Distribution of mercury in soil organic matter fractions obtained by dissolution/precipitation method

Sequential multistep procedure, usually used for the fractionation and characterization of soil organic matter was tested for Hg content in the individual steps and fractions. Under general laboratory conditions serious problems have arosen during the attempt in the Hg mass balance calculation. Several sources of Hg contamination were recognized. The most serious was the background concentration of Hg even in research grade chemicals (what is in general not declared) and laboratory air. The work on operational Hg speciation as non-humic bound, humic acid, fulvic acid bound proceeds from the established status-quo on distribution of mercury of soil organic matter.     

Ionene–surfactant complexes: temperature and humidity sensitive materials

Solid stoichiometric complexes of [3,12]-ionene and dodecyl sulfate form upon reaction of the bromide of the ionene and the silver salt of dodecyl sulfate in methanol. IR, DSC, and TG investigations indicated that the solid complexes are stable between 30 and 120 °C. TG and DSC also showed that the complexes easily take up water at ambient conditions. These samples are optically isotropic. When exposed to an increased humidity they exhibit optical anisotropy, i.e., birefringence, which is caused by the formation of a hexagonal mesogenic phase. Mesogenicity is necessarily accompanied by a further uptake of water (4–5 H₂O molecules per ionic unit), which is dependent on the relative humidity. The phase behavior as a function of temperature and controlled relative humidity was studied using birefringence measurements and polarizing microscopy.     

Field alpha-spectroscopy of radon (<Superscript>222</Superscript>Rn) and actinon (<Superscript>219</Superscript>Rn) progeny in soil gas: Locating a radon source

Summary The activities of²¹⁸Po,²¹⁴Po and²¹¹Bi were determined in samples obtained of soil/gas. Sampling work was taken in Jáchymov (Czech Republic) at the outcrop of the Geister-vein,by electrostatic precipitation from filtered soil gas on stainless steel disks.The samples were measured in a field laboratory using a semi-conductor alpha-spectrometer.The activities of²¹⁸Po,²¹⁴Po and²¹¹Bi were calculated.Samples taken from active dump material (near-by radon source) exhibited a high²¹¹Bi/²¹⁴Po ratio, while those of the vein outcrop (a relatively deeper source) had a low ratio.A mathematical model was employed to determine the radon age calculated from the actinon/radon input ratio.This varied in a range of 5.6 to -7.7 seconds.Negative age values are probably caused by the preference for actinon, which rapidly comes into equilibrium with the source of this gas.     

Influence of Al2O3 Nanoparticles on the Thermal Stability of Ultra-Fine Grained Copper Prepared by High Pressure Torsion

Summary.  Ultra-fine grained (UFG) Cu (grain size 80 nm) containing 0.5 wt.% Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (size 20 nm) was prepared by high pressure torsion (HPT). Positron lifetime spectroscopy was employed to characterize the microstructure of this material, especially with respect to types and concentration of lattice defects. The evolution of microstructure with increasing temperature was studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. The thermal stability of the Cu + 0.5 wt.% Al₂O₃ nanocomposite was compared with that of pure UFG Cu prepared by the same technique. The processes taking place during thermal recovery of the initial nanoscale structure in both studied materials are described. Received October 5, 2001. Accepted (revised) December 20, 2001     

Timing performance of ZnO:Ga nanopowder composite scintillators

The implementation of nanocrystal‐based composite scintillators as a new generation of ultrafast particle detectors is explored using ZnO:Ga nanopowder. Samples are characterized with a spectral‐time resolved photon counting system and pulsed X‐rays, followed by coincidence time resolution (CTR) measurements under 511 keV gamma excitation. Results are comparable to CTR values obtained using bulk inorganic scintillators. Bringing the ZnO:Ga nanocrystal's timing performance to radiation detectors could pave the research path towards sub‐20 ps time resolution as shown in this contribution. However, an efficiency boost when placing nanopowders in a transparent host constitutes the main challenge in order to benefit from sub‐nanosecond recombination times. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Synthesis and properties of cationic polyelectrolyte with regioregular polyalkylthiophene backbone and ionic‐liquid like side groups

High‐regioregular poly{3‐[6‐(1‐methylimidazolium‐3‐yl)hexyl]thiophene‐2,5‐diyl bromide}, PMHT‐Br, has been prepared by reaction of high‐regioregular (above 92%) poly[3‐(6‐bromohexyl)thiophene‐2,5‐diyl] with 1‐methylimidazole. PMHT‐Br is soluble in water and water miscible solvents such as methanol, DMSO and shows solvatochromism; λ_max (nm): 423 (H₂O); 435 (MeOH); 452 (DMSO). Increased absorption band broadening observed for aqueous solution as well as NMR spectra in D₂O suggests a micelle‐like structure of PMHT‐Br molecules in these solutions: poly(3‐hexylthiophene) core and 1‐methylimidazolium bromide shell. Despite the disturbing effect of ionic groups, the solid‐state PMHT‐Br shows absorption maximum at 520 nm, the band edge at 660 nm (ca. 1.9 eV), and fluorescence emission with maximum at 635 nm, in a good agreement with the polymer regioregularity. Fluorescence emission maxima: λ_em (nm): 598 (H₂O); 562 (MeOH); 574 (DMSO), occur in a vicinity of corresponding adsorption band edges. Plot of electrical conductivity of PMHT‐Br (measured under the dynamic vacuum conditions, 5 × 10^?5 Pa) versus 1/T shows a break at about 70 °C same as the temperature dependence of λ_max of the solid PMHT‐Br. These breaks indicate an increase in the mobility of polymer segments and ions within PMHT‐Br; however, a thermal analysis did not provide solid evidence for it. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3073–3081, 2010     

Yang-Mills and Dirac Fields with Inhomogeneous Boundary Conditions

Finite time existence and uniqueness of solutions of the evolution equations of minimally coupled Yang-Mills and Dirac systems are proved for inhomogeneous boundary conditions. A characterization of the space of solutions of minimally coupled Yang-Mills and Dirac equations is obtained in terms of the boundary data and the Cauchy data satisfying the constraint equation. The proof is based on a special gauge fixing and a singular perturbation result for the existence of continuous semigroups. Received: 18 April 1996 / Accepted: 3 March 1997     

Effect of holmium addition during LPE growth on the properties of InP and GaInAsP layers

The influence of holmium addition during the liquid phase epitaxial growth (LPE) on the optoelectronic properties of InP and GaInAsP semiconductor layers has been studied. Series of InP and GaInAsP layer samples have been prepared by LPE from the melt containing 0–0.5 wt.% of the Ho. The samples were examined by different diagnostic techniques. Hall effect, capacitance-voltage curves and photoluminescence spectra showed the dramatic impact of the Ho admixture on the carrier and residual donor concentrations. The carrier density was reduced by two-and-a-half orders of magnitude and photoluminescence spectra became markedly narrowed and their fine features were resolved. The observed effects are attributed to holmium acting as a very efficient gettering agent with regard to shallow donors. Presented at the 6th Joint Seminar “Development of Materials Science in Research and Education”, Karlštejn, Czech Republic, 17–19 September 1996. This work has been supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, project No. 102/96/1238.