Status of heavy element research using a gas-filled recoil separator at RIKEN

A gas-filled type of recoil separator for heavy element research was installed at an experimental hall of RIKEN Linear Accelerator facility to realize getting higher intensity of primary beam and long beam time. Performance of the separator was studied using target recoils and various nuclear reactions. The results show the high performance of the separator for heave element research. As an application of the GARIS, production and identification of an isotope of the 110th element ²⁷¹[110] have been performed using the ²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,1n)²⁷¹[110] reaction. Three decay chains coincide well both in decay times and energies with the ones reported by the group of SHIP experiment at GSI, Germany. Our results provide a confirmation of the synthesis of an isotope ²⁷¹[110] of element 110.     

An ASE Reduction Filter Using Cascaded Optical Fiber Grating Couplers in EDFA Repeater

A new configuration for an ASE reduction filter in EDFA repeaters for WDM optical transmission systems using optical fiber grating couplers (FGCs) was proposed and first demonstrated. The filtering characteristics of the proposed filter for amplified single wavelength signal and 2-channel WDM signals using EDFA were identified. It was found that the filter was effective to improve SNR in optical domain by reducing ASE noise. The required FGC characteristics for the filter were theoretically predicted under the condition that the total filter loss did not exceed 3 dB. More than 70% of drop efficiency was required in each FGC for the application of the proposed filter to an 8-channel WDM system using EDFA repeaters.     

A novel pre-shearing technique for measurement of the electrorheological effect of a side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxane

A side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxane derivative possessing mesogens was synthesized. The mesogens included a large dielectrically-anisotropic moiety. Phase transition behaviour was investigated and the electrorheological (ER) effect of the polymer considered. No ER effect was observed in non-sheared polysiloxane derivative because of its high inherent viscosity. However, a large ER effect was observed after pre-shearing. Pre-shearing, i.e. shearing with a high shear rate before the measurements, arranges the terminal mesogens in the shearing direction. Furthermore, a dilution of the sample led to a larger ER effect exceeding 10 000 Pa. We thus were able to demonstrate a new approach for the appearance of the ER effect.     

Size distribution of fractured areas in one-dimensional systems

We study a one-dimensional model for fracture, identifying fractured areas with intervals on which a stress field exceeds a threshold value. When is a diffusion process, the cumulative numberN(l) of fractured areas whose length is greater thanl obeys a power lawCl ^–p asl0 with probability one. The exponentp and the constantC are determined. The exponentp agrees with the Hausdorff dimension of the end points of fractured areas, i.e., ^–1(). Even if is self-similar with parameterH>0, i.e.,(cx)– is equivalent toc ^H {(x)–} for anyc>0, the exponentp does not depend solely onH;p=H, where(0, 1/H) is another parameter characterizing. Non-diffusion processes are given whereN(l) does not follow a power law.     

Hydration Structure Around the Carboxyl Group Studied by Neutron Diffraction with 12C/13C and H/D Isotopic Substitution Methods

Time-of-Flight (TOF) neutron diffraction measurements have been carried out on aqueous 8 mol% sodium acetate solutions in D₂O. Scattering cross sections that were observed for sample solutions involving ¹²C/¹³C and H/D isotopically substituted acetate ions were used to derive the first-order difference functions, Δ_H(Q) and Δ_C(Q), and corresponding distribution functions, G _H(r;r) and G _C(r;r), which describe the environmental structure around the methyl and the carboxyl groups within the acetate ion, respectively. Structural parameters concerning the first hydration shell of the carboxyl group within the acetate ion were obtained through the least squares fit to the observed intermolecular difference function, Δ_C ^inter(Q). The nearest neighbor C _O...D _W1 (C_O: carboxyl carbon atom, D_W1: water deuterium atom) distance, r(C _O...D _W1 ), and the angle, ∠ C _O ...D _W1 -O _W (O _W : water oxygen atom), were determined to be 2.63(1) Å and 120(1)°, respectively. The coordination number, n(C _O ...D _W1 ), was obtained to be 4.0(1). These results are consistent with the hydration structure in which water molecules in the first hydration shell of the carboxyl group are hydrogen-bonded with oxygen atoms of the carboxyl group.     

Photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate in the presence of tertiary amines

The sensitization effect of tertiary amines on the photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate was studied. N,N-Dimethylbenzylamine, triethylamine, and N,N-dimethylaniline increased the rate of polymerization in this order, but pyridine did not show any effect. A free-radical mechanism was confirmed by the tacticity of polymer, the retarding effect of hydroquinone, and the copolymer composition with styrene. On the basis of the detailed kinetics of the sensitized polymerization and the ultraviolet spectra of the reaction mixtures, a sensitization mechanism is proposed, in which the excited monomer and the amine form a complex and generate an initiating radical.     

UV-Vis, NMR, and time-resolved spectroscopy analysis of photoisomerization behavior of three- and six-azobenzene-bound tris(bipyridine)cobalt complexes

The photoisomerization properties of tris(bipyridine)cobalt complexes containing six or three azobenzene moieties, namely, [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 [dmAB = 4,4'-bis[3'-(4'-tolylazo)phenyl]-2,2'-bipyridine], [Co(III)(dmAB)3](BF4)3, [Co(II)(mAB)3](BF4)2 [mAB = 4-[3' '-(4' '-tolylazo)phenyl]-2,2'-bipyridine], and [Co(III)(dmAB)3](BF4)3, derived from the effect of gathering azobenzenes in one molecule and the effect of the cobalt(II) or cobalt(III) ion were investigated using UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, femtosecond transient spectroscopy, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. In the photostationary state of these four complexes, nearly 50% of the trans-azobenzene moieties of the Co(II) complexes were converted to the cis isomer, and nearly 10% of the trans-azobenzene moieties of the Co(III) complexes isomerized to the cis isomer, implying that the cis isomer ratio in the photostationary state upon irradiation at 365 nm is controlled not by the number of azobenzene moieties in one molecule but rather by the oxidation state of the cobalt ions. The femtosecond transient absorption spectra of the ligands and the complexes suggested that the photoexcited states of the azobenzene moieties in the Co(III) complexes were strongly deactivated by electron transfer from the azobenzene moiety to the cobalt center to form an azobenzene radical cation and a Co(II) center. The cooperation among the photochemical structural changes of six azobenzene moieties in [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 was investigated with 1H NMR spectroscopy. The time-course change in the 1H NMR signals of the methyl protons indicated that each azobenzene moiety in [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 isomerized to a cis isomer with a random probability of 50% and without interactions among the azobenzene moieties.     

Alternative copolymerization of aziridines and carbon monoxide by γ-ray irradiation

The copolymerization of carbon monoxide and aziridines such as ethylenimine and propylenimine was carried out by γ-ray irradiation. Aziridines and carbon monoxide were allowed to copolymerize under γ-ray irradiation from a Co⁶⁰ source and gave a crystalline solid copolymer. The yield of the copolymer increased with reaction temperature. The composition of copolymers obtained did not depend on the feed ratio of monomers and was found to be almost equimolar. The copolymer of ethylenimine and carbon monoxide melted at about 322–335°C. with decomposition and has an infrared spectrum identical with that of poly-β-alanine obtained by the hydrogen-migration polymerization of acrylamide. The hydrolyzed product of the ethylenimine–carbon monoxide copolymer was confirmed to be β-alanine by paper chromatography. These results lead to the conclusion that the copolymerization of aziridines and carbon monoxide took place alternatively by γ-ray irradiation, and produced crystalline poly-β-alanines.     

Photoreaction of anthracenyl phosphine oxides: Usual reversible photo- and heat-induced emission switching,and unusual oxidative PC bond cleavage

Anthracenyl(diphenyl)phosphine oxide and dianthracenylphenylphosphine oxide as photoactive compounds have been synthesized. Anthracenyl group of these compounds indicate the multi-functional roles such as an emission component, a photodimerization component, and a leaving group. When the light irradiation was performed under an oxygen atmosphere, photo-oxidative PC bond cleavage to leave the antharacenyl group was observed. Moreover, phosphonyl radical was produced and then PP bond formation to form diphosphane was observed.