Ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic image guides derived from microstructured polymer optical fiber preforms

Ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic image guides-fused image fiber, faceplate, and taper-were fabricated by using microstructured polymer optical fiber (MPOF) preforms composed of two polymers: polymethylmethacrylate and polystyrene. The pixel diameter in the resultant MPOF-based image guides was as small as 3 mu m. The imaging capabilities of these types of fiber-optic elements were demonstrated. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Preparation and optical property of a novel hydrophobic anti-reflection coating for KDP crystal

A novel inorganic-organic hybrid hydrophobic anti-reflection silica film used for laser crystal was obtained by sol-gel process. The film consisted of silica sols mixed with a small amount of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polystyrene (PS). The optical transparency, hydrophobic property and surface morphology of the film were characterized by UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer; contact angle instrument and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), respectively. The results showed that the anti-reflection coating had good hydrophobility and optical transparency from 400 nm to 1200 nm. The contact angle reached to 130-140 degrees. SEM images indicated the hydrophobic films modified with PMMA or PS had compact structure compared to the pure silica sol film. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

聚苯乙烯薄膜溶胀/沉淀过程中的微观结构演化

本论文以聚苯乙烯薄膜为研究对象,研究应用溶剂/非溶剂连续处理而改变聚苯乙烯薄膜结构的方法。首先采用旋转涂膜法制备聚苯乙烯薄膜，利用谱学椭圆偏振仪、同步辐射掠入射超小角X射线散射与X射线反射方法来联合测定薄膜性质，进行了以下实验： 一． 离线实验：聚苯乙烯的四氢呋喃溶液在经亲水性预处理的硅片基底上旋转涂膜，退火后，聚苯乙烯薄膜连续浸入其溶剂N,N-二甲基甲酰胺与非溶剂乙醇，经过溶胀和沉淀过程，彻底改变了原来薄膜的表面结构，原子力显微镜和掠入射小角X射线散射在薄膜表面实验结果清晰显示，薄膜表面形成了不同尺度的聚苯乙烯聚集体，。结果表明同步辐射掠入射小角X射线散射是一种新颖，简单易行的观察薄膜表面结构的强有力的手段。溶剂/非溶剂处理聚苯乙烯表面的方法简便易行，是一种非常有潜力的改善聚苯乙烯表面结构的方法。 二． 在线实验：根据离线实验结果，自行设计制造了一个椭圆偏振仪样品池，用椭圆偏振仪上在线跟踪气态溶剂/非溶剂处理聚苯乙烯薄膜，努力追踪溶剂/非溶剂处理聚苯乙烯薄膜过程中，薄膜结构的动态变化规律。结果显示，气态溶剂/非溶剂处理薄膜表面的结果与用液态溶剂/非溶剂处理的结果不同，处理后的薄膜表面性质没有明显改变，而且加入非溶剂后椭偏参数随时间的一级指数衰减与膜厚成线性关系。原因可能是样品池内为混合气体，非溶剂蒸汽压不够，不足以引起聚苯乙烯分子链的沉淀，溶胀的薄膜又回复原态。

