Fabrication of Adsorption-Type Hierarchical Functional Films by Using a Facile Swollen Based Breath Figure Method.

The morphology transition from primary to hierarchical adsorption-type microporous domains of amphiphilic block copolymer (BCP) honeycomb-structured films is demonstrated by a facile swollen based breath figure (BF) method. The characteristic parameters of poly(4-vinylpyridine)-block-polystyrene (P4VP-b-PS) hierarchical micro- and submicroporous films can be controlled by changing the length of segments or subsequent swelling conditions. A plausible mechanism is demonstrated in this research.

Influence of Zinc on Nonisothermal Gasification Kinetics of Coke in a Blast Furnace.

The effect of zinc on the kinetics of coke gasification was studied by a nonisothermal method. The results indicated that with the increase of zinc content, coke gasification tended to move to the low-temperature zone, it occurred earlier, and the reaction rate increased. The main curve fitting method was used to analyze the mechanism function of coke gasification before and after adding zinc.

Liquid Phase Exfoliated Hexagonal Boron Nitride/Graphene Heterostructure Based Electrode Toward Asymmetric Supercapacitor Application.

In this paper, owing to the electrostatic interaction between graphene and h-BN, a facile liquid phase exfoliation method was carried out to fabricate h-BN/graphene based van der Waals heterostructure nanocomposites without additional chemical cross-linkers. The physicochemical properties of as-prepared composites were characterized by several electron microscopic and spectroscopic measurements. The h-BN/graphene heterostructure composites were employed to use as the anodes of asymmetric supercapacitor, and exhibited exceptional capacitive performance due to their synergistic effects.

Glycine betaine intercalated layered double hydroxide modified quaternized chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol composite membranes for alkaline direct methanol fuel cells.

Utilization of chitosan as the host polymer of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) can avoid the carcinogenic chloromethylation step which is indispensable for aromatic polymers during their quaternization process. To further improve the ionic conductivity and mechanical stability, a hydroxide ion conductor (layered double hydroxides, LDHs) was intercalated by glycine betaine and then incorporated to quaternized chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol mixed matrix to prepare AEMs. Due to intercalated organic ions, the LDHs can be homogeneously dispersed in the matrix, thus promoting the load transfer from the matrix to stiff LDHs.

Chitosan/silica coated carbon nanotubes composite proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications.

Silica-coated carbon nanotubes (SCNTs), which were obtained by a simple sol-gel method, were utilized in preparation of chitosan/SCNTs (CS/SCNTs) composite membranes. The thermal and oxidative stability, morphology, mechanical properties, water uptake and proton conductivity of CS/SCNTs composite membranes were investigated. The insulated and hydrophilic silica layer coated on CNTs eliminates the risk of electronic short-circuiting and enhances the interaction between SCNTs and chitosan to ensure the homogenous dispersion of SCNTs, although the water uptake of CS/SCNTs membranes is reduced owing to the decrease of the effective number of the amino functional groups of chitosan.

Poly[bis-[μ-1,4-bis-(imidazol-1-ylmeth-yl)benzene]dichloridocadmium(II)].

The title compound, [CdCl(2)(C(14)H(14)N(4))(2)](n), has a slightly distorted octa-hedral coordination geometry, formed by four N atoms from 1,4-bis-(imidazol-1-ylmeth-yl)benzene ligands and two Cl atoms, giving a two-dimensional network. The Cd atom lies on a centre of inversion.