Anti-Biofouling Polymers with Special Surface Wettability for Biomedical Applications

The use of anti-biofouling polymers has widespread potential for counteracting marine, medical, and industrial biofouling. The anti-biofouling action is usually related to the degree of surface wettability. This review is focusing on anti-biofouling polymers with special surface wettability, and it will provide a new perspective to promote the development of anti-biofouling polymers for biomedical applications. Firstly, current anti-biofouling strategies are discussed followed by a comprehensive review of anti-biofouling polymers with specific types of surface wettability, including superhydrophilicity, hydrophilicity, and hydrophobicity. We then summarize the applications of anti-biofouling polymers with specific surface wettability in typical biomedical fields both in vivo and in vitro, such as cardiology, ophthalmology, and nephrology. Finally, the challenges and directions of the development of anti-biofouling polymers with special surface wettability are discussed. It is helpful for future researchers to choose suitable anti-biofouling polymers with special surface wettability for specific biomedical applications.

Controllable synthesis of Mo2C with different morphology and application to electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

In order to evaluate the effect of precursors and synthesis strategies on catalytic ability of Mo2C in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), four kinds of Mo2C were synthesized using two kinds of MoO3 by two strategies. Compared with the one-step direct carbonization strategy, Mo2C with a large special surface area and a better performance could be synthesized by the two-step strategy composed of a nitridation reaction and a carbonization reaction. Additionally, the as-prepared porous Mo2C nanobelts (NBs) exhibit good electrocatalytic performance with a small overpotential of 165 mV (0.5 M H2SO4) and 124 mV (1 M KOH) at 10 mA cm-2, as well as a Tafel slope of 58 mV dec-1 (0.5 M H2SO4) and 59 mV dec-1 (1 M KOH). The excellent catalytic activity is ascribed to the nano crystallites and porous structure. What’s more, the belt structure also facilitates the charge transport in the materials during the electrocatalytic HER process. Therefore, the two-step strategy provides a new insight into the structural design with superior performance for electrocatalytic HER.

Silicon Micro-Strip Detectors

Silicon micro-strip detectors are fundamental tools for the high energy physics. Each detector is formed by a large set of parallel narrow strips of special surface treatments (diode junctions) on a slab of very high quality silicon crystals. Their development and use required a large amount of work and research. A very synthetic view is given of these important components and of their applications. Some details are devoted to the basic subject of the track reconstruction in silicon strip trackers. Recent demonstrations substantially modified the usual understanding of this argument.

Topological interpretation of color exchange invariants: hexagonal lattice on a torus

We explain a correspondence between some invariants in the dynamics of color exchange in the coloring problem of a 2d regular hexagonal lattice, which are polynomials of winding numbers, and linking numbers in 3d. One invariant is visualized as linking of lines on a special surface with Arf-Kervaire invariant one, and is interpreted as resulting from an obstruction to transform the surface into its chiral image with special continuous deformations. We also consider additional constraints on the dynamics and see how the surface is modified.

Microcalorimetric adsorption and infrared spectroscopic studies of supported Pd, Ru and Pd–Ru catalysts for the hydrogenation of aromatic rings with carboxyl groups

Pd–Ru/SiO2 showed special surface chemical properties that were totally different from those of Pd/SiO2 and Ru/SiO2 and exhibited high activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of benzoic acid to cyclohexanecarboxylic acid.

DEVELOPMENT OF ELEMENTS OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF CREATION OF THE BIONIC STRUCTURE OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MATERIAL AGAINST THE THERMAL EFFECTS OF UNDERWATER WELDING

The article is devoted to research and development of technology elements for designing and manufacturing a new polymer material based on heat-resistant silicone with a special surface structure in the form of an ordered relief matrix that simulates a bionic surface (“shark skin”), created on the basis of digital processing of bionic models, providing a barrier against thermally dangerous particles of underwater welding. In order to determine the stability of the developed material to the thermal effects of a short-term open flame, experimental tests were carried out, which made it possible to determine that the damage to the surface of the new silicone material is insignificant. It does not lead to the destruction of the overall thickness of the protective material and further risks for the internal foam heat-protective layer of wetsuits – damage to the surface of the protrusions of the relief matrix (no more than 40 % of the initial parameters). The developed material allows one to increase the protection of the main surface of the clothing material.

Influence of Oxidation Damages on Mechanical Properties of SiC/SiC Composite Using Domestic Hi-Nicalon Type SiC Fibers

Here, we show that when the oxidation treatment temperature exceeded 600°C, the tensile strength of SiC/SiC begins to decrease. Oxidation leads to the damages on the PyC fiber/matrix interface, which is replaced by SiO2 at higher temperature. The fracture mode converts from fiber pull-out to fiber-break as the fiber/matrix interface is filled with SiO2. Oxidation time also plays an important role in affecting the tensile strength of SiC/SiC. The tensile modulus decreases with temperature from RT to 800°C, then increases above 800°C due to the decomposition of remaining CSi x O y and crystallization of the SiC matrix. A special surface densification treatment performed in this study is confirmed to be an effective approach to reduce the oxidation damages and improve the tensile strength of SiC/SiC after oxidation.