Non-aggregated Pd nanoparticles deposited onto catalytic supports

Nanostructured powders have shown great promise for a variety of applications including chemical gas sensors, high surface area supports for catalysis, tribology, chemical mechanical polishing, and optoelectronics. In this report, highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution, and mean diameter of 2±0.2 nm, were deposited at room temperature onto amorphous carbon and oxide supports (TiO₂, Al₂O₃) by pulsed-laser ablation of a Pd sputtering target. Depositions were performed in Ar at a back-fill pressure of 3 mTorr after reaching a base pressure of 10^-7 Torr. Populations of uniformly dispersed particles with an interparticle spacing of 3 to 10 nm were observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with little evidence of nanoparticle aggregation. The chemical compositions of individual nanoparticles were confirmed by high spatial resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.     

Characterization of host-lattice emission and energy transfer in BaMgAl10O17:Eu

Host-lattice emission, energy transfer and degradation processes are characterized in undoped and Eu-doped BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇. Undoped BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇ exhibits a broad emission centered at 265 nm when excited at wavelengths shorter than 190 nm. This emission is assigned to exciton recombination at Ba-O groups in the cation layer of the lattice. The emission exhibits excellent overlap with the excitation band of Eu²⁺ in this host, providing a means of host-to-activator energy transfer in the doped phosphor. The exciton emission is relatively stable to thermal damage, but undergoes a peak shift and significant decrease in intensity after exposure to VUV radiation. Heating of VUV-damaged materials in air leads to some repair of the spectral properties.     

Crutch or Catalyst: Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Calculator use in Mathematics Instruction

This study investigated K‐12 teachers' beliefs and reported teaching practices regarding calculator use in their mathematics instruction. A survey was administered to more than 800 elementary, middle and high school teachers in a large metropolitan area to address the following questions: (a) what are the beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers regarding calculator use? and (b) how do these beliefs and practices differ among teachers in three grade bands? Factor analysis of 20 Likert scale items revealed four factors that accounted for 54% of the variance in the ratings. These factors were named Catalyst Beliefs, Teacher Knowledge, Crutch Beliefs, and Teacher Practices. Compared to elementary teachers, high school teachers were significantly higher in their perception of calculator use as a catalyst in mathematics instruction. However, the higher the grade level of the teacher, the higher the mean score on the perception that calculator use may be a way of getting answers without understanding mathematical processes. The mean scores for teachers in all three grade bands indicated agreement that students can learn mathematics through calculator use and using calculators in instruction will lead to better student understanding and make mathematics more interesting. The survey results shed light on teachers' self reported beliefs, knowledge, and practices in regard to consistency with elements of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) technology principle and the NCTM use of technology position paper (2003). This study extended previous research on teachers' beliefs regarding calculator use in classrooms by examining and comparing the results of teacher surveys across three grade bands.     

Comparison of procedures for correction of matrix interferences in the multi-element analysis of soils by ICP-AES with a CCD detection system

Three procedures, matrix matching, plasma optimisation and single-point standard-addition, have been evaluated to ascertain the best procedure for simultaneous multi-element analysis of industrial soils by ICP-AES with CCD detection. A standard reference material, CRM143 from the Bureau Communautaire de Réference (BCR), has been analysed for Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb using the three different matrix interference correction procedures. All three procedures give comparable results which are in good agreement with the BCR values, except for Cr. The single-point standard addition procedure was chosen, on the basis of economy and ease of implementation, to correct for matrix interferences in the determination of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn and V in soil samples collected from an industrial site in England. Concentrations of some of the elements were found to vary greatly with sampling depth. For example, the concentration of Mn, determined using the atomic line at 279.920 nm, increased from 426 ± 3 g/g at a depth of 18–28 cm to 5996 ± 144 g/g at 60–85 cm.     

Study of a Solvated Adsorbed Gelatin Layer Using a Modified Force Microscope

The interaction energies between gelatin-coated surfaces at various electrolyte and pH conditions are reported. The surfaces are of glass and are negatively charged under all conditions used here. Gelatin is a polyampholyte, with an isoelectric pH (IEP) of approximately 4.9. At low pH the gelatin molecules have a net positive charge, and thus the polyampholyte tends to adsorb with a relatively flat conformation. As the pH is increased the strong attractive interaction between the surface and the polyampholyte decreases as more negative charges and then fewer positive charges appear on the polyampholyte, and so the gelatin extends away from the surface. On changing electrolyte concentrations after adsorption no effect was seen at the IEP, but the layer was observed to swell at more alkaline pHs. This is consistent with the net minimum charge situation on the polymer under these conditions. Changing the adsorption conditions was seen to have an effect, and this is attributed to the different affinities of the gelatin chain to the surface depending on the solution chemistry. Results obtained when the gelatin was initially adsorbed on one surface or two were similar, suggesting that the gelatin transfers rapidly from one surface to another. The importance of adsorption conditions as well as current conditions is discussed. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Solvent extraction studies of some cobalt(ii) chelates.

Extraction of radiolabeled cobalt(II) from aqueous solution into one or more solvents using 25 reagents was studied. Both reagent concentration and pH variation were investigated. The relevant association and partition constants for several of the better reagent-solvent systems were determined. These systems were hexanoic acid in I-hexanol, octanoic acid in I-octanol, and thenoyltrifluoroacetone in benzene.