped TiO2 (denoted as N-NTA600) was prepared by treating nanotube titanic acid (NTA) in NH3 flow. Its visible light photocatalytic activity,evaluated by decoloration reaction of methylene blue,is higher than that of N-P25(600) prepared by treatment of P25-TiO2 in the same condition. It is suggested that the origin of visible-light photocatalytic activity is single-electron-trapped oxygen vacancy (Vo·) modified by chemisorbed NO.     

Visible light-induced degradation of organic pollutants using Fe（ll） supported on silica gel as an effective catalyst

Silica gel-supported Fe（ll） （SiOFe） was prepared and used for heterogeneous degradation of sulforhodamine B （SRB） and 2,4-dichlorophenol （DCP） under visible irradiation （λ 〉 420 nm） as an effective catalyst. UV-visible spectra, and infrared Spectrophotometry （IR）, fluorescence, total organic carbon （TOC） and electron spin resonance （ESR） measurements were employed to analyze the photoreaction products. The results showed that SRB could be efficiently degraded by SiOFe/H2O2 system under visible irradiation with 100% decolorization and 72.3% TOC removal after 180 min illumination. The results of ESR and fluorescence measurements indicated that the oxidative process was predominated mainly by the hydroxyl radical （.OH） generated in the system.     

Excitatory effect of histamine on neuronal activity of rat cerebellar fastigial nucleus Jn vitro

The cerebellar fastigial nucleus （FN） holds an important role in motor control and body balance. Previous studies have revealed that the nucleus is innervated by direct hypothalamocerebellar hletaminergic fibers. However, the functional role of histaminergic projection in cerebellar FN has never been established. In this study, we investigated the effect of histamine on neuronal firing of cerebellar FN by using slice preparations. Sixty-five FN cells were recorded from 47 cerebellar slices, and a vast majority of the cells responded to histamine stimulation with an excitatory response （58/65, 89.2%）. Perfusing slices with low-Ca^2＋/high-Mg^2＋ medium did not block the histamine-induced excitation （n=10）, supporting a direct postsynaptic action of histamine on the cells. Furthermore, the excitatory effect of histamine on FN neurons was not blocked by selective histamine H1 receptor antagonist triprolidine （n=15） or chlorpheniramine （n=10）, but was effectively suppressed by ranitidine （n=15）, a highly selective histamine H2 receptor antagonist. On the other hand, highly selective histamine H2 receptor agonist dimaprit （n=20） instead of histamine HI receptor agonist 2-pyridylethylamine （n=16） mimicked the excitatory effect of histamine on FN neurons. The dimaprit-induced FN neuronal excitation was effectively antagonized by selective histamine H2 receptor antagonist ranitidine （n=13） but not influenced by selective histamine H1 receptor antagonist triprolidine （n=15）. These results demonstrate that histamine excites cerebellar FN cells via the histamine H2 receptor mechanism and suggest that the hypothalamocerebellar histaminergic fibers may modulate cerebellar FN-mediated sensorimotor integration through their excitatory innervations on FN neurons.     

Effect of the contact distance on transport properties of an orsanic molecular device

Using a spatially symmetric phenyldithiolate molecule sandwiched between two gold electrodes as model system and through shifting one electrode from symmetric contact site to form asymmetric contact, we investigated the properties of electronic transport in such a device by the first-principles. It was found that the/（G ）-V characteristics of a device show significant asymmetry and the magnitudes of current and conductance depend remarkably on the variation of molecule-metal distance at one of the two contacts. Namely, an asymmetric contact would lead to the weak rectifying effects on the current-voltage characteristics of a molecular device. The analysis shows that the HOMO is responsible for the resonant tunneling and its shift due to the charging of the device while the bias voltage is the intrinsic origin of asymmetric/（G）- Vcharacteristics.