The Ising version of the t–J model

The t–J model is analysed in the limit of strong anisotropy, where the transverse components of electron spin are neglected. We propose a slave-particle-type approach that is valid, in contradiction to many of the standard approaches, in the low-doping regime and becomes exact for a half-filled system. We describe an effective method that allows to numerically study the system with the no-double-occupancy constraint rigorously taken into account at each lattice site. Then, we use this approach to demonstrate the destruction of the antiferromagnetic order by increasing the doping and formation of Nagaoka polarons in the strong interaction regime.     

Preparation and dielectric properties of the lead-free BaFe<Subscript>1/2</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>1/2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> ceramics obtained from mechanically triggered powder

In the paper the influence of mechanical activation of the powder on the final dielectric properties lead-free Ba(Fe_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃ (BFN) ceramic was examined. The BFN ceramics were obtained by 3-steps route. Firstly, the substrates were pre-homogenized in a planetary ball mill. Than, the powder was activated in vibratory mill (the shaker type SPEX 8000 Mixer Mill) for different duration between 25 h and 100 h. The influence of the milling time on the BFN powder was monitored by X-ray diffraction. The diffraction data confirmed that the milling process of the starting components is accompanied by partial synthesis of the BFN materials. The longer of the high-energy milling duration the powders results in increasing the amount of amorphous/nanocrystalline content. The mechanically activated materials were sintered in order to obtain the ceramic samples. During this temperature treatment the final crystallisation of the powder appeared what was confirmed by XRD studies. The performed dielectric measurements have revealed the reduction of the dielectric loss of the BFN ceramics compared to materials obtained by classic methods.     

Tb doping induced enhancement of anomalous Hall effect in NiFe films

Tbx(Ni0.8Fe0.2)1-x films with x≤0.14 are fabricated and the anomalous Hall effect is studied.The intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity and the extrinsic one from the impurity and phonon induced scattering both increase with increasing x.The enhancement of the intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity is ascribed to both the weak spin–orbit coupling enhancement and the Fermi level shift.The enhancement of the extrinsic term comes from the changes of both Fermi level and impurity distribution.In contrast,the in-plane and the out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropies in the Tb Ni Fe films change little with x.The enhancement of the Hall angle by Tb doping is helpful for practical applications of the Hall devices.     

Reception pattern influence on magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

Based on the acoustic radiation theory of a dipole source,the influence of the transducer reception pattern is studied for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction(MAT-MI).Numerical studies are conducted to simulate acoustic pressures,waveforms,and reconstructed images with unidirectional,omnidirectional,and strong directional transducers.With the analyses of equivalent and projection sources,the influences of the model dimension and the layer effect are qualitatively analyzed to evaluate the performance of MAT-MI.Three-dimensional simulation studies show that the strong directional transducer with a large radius can reduce the influences of equivalent sources,projection sources,and the layer effect effectively,resulting in enhanced pressure and improved image contrast,which is beneficial for boundary pressure extraction in conductivity reconstruction.The reconstructed conductivity contrast images present the conductivity boundaries as stripes with different contrasts and polarities,representing the values and directions of the conductivity changes of the scanned layer.The favorable results provide solid evidence for transducer selection and suggest potential practical applications of MAT-MI in biomedical imaging.     

Facile Preparation of α‐Zirconium Phosphate/Polyaniline Hybrid Film for Detecting Potassium Ion in a Wide Linear Range

A novel α‐zirconium phosphate/polyaniline (α‐ZrP/PANI) hybrid film used as K⁺ ion sensor was fabricated on carbon paper by electrochemical method. Mechanisms of film formation and detection of K⁺ ions were also proposed. The exfoliated α‐ZrP was mixed with PANI and deposited on carbon paper. The resultant α‐ZrP/PANI film exhibited a good current response to K⁺ ion with different concentrations. It also showed a wide logarithmic linear response in detecting K⁺ ions in the ranges of 10^?8–10^?4 M and 10^?4–10^?2 M, respectively. The results can be attributed to the synergetic effect of α‐ZrP and PANI.     

