Polyimides from isomeric oxydiphthalic anhydrides

2,2',3,3'-Oxydiphthalic dianhydride (2,2',3,3'-ODPA) and 2,3,3',4'-ODPA were synthesized from 3-chlorophthalic anhydride with 2,3-xylenol and 3,4-xylenol, respectively. Their structures were determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A series of polyimides derived from isomeric ODPAs with several diamines were prepared in dimethylacetamide (DMAc) with the conventional two-step method. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight spectra showed that the polymerization of 2,2',3,3'-ODPA with 4,4'-oxydianiline (ODA) has a greater trend to form cyclic oligomers than that of 2,3,3',4'-ODPA. Both 2,2',3,3'-ODPA and 2,3,3',4'-ODPA based polyimides have good solubility in polar aprotic solvents such as DMAc, dimethylformamide, and N-methylpyrrolidone. The 5% weight-loss temperatures of all polyimides were obtained near 500 degreesC in air. Their glass-transition temperatures measured by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis or differential scanning calorimetry decreased according to the order of polyimides on the basis of 2,2',3,3'-ODPA, 2,3,3',4'-ODPA, and 3,3',4,4'-ODPA. The wide-angle X-ray diffraction of all polyimide films from isomeric ODPAs and ODA showed some certain extent of crystallization after stretching. Rheological properties revealed that polyimide (2,3,3',4'-ODPA/ODA) has a comparatively lower melt viscosity than its isomers, which indicated its better melt processability.

Assembly of the transition metal substituted polyoxometalates ZnW11M(H2O)O-39(n-) (M = Mn, Cu, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Zn) on 4-aminobenzoic acid modified glassy carbon electrode and their electrochemical study

Through layer-by-layer assembly, a series of undecatungstozincates monosubstituted by first-row transition metals, ZnW11M(H2O)O-39(n-) (M=Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu. or Zn) were first successfully immobilized on a 4-aminobenzoic acid modified glassy carbon electrode surface. The electrochemical behaviors of these polyoxometalates were investigated. They exhibit some special properties in the films different from those in homogeneous aqueous solution. The Cu-centered reaction mechanism in the ZnW11Cu multilayer film was described. The electrocatalytic behaviors of these multilayer film electrodes to the reduction of H2O2 and BrO3- were comparatively studied.

TG-DTA properties of new nonlinear optical materials: K(2)Ln(NO3)(5)center dot 2H(2)O (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm)

Single crystals of K(2)Ln(NO3)(5). 2H(2)O (KLnN) (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) were grown from aqueous solution. The thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis curves of KLnN demonstrate that the processes of dehydration, melting, irreversible phase transformation and decomposition of NO3- take place in sequence in the heating processes (except KCN). There are three stages in the decomposition of NO3- in KLnN (Ln = La, Nd, Sm) while two in KLnN (Ln = Ce, Pr). K(2)Ln(NO3)(5) is formed at about 225 degrees C by the reaction of KNO3 and Ln(NO3)(3). nH(2)O (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Miscibility and crystallization behavior of thermosetting polyimide thermoplastic polyimide blends

Compatibility, morphology, crystalline structure and mechanical properties of the blends of a thermosetting polyimide with thermoplastic polyimides consisting of dianhydrides of different lengths have been studied by the use of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The results of our research show that the blends change from compatible to semi-compatible when the difference between the length of the dianhydrides of the two components increases. Addition of a thermoplastic polyimide inhibits the crystallization of the thermosetting component. However, this effect decreases with increasing length of the dianhydrides and the distribution of the molecules of the thermoplastic polyimide component changes from interlamellar to interfibrillar. Impact strength and morphology of the fractured surfaces indicate that among the semiinterpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) obtained the toughening effect of the partially compatible one is the best. The results are discussed in terms of charge transfer interaction between imide group and p-phenylene group.

Dispersion analysis and compensation of collinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplification systems

In an optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser system, residual phase dispersion should be compensated as much as possible to shorten the amplified pulses and improve the pulse contrast ratio. Expressions of orders of the induced phases in collinear optical parametric amplification (OPA) processes are presented at the central signal wavelength to depict a clear physics picture and to simplify the design of phase compensation. As examples, we simulate two OPCPA systems to compensate for the phases up to the partial fourth-order terms, and obtain flat phase spectra of 200-nm bandwidth at 1064 nm and 90-nm at 800 nm.

Design and properties analysis of multi-layer dielectric used in pulse compressor gratings

Used in chirped-pulse amplification system and based on multi-layer thin film stack, pulse compressor gratings (PCG) are etched by ion-beam and holographic techniques. Diffraction efficiency and laser-induced damage threshold rely on the structural parameters of gratings. On the other hand, they depend greatly on the design of multi-layer. A theoretic design is given for dielectric multi-layer, which is exposed at 413.1 nm and used at 1053 nm. The influences of coating design on optical characters are described in detail. The analysis shows that a coating stack of H3L (H2L) (boolean AND) 9H0.5L2.01H meets the specifications of PCG well. And there is good agreement of transmission between experimental and the theoretic design. (c) 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Differential expression and characterization analysis of a new gene with WD domains in fish oogenesis

