COMPARING PARALLEL PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENTS FOR THE JOINT INVERSION OF GEOELECTRICAL DATA

The article presents the comparison of the implementation of the inverse problem in geoelectricalmethods in two different parallel computational environments. Combination of MonteCarlo method and Multistart algorithm was applied in the inversion process. Parallelizationwas done by fine grain decomposition. Execution time, speed-up and efficiency received forparallel algorithms in both computational environments were presented and analyzed

Synthesis and characterization of binary polymer nanobrushes based on poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene)

Szczotki polimerowe jako nanostrukturalne materiały charakteryzujące się kowalencyjnym związaniem z podłożem, uporządkowaną strukturą i wysoką gęstością szczepienia, znajdują zastosowanie w coraz szerszych obszarach nauki, takich jak biomedycyna czy biotechnologia. Wykorzystywane są jako nośniki do kontrolowanego dostarczania leków, powierzchnie do hodowli komórek czy czujniki wilgotności. Wachlarz możliwości jaki oferują poszerza się w przypadku nanoszczotek przewodzących, zbudowanych m.in. z poliacetylenu czy politiofenu. Odpowiednie zdomieszkowanie takich struktur, pozwala bowiem na uzyskanie wysokich przewodnictw elektrycznych i zastosowanie w ogniwach słonecznych czy diodach LED. Niezwykle interesującą grupą należącą do rodziny tych nanomateriałów są mieszane szczotki polimerowe – układy, które zawierają na podłożu więcej niż jeden rodzaj makrocząsteczek. Odpowiednio dobierając współkomponenty, można bowiem uzyskać wzmocnienie pożądanych właściwości w porównaniu do izolowanych struktur. W niniejszej pracy dyplomowej zaprezentowano skuteczną metodę otrzymywania binarnych szczotek polimerowych na bazie poli(3,4-propyleno-1,4-dioksytiofenu) z anionowym polistyrenosulfonianem sodu. Korzyści w potencjalnej poprawie transportu ładunku poprzez wykorzystanie heteropolimerowej uporządkowanej i silnie związanej z podłożem warstwy przewodzącej dają nadzieję na zastosowanie tego materiału m. in. w układach fotowoltaicznych, tak ważnych obecnie ze względu na stale rosnące zapotrzebowanie energetyczne na świecie.W toku badań zoptymalizowano preparatykę powierzchni stosowanych jako podłoża do wzrostu polimeru. Zademonstrowano czteroetapową procedurę tworzenia binarnych nanoszczotek, co stanowiło zasadniczy cel prowadzonych badań. Wykazano, że układy binarne mogą zostać otrzymane poprzez wytworzenie odpowiednio rozcieńczonej homopolimerowej struktury szczotki PProDOT-MM na powierzchni przewodzącego substratu (ITO), by kolejno po uprzednim zabezpieczeniu grup końcowych rodnikiem 4- hydroksy-TEMPO, w wygenerowane wolne obszary naszczepić drugi rodzaj inicjatora i przeprowadzić inicjowaną światłem UV polimeryzację SSNa. Końcowy etap, który udało się wstępnie zoptymalizować dla szczotek homopolimerowych, obejmuje wytworzenie układów drabinkowych poprzez sprzęganie pierścieni tiofenowych w macierzystych szczotkach PProDOT-MM. Dalsze badania prowadzone w Zespole Nanotechnologii Polimerów i Biomateriałów pozwolą na pełną syntezę przewodzących szczotek binarnych i analizę właściwości przewodzących, które oferują.Polymer brushes are nanostructured materials covalently attached to the substrate and characterized by ordered structure and high grafting density. They find applications in various areas of science such as biomedicine and biotechnology. They are used as carriers for controlled drug delivery, surfaces for cell culture or humidity sensors. The range of possibilities they offer is extended in the case of conductive nanobrushes composed of conjugated polymers, such as polyacetylene or polythiophene. Appropriate doping of such structures allows to obtain high electrical conductivity and use them in solar cells or LEDs. An extremely interesting group belonging to the family of these nanomaterials are mixed polymer brushes - structures that contain more than one type of macromolecules on the substrate. Suitable selection of co-components can achieve an enhancement of desired properties in comparison to isolated structures. This thesis presents an efficient method to prepare binary polymer brushes based on poly(3,4-propylene-1,4-dioxytiophene) and anionic sodium polystyrenesulfonate. The expected potential improvement of charge transport through this ordered heteropolymer structure strongly bonded to the substrate give rise to the application of this material i. a. in photovoltaic systems, so important nowadays due to the constantly increasing energy demand worldwide. In the course of the research, the preparation of surfaces used as substrates for polymer growth was optimized. A four-step procedure for the synthesis of binary nanobrushes was demonstrated, which was the primary objective of the work. It has been shown that binary systems can be obtained by producing suitably degrafted homopolymeric PProDOT-MM brushes on the surface of conductive substrate (ITO) followed by protecting the end groups with 4-hydroxy-TEMPO, grafting of a second type of initiator onto the generated free spaces and carry out UV-initiated SSNa polymerization. The final step, initially optimized for homopolymer brushes, involves the formation of ladder-like systems by coupling pendant thiophene groups in the parent PProDOT-MM brushes. Further research in the Nanotechnology of Polymers and Biomaterials Group will allow for the full synthesis of conductive binary brushes and analysis of their conductive properties

