Amorphous Fe–Mg alloy thin films: magnetic properties and atomic vibrational dynamics

Amorphous (a-) Fe _x Mg_1?x alloys are interesting materials for the investigation of non-Debye-like low-energy vibrational excitations. We have prepared a-Fe _x Mg_1?x alloy thin films (0.3 ≤ × ≤0.7) by vapour quenching. The amorphous state was confirmed by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy between 4.2–300 K, and the x- and temperature-dependence of the isomer shift and hyperfine magnetic field was measured. For x= 0.6 and 0.7, magnetic ordering occurs below ~150 K. The atomic vibrational density of states, g(E), was determined by nuclear resonant inelastic scattering, providing clear evidence for the non-Debye-like low-energy vibrational excitations.     

Production of carbon soot with a high content of C60 and C70 fullerenes by electric arc

The effect of the parameters of the electric arc (helium pressure, current and voltage, clearance between electrodes) and of the peculiarities of the setup design (arrangement of electrodes, distance between the arc and the cooling surface, temperature of the soot condensation surface) on the yield of fullerenes has been studied. Conditions for producing soot with a C₆₀ and C₇₀ content up to 43% (toluene extract) have been found.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 805–809, May, 1994.The authors are grateful to N. G. Spitsyna and A. V. Dubovitskii for the determination of the content of C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes in the extract.The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project 93-03-18705).     

Growth process of TiC clusters from Ti nanoparticles with evaporated carbon layer

Titanium carbide formation by the solid–solid reaction on the surface of Ti nanoparticles was studied in situ using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope with a heating stage. The cross-sectional image of the Ti surface was clearly observed. Vacuum-deposited carbon covered the whole the surface of Ti nanoparticles in spite of the partly evaporation on the nanoparticle surface. The diffusion of the carbon atoms inside the Ti nanoparticles depended on the size of the nanoparticles. When the Ti nanoparticle diameter was less than 30 nm, carbon atoms diffused into the Ti nanoparticle and formed TiC. The superstructure of the Ti nanoparticles was observed, which revealed the growth process of TiC to be the diffusion of carbon atoms. For Ti nanoparticles with diameter larger than 30 nm it was observed that diffusion of Ti atoms into the carbon layer was dominant, which resulted in formation of TiC in the carbon layer at the surface of Ti nanoparticles.     

Sulfur Concentration in Nanoporous Alumina Membrane

Nanoporous alumina membrane prepared by anodic oxidation using sulfuric acid electrolyte was subjected to TG-DTA and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA) to further study the distribution of sulfur. In XPS study, Ar⁺ ion bombardment was performed on the sample to etch the surface at a rate of 3 nm min^-1. As a result, sulfur was found to be concentrated within a depth of 3nm from the surface. The S content of the surface was found to be 2.7±0.5 wt%, and that at a depth of ca. 3 nm and ca. 10 nm was found to be as low as about 0.6±0.11 wt% (5.37±1.0 wt%→ 1.26±0.2wt% SO₂). In TG-DTA, the mass loss of 7.3% was in fair agreement with that calculated on XPS results (7.1±1.2%). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effectiveness of linearization of calibration curves in Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A theoretical analysis is made of the effect of analytical line broadening and of non-absorbable radiation in the light source on the shape of concentration curves in Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. These results have been used in a systematic study of the effect of spectrometer slit width and hollow-cathode lamp (HCL) current on linearization of calibration graphs for 11 elements: Ag, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Sb. The effectiveness of linearization throughout the analytical range covered was estimated experimentally on series of 25–30 solutions. Three solutions in each series were used as standards for constructing the calibration graph, the others serving to evaluate the linearization effectiveness. Increasing the slit width and decreasing the HCL current compared to the standard measurement conditions have permitted us to reach a sufficiently high effectiveness of linearization for all the elements studied, with the exception of Ni. The maximum deviation of experimental points from the linear graph under optimum conditions does not exceed 6%. The effect of the Δ parameter used in the computational algorithm on linearization effectiveness is investigated.     

Formation of Amorphous AgI Aggregates Dominating Fast Ion Conductivity in AgI-based Glasses

Precise calorimetry was performed for (AgI)_x(AgPO₃)_1–x and (AgI)_x(Ag₂PO_3.5)_1–x glasses with very high AgI compositions (x0.75). The glasses showed -glass transitions due to the freezing-in of the rearrangement of conductive Ag⁺ ions. Magnitude of the associated heat-capacity jump increased with increasing the AgI composition in the respective glass systems, and was larger in the former system than in the latter when compared at the same AgI composition. All the results were well explained by the amorphous AgI aggregate model for the AgI-based fast ion conducting glasses, indicating the appropriateness of the model for the structure of the glasses with high AgI compositions. The formation of the hypothetical bulk amorphous AgI was also indicated in the glasses at the highest limit of AgI composition.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

液体和非晶态Ni64B36合金结构的从头算分子动力学模拟

运用从头算分子动力学模拟了液体以及猝冷后形成的非晶态Ni₆₄B₃₆合金体系, 得到了它们的对相关函数、结构因子、键对分析方面的结构信息, 与实验结果相当一致; 结果表明, 猝冷得到的合金性质与液体合金性质相似, 为非晶态结构. B原子多数以B—B双原子成键形式分散于Ni原子构成的骨架中. 电子态密度分析表明, Ni 3d电子最活泼, 因此在合金中Ni为活性位. 轨道电荷分析从电子结构角度揭示了在NiB 催化剂中B作为修饰剂的机理.     

Thermal coefficient of linear expansion of non-crystalline chalcogenides in the As-S-Se-Te-I system

The object of the paper is an investigation of the glasses of the (As₂S₃)_x(AsSe_0.5Te_0.5I)_100-x. type for 65≤;x≤;95, using methods of thermomechanical analysis. Values of the thermal coefficients of linear expansion in solid and visco-plastic phase were determined. it was shown that introducing arsenic-sulfide in glass-matrix AsChI, i.e. (AsSe_0.5Te_0.5I), leads to an increasing stability of these glasses. The characteristic temperatures of softening Tg and the temperature of the beginning of deformation t_w increase by increasing content of As₂S₃. The analytical forms of dependence of four significant physical values α_g, α_l, Tg, Tw, as a function of As₂S₃ content in the structure of glasses were fitted. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal evolution of ferromagnetic metallic glasses

A traditional TG apparatus was modified by placing two permanent magnets producing a controlled magnetic field (TG(M): Magneto Thermogravimetry). This technique proved to be useful to study both structural relaxation and crystallisation of ferromagnetic metallic glasses. Results obtained for the amorphous alloys Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ and Fe_62.5Co₆Ni_7.5Zr₆Nb₂Cu₁B₁₅, are reported in this paper. Structural relaxation can be evaluated by measuring changes in Curie temperature induced by thermal treatments. Crystallisation in TG(M) is detected through a change in the measured apparent mass (difference between the sample mass and magnetic force driving it upward). These results were confirmed by DSC analysis. Whether the obtained crystalline phase is ferromagnetic, it can be identified through its Curie temperature, measured by TG(M). In fact the value of 770°C measured as Curie temperature of crystallised Fe_62.5Co₆Ni_7.5Zr₆Nb₂Cu₁B₁₅led to conclude that the only ferromagnetic crystalline phase is a-Fe. These hypothesis was confirmed by XRD analysis, showing that the first crystallisation yields to a-Fe nanocrystals. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.