Recent Progress in Modification of Polyphenylene Oxide for Application in High-Frequency Communication.

With the rapid development of highly integrated electronic devices and high-frequency microwave communication technology, the parasitic resistance-capacitance (RC) delay and propagation loss severely restrict the development of a high-frequency communication system. Benefiting from its low dielectric constants (Dk) and low dielectric loss factor (Df), polyphenylene oxide (PPO) has attracted widespread attention for its application in the dielectric layers of integrated circuits. However, PPO suffers from a very high melting viscosity, a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than copper wire and poor solvent resistance. Recently, many efforts have focused on the modification of PPO by various means for communication applications. However, review articles focusing on PPO are unexpectedly limited. In this article, the research progress concerning PPO materials in view of the modification of PPO has been summarized. The following aspects are covered: polymerization and design of special chemical structure, low molecular weight PPO and blending with thermosetting resin, hyperbranched PPO, thermosetting PPO and incorporating with fillers. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of various types of modification methods and their applications are compared, and the possible future development directions are also proposed. It is believed that this review will arouse the interest of the electronics industry because of the detailed summary of the cutting-edge modification technology for PPO.

ARGET-ATRP-Mediated Grafting of Bifunctional Polymers onto Silica Nanoparticles Fillers for Boosting the Performance of High-Capacity All-Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Polymer Solid Electrolytes.

The shuttle effect in lithium-sulfur batteries, which leads to rapid capacity decay, can be effectively suppressed by solid polymer electrolytes. However, the lithium-ion conductivity of polyethylene oxide-based solid electrolytes is relatively low, resulting in low reversible capacity and poor cycling stability of the batteries. In this study, we employed the activator generated through electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization to graft modify the surface of silica nanoparticles with a bifunctional monomer, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonate, which possesses sulfonic acid groups with low dissociation energy for facilitating Li+ migration and transfer, as well as amide groups capable of forming hydrogen bonds with polyethylene oxide chains. Subsequently, the modified nanoparticles were blended with polyethylene oxide to prepare a solid polymer electrolyte with low crystallinity and high ion conductivity. The resulting electrolyte demonstrated excellent and stable electrochemical performance, with a discharge-specific capacity maintained at 875.2 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles.

Hubble parameter estimation via dark sirens with the LISA-Taiji network.

The Hubble parameter is one of the central parameters in modern cosmology, and describes the present expansion rate of the universe. The values of the parameter inferred from late-time observations are systematically higher than those inferred from early-time measurements by about [Formula: see text]. To reach a robust conclusion, independent probes with accuracy at percent levels are crucial. Gravitational waves from compact binary coalescence events can be formulated into the standard siren approach to provide an independent Hubble parameter measurement. The future space-borne gravitational wave observatory network, such as the LISA-Taiji network, will be able to measure the gravitational wave signals in the millihertz bands with unprecedented accuracy. By including several statistical and instrumental noises, we show that, within a five-year operation time, the LISA-Taiji network is able to constrain the Hubble parameter within [Formula: see text] accuracy, and possibly beats the scatters down to [Formula: see text] or even better.

Flexible Quasi-Solid-State Composite Electrolyte of Poly (Propylene Glycol)-co-Pentaerythritol Triacry-Late/Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Battery.

With a higher theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh g-1) and energy density (2600 Wh kg-1), the lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is considered as a promising candidate for a next-generation energy storage device. However, the shuttle effect of polysulfides as well as the large interfacial impedance between brittle solid electrolyte and electrodes lead to the capacity of the Li-S battery decaying rapidly, which limits the practical commercial applications of the Li-S battery. Herein, we reported a facile in situ ultraviolet (UV) curing method to prepare a flexible quasi-solid-state composite electrolyte (QSSCE) of poly(propylene glycol)-co-pentaerythritol triacrylate/Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (PPG-co-PETA/LAGP). By combining the high Li-ion conductivity and mechanical strength of inorganic NASICON-structure LAGP and good flexibility of the crosslinked PPG-co-PETA with nanopore structure, the flexible QSSCE with 66.85 wt% LAGP exhibited high Li-ion conductivity of 5.95 × 10-3 S cm-1 at 25 °C, Li-ion transference number of 0.83 and wide electrochemical window of ~5.0 V (vs. Li/Li+). In addition, the application of QSSCE in the Li-S battery could suppress the shuttle effect of polysulfides effectively, thus the Li-S battery possessed the excellent electrochemical cyclic performance, showing the first-cycle discharge-specific capacity of 1508.1 mAh g-1, the capacity retention of 73.6% after 200 cycles with 0.25 C at 25 °C and good rate performance.

