Preparation and characterization of carbon xerogel (CX) and CX–SiO composite as anode material for lithium-ion battery

Carbon xerogel (CX), a kind of novel carbon material with low-density and continuous nano-porous structure that can be controlled and tailored on nanometer scale, has been prepared through the sol–gel polycondensation of resorcinol (R) with formaldehyde (F) followed by drying at ambient pressure and carbonization in inert atmosphere, and CX–SiO composite has been synthesized by high energy mechanical ball-milling of the obtained CX and commercial SiO at room temperature and atmosphere. The characteristics of CX and CX–SiO as anode material for lithium-ion battery have been systematically investigated on basis of field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical and charge–discharge tests. The results showed that, CX–SiO is composed of active carbon, graphite, SiO and dispersed Si crystal while CX consists of active carbon and graphite, CX–SiO has smaller and much more uniform particles than CX. SiO can greatly improve discharge capacity of CX with an acceptable sacrifice of cycling stability, and the charge–discharge capacity of CX–SiO comes mainly from lithium insertion–extraction in Si–SiO in the sample.     

A Constitutive Model in Finite Viscoelasticity of Particle-reinforced Rubbers

Two series of tensile relaxation tests are performed on natural rubber filled with high abrasion furnace black. To fit observations, constitutive equations are derived for the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of a particle-reinforced elastomer. A filled rubber is modeled as a composite medium, where inclusions with low concentrations of junctions are randomly distributed in the host matrix. The inclusions are treated as equivalent networks of macromolecules, where strands can separate from temporary junctions as they are thermally agitated. The bulk medium is thought of as a permanent network of chains. Unlike conventional concepts of transient networks, the concentration of strands in inclusions is assumed to be affected by mechanical factors: under active loading, inter-chain interactions weaken and some strands that were prevented from detachment from their junctions in a stress-free compound become free to separate from the junctions in a deformed medium. Unloading strengthens interactions between macromolecules, which results in an increase in the number of permanent strands. By using the laws of thermodynamics, stress–strain relations for a particle-reinforced rubber are developed. Adjustable parameters in the constitutive equations are found by fitting the experimental data. It is demonstrated that mechanical pre-loading and annealing of specimens at an elevated temperature noticeably affect concentrations of inclusions with various activation energies for rearrangement of strands.     

聚己内酯与不同纤维素衍生物形成的共混体系的红外光谱研究

用傅里叶变换红外光谱研究了聚己内酯与硝基纤维素、乙基纤维素和纤维素氨基甲酸酯所形成的共混体系中组分间的相互作用。对羟基基团、羰基基团以及聚己内酯结晶相相关的吸收谱带分析表明 :随着纤维素结构单元上羟基被取代程度的增加 ,纤维素衍生物的自身氢键相互作用明显减弱 ,而与聚己内酯之间的相互作用得到加强。这种相互作用的加强 ,显著改变了聚己内酯的结晶行为 ,使其结晶能力减弱。     

Synthesis of 4,6-disubstituted pyrimidines via Suzuki and Kumada coupling reaction of 4,6-dichloropyrimidine

A series of 4,6-disubstituted pyrimidines were synthesized via Suzuki and Kumada coupling reaction of 4,6-dichloropyrimidine.     

Crossover Critical Behavior in the Three-Dimensional Ising Model

The character of critical behavior in physical systems depends on the range of interactions. In the limit of infinite range of the interactions, systems will exhibit mean-field critical behavior, i.e., critical behavior not affected by fluctuations of the order parameter. If the interaction range is finite, the critical behavior asymptotically close to the critical point is determined by fluctuations and the actual critical behavior depends on the particular universality class. A variety of systems, including fluids and anisotropic ferromagnets, belongs to the three-dimensional Ising universality class. Recent numerical studies of Ising models with different interaction ranges have revealed a spectacular crossover between the asymptotic fluctuation-induced critical behavior and mean-field-type critical behavior. In this work, we compare these numerical results with a crossover Landau model based on renormalization-group matching. For this purpose we consider an application of the crossover Landau model to the three-dimensional Ising model without fitting to any adjustable parameters. The crossover behavior of the critical susceptibility and of the order parameter is analyzed over a broad range (ten orders) of the scaled distance to the critical temperature. The dependence of the coupling constant on the interaction range, governing the crossover critical behavior, is discussed.     

Mathematical simulation of the evaporation in operation area of a bubble evaporator

Simulation of evaporation in operation area of an evaporator is considered. We obtained a formalized model of this process and optimum conditions of an engineering system on the basis on the analysis.     

Heavy element nuclear chemistry at JAERI

The present status of heavy element nuclear chemistry research at JAERI (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute) is reviewed. Production of the transactinide nuclei ²⁶¹Rf and ²⁶²Db via the reactions of ²⁴⁸Cm(¹⁸O,5n) and ²⁴⁸Cm(¹⁹F, 5n), respectively, at the JAERI tandem accelerator is reported. Study of the aqueous chemistry of Rf is being carried out with a newly developed rapid ion-exchange separation apparatus. Anion-exchange behavior of Rf in acidic solution is briefly discussed. Recent experimental results on decay studies of neutron-deficient actinide nuclei using the gas-jet coupled JAERI-ISOL are given. We also discuss characteristics of nuclear deformation properties at scission in symmetric and asymmetric fission of actinides. Prospects for studies in the near future are briefly considered.     

Reaction kinetics and pathway of hydrothermal decomposition of aspartic acid

The kinetics and pathway of hydrothermal decomposition of aspartic acid were studied using a continuous‐flow tubular reactor. The reaction was carried out in the temperature range of 200–260°C and at a pressure of 20 MPa. Deamination was the primary reaction, indicated by the presence of significant amount of ammonia, fumaric acid, or maleic acid in the products. Other reaction products were pyruvic acid, malic acid, and traces of succinic and lactic acid. Traces of alanine were also detected, showing the possibility of decomposing high‐molecular weight amino acids to obtain simple amino acids such as glycine or alanine. Results on the effect of reaction parameters demonstrated that decomposition of aspartic acid is highly temperature dependent under hydrothermal conditions. For a slight temperature difference of 60°C (from 200 to 260°C), the first‐order reaction rate constants of 0.003 significantly increased to 0.231 s^?1. The activation energy was 144 kJ/mol, as calculated by the Arrhenius equation. No significant effect was exhibited by other reaction parameters such as pH and pressure. The results are useful in controlling the hydrolysis of proteinaceous materials toward high yield of aspartic acid under hydrothermal conditions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 39: 175–180, 2007