Transparent Poly Vinyl Alcohol Research Articles

Size quantification of sub-micron ZnSe semiconductor particles by laboratory scattering methods

A novel route has been developed to synthesize sub-micron Zinc Selenide semiconductor particles through elemental solvothermal process. Transparent polyvinyl alcohol matrix was chosen as host material for embedding these ZnSe particles in order to stop agglomeration of the particles as well as to facilitate optical characterization. Structural and morphological characterizations were carried out through high resolution electron microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. In order to understand light scattering phenomena of these particles, they were investigated by a custom made set up which uses a He-Ne laser of wavelength 632.8nm and an array of Silicon photodetectors. An attempt was made to experimentally determine the most significant element of the Mueller scattering matrix. Novel computational technique, involving single scattering for spherical particles using T-matrix theory was applied. The analysis of the experimental data was done by the method of comparison with theoretically generated data. The theoretical prediction was found to agree well qualitatively with the experimental data. Our results validitate that within an acceptable margin of error of the experimental results, the combination of experimental setup and associated computational method is an efficient and reliable in-situ system for size quantification of sub- micron semiconductor particles in the laboratory.

Polydiacetylenevesicles functionalized with N-heterocyclic ligands for metal cation binding

Self assembled poly diacetylene (PDA) based blue vesicles LS-Terpy, LS-DPA, LS-DP and LS-DEA with metal chelating sites have been prepared and characterized. Their response to the presence of metal cations in buffered aqueous solution has been investigated by monitoring changes of colour, UV-Vis absorption and emission. The addition of zinc, manganese, cadmium, mercury or silver salts to solutions of the vesicles induces a colour change from blue to red observable by the naked eye, while the addition of other metal salts, containing ions like Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cr(2+), Ni(2+), Fe(2+), Co(2+), Cu(2+) or Pb(2+), failed to show any changes. The metal ion coordination selectivity of the ligands is slightly different for the vesicle surface immobilized ligands compared to the reported metal cation binding of the corresponding ligands in solution, which may be due to the special environment at the lipid-solution interface. The vesicles aggregate upon metal ion coordination to the embedded ligands as shown by dynamic light scattering (DLS) particle size analysis. The functionalized PDA vesicles retain their response to the presence of aqueous solutions of metal ions if immobilized in transparent polyvinyl alcohol films or on paper.

Positive- and Negative-Image Processings Based on Photoinduced Anisotropy in Methylred-doped Polyvinyl Alcohol Film

Positive- or negative-contrast image processing and partially inverted-contrast image processing were demonstrated with the use of methylred-doped polyvinyl alcohol (MR/PVA) film. The mechanism for spatial light modulation is based on photoinduced anisotropy of anisotropic methylred-dye molecules doped in a transparent polyvinyl alcohol film. This dye-doped film exhibits large optical anisotropy at relatively small powers of argon-ion laser, and continuous-tone image processings can be performed. With MR/PVA film of 40 µm thickness and a writing beam of 100 mW/cm2 at 488 nm, the phase difference due to photo-induced anisotropy (corresponding to the birefringence) of 115° at 530 nm was obtained. The spatial resolution of the MR/PVA film was more than 30 lines/mm.

Evaluation of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel as a soft contact lens material

We prepared a transparent polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel from a PVA solution in a mixed solvent consisting of water and a water-miscible organic solvent by cooling. The physical properties of the hydrogel were evaluated in various mixed solvents and compared with those of commercially available soft contact lens materials, such as polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) and copolymers of methylmethycrylate (MMA) and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (N-VP). The PVA hydrogel showed higher tensile strength and elongation before breaking than did the other materials. Also, the PVA hydrogel was comparable in its high water content and its oxygen permeability with the MMA/VP copolymers. The protein adsorption of the PVA hydrogel was much lower than that of the other materials. Soft contact lenses of PVA hydrogel were applied to rabbit eyes for 12 weeks. The effects of the lenses on the cornea were studied by biomicroscopy, ultrasonic pachymetry, and histopathologic examination. No abnormal findings were noted, suggesting that the PVA hydrogel may be promising as a new material for use in soft contact lenses.

Generation of a phase-conjugate wave by degenerate four-wave mixing in an erythrosin-B-doped planar waveguide

A phase-conjugate wave (PCW) generated by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) in a nonlinear-optical waveguide excited by a cw Ar-ion laser was observed. The planar waveguide consisted of a transparent polyvinyl alcohol layer partly doped with erythrosin-B. The DFWM excitation was performed as follows: Two pump waves impinged in the interaction region of the waveguide from the outside, and a probe wave was introduced into the guiding layer by a prism coupler. A PCW reflectivity of 6.3 x 10(-5) outside the prism coupler was obtained at a pump intensity of 1.2 W/cm(2).