Optical imaging and magnetophoresis of nanorods

Peclet number analysis is performed to probe the convective motion of nanospheres and nanorods under the influence of magnetophoresis and diffusion. Under most circumstances, magnetophoretic behaviour dominates diffusion for nanorods, as the magnetic field lines tend to align the magnetic moment along the rod axis. The synthesis and dispersion of fluorophore-tagged nanorods are described. Fluorescence microscopy is employed to image the nanorod motion in a magnetic field gradient. The preliminary experimental data are consistent with the Peclet number analysis.     

Effect of styrene–acrylonitrile content on 0.5?M NaI/0.05?M I2 liquid electrolyte encapsulation for dye-sensitized solar cells

The effect of a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) as the redox electrolyte used in dye-sensitized solar cells was studied. A GPE solution consisting of 0.5?M sodium iodide, 0.05?M iodine, and ethylene carbonate/propylene carbonate (1:1 w/w) binary solvents was mixed with increasing amounts of styrene–acrylonitrile (SAN). Bulk conductivity measurements show a decreasing trend from 4.54 to 0.83×10^?3?S?cm^?1 with increasing SAN content. The GPE exhibits Newtonian-like behavior and its viscosity increases from 0.041 to 1.093?Pa?s with increasing SAN content. A balance between conductivity (1.3?×?10^?3?S?cm^?1) and viscosity (1.4?Pa?s) is observed at 19?wt.% SAN. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy detects elevated ring torsion at 706?cm^?1 upon the addition of SAN into the liquid electrolyte. This indicates that SAN does not bond with the liquid electrolyte. Finally, the potential stability window of 19?wt.% SAN, which ranges from ?1.68 to 1.38?V, proves its applicability in solar cells.     

Low operating temperature of oxygen gas sensor based on undoped and Cr-doped ZnO films

Undoped and doped ZnO with 1 at.% (atomic percentage) chromium (Cr) was synthesized by RF reactive co-sputtering for oxygen gas sensing applications. The prepared films showed a highly c-oriented phase with a dominant (0 0 2) peak at a Bragg angle of around 34.2°. The operating temperature of the prepared ZnO sensor was around 350 °C and shifted to around 250 °C for the doped ZnO sensor which is lower than that of previously reported work. The sensitivity of the sensor toward oxygen gas was enhanced by doping ZnO with 1 at.% Cr. Good stability and repeatability of the sensor were demonstrated when tested under different concentration of oxygen atmosphere.     

Loops and the Lagrange Property

Let $\cal F$ be a family of finite loops closed under subloops and factor loops. Then every loop in $\cal F$ has the strong Lagrange property if and only if every simple loop in $\cal F$ has the weak Lagrange property. We exhibit several such families, and indicate how the Lagrange property enters into the problem of existence of finite simple loops.     

Contact problem for a ring plate on an elastic half-space. Variational approach

A contact problem of an axisymmetrically loaded flexible ring plate lying frictionlessly on an elastic half-space is considered. The plate subsidences are represented as a power series with unknown coefficients, which are determined by the Rayleigh-Ritz method using the minimum condition for the total strain energy of the plate and the elastic foundation. The method of orthogonal polynomials is used implicitly. Belarussian State Polytechnical Academy, Minsk 220027. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 193–198, January–February, 1999.     

Syntheses,crystal structures and spectroscopic properties of the novel complexes [M(MOBPT)*2 (H2O)2](ClO4)2 · 4H2O (M = CoII and NiII)

The novel cobalt(II) and nickel(II) complexes with 4-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazole (MOBPT) have been synthesized and their molecular structures determined by X-ray analysis, i.r. and by ESI-MS spectroscopy. The metal atom is in a distorted octahedral environment. Two bidentate chelating ligands (MOBPT) coordinate to the metal center equatorially and two water molecules coordinate axially. Each MOBPT entity coordinates via one triazole nitrogen and one pyridine nitrogen atom. Magnetic measurements show that the complexes are high-spin species in the 75–300 K range.     

Efficient solutions for a university timetabling problem through integer programming

Integer programming has always been an alternative for formulating combinatorial problems such as the university timetabling problem. However, the effort required for modeling complicated operational rules, as well as the computational difficulties that result from the size of real problems have discouraged researchers and made them turn their interest to other approaches. In this paper, a two-stage relaxation procedure that solves efficiently the integer programming formulation of a university timetabling problem is presented. The relaxation is performed in the first stage and concerns the constraints that warrantee consecutiveness in multi-period sessions of certain courses. These constraints, which are computationally heavier than the others, are recovered during the second stage and a number of sub-problems, one for each day of the week, are solved for local optima. Comparing to a solution approach that solves the problem in a single stage, computation time is reduced significantly without any loss in quality for the resulting timetables. The new solution approach gives a chance for further improvements in the final timetables, as well as for certain degree of interaction with the users during the construction of the timetables.     

Investigation of sol-gel derived HfO2 on 4H-SiC

Deposition of HfO₂ films on n-type 4H-SiC substrates by sol-gel spin-on coating technique has been performed and the physical and electrical characteristics of this film as a function of annealing temperature (550, 750, and 850 °C for 30 min) have been reported. The physical properties of the film have been characterized using a Filmetrics and X-ray diffractometer, while conduction atomic force microscope and semiconductor parameter analyzer were used for electrical characterization. Phase transformation has been revealed in the oxide as the annealing temperature changed. Refractive index, relative density, dielectric constant of the film, and oxide-semiconductor interface trap density have been extracted and related to the leakage current through the oxide. It has been recorded that, oxide annealed at 700 °C has demonstrated the lowest leakage current and the best oxide reliability. The reasons of these observations have been explained.     

(Liquid + liquid) equilibria of polymer-salt aqueous two-phase systems for laccase partitioning: UCON 50-HB-5100 with potassium citrate and (sodium or potassium) formate at 23 °C

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) are recognized as very suitable techniques for the recovery of target solutes in biological applications. Three new phase diagrams of (UCON 50-HB-5100 + potassium citrate + water), (UCON 50-HB-5100 + sodium formate + water), and (UCON 50-HB-5100 + potassium formate + water) systems were measured at 23 °C. The binodal curves were successfully described using the empirical equation suggested by Merchuk and co-workers. The reliability of the tie-line data experimentally determined was evaluated using the equations reported by Othmer–Tobias and Bancroft and satisfactory linearity was obtained for all ATPS. Among the salts studied, potassium citrate proved to be the most effective in ATPS formation, providing the largest heterogeneous region. Besides, the effect of both anions and cations in the size of the heterogeneous region and in the slope of the tie-lines has been compared. For the same salts and conditions, the heterogeneous region using UCON as the phase-forming polymer is larger than using polyethylene glycol. Furthermore, laccase partition in the UCON-salt ATPS was studied and it was found that in all cases enzyme partition occurred preferably to the bottom phase (salt-rich phase). Laccase concentration in the salt-rich phase was approximately 2-fold that in the top phase, thus UCON-salt ATPS can be a suitable biphasic system for laccase extraction.