Structures and stability of Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>C and Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>N clusters

We report results of the atomic and electronic structures of Al₇C cluster using ab initio molecular dynamics with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation. The lowest energy structure is found to be the one in which carbon atom occupies an interstitial position in Al₇ cluster. The electronic structure shows that the recent observation [Chem. Phys. Lett. 316, 31 (2000)] of magic behavior of Al₇C^- cluster is due to a large highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap which makes Al₇C^- chemically inert. These results have further led us to the finding of a new neutral magic cluster Al₇N which has the same number of valence electrons as in Al₇C^- and a large HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.99 eV. Further, calculations have been carried out on (Al₇N)₂ to study interaction between magic clusters. Received 28 July 2001     

Momentum transport and torque scaling in Taylor-Couette flow from an analogy with turbulent convection

We generalize an analogy between rotating and stratified shear flows. This analogy is summarized in Table 1. We use this analogy in the unstable case (centrifugally unstable flow vs. convection) to compute the torque in Taylor-Couette configuration, as a function of the Reynolds number. At low Reynolds numbers, when most of the dissipation comes from the mean flow, we predict that the non-dimensional torque G = T/ν² L, where L is the cylinder length, scales with Reynolds number R and gap width η, G = 1.46η^3/2(1 - η)^-7/4 R ^3/2. At larger Reynolds number, velocity fluctuations become non-negligible in the dissipation. In these regimes, there is no exact power law dependence the torque versus Reynolds. Instead, we obtain logarithmic corrections to the classical ultra-hard (exponent 2) regimes: G = 0.50 . These predictions are found to be in excellent agreement with avail-able experimental data. Predictions for scaling of velocity fluctuations are also provided. Received 7 June 2001 and Received in final form 7 December 2001     

Charge transport in a polypeptide chain

Charge transport is one important example of signal transduction in a protein which is responsible for action at a distance, and is a fundamental process in biochemical action. A model is presented in which electronic effects interact with motional processes to combine into a bifunctional model. This model is investigated with new detailed molecular dynamics calculations and successfully explains such action at a distance. Received 1st February 2002 / Received in final form 26 May 2002 Published online 13 September 2002     

Nd(Fe,Si)11Cx化合物的全电子计算(x=0,2)

采用基于第一原理的全势能线性缀加平面波加局域轨道((L)APW lo)方法对Nd(Fe,Si)11Cx化合物(x=0,2)的电子结构进行了计算,得到了化合物态密度和磁矩等信息.计算结果表明NdFe9Si2化合物中Si原子主要与4b和32i位Fe原子产生杂化,导致Fe原子磁矩减小.NdFe9Si2C2化合物C原子使32i位Fe原子磁矩进一步降低,同时减弱了Si原子的影响,使得4b位Fe原子磁矩增大.     

Convergent Flows of Molten Polymers Modeled by Generalized Second-Grade Fluids of Power-Law Type

The molding processes of polymer melts involve geometrically complex dies. Such dies are usually tapered or streamlined to achieve a maximum output rate under conditions of laminar flow. The model of a generalized second-grade fluid of power-law type is used and the results obtained are illustrated by examples of convergent flows in conical and wedge-shaped dies.     

Large set of P3‐decompositions

Let G=(V(G),E(G)) be a graph. A (n,G, λ)‐GD is a partition of the edges of λK_n into subgraphs (G‐blocks), each of which is isomorphic to G. The (n,G,λ)‐GD is named as graph design for G or G‐decomposition. The large set of (n,G,λ)‐GD is denoted by (n,G,λ)‐LGD. In this work, we obtain the existence spectrum of (n,P₃,λ)‐LGD. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 151–159, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10008     

Proton conductivity of phosphoric acid derivative of fullerene

The proton conductive property of methano [60] fullerene diphosphoric acid has been investigated under various humidity conditions at the temperature range between 15 and 45 °C. It shows proton conductivity as high as 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ at 25 °C under relative humidity of 95%. Thermal analyses including TG–DTA and thermal desorption mass spectroscopy (TDS) confirm that the compound is thermally stable up to 200 °C. Proton conduction of the compound depends very much on humidity or water content. The logarithmic conductivity at 25 °C is increased linearly with increasing relative humidity. The activation energy (E_a) estimated from the slope of log(σT) vs. 1/T is decreased from 1.08 to 0.52 eV, as the relative humidity is increased from 40% to 75%. The humidity dependence of conductivity is discussed in the light of the observed hydration isotherm.     

Simple, expedient methods for the determination of water and electrolyte contents of cellulose solvent systems

The concentrations of water, W, and electrolytes present in solutions of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide, LiCl/DMAc, and of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. x-hydrate in DMSO, TBAF.xW/DMSO can be accurately and expediently determined by three independent methods, UV–vis, FTIR and EMF measurement. The first relies on the use of solvatochromic probes whose spectra are sensitive to solution composition. It is applicable to W/LiCl/DMAc solutions but not to TBAF.xW/DMSO, because the charge-transfer complex bands of the probes are suppressed by strong interactions with the latter electrolyte. Integration of ν_OH band of water may be employed in order to determine [W], hence [electrolyte] by weight difference. EMF measurement uses ion-selective electrodes in order to determine [electrolyte], hence [W] by weight difference. Results of the latter method were in excellent agreement with those of FTIR. The reason for the failure of Karl Fischer titration is addressed, and the relevance of the results obtained to functionalization of cellulose under homogenous solution conditions is briefly commented on.