Calculations of electron inelastic mean free paths. XII. Data for 42 inorganic compounds over the 50 eV to 200 keV range with the full Penn algorithm

We have calculated inelastic mean free paths (IMFPs) for 42 inorganic compounds (AgBr, AgCl, AgI, Al₂O₃, AlAs, AlN, AlSb, cubic BN, hexagonal BN, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, GaAs, GaN, GaP, GaSb, GaSe, InAs, InP, InSb, KBr, KCl, MgF₂, MgO, NaCl, NbC_0.712, NbC_0.844, NbC_0.93, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, SiC, SiO₂, SnTe, TiC_0.7, TiC_0.95, VC_0.76, VC_0.86, Y₃Al₅O₁₂, ZnS, ZnSe, and ZnTe) for electron energies from 50 eV to 200 keV. These calculations were made with energy-loss functions (ELFs) obtained from measured optical constants for 15 compounds while calculated ELFs were utilized for the other 27 compounds. Checks based on ELF sum rules showed that the calculated ELFs were superior to the measured ELFs that we had used previously. Our calculated IMFPs could be fitted to a modified form of the relativistic Bethe equation for inelastic scattering of electrons in matter for energies from 50 eV to 200 keV. The average root-mean-square (RMS) deviation in these fits was 0.60%. The IMFPs were also compared with a relativistic version of our predictive Tanuma-Powell-Penn (TPP-2M) equation. The average RMS deviation in these comparisons was 10.7% for energies between 50 eV and 200 keV. This average RMS deviation is almost the same as that found in a similar comparison for a group of 41 elemental solids (11.9%) although relatively large deviations were found for cubic BN (65.6%) and hexagonal BN (34.3%). If these two compounds are excluded in the comparisons, the average RMS deviation becomes 8.7%. We found generally satisfactory agreement between our calculated IMFPs and values from other calculations and from experiments.     

Characterisation of sol-gel prepared (HfO2)x(SiO2)1-x (x=0.1, 0.2 and 0.4) by 1H, 13C, 17 O and 29Si MAS NMR, FTIR and TGA

The HfO2-SiO2 system is attracting interest as a possible new dielectric material in semiconductor devices. Knowledge of the location of hafnium within the silica network and the effect hafnium has on the structure will be central to the successful use of this material system in this application. Here, sol-gel techniques have been used to manufacture (HfO2)x(SiO2)1-x samples (x=0.1, 0.2 and 0.4, each heat treated at 250, 500 and 750 degrees C) and these have been characterised by magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR (1H, 13C, 17 O, 29Si), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis. 29Si MAS NMR showed that increasing the hafnia content decreases the connectivity of the silicate network, i.e. increases the range of differently connected SiO4 (Qn) units with more having increased numbers of non-bridging oxygens (i.e. lower n). FTIR and 17 O MAS NMR showed unequivocally that the x=0.4 sample phase-separated at higher temperatures, while in the x=0.1 sample the hafnium was homogeneously mixed into the SiO2 phase without any phase separation.     

Hybrid ceramic nanosieves: stabilizing nanopores with organic links

Unprecedented hydrothermal stability in functional membranes has been obtained with hybrid organic-inorganic nanoporous materials, enabling long-term application in energy-efficient molecular separation, including dehydration up to at least 150 degrees C.     

The Interplay Between Fairness and Randomness in a Spatial Computer Game

This article describes how children use an expressive microworld to articulate ideas about how to make a game seem fair with the use of randomness. Our aim in this study is to disentangle different flavours of fairness and to find out how children used each flavour to make sense of potentially complex behaviour. In order to achieve this, a spatial computer game was designed to enable children to examine the consequences of their attempts to make the game fair. The study investigates how 23 children, aged between 5.5 and 8 years, engaged in constructing a crucial part of a mechanism for a fair spatial lottery machine (microworld). In particular, the children tried to construct a fair game given a situation in which the key elements happened randomly. The children could select objects, determine their properties, and arrange their spatial layout in the machine. The study is based on task-based interviewing of children who were interacting with the computer game. The study shows that children have various cognitive resources for constructing a random fair environment. The spatial arrangement, the visualisation and the manipulations in the lottery machine allow us gain a view into the children’s thinking of the two central concepts, fairness and randomness. The paper reports on two main strategies by which the children attempted to achieve a balance in the lottery machine. One involves arranging the balls symmetrically and the other randomly. We characterize the nature of the thinking in these two strategies: the first we see as deterministic and the latter as stochastic, exploiting the random collisions of the ball. In this article we trace how the children’s thinking moved between these two perspectives.