The LISA-Taiji Network: Precision Localization of Coalescing Massive Black Hole Binaries.

We explore a potential LISA-Taiji network to fast and accurately localize the coalescing massive black hole binaries. For an equal-mass binary located at redshift of 1 with a total intrinsic mass of 105 M ⊙, the LISA-Taiji network may achieve almost four orders of magnitude improvement on the source localization region compared to an individual detector. The precision measurement of sky location from the gravitational-wave signal may completely identify the host galaxy with low redshifts prior to the final black hole merger. Such identification of the host galaxy is vital for the follow-up variability in electromagnetic emissions of the circumbinary disc when the binary merges to a new black hole and enables the coalescing massive black hole binaries to be used as a standard siren to probe the expansion history of the Universe.

A graphene oxide-based polymer composite coating for highly-efficient solid phase microextraction of phenols.

Sensitivity and selectivity of the solid phase microextraction (SPME) in analysis are mostly determined by the coating material of the fiber used. Graphene oxide (GO) has attracted great attention because of its large specific surface area, rich oxygen functional groups, good dispersibility in aqueous solution and high reactivity. However, the low thermal stability of the functional groups limits the wide application of GO in SPME coating design. Highly cross-linked polyoxyethylene (POE) is a substrate widely used for composite material construction, which could significantly improve the thermal stability, water resistance as well as biocompatibility of the functional materials. In this study, we incorporated GO with highly cross-linked POE as a novel fiber coating material for SPME through the gluing approach. The obtained fiber possessed a wrinkled shape surface, which could increase the accessible surface area. In addition, the thermal and chemical stability of the fiber coating were also improved, rendering the fiber rigid enough for more than 100 repetitive extraction cycles. The performance of this developed SPME method for phenols was evaluated by headspace extraction of phenols in aqueous samples. Compared with three commercial fibers, the home-made fiber showed excellent extraction efficiencies towards phenols. Under the optimized conditions, it showed low detection limits (0.12-1.36 ng·â€¯L-1), good precision (<8.4%), good fiber-to-fiber repeatability (3.1%-8.1%), wide linear range (almost 5-1000 ng·L-1and correlation coefficients (R2) >99%), as well as good enrichment efficiencies (enrichment factors (EFs), 172-1752). Furthermore, the method was successfully applied in simultaneous analyses of five phenols for real water samples with satisfactory recoveries (81-113% for the Pearl River samples).

Determination of organophosphorus pesticides in ecological textiles by solid-phase microextraction with a siloxane-modified polyurethane acrylic resin fiber.

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating was prepared with siloxane-modified polyurethane acrylic resin by photo-cured technology. The ratio of two monomers was investigated to obtain good microphase separation structure and better extraction performance. The self-made fiber was then applied to organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) analysis and several factors, such as extraction/desorption time, extraction temperature, salinity, and pH, were studied. The optimized conditions were: 15 min extraction at 25 °C, 5% Na(2)SO(4) content, pH 7.0 and 4 min desorption in GC inlet. The self-made fiber coating exhibited better extraction efficiency for OPPs, compared with three commercial fiber coatings. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of 11 OPPs were from 0.03 µg L(-1) to 0.5 µg L(-1). Good recoveries and repeatabilities were obtained when the method was used to determine OPPs in ecological textile.

Application of solid-phase microextraction for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides in textiles by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry.

A method based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the determination of 18 organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) in textiles is described. Commercially available SPME fibers, 100 microm PDMS and 85 microm PA, were compared and 85 microm PA exhibited better performance to the OPPs. Various parameters affecting SPME, including extraction and desorption time, extraction temperature, salinity and pH, were studied. The optimized conditions were: 35 min extraction at 25 degrees C, 5% NaSO4 content, pH 7.0, and 3.5 min desorption in GC injector port at 250 degrees C. The linear ranges of the SPME-GC/MS method were 0.1-500 microg L(-1) for most of the OPPs. The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.01 microg L(-1) (for bromophos-ethyl) to 55 microg L(-1) (for azinphos-methyl) and the RSDs were between 0.66% and 9.22%. The optimized method was then used to analyze 18 OPPs in textile sample, and the determined recoveries were ranged from 76.7% to 126.8%. Moreover, the distribution coefficients of the OPPs between 85 microm PA fiber and simulative sweat solution (K(pa/s)) were determined. The determined K(pa/s) of the OPPs correlated well with their octanol-water partition coefficients (r=0.764 and 0.678) and water solubility (r=-0.892 and -0.863).