Vinylated Modification of Biophytic Acid and Flame-Retardant/Crease-Proofing Finishing of Cotton Fabrics via In Situ Copolymerization.

The vinyl phytic acid (GPA) was prepared using biophytic acid (PA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), in which double bonds were introduced into the phytic acid molecule to increase the active groups in the phytic acid molecule. Furthermore, itaconic acid (IA) containing two unsaturated double bonds and GPA was polymerized in situ and crosslinked on the surface of cotton fabrics, and flame retardant and crease-proofed fabrics were obtained. The effects of GPA, IA, and the initiator on the flame-retardant and crease-proofing properties of the fabrics were analyzed by a single-factor and double-dip double-nip experiment. A flame-retardant and wrinkle-resistant fabric was obtained when the limiting oxygen index (LOI) and wrinkle recovery angle (WRA) were 28% and 270°, respectively. During combustion, the thermal properties of the fabrics changed; typically, the extrapolated initial temperature (Te) decreased, and moisture release increased. After burning, the fabrics had good shape retention, and the carbon residue content increased to 48%, which effectively inhibited or slowed down the combustion and heat release of the textiles. However, the whiteness, mechanical properties, and washability of the products need to be further improved.

Non-near-field focus and imaging of an unpolarized electromagnetic wave through high-symmetry quasicrystals.

The focus behaviors of electromagnetic wave through two-dimensional (2D) high-symmetry photonic quasicrystals (PQCs) have been investigated by using exact multi-scattering numerical simulation. We have found that the high-symmetry PQC flat lenses possess universal feature for non-near-field focus of two kinds of polarized waves. That is to say, the non-near-field focus for two kinds of polarized waves can be realized by using these flat lenses, which are consisting of 12-fold, 10-fold and 8-fold 2D PQCs with the same structures and parameters. Such a superior feature originates from higher rotational symmetry and negative refraction in the PQCs. Thus, potential applications of such a phenomenon to optical devices can be anticipated.

High resolution three-port filter in two dimensional photonic crystal slabs.

An in-plane, three-port filter consisting of input/output waveguides and two point-defect cavities in a 2D PC slab is designed and fabricated, where a new feedback method is introduced, and its transmission properties are measured. The measured minimum output wavelength spacing between two channels is 1.5 nm, which is realized by slightly adjusting the size of the resonant cavities. The measured resonant wavelengths of two cavities agree well with the calculated ones and the quality factors of the cavities are almost the same. It is believed that this kind of filter may be useful in optical integrated circuits with high density.

Method used to measure interaction of proteins with dual-beam optical tweezers.

In the force measurement of protein-protein interaction, proteins are usually attached to microbeads, so the coated beads serve as both handles and force transducers. Due to the short interaction distance between proteins, the beads are usually close enough to each other. When dual-beam optical tweezers and quadrant photodiode detector are used to investigate the interaction of proteins, it is found that the signal of detected beads is greatly affected by adjacent beads. Analysis reveals that the contribution of two beads to the quadrant detector signal is independent. A method for extracting the real interaction signal from a disturbed one is presented. Based on this method, interaction between microtubules and AtMAP65-1 is measured. The results show that this method is useful for measuring short-distance interaction with the precision of piconewton and nanometer scales.

Preparation and self-assembly of uniform TiO2/SiO2 composite submicrospheres.

Monodisperse spheres of silica were uniformly coated with titania through the hydrolysis of titanium alkoxide in order to increase the refractive index of complex submicrospheres and keep their monodispersity as well as their surface morphology. On the basis of the hydrolysis of tetrabutyl orthotitanate (TBOT), a continuous-feeding procedure was used to fabricate 10-nm titania coatings on monodisperse colloidal silica submicrospheres of diameter 200 nm. The TiO2/SiO2 composite spheres were assembled to achieve structures with three-dimensional order by gravity sedimentation and vertical deposition. The complex sphere composition, quality, and morphology were characterized by different techniques.

Conservative form of the density of states of a photonic crystal with a pseudogap.

We show that the total number of states in a photonic crystal in the entire allowed frequency regime will be conserved, and it is equal to that of its corresponding effective medium, i.e., if the density of states (DOS) has a valley(s) in some range(s) of frequencies, it must be compensated for by increases over some other range(s). This rule is of importance in developing a model pseudogap in order to describe the mean emission characteristics of the system when there is a collection of dependently emitting atoms or molecules with essentially random dipole orientations in a large volume and the spectrum of the active atoms is wide enough. This is because, with this rule, the states-conservative model always results in DOS-induced suppression, absolute enhancement, narrowing, spectrum splits, and redshift or blueshift of spontaneous-emission spectra.

Enhanced second-harmonic generation in an electro-optic controlled periodically poled ferroelectric crystal.

We present a novel design of enhanced second-harmonic generation in a periodically poled ferroelectric crystal. It profits from enhanced light intensity and slowed group velocity, which occur near photonic band edges through electro-optic modulation. The designed structure, with 108 periods and a length of 322 microm, can generate a second-harmonic beam whose conversion efficiency is 2 orders of magnitude larger than the one produced by an equivalent length of quasi-phase-matching bulk medium. This result might be beneficial to the development of optics integration and compact devices.

Ultrafast tunable filter in two-dimensional organic photonic crystal.

A tunable filter made from a two-dimensional polystyrene photonic crystal is fabricated by focused ion-beam etching. The pump and probe scheme is adopted to measure tunability based on the picosecond optical Kerr effect. The response time of the tunable filter, approximately 10 ps, is within the measurement resolution. The maximum shift of optical channels is estimated to be 6 nm under excitation of 15.9 GW/cm2 pump intensity, which is in agreement with the theoretical prediction.

Mechanism and dynamics of breakage of fluorescent microtubules.

The breakage of fluorescence-labeled microtubules under irradiation of excitation light is found in our experiments. Its mechanism is studied. The results indicate that free radicals are the main reason for the photosensitive breakage. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the microtubules are probed with a dual-optical tweezers system. It is found that the fluorescence-labeled microtubules are much easier to extend compared with those without fluorescence. Such microtubules can be extended by 30%, and the force for breaking them up is only several piconewtons. In addition, we find that the breakup of the protofilaments is not simultaneous but step-by-step, which further confirms that the interaction between protofilaments is fairly weak.