Preparation of Core-shell Structured Particles and Their Nucleation in Polyester:I. Preparation of Monodisperse SiO_2/PS Core-shell Composite Particles

To enhance the nucleation and crystallization properties of polyester (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, PET), core-shell structured particles are used to improve these properties by controlling the inorganic dispersion properties in the polymers. In the paper, monodisperse particles of silica/polystyrene (PS) are prepared with both dispersion and emulsion polymerization techniques. The monodisperse silicon dioxide particles are first prepared with the seed growth method and modified by the coupling agents. Silica is properly modified with KH-570, and its size deviation is 3.0% or so. The modified silica then reacts with the mixture of ethanol, water medium, and monomer of styrene under dispersion polymerization. Results show that the dispersion polymerization technique is more suitable for monodisperse core-shell SiO2/PS particles than that of the emulsion. The morphology and molecular structure of the core-shell particles are investigated with the transmission electron microscope (TEM), and fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). The results show that the modified silica particles are successfully encapsulated with polystyrene. The average number of silica particles encapsulated into each polystyrene sphere decreases when the size of silica particles increases from 50 nm to 600 nm, and will approach one when the silica is greater than 380nm in size. The mass ratio for silica/PS particles in emulsion polymerization is 4.7/1, lower than that of 6.8/1 for dispersion polymerization, which is the first reported optimized data for preparing the similar monodisperse composite particles. Thus, the PS shell in the former is thinner than that in the latter.

The structure and properties of Fe_3O_4/P (NaUA-St-BA) magnetic composite nano particles

Fe3O4/P （NaUA-St-BA） core-shell composite micro spheres were in situ prepared by soapless polymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate, with Fe3O4magnetic colloidal particles coated with NaUA. The results of IR and XRD analysis demonstrated that the desired polymer chains have been covalently bonded to the surface of Fe3O4 nano particles. The morphology analysis by TEM confirmed that the composite particles have the core-shell structure and a relatively uniform diameter of about 100nm. The magnetic properties of the obtained composite latex particles were measured by VSM and found that they exhibited super paramagnetic properties. Finally, the prepared magnetic composite particles latex is stable for several months.

Structural response of aluminum core–shell particles in detonation environment

Natural aluminum particles have the core-shell structure.The structure response refers to the mechanical behavior of the aluminum particle structure caused by external influences.The dynamic behavior of the structural response of aluminum core-shell particles before combustion is of great importance for the aluminum powder burning mechanism and its applications.In this paper,an aluminum particle combustion experiment in a detonation environment is conducted and analyzed;the breakage factors of aluminum particles shell in detonation environment are analyzed.The experiment results show that the aluminum particle burns in a gaseous state and condenses into a sub-micron particle cluster.The calculation and simulation demonstrate that the rupture of aluminum particle shell in the detonation environment is mainly caused by the impact of the detonation wave.The detonation wave impacts the aluminum particles,resulting in shell cracking,and due to the shrinkage-expansion of the aluminum core and stripping of the detonation product,the cracked shell is fractured and peeled with the aluminum reacting with the detonation product.

Effect of mixing structure on the hygroscopic behavior of ultrafine ammonium sulfate particles mixed with succinic acid and levoglucosan

Understanding the interactions between water and atmospheric aerosols is critical for estimating their impact on the radiation budget and cloud formation. The hygroscopic behavior of ultrafine （〈100nm） ammonium sulfate particles internally mixed with either succinic acid （slightly soluble） or levoglucosan （soluble） in different mixing structures （core-shell vs. well-mixed} were measured using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer （HTDMA）. During the hydration process （6-92% relative humidity （RH））, the size of core-shell particles （ammonium sulfate and succinic acid） remained unchanged until a slow increase in particle size occurred at 79Y~ RH; however, an abrupt increase in size （i.e., a clear deliquescence） was observed at ~72% RH for well-mixed particles with a similar volume fraction to the core-shell particles （80：20 by volume）. This increase might occur because the shell hindered the complete dissolution of the core-shell particles below 92% RH. The onset RH value was lower for the ammonium sulfate/levoglucosan core-shell particles than the ammonium sulfate/succinic acid core-shell particles due to levoglucosan＇s higher solubility relative to succinic acid. The growth factor （GF） of the core-shell particles was lower than that of the well-mixed particles, while the GF of the ammonium sulfate/levoglucosan particles was higher than that of ammonium sulfate/succinic acid particles with the same volume fractions. As the volume fraction of the organic species increased, the GF decreased. The data suggest that the mixing structure is also important when determining hygroscopic behavior of the mixed particles.

