Shear-induced parallel and transverse alignments of cylinders in thin films of diblock copolymers.

Coarse-grained Langevin dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the alignment behavior of monolayer films of cylinder-forming diblock copolymers under steady shear, a structure of significant importance for many technical applications such as nanopatterning. The influences of shear conditions, the interactions involved in the films, and the initial morphology of the cylinder-forming phase were examined. Our results showed that above a critical shear rate, the cylinders can align either along the shearing direction or transverse (log-rolling) to the shearing direction depending on the relative strength between the interchain attraction in the cylinders (εAA) and the surface attraction of the confining walls with the film (εBW). To understand the underlying mechanism, the microscopic properties of the films under shear were systematically investigated. It was found that at low εAA/εBW, the majority blocks of the diblock polymer that are adsorbed on the confining walls prefer to move synchronously with the walls, inducing the cylinder-forming blocks to align along the flow direction. When εAA/εBW is above a threshold value, a strong attraction between the cylinder-forming blocks restrains their movement during shear, leading to the log-rolling motions of the cylinders. To predict the threshold εAA/εBW, we developed an approach based on equilibrium thermodynamics data and found good agreement with our shear simulations.

The effect of Fe2O3 crystal phases on CO2 hydrogenation.

The effect of Fe2O3 crystal phases on their performance in CO2 hydrogenation was studied. α-Fe2O3 crystal was prepared by precipitation method from Fe(NO3)3·9H2O and (NH4)2CO3, and γ-Fe2O3 was prepared by grinding Fe(NO3)3·9H2O and L(+)-Tartaric acid in agate mortar completely. The crystal phases of Fe2O3 influence the distribution of promoter Zn, K and Cu on catalysts. The dispersity of K on γ-Fe2O3 surface is higher than α-Fe2O3. On the contrary, Cu and Zn are more dispersive on α-Fe2O3 surface than γ-Fe2O3. The catalyst in γ-Fe2O3 phase is easily reduced relative to the catalyst in α-Fe2O3 phase. The former presents higher CO2 conversion and C2+ hydrocarbon selectivity than the latter in CO2 hydrogenation.

Effects of Weak Surface Modification on Co/SiO2 Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Reaction.

A weak surface modification is applied to Co/SiO2 catalyst by hydrothermal treatment at 180°C for 5 h. Aluminum is introduced to Co/SiO2 catalysts during the surface modification. The effects of surface modification on Co/SiO2 catalyst are studied by changing the operating sequences of surface modification and cobalt impregnation in the catalyst preparation. Surface modification before cobalt impregnation makes Co3O4 particle small and dispersed into the deep part of enlarged pore in SiO2, while surface modification after cobalt impregnation does not obviously change the particle size of Co3O4. The improved amplitude of catalytic activity is similar for the two kinds of catalysts, but they are benefited from different factors. The content of iso-hydrocarbons in the products is increased by the surface modifications.