Electronic structure,field-induced magnetization density and neutron magnetic form factor of palladium

The magnetic field induced magnetization density and neutron magnetic form factor of Pd metal is obtained from an abinitio APW energy band study of its electronic structure and properties. The magnetization consists of the spin density calculated for states on the Fermi surface and a much smaller orbital contribution. The solid state wavefunctions are found to yield a spatial localization of the spin density which is greater than that of the very contracted Hartree-Fock density of the free Pd²⁺ ion. The theretical magnetic form factor, which is dominated by the contribution of the fifth band, is found to be in excellent agreement with the measurements of Cable, Wollan, Felcher, Brun and Hornfeldt.     

Assessing views of coaching via a video-based tool

Mathematics coaches represent a unique group of didacticians, or individuals who work with practicing teachers. Twenty-eight mathematics coaches participated in this exploratory study, which used video viewing to examine the coach–teacher dynamic. To gather data about participants’ views of effective coaching practices, we developed the Video Assessment of Coaching instrument, which provided coaches with opportunities to express their views of effective practice and implementation. The participants expressed views of effective coaching that often did not align with those of coaching authors. The significance of this research lies in its efforts to document the views that mathematics coaches develop as practitioners, as an early step in the examination of the relationships between the views of coaches and coaches’ effectiveness in improving teacher practice, knowledge, and attitudes.     

Characterization of silver nanoparticles using flow-field flow fractionation interfaced to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The ability to detect and identify the physiochemical form of contaminants in the environment is important for degradation, fate and transport, and toxicity studies. This is particularly true of nanomaterials that exist as discrete particles rather than dissolved or sorbed contaminant molecules in the environment. Nanoparticles will tend to agglomerate or dissolve, based on solution chemistry, which will drastically affect their environmental properties. The current study investigates the use of field flow fractionation (FFF) interfaced to inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) as a sensitive and selective method for detection and characterization of silver nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to verify the morphology and primary particle size and size distribution of precisely engineered silver nanoparticles. Subsequently, the hydrodynamic size measurements by FFF are compared to dynamic light scattering (DLS) to verify the accuracy of the size determination. Additionally, the sensitivity of the ICP-MS detector is demonstrated by fractionation of μg/L concentrations of mixed silver nanoparticle standards. The technique has been applied to nanoparticle suspensions prior to use in toxicity studies, and post-exposure biological tissue analysis. Silver nanoparticles extracted from tissues of the sediment-dwelling, freshwater oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus increased in size from approximately 31-46nm, indicating a significant change in the nanoparticle characteristics during exposure.     

Cooperative effects in the oxidation of CO by palladium oxide cations

Cooperative reactivity plays an important role in the oxidation of CO to CO(2) by palladium oxide cations and offers insight into factors which influence catalysis. Comprehensive studies including guided-ion-beam mass spectrometry and theoretical investigations reveal the reaction products and profiles of PdO(2)(+) and PdO(3)(+) with CO through oxygen radical centers and dioxygen complexes bound to the Pd atom. O radical centers are more reactive than the dioxygen complexes, and experimental evidence of both direct and cooperative CO oxidation with the adsorption of two CO molecules are observed. The binding of multiple electron withdrawing CO molecules is found to increase the barrier heights for reactivity due to decreased binding of the secondary CO molecule, however, reactivity is enhanced by the increase in kinetic energy available to hurdle the barrier. We examine the effect of oxygen sites, cooperative ligands, and spin including two-state reactivity.     

Field-induced magnetic form factor of lutetium

The conduction electron field-induced magnetic form factor of Lu, a rare earth metal with a closed 4f shell, has been measured using the polarized neutron technique. The measurements demonstrate that the conduction electron density is more spatially extended than in the free atom. The experimental results are in good agreement with band calculations of the $\text{spin}$ magnetic form factor.     

Spectrophotometric determination of salicylamide in complex mixtures

This paper describes a photometric assay procedure for the determination of small amounts of salicylamide in the presence of a variety of foreign substances. This method is based on the formation of a blue colored indophenol derivative from the reaction of salicylamide with N,2,6-trichloro-p-benzoquinoneimine.     

Ethanol-induced crack healing in poly(methyl methacrylate)

The crack healing induced by ethanol in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been studied at temperatures of 40–60°C. Crack healing occurs because the effective glass transition temperature of PMMA is reduced to below the test temperature by ethanol plasticization. It is found that crack closure rate is constant at a given temperature. The fracture strength of healed PMMA is lower than that of the original samples. By comparing the fracture stress with the morphology of the crack edge on the PMMA surface, we found that a high degree of swelling is responsible for the incomplete recovery of mechanical strength. The fractography of the completely healed sample shows a very different fracture morphology from that of virgin PMMA. The transport of ethanol in PMMA also is studied. At lower temperatures, transport is described by ideal Case II behavior. As the temperature increases, the kinetics shift from ideal Case II to anomalous behavior. The first stage of crack healing is controlled by Case I transport. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Nonstoichiometric Semiconductors and Multiphase Material Systems

When arsenides are grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low substrate temperatures, as much as 2% excess arsenic can be incorporated into the epilayer. This excess arsenic is in the form of antisites, but there is also a substantial concentration of gallium vacancies. With anneal, there is a significant decrease in the arsenic antisite and gallium vancancy concentrations as the excess arsenic precipitates. With further anneal, the arsenic precipitates coarsen. This combination of low substrate temperature molecular beam epitaxy and a subsequent anneal results in a broad spectrum of materials, from highly defected epilayers to a two-phase system of semimetallic arsenic precipitates in an arsenide semiconductor matrix. These materials exhibit some very interesting and useful electrical and optical properties.