Properties of cerium-zirconium mixed oxides partially substituted by neodymium: Comparison with Zr-Ce-Pr-O ternary oxides

CeO₂ doped with praseodymium, neodymium and/or zirconium atoms were prepared by coprecipitation and by the sol-gel method. Structural properties were investigated by in situ XRD and Raman spectroscopy while oxygen storage capacity (OSC) was measured by transient CO oxidation. All the compounds, except pure Nd₂O₃, have a fluorite-type structure as well as a Raman band at 560 cm⁻¹ characteristic of the oxygen vacancies involving non-stoichiometric oxides. The lattice parameter under hydrogen, being dependent on the temperature, revealed two reduction mechanisms: one at a low temperature at the surface and another at a high temperature in the bulk. Ce-Nd binary oxides show a strong tendency towards crystallite aggregation, which reduces accessibility to gases and OSC properties. Zirconium improves the thermal resistance to sintering of both Ce-Nd and Ce-Pr oxides. The Zr-Ce-Pr-O followed by Zr-Ce-Nd-O compounds displaying high oxygen mobility at a low temperature, appear to be very promising for practical applications such as OSC materials.     

Reactivite d'organometalliques vis a vis des enynes conjugues α, α'-bifonctionnels: III. Enynes a groupement alcool en α de la triple liaison: Synthese d'allenes et de dienes mono- ou bifonctionnels

Organolithium, organomagnesium and organozinc compounds react with α,α'-difunctional enynes: HOCH₂CCCHCHCH₂Y (Y  OH, OCH₃, N(CH₃)₂). This reaction produces one or two derivatives, according to the nature of the metallic group: mono- or di-functional allenes, mono- or di-functional dienes.     

A Titration Microcalorimetric Study of the Effects of Halide Counterions on Vesicle-Forming Aggregation in Aqueous Solution of Branched-Chain Alkylpyridinium Surfactants

Titration microcalorimetry is used to study the influences of iodide, bromide, and chloride counterions on the aggregation of vesicle-forming 1-methyl-4-(2-pentylheptyl)pyridinium halide surfactants. Formation of vesicles by these surfactants was characterised using transmission electron microscopy. When the counterion is changed at 303 K through the series iodide, bromide, to chloride, the critical vesicular concentration (cvc) increases and the enthalpy of vesicle formation changes from exo- to endothermic. With increase in temperature to 333 K, vesicle formation becomes strongly exothermic. Increasing the temperature leads to a decrease in enthalpy and entropy of vesicle formation for all three surfactants. However the standard Gibbs energy for vesicle formation is, perhaps surprisingly, largely unaffected by an increase in temperature, as a consequence of a compensating change in both standard entropy and standard enthalpy of vesicle formation. Interestingly, standard isobaric heat capacities of vesicle formation are negative, large in magnitude but not strikingly dependent on the counterion. We conclude that the driving force for vesicle formation can be understood in terms of overlap of the thermally labile hydrophobic hydration shells of the alkyl chains. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.