BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 perovskite as catalysts for methane combustion

Unsupported and γ-Al₂O₃-supported Ba and Pb titanate catalysts were prepared, characterized and studied in the combustion of methane, as a test reaction for VOCs’ catalytic combustion. They present good catalytic activities, and after dispersion (5%) on γ-Al₂O₃ the specific activity of the supported perovskite phase increased 25 and 30 times, respectively, compared with the unsupported samples. PbTiO₃/γ-Al₂O₃ shows the best catalytic properties among the tested samples.     

Noncommutative transforms and free pluriharmonic functions

In this paper, we study free pluriharmonic functions on noncommutative balls γ[Bn(H)], γ>0, and their boundary behavior. These functions have the form

     

Fundamental solution for linear two-point boundary value problem

The quadratic functional minimization with differential restrictions represented by the command linear systems is considered. The optimal solution determination implies the solving of a linear problem with two points boundary values. The proposed method implies the construction of a fundamental solution S(t)—a n×n matrix—and of a vector h(t) defining an adjoint variable λ(t) depending of the state variable x(t). From the extremum necessary conditions it is obtained the Riccati matrix differential equation having the S(t) as unknown fundamental solution is obtained. The paper analyzes the existence of the Riccati equation solution S(t) and establishes as the optimal solution of the proposed optimum problem. Also a superior limit of the minimum for the considered quadratic functionals class are evaluated.     

Polyaniline/Maleic Acid Copolymers Composites: Synthesis and Characterization

Summary: Polyaniline/maleic acid copolymers composites were synthesized by chemical in situ polymerization of aniline using ammonium peroxidisulfate as oxidant, in the presence of water soluble copolymers containing carboxylic groups. Fine dispersions of composite materials, soluble in N,N-dimethylformamide or dimethyl sulfoxide were obtained which can be processed as thin films and membranes for application as proton-conductive materials for electrolyte membranes of fuel cells. The composites were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and thermal methods.     

Linker depletion for missing cluster defects in non-UiO metal–organic frameworks

Defect engineering is a valuable tool to tune the properties of metal–organic frameworks. However, defect chemistry remains still predominantly limited to UiO-type MOFs. We describe the preferential formation of missing cluster defects in heterometallic titanium–organic frameworks of the MUV-10 family when synthesised in sub-stoichiometric linker conditions. Our results show the value of integrating experimental work, computational modelling and thorough characterization in rationalizing the impact of defects over the porosity and structure of this family of materials. Correlation of experiment with computational models reveals the dominance of missing cluster vacancies in the pore size distribution of defective MUV-10. These same models were used to investigate the correlation of defects by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The diffraction at low reflection angles is dominated by diffuse scattering that is indicative of short-range order and cannot be indexed to the defective structural models generated. In addition to the low atomic scattering factor of titanium, these results confirm the need for high-resolution electron microscopy methods for modelling nanoscale disorder in titanium MOFs.

Synthesis of MUV-10 in sub-stoichiometric linker conditions favours the formation of missing cluster vacancies for direct impact in their porosity.     

Supramolecular Systems from Natural Polymers and Maleic Polyelectrolytes

Summary: The formation of polyelectrolyte complexes by interaction between chitosan and maleic acid copolymers as strong/weak dibasic polyanions was investigated. The interaction between the sodium salt of maleic acid copolymers with styrene or vinyl acetate and the chitosan hydrochloride in aqueous solution was followed by potentiometric, conductometric and turbidimetric titration. The effect of the added low molecular salt on the complex formation was also investigated. The precipitated complexes were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and TG analysis. Preliminary layer-by-layer deposition experiments were performed to obtain thin films.     

铝电解中SnO2+Sb2O3+CuO惰性阳极的电流效率、腐蚀性及结构变化

系统研究了霍尔赫鲁特铝电解池中SnO₂基惰性阳极 (96%SnO₂+2%Sb₂O₃+2%CuO)的电流效率,腐蚀性以及结构变化. 评价了各种操作参数(温度、电流密度、阴阳两级的距离、冰晶石量比、Al₂O₃ 浓度和电解质组成)对电流效率和腐蚀性的影响.     

SPAI Preconditioners for HPC Applications

Iterative methods to solve systems of linear equations Ax = b usually require preconditioners M to speed convergence. But the calculation of many preconditioners can be notoriously sequential. The sparse approximate inverse preconditioner (SPAI) has particular potential for high performance computing [1]. We have ported the SPAI algorithm to graphical processing units (GPUs) within NVIDIA's CUSP library [2] for sparse linear algebra. GPUs perform well on dense linear algebra problems where data resides for long periods on the device. Since the underlying minimization problems are independent, they are mapped to separate thread-blocks, and an optimized QR algorithm implemented using NVIDIA's CUBLAS library is employed on each. Traditionally the challenge has been to determine a sparsity pattern Sp( M ) of the preconditioner dynamically [3], which reduces the condition number of MA to a degree where a preconditioned iterative solver such as GMRES becomes computationally viable. Due to the extremely high performance of the GPU, it is possible to consider initial sparsity patterns much denser than have been previously considered. We therefore consider a fixed sparsity patterns to simplify the GPU implementation. We evaluate the performance of the resulting preconditioner on a standard set of sparse matrices, and compare SPAI to other preconditioners. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Generation of quadrature-squeezed light of ultrashort pulses in a medium with inertial cubic nonlinearity

A consistent quantum theory of self-action and cross-interaction of coherent light pulses in a cubically nonlinear medium is developed by using the momentum operator of the field, which takes into account the inertial nonlinearity. Specific features of generation of the quadrature-squeezed states of light pulses are considered. The spectrum of fluctuations of a quadrature below the shot-noise level is analyzed as a function of the relaxation time of nonlinearity and the magnitude of nonlinear phase additions, related to the self-action and cross-interaction.     

Quantum-chemical simulation and experimental study of some magnetic nanoparticles stabilized in fluid suspensions by using organic coating

Abstract

The biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticles require the surface modification with organic, hydrophilic molecules, able to ensure the stability of the resulted colloidal suspensions. We present the quantum mechanical approach of two molecules developing stable interfaces with magnetic Co_0.5Fe_2.5O₄ nanoparticles. Sodium oleate, and citric acid, ensuring steric and respectively electrostatic stabilization are comparatively analyzed. The roles of dipole moment and frontier orbitals energies were emphasized to better understanding of some interface phenomena for the optimization of magnetic nanoparticle suspension preparation. Further, practical yielding of colloidal Co_0.5Fe_2.5O₄ nanoparticles by coating with sodium oleate and respectively with citric acid is discussed.