A new gene with WD domains is cloned and characterized according to its differential transcription and expression between previtellogenic oocytes (phase I oocytes) and fully-grown oocytes (phase V oocytes) from natural gynogenetic silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) by using the combinative methods of suppressive subtraction hybridization, SMART cDNA synthesis and RACE-PCR. The full-length cDNA is 1870 bp. Its 5 ' untranslated region is 210 bp, followed by an open reading frame of 990 bp, which has the typical vertebrate initiator codon of ANNATG. The open reading frame encodes a protein with 329 amino acids. It has 670 bp of 3 ' untranslated region and an AATAAA polyadenylation signal. Because it has 92% homology to STRAP (serine-threonine kinase receptor-associated protein), a recently reported gene, we named it FSTRAP (fish STRAP). Virtual Northern blotting indicated that the FSTRAP was transcribed in fully-grown oocytes (phase V oocytes), but not in previtellogenic oocytes (phase I oocytes). RT-PCR analysis showed that FSTRAP was transcribed in brain, heart, kidney, muscle, ovary, spleen and testis, but not in liver. And its mRNA could be detected in the oocytes from phase II to phase V. Western blotting also showed that FSTRAP protein could be detected in brain, heart, kidney, muscle, ovary, spleen and testis except liver. Results of Western blotting on various oocytes were also similar to the RT-PCR data. FSTRAP protein was not expressed in the previtellogenic oocytes. Its expression initiated from phase II oocytes after vitellogenesis, and was consistent with the mRNA transcription.

Differential screening and characterization analysis of the egg envelope glycoprotein ZP3 cDNAs between gynogenetic and gonochoristic crucian carp

Gynogenetic silver crucian carp, Carassius auratus gibelio, is an intriguing model. system. In the present work, a systemic study has been initiated by introducing suppression subtractive hybridization technique into this model system to identify the differentially expressed genes in oocytes between gynogenetic silver crucian carp and its closely related gonochoristic color crucian carp. Five differential cDNA fragments were identified from the preliminary screening, and two of them are ZP3 homologues. Moreover, the full length ZP3 cDNAs were cloned from their oocyte cDNA libraries. The length of ZP3 cDNAs were 1378 bp for gyno-carp and 1367 bp for gono-carp, and they can be translated into proteins with 435 amino acids. Obvious differences are not only in the composition of amino acids, but also in the number of potential O-linked oligosaccharide sites. In addition, gyno-carp ZP3 amino acid sequence has an unexpected higher identity value with common carp (83.5%) than that with the closely related gono-carp (74.7%). The unique homology may be originated from the ancient hybridization. Northern blot analysis confirmed that expression of the ZP3 gene occurred exclusively in the oocytes. Because O-linked oligosaccharides on ZP3 have been demonstrated to play very important roles in fertilization, it is suggested that the extra O-linked glycosylation sites may be related to the unique sperm-egg recognition mechanism in gynogenesis.

Numerical analysis for four-wave mixing based wavelength conversion of differential phase-shift keying signals

We numerically investigate the main constrains for high efficiency wavelength conversion of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). Using multi-tone pump phase modulation techniques, high efficiency wavelength conversion of DPSK signals is achieved with the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) effects effectively suppressed. Our analysis shows that there is a compromise between conversion efficiency and converted idler degradation. By optimizing the pump phase modulation configuration, the converted DPSK idler's degradation can be dramatically decreased through balancing SBS suppression and pump phase modulation degradation. Our simulation results also show that these multi-tone pump phase modulation techniques are more appropriate for the future high bit rate systems.

Experimental and theoretical analysis of nondegenerate ultrabroadband chirped pulse optical parametric amplification

Experimental investigations of nondegenerate ultrabroadband chirped pulse optical parametric amplification have been carried out. The general mathematical expressions for evaluating parametric bandwidth, gain and gain bandwidth for arbitrary three-wave mixing parametric amplifiers are presented. In our experiments, a type-I noncollinear phase-matched optical parametric amplifier based on lithium triborate, which was pumped by a 5-ns second harmonic pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG operating at 10 Hz, seeded by a 14-fs Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm, was presented. The 0.85 nJ energy of input chirped signal pulse with 57-FWHM has been amplified to 3.1 muJ at pump intensity 3 GW/cm(2), the corresponding parametric gain reached 3.6 x 10(3), the 53 nm-FWHM gain spectrum bandwidth of output signal has been obtained. The large gain and broad gain bandwidth, which have been confirmed experimentally, provide great potentials to amplify efficiently the broad bandwidth femtosecond light pulses to generate new extremes in power, intensity, and pulse duration using optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers pumped by powerful nanosecond systems.

Transient and nonlinear analysis of slow-light pulse propagation in an optical fiber via stimulated Brillouin scattering

We investigate slow-light pulse propagation in an optical fiber via transient stimulated Brillouin scattering. Space-time evolution of a generating slow-light pulse is numerically calculated by solving three-wave coupled-mode equations between a pump beam, an acoustic wave, and a counterpropagating signal pulse. Our mathematical treatments are applicable to both narrowband and broadband pump cases. We show that the time delay of 85% pulse width can be obtained for a signal pulse of the order of subnanosecond pulse width by using a broadband pump, while the signal pulse is broadened only by 40% of the input signal pulse. The physical origin of the pulse broadening and distortion is explained in terms of the temporal decay of the induced acoustic field. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America