聚苯乙烯-聚丁二烯嵌段共聚物反转相行为的研究

本论文以聚苯乙烯（PS）一聚丁二烯（PB）三嵌段和二嵌段共聚物体系为研究对象，利用聚合物的软有序化，控制聚合物分子链的取向和聚集条件，系统地考察了嵌段共聚物在由溶液成膜的过程中动力学效应和墒效应对其相结构和相转变行为的影响。并探讨了不同相结构和其力学性能之间的构效关系。设计了聚苯乙烯（PS）一聚丁二烯（PB）（PS≈30wt％）／非选择性溶剂体系，通过改变溶剂的挥发速率，控制了嵌段共聚物薄膜相结构形成的动力学过程。在快速挥发的条件下，在嵌段共聚物中观察到了特殊的反转相结构，即共聚物中含量多的组分（PB）形成了分散相，而当溶剂挥发很慢的条件下，得到的是热力学较稳定的正常相的结构。对不同分子量的一系列嵌段共聚物的研究表明，反转相的形成和分子量相关，与聚合物的链段数目无关，只有在低于临界分子量 （Mw=70-100 KDa）的嵌段共聚物中，成膜过程的动力学过程才影响嵌段共聚物薄膜的最终相态，即形成反转相。这种依赖于分子量的相转变行为，揭示了分子链运动速度与环境变化速率的匹配对嵌段共聚物薄膜有序相结构形成的重要作用，即动力学效应对聚合物软有序化的重要作用。利用冷冻干燥的方法，进一步研究了嵌段共聚物在极慢的溶剂挥发下，由溶液膜变成固体膜的过程中，随着溶液浓度的增加，不同聚合物分子链在溶液中自组织形成有序结构的过程。结果表明反转相是由稀溶液向亚浓溶液转变的过程中形成的。通过选取具有代表性的不同亲和性的溶剂：苯和环己烷及其混合溶剂，研究了溶剂对不同链段亲和性的差异对反转相形成的影响。由聚合物一溶剂相互作用参数判断，苯是体系的良溶剂，环己烷是体系的。溶剂，而苯对PS链段有较好的亲和性，与之相反环己烷对PB链段有较好的亲和性，通过对聚苯乙烯（PS）一聚丁二烯印B）二嵌段共聚物在苯和环己烷极其混合溶剂中的相转变行为的研究发现，随着溶剂对含量少的PS链段亲和性的降低，反转相不再出现。这是由于苯与PS．链段、环己烷与PB链段有更好的亲和性，嵌段共聚物在稀溶液中，在耗尽吸引的（depletion attraction）作用下，与溶剂亲和性弱的链段，在溶液中优先发生聚集，而有序聚集后导致的混合熵的损失会被更多的因有序聚集后小分子自由体积增加引起的平移嫡的增量所补偿，因此导致了嫡驱动的软有序化。最后，通过原子力显微镜纳米压印法，分别对反转相和正常相结构的纳米力学性能进行了对比研究，讨论了不同相结构间模量的差异，结果表明软段（PB）形成分散相结构时薄膜的模量总是小于硬段（PS）形成分散相结构时薄膜的模量，这主要是由嵌段共聚物不同组分的相对含量及形成的相的结构决定的。

Waterborne exposure to PFOS causes disruption of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in zebrafish larvae

Thyroid hormones (THs) play an important role in the normal development and physiological functions in fish. Environmental chemicals may adversely affect thyroid function by disturbing gene transcription. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a persistent compound, is widely distributed in the aquatic environment and wildlife. In the present study, we investigated whether PFOS could disrupt the hypothalamic– pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to various concentrations of PFOS (0, 100, 200 and 400 lg L 1) and gene expression patterns were examined 15 d post-fertilization. The expression of several genes in the HPT system, i.e., corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), sodium/iodide symporter (NIS), thyroglobulin (TG), thyroid peroxidase (TPO), transthyretin (TTR), iodothyronine deiodinases (Dio1 and Dio2) and thyroid receptor (TRa and TRb), was quantitatively measured using real-time PCR. The gene expression levels of CRF and TSH were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively, upon exposure to 200 and 400 lg L 1 PFOS. A significant increase in NIS and Dio1 gene expression was observed at 200 lg L 1 PFOS exposure, while TG gene expression was down-regulated at 200 and 400 lg L 1 PFOS exposure. TTR gene expression was down-regulated in a concentration-dependent manner. Up-regulation and down-regulation of TRa and TRb gene expression, respectively, was observed upon exposure to PFOS. The whole body thyroxine (T4) content remained unchanged, whereas triiodothyronine (T3) levels were significantly increased, which could directly reflect disrupted thyroid hormone status after PFOS exposure. The overall results indicated that PFOS exposure could alter gene expression in the HPT axis and that mechanisms of disruption of thyroid status by PFOS could occur at several steps in the synthesis, regulation, and action of thyroid hormones.

Density Gradient Ultracentrifugation of Nanotubes: Interplay of Bundling and Surfactants Encapsulation

Density gradient ultracentrifugation (DGU) has emerged as a promising tool to prepare chirality enriched nanotube samples. Here, we assess the performance of different surfactants for DGU. Bile salts (e.g., sodium cholate (SC), sodium deoxycholate (SDC), and sodium taurodeoxycholate (TDC)) are more effective in individualizing Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) compared to linear chain surfactants (e.g., sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS)) and better suited for DGU. Using SC, a narrower diameter distribution (0.69-0.81 nm) is achieved through a single DGU step on CoMoCAT tubes, when compared to SDC and TDC (0.69-0.89 nm). No selectivity is obtained using SDBS. due to its ineffectiveness in debundling. We assign the reduce selectivity of dihydroxy bile salts (S DC and TDC) in comparison with trihydroxy SC to the formation of secondary micelles. This is determined by the number and position of hydroxyl ( OH) groups on the a-side of the steroid backbone. We also enrich CoMoCAT SWNT in the 0.84-0.92 nm range using the Pluronic F98 triblock copolymer. Mixtures of bile salts (SC) and linear chain surfactants (SOS) are used to enrich metallic and semiconducting laser-ablation grown SWNTs. We demonstrate enrichment of a single chirality, (6,5), combining diameter and metallic versus semiconductillg separation on CoMoCAT samples.

