1,327 research outputs found
Interdigitation between surface-anchored polymer chains and an elastomer : consequences for adhesion promotion
We study the adhesion between a cross-linked elastomer and a flat solid
surface where polymer chains have been end-grafted. To understand the adhesive
feature of such a system, one has to study both the origin of the grafted layer
interdigitation with the network, and the end-grafted chains extraction out of
the elastomer when it comes unstuck from the solid surface. We shall tackle
here the first aspect for which we develop a partial interdigitation model that
lets us analytically predict a critical surface grafting density beyond which the layer no longer interdigitates
with the elastomer. We then relate this result with recent adhesion
measurements
Oxygen in dense interstellar gas - the oxygen abundance of the star forming core rho Oph A
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, but its chemistry
in the interstellar medium is still not well understood. In order to critically
examine the entire oxygen budget, we attempt here initially to estimate the
abundance of atomic oxygen, O, in the only one region, where molecular oxygen,
O2, has been detected to date. We analyse ISOCAM-CVF spectral image data toward
rho Oph A to derive the temperatures and column densities of H2 at the
locations of ISO-LWS observations of two [OI] 3P_J lines. The intensity ratios
of the (J=1-2) 63um to (J=0-1) 145um lines largely exceed ten, attesting to the
fact that these lines are optically thin. This is confirmed by radiative
transfer calculations, making these lines suitable for abundance
determinations. For that purpose, we calculate line strengths and compare them
to the LWS observations. Excess [OI] emission is observed to be associated with
the molecular outflow from VLA 1623. For this region, we determine the physical
parameters, T and N(H2), from the CAM observations and the gas density, n(H2),
is determined from the flux ratio of the [O I]63um and [O I]145um lines. For
the oxygen abundance, our analysis leads to essentially three possibilities:
(1) Extended low density gas with standard ISM O-abundance, (2) Compact high
density gas with standard ISM O-abundance and (3) Extended high density gas
with reduced oxygen abundance, [O/H] ~ 2E-5. As option (1) disregards valid [O
I] 145um data, we do not find it very compelling; we favour option (3), as
lower abundances are expected as a result of chemical cloud evolution, but we
are not able to dismiss option (2) entirely. Observations at higher angular
resolution than offered by the LWS are required to decide between these
possibilities.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Sliding friction between an elastomer network and a grafted polymer layer: the role of cooperative effects
We study the friction between a flat solid surface where polymer chains have
been end-grafted and a cross-linked elastomer at low sliding velocity. The
contribution of isolated grafted chains' penetration in the sliding elastomer
has been early identified as a weakly velocity dependent pull-out force. Recent
experiments have shown that the interactions between the grafted chains at high
grafting density modify the friction force by grafted chain. We develop here a
simple model that takes into account those interactions and gives a limit
grafting density beyond which the friction no longer increases with the
grafting density, in good agreement with the experimental dataComment: Submitted to Europhys. Letter
Mid-infrared laser light nulling experiment using single-mode conductive waveguides
Aims: In the context of space interferometry missions devoted to the search
of exo-Earths, this paper investigates the capabilities of new single mode
conductive waveguides at providing modal filtering in an infrared and
monochromatic nulling experiment; Methods: A Michelson laser interferometer
with a co-axial beam combination scheme at 10.6 microns is used. After
introducing a Pi phase shift using a translating mirror, dynamic and static
measurements of the nulling ratio are performed in the two cases where modal
filtering is implemented and suppressed. No additional active control of the
wavefront errors is involved. Results: We achieve on average a statistical
nulling ratio of 2.5e-4 with a 1-sigma upper limit of 6e-4, while a best null
of 5.6e-5 is obtained in static mode. At the moment, the impact of external
vibrations limits our ability to maintain the null to 10 to 20 seconds.;
Conclusions: A positive effect of SM conductive waveguide on modal filtering
has been observed in this study. Further improvement of the null should be
possible with proper mechanical isolation of the setup.Comment: Accepted in A&A, 7 pages, 5 figure
Slip-controlled thin film dynamics
In this study, we present a novel method to assess the slip length and the
viscosity of thin films of highly viscous Newtonian liquids. We quantitatively
analyse dewetting fronts of low molecular weight polystyrene melts on
Octadecyl- (OTS) and Dodecyltrichlorosilane (DTS) polymer brushes. Using a thin
film (lubrication) model derived in the limit of large slip lengths, we can
extract slip length and viscosity. We study polymer films with thicknesses
between 50 nm and 230 nm and various temperatures above the glass transition.
We find slip lengths from 100 nm up to 1 micron on OTS and between 300 nm and
10 microns on DTS covered silicon wafers. The slip length decreases with
temperature. The obtained values for the viscosity are consistent with
independent measurements.Comment: 4 figure
Multi-line Stokes inversion for prominence magnetic-field diagnostics
We present test results on the simultaneous inversion of the Stokes profiles
of the He I lines at 587.6 nm (D_3) and 1083.0 nm in prominences (90-deg
scattering). We created datasets of synthetic Stokes profiles for the case of
quiescent prominences (B<200 G), assuming a conservative value of 10^-3 of the
peak intensity for the polarimetric sensitivity of the simulated observations.
In this work, we focus on the error analysis for the inference of the magnetic
field vector, under the usual assumption that the prominence can be assimilated
to a slab of finite optical thickness with uniform magnetic and thermodynamic
properties. We find that the simultaneous inversion of the two lines
significantly reduces the errors on the inference of the magnetic field vector,
with respect to the case of single-line inversion. These results provide a
solid justification for current and future instrumental efforts with multi-line
capabilities for the observations of solar prominences and filaments.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
A re-appraisal of the reliability of the 20 m multi-stage shuttle run test
This is the author's PDF version of an article published in European journal of applied physiology in 2007. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.co
Electrowetting on superhydrophobic SU-8 patterned surfaces
Electrowetting on micro-patterned layers of SU-8 photoresist with an amorphous Teflon (R) coating has been observed. The cosine of the contact angle is shown to be proportional to the square of the applied voltage for increasing bias. However, this does not apply below 40 V and we suggest that this may be explained in terms of penetration of fluid into the pattern of the surface. Assuming that the initial application of a bias voltage converts the drop from Cassie-Baxter to Wenzel regime, we have used this as a technique to estimate the roughness factor of the surface
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