SURFACE STRUCTURE AND BULK PROPERTIES OF FLUORINATED POLY(ETHER URETHANE)S AND POLY(ETHER URETHANE) BLENDS

It has been well known that fluorinated polyurethanes exhibit uniquely low surface energy, biocompatibility and biostability, thermal and oxidative stability and nonsticking behavior. Consequently, these polymers have attracted considerable interest. However, the mechanical properties of fluorinated polyurethanes usually decline with increasing fluorine contents. The blending of fluorinated polyurethanes with normal polyurethane was carried out to achieve balanced mechanical and surface properties. It was found that polyurethane with good mechanical properties and low surface energy can be obtained by adding a small amount of fluorinated polyurethane. The fluorinated side chains can easily migrate to uppermost surfaces of the blends untill the fluorine level at the surface becomes almost saturated. It has been shown from contact angle, XPS and AFM measurements that only as little as 0.34 wt% of fluorine level is enough to produce a surface saturated with fluorine, and the fluorine level at the uppermost surface is one hundred times higher than that in the blend bulk. The final outer surface structures of the polyurethane blend were independent of the content of the fluorinated polyurethane in the blends due to the surfaces saturated by fluorine.

Formation, Structure and Properties of Bulk Metallic Glasses

Bulk metallic glasses with up to 72 mm critical section thickness have been obtained by conventional casting techniques and the properties of these materials, particularly the mechanical and magnetic properties have been studied. These materials have been demonstrated to have novel properties which are fundamentally different from their crystalline counterparts. The recent status of research and development in formation, structure and properties of bulk metallic glasses is reviewed. The techniques to produce such bulk glasses are summarized and the glass forming ability and the critical cooling rate of these materials are discussed. Further consideration of the development and application of this new class of materiaIs will be proposed.

Magneto-Transport Properties of Insulating Bulk States in Bi(111) Films

Magneto-transport properties of insulating bulk states in Bi（111） films are systematically investigated under the parallel field （BⅡ）. We find that the magnetotransport of the Bll field is a more powerful tool to distinguish the bulk states and the surface states. A large magnetoresistance （MR） up to 20% in the BⅡ field is induced by the insulating bulk states for the suppression of the backward scattering. With the increasing thickness, a positive MR（BⅡ） from magnetic induced boundary scattering appears in the semimetal films. As the thickness is reduced to 1Ohm, the positive MR（BⅡ） is induced by weak anti-localization from the surface states.

Negative Effects of Sludge Bulking in Membrane Bio-Reactor

Sludge bulking property of membrane bio-reactor was investigated in this study through contrast research. When the sludge bulking appeared, the removal efficiency of COD in membrane bio-reactor increased slightly through the function of filamentous bacteria. However, the negative effects of the higher net water-head differential pressures, the high block rate of membrane pore and the great quantity of filamentous bacteria at the external surface presented at the same time. Thus, plenty of methods should be performed to control sludge bulking once it happened in membrane bio-reactor.

Sludge Bulking Property of Membrane Bio-reactor in Albumen Wqastewater Treatment

Albumen wastewater was treated by Membrane Bio-reactor. Sludge bulking property of Membrane Bio-Reactor was investigated in this study through contrast research. When the sludge bulking appeared, the removal efficiency of COD in Membrane Bio-reactor increased slightly under the function of filamentous bacteria. However, the negative effects of the higher net water-head differential pressures,the higher block rate of membrane pore and the great quantity of filamentous bacteria at the externalsurface pres...

High-energy nuclear physics meets machine learning

Although seemingly disparate,high-energy nuclear physics(HENP)and machine learning(ML)have begun to merge in the last few years,yielding interesting results.It is worthy to raise the profile of utilizing this novel mindset from ML in HENP,to help interested readers see the breadth of activities around this intersection.The aim of this mini-review is to inform the community of the current status and present an overview of the application of ML to HENP.From different aspects and using examples,we examine how scientific questions involving HENP can be answered using ML.

Defect stability in thorium monocarbide:An ab initio study

The elastic properties and point defects of thorium monocarbide（ThC） have been studied by means of density functional theory based on the projector-augmented-wave method. The calculated electronic and elastic properties of ThC are in good agreement with experimental data and previous theoretical results. Five types of point defects have been considered in our study, including the vacancy defect, interstitial defect, antisite defect, schottky defect, and composition-conserving defect. Among these defects, the carbon vacancy defect has the lowest formation energy of 0.29 eV. The second most stable defect（0.49 eV） is one of composition-conserving defects in which one carbon is removed to another carbon site forming a C2 dimer. In addition, we also discuss several kinds of carbon interstitial defects, and predict that the carbon trimer configuration may be a transition state for a carbon dimer diffusion in Th C.

