A Novel Approach for Generation of Oxygen Vacancies in Trirutile MnSb2O6 and Their Impact on Photocatalytic Degradation of MO Dye

Visible light-driven photocatalysis has gained much attention due to its light-harnessing characteristics and is extensively used in wastewater remediation. This paper presents a novel oxygen-deficient manganese antimonate, MnSb₂O_6-x, with a trirutile structure as an effective visible-light-driven photocatalyst for dye degradation. The synthesized samples were subjected to XRD, UV-Vis DRS, SEM-EDS, Raman, XPS, and PL analyses to study their physic chemical properties. The influence of sequential or single heating during the preparation method on the generation of oxygen vacancies is evaluated using UV-Vis DRS, XPS, ESR, and Raman techniques. The oxygen-deficient MnSb₂O₆ could achieve up to 85 % of MO degradation in 180 min under visible light irradiation, and its reusability up to six cycles was also investigated. In addition, the mechanism of dye degradation was supported with a scavenger test, and the degradation activities are correlated to the electron-hole pair separation as convinced from the PL spectra. The simple and unique method of oxygen vacancy generation can inspire the development of antimonates with oxygen deficiencies, which have significant scope of application in environmental and energy conservation.     

Cation‐ and Anion‐Substituted Potassium Manganese Phosphate,KMnP3O9: Luminescence and Photocatalytic Studies

Phosphates as multifunctional materials were of vital importance in the environmental and energy fields. In the present work, a new cyclophosphate, potassium manganese phosphate (KMnP₃O₉) (hereafter KMPO), was prepared by solid state method. Cations (Ag⁺ and Cu²⁺) and anion (N^3?) were substituted into KMPO lattice via ion‐exchange and solid state methods, respectively. The as‐prepared materials were characterized by powder X–ray diffraction, SEM–EDS and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra. Rietveld refinement was carried out for parent material. All the prepared materials were found to crystallize in the hexagonal lattice and isomorphous with KCoP₃O₉. The nitrogen content in N^3?‐substituted KMPO was estimated by EDS and O‐N‐H analysis. The bandgap energy of the cation‐ and anion‐substituted samples was lower compared to that of pristine KMPO. Gouy method was employed to determine the magnetic susceptibility of KMPO. The photoluminescence property of Mn²⁺ in all the samples was studied, and the color coordinates were calculated using CIE 1931 chromaticity. The photocatalytic activity of visible light active material, N^3?‐substituted KMPO, was examined against the degradation of methylene blue and methyl violet at ambient conditions.     

The Helmholtz Equation in a Locally Perturbed Half-Space with Non-Absorbing Boundary

We obtain uniqueness and existence results of an outgoing solution for the Helmholtz equation in a half-space, or in a compact local perturbation of it, with an impedance boundary condition. It is worth noting that these kinds of domains have unbounded boundaries which lead to a non-classical exterior problem. The established radiation condition is somewhat different from the usual Sommerfeld’s one, due to the appearance of surface waves (in the case of a non-absorbing boundary). A half-space Green’s function framework is used to carry out our computations. This is an extended and detailed version of the previous article “The Helmholtz equation with impedance in a half-space,” Duran et al. (CR Acad Sci Paris Ser I 341:561–566, 2005).     

Shortcut-to-Adiabaticity-Like Techniques for Parameter Estimation in Quantum Metrology

Quantum metrology makes use of quantum mechanics to improve precision measurements and measurement sensitivities. It is usually formulated for time-independent Hamiltonians, but time-dependent Hamiltonians may offer advantages, such as a T4 time dependence of the Fisher information which cannot be reached with a time-independent Hamiltonian. In Optimal adaptive control for quantum metrology with time-dependent Hamiltonians (Nature Communications 8, 2017), Shengshi Pang and Andrew N. Jordan put forward a Shortcut-to-adiabaticity (STA)-like method, specifically an approach formally similar to the “counterdiabatic approach”, adding a control term to the original Hamiltonian to reach the upper bound of the Fisher information. We revisit this work from the point of view of STA to set the relations and differences between STA-like methods in metrology and ordinary STA. This analysis paves the way for the application of other STA-like techniques in parameter estimation. In particular we explore the use of physical unitary transformations to propose alternative time-dependent Hamiltonians which may be easier to implement in the laboratory.     