Controlled Annealing in Adaptive Multicomponent Gels

We use a pH-driven annealing process to convert between co-assembled and self-sorted networks in multicomponent gels. The initially formed gels at low pH are co-assembled, with the two components coexisting within the same self-assembled structures. We use an enzymatic approach to increase the pH, resulting in a gel-to-sol transition, followed by a hydrolysis to lower the pH once again. As the pH decreases, a self-sorted network is formed by a two-stage gelation process determined by the pK_a of each component. This approach can be expanded to layered systems to generate many varied systems by changing composition and rates of pH change, adapting their microstructure and so allowing access to a far greater range of morphologies and complexity than can be achieved in single component systems.     

Stability of self-assembled monolayers on titanium and gold

Methyl- and hydroxyl-terminated phosphonic acid self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were coated on Ti from aqueous solution. Dodecyl phosphate and dodecyltrichlorosilane SAMs were also coated on Ti using solution-phase deposition. The stability of SAMs on Ti was investigated in Tris-buffered saline (TBS) at 37 degrees C using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle goniometry, and atomic force microscopy. For comparison purposes, a hydroxyl-terminated thiol SAM was coated on Au, and its stability was also investigated under similar conditions. In TBS, a significant proportion of phosphonic acid or phosphate molecules were desorbed from the Ti surface within 1 day, while the trichlorosilane SAM on Ti or thiol SAM on Au was stable for up to 7 days under similar conditions. The stability of hydroxyl-terminated phosphonic acid SAM coated Ti and thiol SAM coated Au was investigated in ambient air and ultraviolet (UV) light. In ambient air, the phosphonic acid SAM on Ti was stable for up to 14 days, while the thiol SAM on Au was not stable for 1 day. Under UV-radiation exposure, the alkyl chains of the phosphonic acid SAM were decomposed, leaving only the phosphonate groups on the Ti surface after 12 h. Under similar conditions, decomposition of alkyl chains of the thiol SAM was observed on the Au surface accompanied by oxidation of thiolates.     

Ultrasensitive detection and molecular imaging with magnetic nanoparticles

Recent advances in nanotechnology have produced a variety of nanoparticles ranging from semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), metallic nanoparticles, to polymeric nanoparticles. Their unique electronic, magnetic, and optical properties have enabled a broad spectrum of biomedical applications such as ultrasensitive detection, medical imaging, and specific therapeutics. MNPs made from iron oxide, in particular, have attracted extensive interest and have already been used in clinical studies owing to their capability of deep-tissue imaging, non-immunogenesis, and low toxicity. In this Research Highlight article, we attempt to highlight the recent breakthroughs in MNP synthesis based on a non-hydrolytic approach, nanoparticle (NP) surface engineering, their unique structural and magnetic properties, and current applications in ultrasensitive detection and imaging with a special focus on innovative bioassays. We will also discuss our perspectives on future research directions.     

Simultaneous RP-LC Determination of Artesunate and Amodiaquine in Pharmaceutical Preparations

A simple, fast and precise reversed phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of artesunate (AS) and amodiaquine (AD) in combined pharmaceutical dosage form. Chromatographic separation of the two drugs was performed on a BDS Hypersil C18, 100 mm × 4.6 mm, 3 μm particle size column as stationary phase with a mobile phase comprising of phosphate buffer (pH 3.0 with orthophosphoric acid) and acetonitrile in the proportion of 50:40 (v/v), at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min^?1 and UV detection at wavelength 210 nm for AS and 300 nm for AD using photo diode array detection. The proposed method was validated for specificity, accuracy, linearity, range, precision and was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of AS and AD in the combined fixed dosage form without any excipient’s interference.     

Numerical simulation of phase separation of immiscible polymer blends on a heterogeneously functionalized substrate

The spinodal phase decomposition of an immiscible binary polymer blend system is investigated with numerical models in two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D). The effect of the elastic energy is included. The mechanism of the evolution of the phase separation is studied and the characteristic length R(t) is shown to be proportional to t(13). In the case when the phase separation is directed by a heterogeneously functionalized substrate, the increase in the characteristic length is divided into two stages by a critical time. The R(t) approximately t(13) diagram can be fitted with a straight line in both the first and second stages. The slope of the fitting line significantly decreases after the critical time. The compatibility of the resulting pattern to the substrate pattern is also measured by a factor C(S). It is observed that there is also a critical time in the evolution of the compatibility for the cases with and without elastic energy. The critical time of C(S) is identical with the respective critical time of R(t). The lateral and vertical composition profiles functionalized substrate is observed with the 3D model. The difference mechanism of the cases with and without elastic energy is discussed.