EPITAXIAL CRYSTALLIZATION OF SYNDIOTACTIC POLYPROPYLENE ON UNIAXIALLY ORIENTED POLYETHYLENE

The epitaxial crystallization of syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) on uniaxially oriented polyethylene (PE) has been investigated by electron microscopy and electron diffraction. It is found that the sPP lamellae grow epitaxially on the PE substrate film with the preference in sPP for the b axis as the fast growth direction. Instead of 50-degrees as in the system of isotactic polypropylene with PE, the molecular chains of the sPP crystals are approximately +/- 37-degrees inclined to the chain direction of PE.

EFFECT OF MOLECULAR-WEIGHT OF PMMA ON BETA PHASE CRYSTALLIZATION IN HIGHLY ORIENTED PVF2 FILMS

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF_2) exhibits at least four crystalline phases (α, β, γ, and δ). Among them, β phase is the most important one because it is directly related to the piezoand pyro-electric activities of PVF_2. In recent years, more attention has been paid to the β

Zoospores of Undaria pinnatifida: their efficiency to attach under different water velocities and conjugation behavior during attachment

In the invading course of Undaria pinnatifida, zoospore attachment in a dynamically changed subtidal water environment is crucial for the establishment of a potential population in alien waters. Among many abiotic factors that may interfere with the attachment process, water velocity is the most important one. In this investigation, the effect of water velocity on zoospore attachment of U. pinnatifida was investigated in an artificially designed system. It was found that freshly released zoospores that were transported by water flowing at 0 similar to 16 cm/s showed no difficulty in attaching the smooth surface. Zoospore attachment decreased at elevated water flowing rates. At 70 cm/s no spore attachment occurred. Spores that have settled on glass slide for up to I h could not be stripped away by flowing water at a rate of 129 cm/s, the same was true of the 20 d old filamentous gametophytes. It was found that more than 70% of free-swimming zoospores tended to settle down adjacent to the settled spores and formed conjugated clusters from two up to a few hundred cells in still culture.

Laurencia nanhaiense sp nov., a new species of the genus Laurencia(Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from China

Laurencia nanhaiense sp. nov. (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) is described from Hainan and Guangdong Provinces, China. The new species clearly displays one of the defining features of the genus, viz. four periaxial cells per vegetative axial segment. It differs from other closely related species in having a combination of features such as terete axes from a basal system composed of a primary, discoid holdfast and a secondary attachment to give rise to many short rhizoids, branching oppositely and alternately, irregularly tristichous or subverticillately polystichous, having more curve branches with very sparse, adventitious ultimate branchlets, non-projecting superficial cortical cells at the apices of ultimate branchlets, presence of longitudinally oriented secondary pit-connections between contiguous superficial cortical cells, absence of lenticular thickenings in the walls of medullary cells, parallel arrangement of tetrasporangia along the axis of stichidia, and presence of intercellular spaces between medullary cells.

Oriented growth of MCM-22 zeolite films

MCM-22 zeolite films have been grown with layers vertical to the substrate under hydrothermal synthesis conditions, and characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.

On the formation of vertically oriented MCM-22 zeolite crystal films

Growth of MCM-22 zeolite films on glass substrates was studied with the focus on the understanding of the unusual vertical crystal orientation. The films formed were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Separate thin disk-like MCM-22 crystals were found vertically oriented at the early crystallization stage. With crystallization the crystals grew into thick disks and finally into continuous films. The vertically oriented MCM-22 thin crystals could be developed from the orientation of columnar MCM-22 nuclei, which have larger parameters in their c-directions than those in a and b directions. The preferred orientation of MCM-22 nuclei and the fast growth rate in the layer direction are responsible for the vertical growth of MCM-22 zeolite films. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.