The use of tin compounds to catalyse atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)

Rozwój polimeryzacji rodnikowych z odwracalną dezaktywacją centrów aktywnych (RDRP), przyczynił się do dynamicznego postępu w chemii polimerów. Techniki RDRP umożliwiły otrzymywanie złożonych struktur polimerowych takich jak szczotki polimerowe. Termin ten charakteryzuje struktury zbudowane z rozciągniętych, gęsto upakowanych łańcuchów polimerowych, które jednym końcem przytwierdzone są do powierzchni. Ze względu na szerokie potencjalne zastosowania szczotek polimerowych, wyjątkowo ważnym zadaniem jest optymalizacja ich syntezy, prowadząca do obniżenia kosztów oraz negatywnego wpływu całego procesu na środowisko. Celem pracy było zbadanie wpływu heterogenicznego reduktora jonów Cu²⁺- tlenku cyny(II) na kinetykę powierzchniowo-inicjowanej polimeryzacji rodnikowej z przeniesieniem atomu (SI-ATRP). W czasie prowadzonych badań, wykonano szereg polimeryzacji SI-ATRP N-izopropyloakryloamidu (NIPAM) w obecności SnO. W ich wyniku otrzymano niezwykle grubą warstwę szczotek polimerowych, których wysokość wynosiła nawet 800 nm. Wykorzystany tlenek cyny(II) jest tanim tlenkiem amfoterycznym nierozpuszczalnym w rozpuszczalnikach organicznych oraz wodzie, dlatego też może być łatwo usunięty z układu po zakończonym procesie polimeryzacji. Największą zaletą stosowania SnO jest jednak możliwość zmniejszenie stężenia jonów miedzi w ATRP do ok. 100-300 ppm. Uzyskane materiały scharakteryzowano przy pomocy mikroskopii sił atomowych, spektroskopii FT–IR oraz pomiarów kąta zwilżania.Development of reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) contributed to the dynamic development of polymer chemistry. RDRP techniques have made it possible to receive complex polymer structures such as polymer brushes. This term is used to describe a structure made of stretched, densely packed polymer chains, attached with one end to the surface. Due to the wide range of potential applications of polymer brushes, particularly important task is to optimize their synthesis, leading to decrease of costs and the negative impact of the whole process on the environment. The aim of the thesis was to examine the effect of heterogeneous reducing agent of Cu²⁺ ions - tin oxide(II) on the kinetics of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). During the research a number of the SI-ATRP polymerizations of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) in the presence of the SnO were performed. As a result, a very thick layers of the brushes (up to 800 nm) were received. The applied tin oxide(II) is a cheap amphoteric oxide insoluble in organic solvents and water, which can be easily removed from the system after completion of the polymerization. However, the biggest advantage of the utilization of the SnO is the ability to decrease concentrations of the copper ions in ATRP to around 100-300 ppm. The obtained materials were analyzed using atomic force microscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and contact angle measurements