Microscopic and spectroscopic analysis of atmospheric iron-containing single particles in Lhasa,Tibet

The Tibetan Plateau,known as the“Third Pole”,is currently in a state of perturbation caused by intensified human activity.In this study,56 samples were obtained at the five sampling sites in typical area of Lhasa city and their physical and chemical properties were investigated by TEM/EDS,STXM,and NEXAFS spectroscopy.After careful examination of 3387single particles,the results showed that Fe should be one of the most frequent metal elements.The Fe-containing single particles in irregular shape and micrometer size was about7.8%and might be mainly from local sources.Meanwhile,the Fe was located on the subsurface of single particles and might be existed in the form of iron oxide.Interestingly,the core-shell structure of iron-containing particles were about 38.8%and might be present as single-,dual-or triple-core shell structure and multi-core shell structure with the Fe/Si ratios of 17.5,10.5,2.9 and 1.2,respectively.Meanwhile,iron and manganese were found to coexist with identical distributions in the single particles,which might induce a synergistic effect between iron and manganese in catalytic oxidation.Finally,the solid spherical structure of Fe-containing particles without an external layer were about 53.4%.The elements of Fe and Mn were co-existed,and might be presented as iron oxide-manganese oxide-silica composite.Moreover,the ferrous and ferric forms of iron might be co-existed.Such information can be valuable in expanding our understanding of Fe-containing particles in the Tibetan Plateau atmosphere.

MOFs derived magnetic porous carbon microspheres constructed by core-shell Ni@C with high-performance microwave absorption

Lightweight and high-performance are two determining factors for metal-organic-frameworks(MOFs)derived microwave absorbers.However,most of the reported MOFs derived absorbers usually possess high filler loading.Herein,a series of MOFs derived magnetic porous carbon microspheres with tunable diameter and high specific surface area have been synthesized via a pyrolysis process.The synthesized magnetic porous carbon microspheres,constructed by uniformly distributed core-shell Ni@C,exhibit high-performance microwave absorption with a low filler loading of 10 wt%.Considering the mciro-mesoporous structures,matched impedance,strong conductive loss,enhanced dipolar/interfacial polarization as well as strong magnetic coupling network,a minimum reflection loss of-60 dB and an absorption bandwidth of 7.0 GHz can be achieved at 2.6 mm.Moreover,the bandwidth reaches as wide as 10.2 GHz when the thickness is 4 mm.In addition,compared with other MOFs derived absorbers,this work provides us a simple strategy for the synthesis of porous carbon microspheres with lightweight and high-performance microwave absorption for practical applications.

Design of cobalt-based catalysts with the uniformly distributed coreshell structure for ultra-efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate for tetracycline degradation

Catalysts that can rapidly degrade tetracycline(TC)in water without introducing secondary ion pollution have always been challenging.Herein,a cobalt-based catalyst(CoO_(x)@P-C)is prepared so that CoOx quantum particles(5e10 nm)are uniformly distributed on a linear substrate,and the outer layer is covered with a shell(P-C).The quantum particles of CoO_(x) provide many active sites for the reaction,which ensures the efficient degradation effect of the catalyst,and 30 mg/L TC can be completely degraded in only 5 min.The shell of the quantum particles'outer layer can effectively reduce ions'extravasation.The combination of the shell-like structure and the linear substrate greatly enhances the catalysis's stability and ensures that the catalyst is prepared into a film for practical application.The high catalytic activity of CoO_(x)@P-C is mainly due to the following factors:(1)Uniformly distributed ultra-small nanoparticles can provide many active sites.(2)The microenvironment formed by the core-shell structure enhances not only catalytic stability but also provides the driving force to improve the reaction rate.(3)The composite of CoO_(x) and P-C core-shell structure can accelerate electron transfer and generate many reactive oxygen species in a short time,which makes TC degrade extremely rapidly.

Fabrication of carbon coated gadolinia particles for dual-mode magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging

In the present study,we report a fabrication of dual-mode carbon coated gadolinia C@Gd_(2)O_(3)particles by a facile hydrothermal synthesis method without using any organic solvents.The prepared C@Gd_(2)O_(3)particles have a core-shell structure and a narrow size distribution in the range of 261±27 nm.The fluorescent properties of the prepared C@Gd_(2)O_(3)particles were accessed by a room-temperature photoluminescence study,while the longitudinal relaxivity(r1)was examined by using a clinical 1.5 T MRI scanner.A murine fibroblast L-929 cell line was used to examine the cytotoxicity and capability of the prepared C@Gd_(2)O_(3)particles for the fluorescent labeling.The obtained results show that the prepared C@Gd_(2)O_(3)particles could be used as a dual-mode contrast agent for magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging.

Functionalized TiO_2@ZrO_2@Y_2O_3:Eu^(3+) core-multishell microspheres and their photoluminescence properties

TiO2@ZrO2@Y2O3 ：Eu3＋ composite particles with a core-multishell structure were synthesized through the combination of a layer-by-layer （LBL） self-assembly method and a sol-gel process. The obtained sam- ples were characterized with scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and fluorescence spectropho- tometry. The results showed that the composite particles had a core-multishell structure, spherical morphology, and a narrow size distribution. The presence of a ZrO2 layer on the TiO2 core can effec- tively prevent the reaction between the TiO2 core and a Y203 shell; the temperature for the reaction between the TiO2 core and the Y203 shell in the TiO2@ZrO2@Y2O3 ：Eu core-multishell phosphor can be elevated by 300 ℃ compared to that for TiO2@ZrO2：Eu. Upon excitation of the core-multishell particles in the ultraviolet （254 nm）, the Eu3＋ ion in the Y2O3 ：Eu3＋ shell shows its characteristic red emission （611 nm, 5D0→7F2）, and the photoluminescence （PL） intensity of the phosphor with the core-multishell structure was obviously greater than that of the core-shell TiO2@Y2O3 ：Eu phosphor.