Comparative study on the thermal behavior of structural concretes of sodium-cooled fast reactor

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Thermal behaviors of two different siliceous concretes used in a sodium-cooled fast reactor were comparatively investigated in a temperature range from...     

Bifunctional Iminophosphorane-Catalyzed Enantioselective Nitroalkane Addition to Unactivated α,β-Unsaturated Esters**

Herein we describe the enantioselective intermolecular conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to unactivated α,β-unsaturated esters, catalyzed by a bifunctional iminophosphorane (BIMP) superbase. The transformation provides the most direct access to pharmaceutically relevant enantioenriched γ-nitroesters, utilizing feedstock chemicals, with unprecedented selectivity. The methodology exhibits a broad substrate scope, including β-(fluoro)alkyl, aryl and heteroaryl substituted electrophiles, and was successfully applied on a gram scale with reduced catalyst loading, and, additionally, catalyst recovery was carried out. The formal synthesis of a range of drug molecules, and an enantioselective synthesis of (S)-rolipram were achieved. Additionally, computational studies revealed key reaction intermediates and transition state structures, and provided rationale for high enantioselectivities, in good agreement with experimental results.     

Effect of the Ethanol/BTC Ratio on the Methane Uptake of Mechanochemically Synthesized MOF-199

We report on a detailed textural analysis of mechanochemically synthesized MOF-199 including N₂ adsorption-desorption and CO₂ adsorption isotherms data at 77 K and 273 K (up to atmospheric pressure), respectively, and CH₄ adsorption data at 298 K (up to 35 bar). We used the isotherm adsorption data to determine the micropore volume of the MOF-199 structures, to establish their methane uptake capacity and to understand how these properties depended on the Ethanol/BTC ratio used during the synthesis. The maximum methane uptake capacity for our specimens was recorded at 130 v/v at 35 bars. These results open an avenue for a better understanding of alternative manufacturing processes of MOF structures for gas storage applications.     

Liquid single- and gas—liquid two-phase flows of magnetic fluid in the presence of a high non-uniform parallel magnetic field

The effect of a non-uniform parallel high magnetic field on flow control characteristics is investigated experimentally for a magnetic fluid single-phase flow and an air—magnetic fluid two-phase flow in a vertical channel. It is found that as the magnetic field strength is increased, the friction factor of the single-phase flow increases significantly. For the two-phase flow, the friction pressure loss and the head pressure loss, which is smaller than the friction loss, are negligibly small compared with the magnetic pressure loss. In the case where air is injected 27.9d upstream from the maximum magnetic field, the air flow is blocked by the magnetic force in the entrance of the magnetic field, which leads to increases in both local void fraction and pressure drop there. In the case where air is injected 1.43d downstream from the maximum magnetic field, the air flow is accelerated, resulting in a decrease in void fraction and an increase in pressure rise. In the latter case and under the present range of experimental conditions, the magnetic pumping head reaches 0.02 MPa at the highest, and the maximum circulation flow rate reaches twice as high as non-magnetically driven flow rate.     

The ASACUSA CUSP: an antihydrogen experiment

In order to test CPT symmetry between antihydrogen and its counterpart hydrogen, the ASACUSA collaboration plans to perform high precision microwave spectroscopy of ground-state hyperfine splitting of antihydrogen atom in-flight. We have developed an apparatus (“cusp trap”) which consists of a superconducting anti-Helmholtz coil and multiple ring electrodes. For the preparation of slow antiprotons and positrons, Penning-Malmberg type traps were utilized. The spectrometer line was positioned downstream of the cusp trap. At the end of the beamline, an antihydrogen beam detector was located, which comprises an inorganic Bismuth Germanium Oxide (BGO) single-crystal scintillator housed in a vacuum duct and surrounding plastic scintillators. A significant fraction of antihydrogen atoms flowing out the cusp trap were detected.