Poly(3-alkylthiophene) formed regular, layered arrays and showed liquid crystalline structures in the solid state. To elucidate the nanophase segregation in poly(3-alkylthiophene)/fullerene blends, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and polarized optical microscopy were conducted. The effect of side-chain influence on the photovoltaic properties of solution-processed poly(3-alkylthiophene)/fullerene blends has been studied in this paper. Side chains investigated here include butyl, hexyl, and dodecyl groups. It shows that the photovoltaic performance is strongly affected by the length of side groups, which alters the morphology of the photoactive layer due to changes in solvent solubility, miscibility, and fullerene diffusion rate in the blends.

The two-mode Korteweg-de Vries equation (TMKdV) was proposed to describe the propagation of nonlinear waves of two different wave modes simultaneously. However, the existence of multi-soliton solutions is still unknown. In this letter we present two Hamiltonians, the conservation laws, and a Miura-like transformation of the equation. We show that the TMKdV equation has “quasi-soliton” behaviour in which waves moving in the same direction pass through each other almost without change of their wave forms except for phase shifts.

Series of partially fluorinated sulfonated poly(arylene ether)s were synthesized through nucleophilic substitution polycondensation from three types of diols and superhydrophobic tetra-trifluoromethyl-substituted difluoro monomers with postsulfonation to obtain densely sulfonated ionomers. The membranes had similar ion exchange capacities of 2.92 ± 0.20 mmol g⁻¹ and favorable mechanical properties (Young’s moduli of 1.60–1.83 GPa). The membranes exhibited considerable dimensional stability (43.1–122.3% change in area and 42.1–61.5% change in thickness at 80 °C) and oxidative stability (~55.5%). The proton conductivity of the membranes, higher (174.3–301.8 mS cm⁻¹) than that of Nafion 211 (123.8 mS cm⁻¹), was the percent conducting volume corresponding to the water uptake. The membranes were observed to comprise isolated to tailed ionic clusters of size 15–45 nm and 3–8 nm, respectively, in transmission electron microscopy images. A fuel cell containing one such material exhibited high single-cell performance—a maximum power density of 1.32 W cm² and current density of >1600 mA cm⁻² at 0.6 V. The results indicate that the material is a candidate for proton exchange membranes in fuel cell applications.

Calcination reduction reaction is used to prepare Pt/EB (emeraldine base)-XC72 (Vulcan carbon black) composites as the cathode material of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The EB-XC72 core-shell composite obtained from directly polymerizing aniline on XC72 particles is able to chelate and capture the Pt-ions before calcination. X-ray diffraction spectra demonstrate Pt particles are successfully obtained on the EB-XC72 when the calcined temperature is higher than 600 °C. Micrographs of TEM and SEM illustrate the affluent, Pt nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on EB-XC72 at 800 °C (Pt/EB-XC72/800). More Pt is deposited on Pt/EB-XC72 composite as temperatures are higher than 600 °C. The Pt/EB-XC72/800 catalyst demonstrates typical type of a cyclic voltammograms (C-V) curve of a Pt-catalyst with clear Pt–H oxidation and Pt–O reduction peaks. The highest number of transferred electrons during ORR approaches 3.88 for Pt/EB-XC72/800. The maximum power density of the single cell based on Pt/EB-XC72/800 reaches 550 mW cm⁻².