Mechanical and Magnetic Properties of New(Fe,Co,Ni)–B–Si–Ta Bulk Glassy Alloys

The alloying effects of the like-atom substitution of Ni and Co for Fe on the various properties of Fe_（70）B_（16.7）Si_（8.3）Ta_5 metallic glass are investigated in this present work. New Fe-based bulk glassy alloys, namely Fe_（60–x）Co_xNi_（10）B_（16.7）Si_（8.3）Ta_5（at.%;x = 10, 20 and 30） with critical diameters up to 1.5 mm, were made by means of copper mold casting.A new glass-forming ability indicator, viz., the enthalpy of supercooled liquid, has been introduced for assessment of the glass-forming abilities（GFAs） of these Fe-based multi-component alloys. Nano-indentation results indicate that the calculated elastic modulus and hardness of the bulk glassy alloys are lower than those of the Fe_（70）B_（16.7）Si_（8.3）Ta_5 alloy.Among these bulk glassy alloys, Fe_（70）B_（16.7）Si_（8.3）Ta_5 exhibits the large elastic modulus and hardness with values of 178 ± 1GPa and 12.9 ± 0.1 GPa, respectively. All the bulk glassy alloys exhibit good soft magnetic properties with high saturation magnetization Bs^0.75–1.04 T but low coercive force Hc^0.2–5.2 A/m.

Conductivity and mechanical properties of conductive adhesive with silver nanowires

The aim of this study was to develop conductive adhesive using silver nanowires prepared via solvothermal method as conductive fillers and epoxymodified organosilicone resin as matrix resin. Effect of the addition of silver nanowires/flakes on the conductive adhesive＇s electrical and mechanical properties was investigated. Compared with conventional conductive adhesive with silver flakes fillers, the percolation threshold of conductive adhesive with silver nanowires fillers is 10 % lower approximately. However, further rise of the content of silver nanowires has no obvious influence on improvement of the electrical conductivity of conductive adhesive. Both conductive and mechanical properties of conductive adhesive can be compatible by adding silver nanowires, which traditional silver conductive adhesives cannot reach.

Flexural Strength and Weibull Analysis of Bulk Metallic Glasses

The flexural strength reliability of bulk metallic glasses （BMGs） plates is analyzed using Weibull statistics. The Weibull modulus （m） and characteristic strength （σ0） of the Zr48Cu45AI7 BMG are 34 and 2630 MPa, respectively, which are much higher than the values of fine ceramics （m 〈 30, σ0 〈 1600 MPa）. In particular, the m values obtained by flexural strength and compressive strength statistics of the Mg61Cu28Gd11 BMG are 5 and 33, respectively, indicating that the m values of BMGs are test method dependent, and only the m values obtained by flexural strength statistics can be used to make a convincible comparison with those of ceramics.

Effects of experimental conditions on the molecular composition of maltenes and asphaltenes derived from oilsands bitumen: Characterized by negative-ion ESI FT-ICR MS

A vacuum topped Canadian oilsands bitumen （VTB） was subjected to solvent precipitation and subsequently characterized by elemental analysis, gel permeation chromatograph （GPC）, IH-NMR spectroscopy and negative-ion electrospray ionization （ESI） Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry （FT-ICR MS）. Effects of experimental conditions such as solvent types （n-Cs, n-C6, and n-C7）, solvent purity, and solvent washing time on asphaltenes yields, bulk composition, and molecular composition of detectable heteroatom compounds in ESI source were determined. Elemental nitrogen and sulfur were enriched in asphaltenes while elemental oxygen had comparable content in maltenes and asphaltenes. Molecular compo- sition of asphaltenes varies with separation conditions. The N1 and O1 species identified by ESI FT-ICR MS were enriched in maltenes. The 02 species exhibited two different double bond equivalents （DBE） distributions and solubility in normal paraffin solvents, indicating two types of molecular structures. Multi oxygen atom containing compounds mainly detected in asphal- tenes. Compound class distributions are similar for maltenes derived from n-Cs, n-C6, and n-C7 , as well as for asphaltenes. The cyclic paraffin impurities in normal paraffin solvents had a significant influence on asphaltenes yields and heteroatom molecu- lar composition. A portion of neutral N1 species and acidic 02 species adsorbed on asphaltenes could be dissolved by increas- ing washing time. Cautions should be exercised when interpreting the properties and composition of asphaltenes obtained with different experimental conditions.

Nuclear structure and decay modes of Ra isotopes within an axially deformed relativistic mean field model

We examine the structural properties and half-life decay of Ra isotopes within the axially deformed Relativistic Mean-Field（RMF）theory with NL3 force parameters.We work out the binding energy（BE）,RMS radii,two-neutron separation energies（S（2n））,and some other observables.The results are in good agreement with the finite-range droplet model（FRDM）and experimental results.Considering the possibility of neutron magic number,theα-decay and cluster decay half-lives of Ra isotopes are calculated systematically using the Q-values obtained from the RMF formalism.These decay half-life calculations are carried out by taking three different empirical formulae.The calculated decay half-lives are found to be highly sensitive to the choice of Q-values.Possible shell or sub-shell closures are found at daughter nuclei with N=128 and N=126 when alpha and 8Be,12C,18O respectively are emitted from Ra isotopes.Though the cluster radioactivity is affected by the shell closure of parent and daughter,a long half-life indicates the stability of the parent,and a small parent half-life indicates that the shell stability of the daughter against decay.