Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Nanostripes in Lipopolymer Monolayers

Poly(styrene sulfonate) self-organization: electrostatic and secondary interactions

We investigate the self-organization of PSS in brushes and polyelectrolyte multilayers with X-ray, neutron and optical reflectivity. The electrostatic force dominates brush phases and adsorption behavior, additionally we find evidence of a strong hydrophobic force: (i) within amphiphilic diblock copolymer monolayers, a PSS monolayer adsorbs flatly to the hydrophobic block, (ii) on temperature increase (and with screened electrostatic forces), more PSS is adsorbed onto oppositely charged surfaces, and (iii) a polyelectrolyte multilayers shrinks when heated at 100% r.h. The latter two effects are consistent with the well-known increase of the hydrophobic force on heating: The increased PSS su…

Search for Superheavy Elements in theU238+U238Reaction

A search was made for spontaneously fissioning superheavy elements in damped collisions of two uranium nuclei. Different techniques were applied covering the elements 108 to 118 and approx. =126, and a half-life range from 1 ms to more than 1 yr. No evidence for superheavy elements was found at upper cross-section limits of 10/sup -32/, 10/sup -33/, and 10/sup -35/ cm/sup 2/ for half-lives from 1 to 100 ms, 100 ms to 1 d, and 1 d to 1 yr, respectively.

Isotope Distributions in the Reaction ofU238withU238

Radiochemically determined cross sections $\ensuremath{\sigma}(Z, A)$ were used to construct charge and mass distributions for the reaction of 1785-MeV $^{238}\mathrm{U}$ ions with thick $^{238}\mathrm{U}$ targets. Fission of the colliding nuclei is found to dominate. For the surviving uraniumlike fragments an enhancement of yields compared to the Kr + U and Xe + U reactions is observed. The formation of heavy actinides is shown to be associated with the low-energy tails of the broad excitation energy distributions in damped collisions.

Polyelectrolyte Brushes Grafted at the Air/Water Interface

A new approach for the study of grafted polyelectrolytes is investigated:  monolayers at the air/water interface of block copolymers consisting of a liquid hydrophobic and a polyelectrolyte block. ...

Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction and Reflection Studies of a Polymacromonomer Monolayer at the Air−Water Interface:  Transition from Aligned Single Molecules to Homogeneous Layer

Monolayers of polymacromonomers with poly(vinyl)pyridine side chains of different lengths, polyPVP20.8 and polyPVP46.7, are studied at the air/water interface. Combination of reflection data and diffraction peaks allows the establishment of a structural model. In the expanded phase at pressures below approximately 15 mN/m, the side chains are adsorbed to the air/water interface, causing polymer backbone stretching and alignment of the single molecules. The in-plane peaks are due to the lateral electron density variation above and below the adsorption layer. The diameter of the flattened cylindrical molecules corresponds to twice the contour length of the side chains (25 and 12.5 nm, respect…

Characterizing the Glassy Phase of a Statistical Copolymer Monolayer

Monolayers of a statistical copolymer with a poly(methacrylate) chain and hydrophilic and hydrophobic side groups are investigated at the air/water interface. The isotherms suggest a fluid and a frozen phase. With in-situ X-ray reflectivity the monolayer thickness is determined to be 2.5 nm or less. The shear viscosity in the fluid phase is extremely high yet can be described in the framework of the free area model. However, the parameter which characterizes the overlap of holes available for a diffusing monomer unit is a factor of 2 higher than expected, suggesting local diffusion barriers formed by nanosized clusters. In the glassy phase single-molecule fluorescence shows anomalous diffus…

Charge-Asymmetry Equilibration in the Reaction ofXe129,132,136withAu197near the Interaction Barrier

Neutron-proton population ratios for quasielastic and inelastic processes in the reactions of 761-MeV $^{129}\mathrm{Xe}$, 769-MeV $^{132}\mathrm{Xe}$, and 795-MeV $^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ ions with thick $^{197}\mathrm{Au}$ targets were determined radiochemically. Completely relaxed $\frac{N}{Z}$ ratios are observed for damped collisions involving the transfer of $\ensuremath{\Delta}Zg~1$ charge units. The limiting condition $\ensuremath{\Delta}Z\ensuremath{\approx}1$ corresponds to a characteristic time of the order of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}$ sec which indicates the absence of dissipative forces in the equilibration of the charge-asymmetry mode.

Wetting of mesoscopic soft cylinders: structure and layering transitions.

The wetting of soft mesoscopic long-chain particles is studied. As a model system, a cylindrical brush with poly(vinyl)pyridine side chains on the water surface is characterized by isotherms and x-ray reflectivity. The forces from the two planar interfaces and the intra- and interparticle interactions are all of comparable magnitude. Two layering transitions occur, one from the monolayer to the double layer, the next to a homogeneous multilayer. The hard wall from which layering starts is the smooth polymer/air interface. Indeed, they particles in the top layer of both the double- and the multilayer have their cylinder axis parallel to the surface and are laterally compressed. In contrast, …