Preparation of Polyaniline/Au0 Nanocomposites Modified Electrode and Application for Hydrazine Detection

The PANI/Au₀ nanocomposite films were successfully prepared on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using a simple alternate adsorption of water soluble polyaniline (PANI) and . The growth of the films was monitored by UV? Vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. was in‐situ reduced in the film due to the redox interaction between PANI and , without extra reductant. The ultrafine Au nanoparticles with the size of 2–4 nm were observed by transmission electron spectroscopy. The existence of zero‐valence Au nanocrystals (Au₀) was confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X‐ray Diffraction and FTIR. PANI in the nano‐structured PANI/Au₀ composite films displayed a good redox activity in neutral pH solution. The as‐obtained PANI/Au₀/GCE presents an excellent electrocatalytic activity to hydrazine oxidation, and the mechanism of hydrazine oxidation was studied. The calibration curve on (PANI/Au₀)₅/GCE was obtained in the concentration range of 0.01–6 mM with the detection limit of 1 µM (S/N>3). The modified electrode has a great potential for hydrazine sensor application due to its ease of fabrication, good reproducibility and high stability.     

Efficient electrochemical incineration of phenol on activated carbon fiber as a new type of particulates

The feasibility of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) used as a new type of particle electrodes in 3-dimensional (3D) electrode for the electrochemical degradation of phenol wastewater was investigated for the first time. The surface morphology, textual properties and electrochemical behaviors of ACF were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N₂-BET sorption and cyclic voltammograms (CVs), respectively. Compared with the commercialized granular activated carbon (GAC), ACF particle electrodes exhibited higher electrochemical oxidation performance on the mineralization of target pollutant. The identification of intermediates indicated most of oxidation products were adsorbed onto the ACFs. The detection of hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals in the reaction system suggested that the reaction mechanism was direct anodic oxidation of pollutant on ACFs if the cathode did not contact the ACFs. The operative parameters including initial concentration of substrate, applied current density and the initial aqueous pH have been scientifically studied in search of the optimum condition. Based upon the obtained results, the ACFs longevity was tested in solution at pH 2.0, revealing relatively high electrooxidation capacity and long catalyst lifetime of ACFs in acid solution.     

The effect of zirconium phosphonate with different functional groups on the structure and properties of chitosan film

Three types of zirconium phosphonate (org‐ZrP) with different functional groups (―COOH, ―SO₃H, ―NO₂) were prepared first and then added into chitosan (CS) matrix, respectively. The effect of these functional groups on structure, morphologies, and mechanical properties of chitosan films was investigated. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that org‐ZrP had intensely interacted with chitosan in the composites because of introducing functional groups on the fillers. The composite films filled with zirconium sulfophenylphosphonate exhibited the best mechanical properties among the three org‐ZrP fillers. These differences of reinforcement effect appeared to be caused by the difference of interfacial interactions between the org‐ZrP fillers and matrix. The stronger the interfacial interactions are, the better the reinforcement effect is. In addition, the moisture uptake (Mu) of CS/org‐ZrP‐n composite films depended on the hydrophilic property of functional groups. It was found that zirconium nitrophenyl phosphonate showed the best moisture barrier property due to its poor absorbability for water molecules. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface Induced Dissociation Yields Quaternary Substructure of Refractory Noncovalent Phosphorylase B and Glutamate Dehydrogenase Complexes

Ion mobility (IM) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) coupled with native MS are useful for studying noncovalent protein complexes. Collision induced dissociation (CID) is the most common MS/MS dissociation method. However, some protein complexes, including glycogen phosphorylase B kinase (PHB) and L-glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) examined in this study, are resistant to dissociation by CID at the maximum collision energy available in the instrument. Surface induced dissociation (SID) was applied to dissociate the two refractory protein complexes. Different charge state precursor ions of the two complexes were examined by CID and SID. The PHB dimer was successfully dissociated to monomers and the GDH hexamer formed trimeric subcomplexes that are informative of its quaternary structure. The unfolding of the precursor and the percentages of the distinct products suggest that the dissociation pathways vary for different charge states. The precursors at lower charge states (+21 for PHB dimer and +27 for GDH hexamer) produce a higher percentage of folded fragments and dissociate more symmetrically than the precusors at higher charge states (+29 for PHB dimer and +39 for GDH hexamer). The precursors at lower charge state may be more native-like than the higher charge state because a higher percentage of folded fragments and a lower percentage of highly charged unfolded fragments are detected. The combination of SID and charge reduction is shown to be a powerful tool for quaternary structure analysis of refractory noncovalent protein complexes, as illustrated by the data for PHB dimer and GDH hexamer.

Zundel-Type H-Bonding in Biomolecular Ions

Using quantum chemical calculations and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy in the fingerprint and X-H stretching regions, we demonstrate here that the all-Ala b ₆ fragment ion features a macrocyclic structure with C₂ symmetry. For this structure, the ionizing proton is equally shared by the Ala(1) and Ala(4) amide oxygens in a Zundel-type symmetric (X…H⁺…X) H-bond. Figure

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