Behavior of Pentacene Initial Nucleation on Various Dielectrics and Its Effect on Carrier Transport in Organic Field-Effect Transistor

The influence of dielectric surface energy on the initial nucleation and the growth of pentacene films as well as the electrical properties of the pentacene-based field-effect transistors are investigated. We have examined a range of organic and inorganic dielectrics with different surface energies, such as polycarbonate/SiO2, polystyrene/SiO2, and PMMA/SiO2 bi-layered dielectrics and also the bare SiO2 dielectric. Atomic force microscopy measurements of sub-monolayer and thick pentacene films indicated that the growth of pentacene film was in Stranski-Kranstanow growth mode on all the dielectrics. However, the initial nucleation density and the size of the first-layered pentacene islands deposited on different dielectrics are drastically influenced by the dielectric surface energy. With the increasing of the surface energy, the nucleation density increased and thus the average size of pentacene islands for the first mono-layer deposition decreased. The performance of fabricated pentacene-based thin film transistors was found to be highly related to nucleation density and the island size of deposited Pentacene film, and it had no relationship to the final particle size of the thick pentacene film. The field effect mobility of the thin film transistor could be achieved as high as 1.38 cm(2)/Vs with on/off ratio over 3 x 10(7) on the PS/SiO2 where the lowest surface energy existed among all the dielectrics. For comparison, the values of mobility and on/off ratio were 0.42 cm(2)/Vs and 1 x 10(6) for thin film transistor deposited directly on bare SiO2 having the highest surface energy.

Total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy with W-shaped axicon mirrors

A scheme based on a W-shaped axicon mirror device for total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) is presented. This approach combines the advantages of higher efficiency compared with traditional TIRFM, adjustable illumination area, and simple switching between wide-field and TIRF imaging modes. TIRF images obtained with this approach are free of shadow artifacts and of interference fringes. Example micrographs of fluorescently labeled polystyrene beads, of Convallaria majalis tissue, and of Propidium-iodide-labeled Chinese hamster ovary cells are shown, and the capabilities of the scheme are discussed. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Wettability designing by ZnO periodical surface textures

A facile and effective aqueous chemical synthesis approach towards well control of periodical ZnO textures in large-scale areas is reported, by which considerable adjusting of surface wettability can be realized. With the assistance of polystyrene spheres monolayer template and morphology control agent, we succeeded in preparing a series of ordered ZnO microbowls with different sag height. It was found that the contact angle could be well adjusted by changing geometry of microbowl. Such novel, ordered arrays are expected to exploit the great potentiality in waterproof or self-cleaning micro/nanodevices, and even microfluidic devices. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fracture of colloidal single-crystal films fabricated by controlled vertical drying deposition

Controlled vertical drying deposition method was used to make high-quality single crystal close-packed colloidal films formed of different radii polystyrene latex spheres on glass substrates coming from a low concentration water suspension (0.1% volume fraction). Regardless of the spheres radii the film thickness was about 6.3 microns. However, cracks destroyed the crystalline film structure during the colloidal film growth. The effect of particle radius (85-215 nm range) on film cracking was systematically studied using in situ optical fracture monitoring. Primary parallel cracks run along the vertical growth direction, later followed by secondary branched cracks in-between the primary cracks due to residual water evaporation. Quantitative theoretical relationship between the cracks spacing and particles radius was derived and shows good agreement with experimental observations. Normalized cracks spacing is related to a reciprocal ratio of the dimensionless particle radius.

Applications of Heavy Ion Irradiation in Photonic Crystal Research

Photonic crystals (PC) have received extensive attention for the photonic band gap (PBG). The polystyrene (PS) particles bottom-up approach is a productive method for photonic crystal manufacture, this kind of photonic crystals having an unique PBG that depends on the particle's shape, sizes and defects. Heavy ion irradiation is a very useful method to induce defects in PC and change the shapes of the particles to tune the PBG. MeV heavy ion irradiation leads to an anisotropic deformation of the particles from spherical to ellipsoidal, the aspect ratio of which can be precisely controlled by using the ion energy and flux. Sub-micrometer PS particles were deposited on a Cu substrate and were irradiated at 230 K by using heavy ion energy and fluence in the range from 2 to 10 MeV and 1 x 10(14) cm(-2) to 1 x 10(15) cm(-2); respectively.

