Effect of sonication on the photo-catalytic mineralization of some chlorinated organic compounds

Effects of the irradiation of ultrasound (US) on the photo-catalytic mineralization of some chlorinated organic compounds such as dichloroethane, tri- and tetrachloroethylenes, chloroacetic acids and chloromethanes were examined in oxygen saturated aqueous solutions suspended titanium dioxide (P25) particles. The yields of the sonochemical mineralization for these compounds were found to be extremely low compared to the photo-catalysis. However, the pre-sonication, US irradiation on the sample solution before the photo-irradiation, enhanced significantly the following photo-catalytic degradation to the complete oxidation. The effect was investigated in detail and it was found that the effect was mainly owing to the increase in the capability of the catalysis of which particles were sparsely dispersed by the sonication. The other contribution of the pre-sonication effect was found to be "pre-sonolysis", the initial formation of some intermediated products sonochemically, which are oxidizable more rapidly further to carbon dioxide than the original compound by the following photo-catalytic reactions. The pre-sonolysis effect was observed remarkably for trichloroacetic acid and tetrachloromethane, both of which are known to be hardly reactive to the photo-catalytic degradation. The photo-catalytic degradation with simultaneous sonication were also carried out for these compounds. The synergetic effect in the mineralization was observed both for carbontetrachloride and for trichloroacetic acid, the higher carbon dioxide yield being obtained in the simultaneous reaction than the sum of the yields in the photo-catalysis and the sonolysis each alone, while no significant synergetic effect was observed in the mineralization of other compounds.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In Situ</Emphasis> Synthesis of Field-responsive Nanocrystalline BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> Particles Modified with Functional Organics

Nanocrystalline BaTiO₃ particles modified with polarizable ligands were synthesized through hydrolysis of modified metal–organics below 100°C. BaTiO₃ precursor was synthesized from barium metal, titanium isopropoxide and polarizable ligands in a mixture of ethanol and 2-ethoxyethanol. The modified Ba–Ti complex alkoxide was hydrolyzed yielding BaTiO₃ particles modified with organics. The crystallinty of nanometer-sized particles was dependent upon the hydrolysis conditions, and increased with increasing water amount and time. The nanocrystalline particles were identified to be BaTiO₃ by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction. A fluid consisting of modified BaTiO₃ particles and silicone oil revealed a typical electrorheological (ER) behavior on applying DC field. The ER behavior was found to depend upon the kind of ligand. 4-Fluorobenzyloxy modifier revealed the highest yield stress in the ER measurement among 4-substitued benzyloxy ligands examined.     

3 dB squeezing by single-pass parametric amplification in a periodically poled KTiOPO4 crystal

We present the experimental observation of pulsed squeezed light from a degenerate optical parametric amplifier pumped by a second harmonic of a continuous-wave mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser. With a single pass through a 10 mm long periodically poled KTiOPO4 crystal, the classical parametric gain of 11 is observed. The measured noise reduction in the quiet quadrature is 3.2 dB below the shot-noise level.     

Spectroscopic study of J aggregates of amphiphilic merocyanine dyes formed in their pure Langmuir films

It is known that an amphiphilic merocyanine dye, 3-carboxymethyl-5-[2-(3-octadecyl-2(3H)- benzothiazolylidene)ethylidene]-2-thioxo-4-thiazolidinone (DS) and its derivatives DSe and 6MeDS form J aggregates under the presence of metallic cations, although the dyes' static dipole moments must be favorable for H aggregates. A metal-free J aggregate of 6MeDS has been generated in its pure Langmuir films and transferred onto CaF2 substrates to investigate the molecular environment around the carboxylic group born by the dye. Combining visible and infrared spectroscopy, geometrical consideration based on ab initio calculations, and simulation of the excitation energy, a structural model of this J aggregate has been proposed. With this model, formation of intermolecular carboxyl-keto hydrogen bonds, which can compensate the electrostatic disadvantage of the J aggregate under the presence of water, has been suggested. As for another derivative of DS, DO, similar discussion has been made for its Mg2+ -containing J aggregate, which is found in this work. In addition, the proposed structural model can tell the cause of the difference in the tendency to J aggregate among 6MeDS, DSe, DS, and DO.     

Fourier-Jacobi type spherical functions for principal series representations of Sp(2, R)

In this paper, we study the Fourier-Jacobi type spherical functions on Sp(2, R) for irreducible principal series representations. We give the multiplicity theorem and an explicit formula for this function.     

Electron localization and a confined electron gas in nanoporous inorganic electrides

The nanoporous main group oxide 12CaO.7Al(2)O3 (C12A7) can be transformed from a wide-gap insulator to an electride where electrons substitute anions in cages constituting a positive frame. Our ab initio calculations of the electronic structure of this novel material give a consistent explanation of its high conductivity and optical properties. They show that the electrons confined in the inert positive frame are localized in cages and undergo hopping between neighboring cages. The results are useful for the understanding of behavior of confined electron gas of different topology and electron-phonon coupling, and for designing new transparent conductors, electron emitters, and electrides.     

Back-to-back correlations of high-p(T) hadrons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We investigate the suppression factor and the azimuthal correlation function for high p(T) hadrons in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV by using a dynamical model in which hydrodynamics is combined with explicitly traveling jets. We study the effects of parton energy loss in a hot medium, intrinsic k(T) of partons in a nucleus, and p (perpendicular) broadening of jets on the back-to-back correlations of high p(T) hadrons. Parton energy loss is found to be a dominant effect on the reduction of the awayside peaks in the correlation function.     

Existence of infinitely many solutions for sublinear elliptic problems

Let N?2 and be a bounded domain. In the present paper, we show the existence of infinity many solutions of nonlinear Dirichlet boundary value problem

     

Chirped-pulse amplification of ultraviolet femtosecond pulses by use of Ce(3+):LiCaAlF(6) as a broadband, solid-state gain medium

Chirped-pulse amplification in the ultraviolet region is demonstrated by use of a broadband Ce(3+): LiCaAlF(6) laser medium. A modified bow-tie-style four-pass amplifier pumped by 100-mJ, 266-nm pulses from a Q -switched Nd:YAG laser has a gain factor of 370 and delivers 6-mJ, 290-nm pulses. After dispersion compensation, the output pulses can be compressed to 115 fs.     

Measurement of B(0)(d)-B_(0)(d) mixing rate from the time evolution of dilepton events at the upsilon(4S)

We report a determination of the B(0)(d)-&B_(0)(d) mixing parameter Deltam(d) based on the time evolution of dilepton yields in Upsilon(4S) decays. The measurement is based on a 5.9 fb(-1) data sample collected by the Belle detector at KEKB. The proper-time difference distributions for same-sign and opposite-sign dilepton events are simultaneously fitted to an expression containing Deltam(d) as a free parameter. Using both muons and electrons, we obtain Deltam(d) = 0.463+/-0.008 (stat)+/-0.016 (syst) ps(-1). This is the first determination of Deltam(d) from time evolution measurements at the Upsilon(4S). We also place limits on possible CPT violations.