Monitoring Subsidence Area with the Use of Satellite Radar Images and Deep Transfer Learning

Subsidence, especially in populated areas, is becoming a threat to human life and property. Monitoring and analyzing the effects of subsidence over large areas using in situ measurements is difficult and depends on the size of the subsidence area and its location. It is also time-consuming and costly. A far better solution that has been used in recent years is Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) monitoring. It allows the monitoring of land deformations in large areas with high accuracy and very good spatial and temporal resolution. However, the analysis of SAR images is time-consuming and involves an expert who can easily overlook certain details. Therefore, it is essential, especially in the case of early warning systems, to prepare tools capable of identifying and monitoring subsidence in interferograms. This article presents a study on automated detection and monitoring of subsidence troughs using deep-transfer learning. The area studied is the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (southern Poland). Marked by intensive coal mining, it is particularly prone to subsidence of various types. Additionally, the results of trough detection obtained with the use of convolutional neural networks were compared with the results obtained with the Hough transform and the circlet transform

Automatic Subsidence Troughs Detection in SAR Interferograms Using Circlet Transform

This article presents the results of automatic detection of subsidence troughs in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms. The detection of subsidence troughs is based on the circlet transform, which is able to detect features with circular shapes. Compared to other methods of detecting circles, the circular transform takes into account the finite data frequency. Moreover, the search shape is not limited to a circle but identified on the basis of a certain width. This is especially important in the case of detection of subsidence troughs whose shapes may not be similar to circles or ellipses but to their fragments. The transformation works directly on the image gradient; it does not require further binary segmentation or edge detection as in the case of other methods, e.g., the Hough transform. The entire processing process can be automated to save time and increase reliability compared to traditional methods. The proposed automatic detection method was tested on a differential interferogram that was generated based on Sentinel-1A SAR images of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin area. The test carried out showed that the proposed method is 20% more effective in detecting troughs that than the method using Hough transform

Information Extraction from Satellite-Based Polarimetric SAR Data Using Simulated Annealing and SIRT Methods and GPU Processing

The main goal of this research was to propose a new method of polarimetric SAR data decomposition that will extract additional polarimetric information from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images compared to other existing decomposition methods. Most of the current decomposition methods are based on scattering, covariance or coherence matrices describing the radar wave-scattering phenomenon represented in a single pixel of an SAR image. A lot of different decomposition methods have been proposed up to now, but the problem is still open since it has no unique solution. In this research, a new polarimetric decomposition method is proposed that is based on polarimetric signature matrices. Such matrices may be used to reveal hidden information about the image target. Since polarimetric signatures (size 18 × 9) are much larger than scattering (size 2 × 2), covariance (size 3 × 3 or 4 × 4) or coherence (size 3 × 3 or 4 × 4) matrices, it was essential to use appropriate computational tools to calculate the results of the proposed decomposition method within an acceptable time frame. In order to estimate the effectiveness of the presented method, the obtained results were compared with the outcomes of another method of decomposition (Arii decomposition). The conducted research showed that the proposed solution, compared with Arii decomposition, does not overestimate the volume-scattering component in built-up areas and clearly separates objects within the mixed-up areas, where both building, vegetation and surfaces occur

Ladder-like polymer brushes containing conjugated poly(propylenedioxythiophene) chains

The high stability and conductivity of 3,4-disubstituted polythiophenes such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) make them attractive candidates for commercial applications. However, next-generation nanoelectronic devices require novel macromolecular strategies for the pre-cise synthesis of advanced polymer structures as well as their arrangement. In this report, we present a synthetic route to make ladder-like polymer brushes with poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene) (PProDOT)-conjugated chains. The brushes were prepared via a self-templating surface-initiated technique (ST-SIP) that combines the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) of bifunctional ProDOT-based monomers and subsequent oxidative polymerization of the pendant ProDOT groups in the parent brushes. The brushes prepared in this way were characterized by grazing-angle FTIR, XPS spectroscopy, and AFM. Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements were used to extract the information about the structure and effective conjugation length of PProDOT-based chains. Stability tests performed in ambient conditions and under exposure to standardized solar light revealed the remarkable stability of the obtained materials