流体力学半径对估算胶体微球聚集速率常数的影响

胶体粒子聚集速率常数实验值远低于理论值一直是被普遍关注的问题.聚集速率常数的理论推导是基于粒子的几何半径来考虑的,但决定粒子扩散速率及聚集速率的应该是粒子的流体力学半径(大于几何半径),因而它是使聚集速率常数实验值低于理论值的因素之一.影响流体力学半径的因素很多,其中,带电粒子在溶液中因表面存在双电层,会明显增大流体力学半径,造成聚集速率减慢.而双电层的厚度又随溶液中离子强度的不同而改变.本工作在聚集速率的公式中引入了修正因子,即几何半径与其流体力学半径之比,以修正由于用几何半径代替流体力学半径带来的误差.其中几何半径和流体力学半径可以分别用扫描电镜(SEM)和动态光散射(DLS)来测定.以两种粒径的聚苯乙烯带电微球为例,考察了在不同离子强度下,该误差的大小.结果发现,对于半径为30 nm的微球,用流体力学半径计算的慢聚集速率常数比理论值偏低约8%.该误差随离子强度增加而减少.对于快聚集情况,流体力学半径对聚集速率基本没有影响.

Applications of Heavy Ion Irradiation in Photonic Crystal Research

Photonic crystals (PC) have received extensive attention for the photonic band gap (PBG). The polystyrene (PS) particles bottom-up approach is a productive method for photonic crystal manufacture, this kind of photonic crystals having an unique PBG that depends on the particle's shape, sizes and defects. Heavy ion irradiation is a very useful method to induce defects in PC and change the shapes of the particles to tune the PBG. MeV heavy ion irradiation leads to an anisotropic deformation of the particles from spherical to ellipsoidal, the aspect ratio of which can be precisely controlled by using the ion energy and flux. Sub-micrometer PS particles were deposited on a Cu substrate and were irradiated at 230 K by using heavy ion energy and fluence in the range from 2 to 10 MeV and 1 x 10(14) cm(-2) to 1 x 10(15) cm(-2); respectively.

快重离子在聚苯乙烯中的辐照效应研究

本工作用兰州重离子加速器提供的2.1GeV的Kr离子分别在空气和真空条件下辐照了多层堆叠的聚苯乙烯薄膜样品，辐照剂量在5 * 10~(10)到3 * 10~(12)ions/cm~2之间，辐照温度在室温附近。辐照后对样品分别进行了傅立叶变换红外光谱和紫外可见光谱的测量，由此研究了快重离子辐照聚苯乙烯产生的物理和化学改性。实验结果表明，聚苯乙烯经Kr离子辐照后发生了降解，包括苯环在内的大部分官能团遭到破坏，相应特征峰的吸光度随辐照剂量和能损的增加而减小。与此同时，辐照还在1650-1750cm~(-1)之间和3300cm~(-1)处产生了新的吸收峰，其分别对应于C=O双键的分子振动和C≡C-H的C-H伸缩振动，表明辐照在聚苯乙烯中产生了炔基。实验发现产生炔基需要离子有足够高的电子能损值，在聚苯乙烯中该能损阈值约为1.0keV/nm。在材料经辐照发生降解的同时，样品的光吸收边界逐渐红移，并伴有透光率的下降。详细的测量显示，在紫外可见区材料吸光度的增加随剂量近似呈线性关系，随能损呈约二次方的指数关系。通过对2.1GeV的Kr离子和1.4GeV的Ar离子辐照结果的比较还发现，快重离子辐照产生的物理化学改性不仅与离子的能损有关，还与离子的速度有关。在同一能损条件下，速度越小，产生的效应就越大。文中用径向能量沉积密度和有效化学反应半径对上述结果进行分析讨论。

Demulsification of emulsions exploited by enhanced oil recovery system

Experimental data are presented to show the influence of the enhanced oil recovery system's components, alkali, surfactant, and polymer, on the demulsification and light transmittance of the water separated from the emulsions. Among which, the effects of surfactants, polyoxyethylene (10) alkylphenol ether (OP-10) and sodium petroleum sulfonate (CY-1) on emulsion stability, are the strongest of any component, the effects of polymer, hydrolytic polyacrylamide (HPAM) 3530S, on emulsion stability are the weakest. This research also suggests a possible emulsion minimization approach, which could be implemented in refineries utilizing microwave radiation. Compared with conventional heating, microwave radiation can effectively enhance the demulsification rate by an order of magnitude and increase the light transmittance of the water separated from the emulsions. The demulsification efficiency may reach 100% in a very short. time under microwave radiation.