Dielectric relaxation in NBT–ST ceramic composite materials

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramic composites (1-x) Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-xSrTiO₃, where x?=?0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.2, are prepared by mixing independently-prepared individual phases through sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction revealed the coexistence of rhombohedral and cubic phases. Surface morphology of the composites is observed using SEM, and both the phases are observed in the samples. Spectroscopic studies of the composites are characterized based on Fourier transform infrared, and vibration bands are analyzed at room temperature in the wave number region 500–3,000 cm^?1. Dielectric properties of these composites are measured from room temperature to 400 °C in the frequency range 1–10 kHz, and these studies indicate the presence of defect clusters within the composite materials. P–E hysteresis loops of these samples were measured as a function of temperature and observed large anomalies in the behavior compared to pure sodium bismuth titanate (NBT) (the host material). Unlike NBT, all the composites exhibited excellent P–E loops. In addition, decrease in remanence polarization is observed, with increase of SrTiO₃ at room temperature. Piezoelectric parameter d₃₃ is measured on poled composites.     

Momentum interferences of a freely expanding Bose-Einstein condensate due to interatomic interaction change

A Bose-Einstein condensate may be prepared in a harmonic trap with negligible interatomic interactions using a Feshbach resonance. If a strong repulsive interatomic interaction is switched on and the trap is removed to let the condensate evolve freely, a time dependent quantum interference pattern takes place in the short time (Thomas-Fermi) regime, in which the number of peaks of the momentum distribution increases one by one, whereas the spatial density barely changes. The effect is stable for initial states with interactions and realistic time-dependence of the scattering length.     

In situ thermo-TOF-SIMS study of thermal decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) was used for an in situ thermal decomposition study of Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O forming ZnO nanoparticles. TOF-SIMS spectra were recorded at regular temperature intervals of 25 °C in positive and negative detection modes in a dynamic thermal process. Controlled heating (5 °C min⁻¹) of Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O was also carried out using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in an oxygen atmosphere (20 ml min⁻¹). Nearly spherical ZnO nanoparticles with no agglomeration and a narrow size distribution (diameter ∼50 nm) were observed, which were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. In situ thermo-TOF-SIMS was used to monitor the ⁶⁴Zn⁺ and ⁶⁶Zn⁺ ion abundances as a function of temperature, which showed a similar profile to that observed for weight loss in TGA during decomposition. Based on the experimental results, a possible decomposition mechanism for the formation of ZnO is proposed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chain Transfer of Telogens with Styrene in Bulk and Emulsion Systems

Abstract

The chair, transfer constants for selected telogens were determined with styrene in both bulk and emulsion polymerization systems. Since the locus of chain transfer. like polymerization, is primarily in the micelles or polymer particles, the chain transfer constants of water-insoluble telogens were similar in both systems. However, these values were different for water-soluble telogens and the difference was greatest for the most soluble telogens. The ratio of the chain transfer constants in bulk and emulsion systems is apparently related to the solubility parameters of telogens in a homologous series.     

Thermo-Raman spectroscopy in situ monitoring study of solid-state synthesis of NiO-Al2O3 nanoparticles and its characterization

Hyphenation of thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and thermo-Raman spectrophotometer for in situ monitoring of solid-state reaction in oxygen atmosphere forming NiO-Al₂O₃ catalyst nanoparticles is investigated. In situ thermo-Raman spectra in the range from 200 to 1400 cm⁻¹ were recorded at every degree interval from 25 to 800 °C. Thermo-Raman spectroscopic studies reveal that, although the onset of formation is around 600 °C, the bulk NiAl₂O₄ forms at temperatures above 800 °C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the reaction mixtures were recorded at regular temperature intervals of 100 °C, in the temperature range from 400 to 1000 °C, which could provide information on structural and morphological evolution of NiO-Al₂O₃. Slow controlled heating of the sample enabled better control over morphology and particle size distribution (∼20-30 nm diameter). The observed results were supported by complementary characterizations using TGA, XRD, SEM, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis.