Preparation of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles by high-energy ball milling

α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were prepared by high-energy ball milling using α-FeOOH as raw materials. The prepared samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis–thermogravimetric analysis (DTA–TGA). The results showed that after 90 h milling α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were obtained, and the particle size is about 20 nm. The mechanism of reaction during milling is supposed that the initial α-FeOOH powder turned smaller and smaller by the high-speed collision during ball milling, later these particles turned to be superparamagnetic, at last these superparamagnetic α-FeOOH particles were dehydrated and transformed into α-Fe₂O₃.     

Search for γγ→ηb in ee collisions at LEP 2

A search for the pseudoscalar meson η_b is performed in two-photon interactions at LEP 2 with an integrated luminosity of 699 pb⁻¹ collected at e⁺e⁻ centre-of-mass energies from 181 GeV to 209 GeV. One candidate event is found in the six-charged-particle final state and none in the four-charged-particle final state, in agreement with the total expected background of about one event. Upper limits of Γ_γγ(η_b)×BR(η_b→4 charged particles)<48 eV, Γ_γγ(η_b)×BR(η_b→6 charged particles)<132 eV are obtained at 95% confidence level, which correspond to upper limits of 9.0% and 25% on these branching ratios.     

Propagation of gamma-rays at cosmological redshifts

We discuss absorption and reprocessing of γ-rays at cosmological redshifts. We consider Compton scattering and pair production by γ-rays on the cosmic baryonic matter, and photon-photon scattering and photon-photon pair production by γ-rays and Compton scattering of relativistic pairs on the cosmic blackbody background. We point out the cosmological importance of photon-photon scattering (a process not previously considered in astrophysics). We determine the region where the universe is transparent to γ-rays and the regions of dominance of the elementary processes on the photon-energy-redshift plane. We discuss the current status of this field of research and its future directions. The problem of cosmological γ-ray reprocessing is relevant, e.g., for observational γ-ray astronomy, for which the signatures of the cosmological origin need to be determined, and for studies of the effects that pair cascades, caused by the decay of unstable particles from a hot Big Bang, have on the primordial nucleosynthesis.     

Cosmic γ-rays from dark matter and antimatter annihilation

In this paper, we present details of the physics of cosmic γ-ray production by the annihilation of dark matter particles and cosmological antimatter. For the latter process, considerations of γ-ray absorption and scattering at high redshifts is important and we review the physics of these processes also. Cosmic γ-ray spectra are calculated and presented and compared with present observational data on cosmic γ-ray fluxes at high galactic latitudes. A comparison with the γ-ray flux from cosmic-ray interactions is made and the observability of annihilation γ-rays is considered.     

Exact calculation of the phase properties of one dimensional finite lattice gas systems

The small-size partially filled one-dimensional (1D) lattice gas system with 1/r^δ repulsive interactions is numerically studied. Our results indicate that phase change with vacancy ordering involved exists in the partially filled 1D lattice gas systems, and the phase properties of the studied system strongly depend on the occupancy n_av and the interaction strength δ. Most interestingly, it is found that the phase change still exists in the 1D finite-size lattice gas systems even with nearest neighbor interactions, i.e. δ is infinite. These results provide valuable information about the phase properties of 1D confined systems, such as molecules inside the carbon nanotubes, with long-range interactions between particles.     

Ignition of single coal particle in a hot furnace under normal- and micro-gravity condition

An experimental study on ignition and combustion of single particles was conducted at normal gravity (1-g) and microgravity (μ-g) for three high volatile coals with initial diameter of 1.5 and 2.0 mm, respectively. The non-intrusive twin-color pyrometry method was used to retrieve the surface temperature of the coal particle through processing the images taken by a color CCD camera. At the same time, a mathematical model considering thermal conduction inside the coal particle was developed to simulate the ignition process.Both experiments and modeling found that ignition occurred homogeneously at the beginning and then heterogeneously for the testing coal particles burning at μ-g. Experimental results confirmed that ignition temperature decreased with increasing volatile content and increasing particle size. However, contradicted to previous studies, this study found that for a given coal with certain particle size, ignition temperature was about 50–80 K lower at μ-g than that at 1-g.The model predictions agreed well with the μ-g experimental data on ignition temperature. The criterion that the temperature gradient in the space away from the particle surface equaled to zero was validated to determine the commence of homogeneous ignition. Thermal conduction inside the particle could have a noticeable effect for determining the ignition temperature. With the consideration of thermal conduction, the critical size for the phase transient from homogeneous to heterogeneous is about 700 μm at ambient temperature 1500 K and oxygen concentration 0.23.     

A TEM study of α-phase stability in Zr-2.5 Nb pressure tubes following neutron irradiation (A TEM study of α-phase stability)

The α-phase in Zr-2.5 Nb pressure tubes has been analysed after irradiation with neutrons for temperatures between 523 and 573 K. The α-phase contains Nb in supersaturated solid solution (about 0.5−1 wt% Nb) in the as-fabricated condition. Irradiation results in the formation of small discrete precipitates having diameters of about 5 nm. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis using a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) was complicated by the presence of a self-generated X-rays in the irradiated material and by the fact that the precipitates were small relative to the foil thickness (typically 100–200 nm). Techniques developed to measure segregation of impurities at interfaces were employed to show that the precipitates were Nb-rich, their formation being consistent with a decrease in Nb concentration in the matrix.     

Heat transfer behaviours of nanofluids in a uniformly heated tube

In the present work, we consider the problem of the forced convection flow of water– γAl₂O₃ and ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ nanofluids inside a uniformly heated tube that is submitted to a constant and uniform heat flux at the wall. In general, it is observed that the inclusion of nanoparticles has increased considerably the heat transfer at the tube wall for both the laminar and turbulent regimes. Such improvement of heat transfer becomes more pronounced with the increase of the particle concentration. On the other hand, the presence of particles has produced adverse effects on the wall friction that also increases with the particle volume concentration. Results have also shown that the ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ mixture gives a far better heat transfer enhancement than the water– γAl₂O₃ mixture.     

Measurement of the Po concentration in air using makrofol-de detectors

The measurement of the ²¹⁴Po concentration in air with Makrofol-DE detectors is useful to estimate the long-term averaged equilibrium factors indoors. To differentiate α-particles emitted by ²¹⁴Po from those emitted by ²¹⁸Po and ²²²Rn, the detector must register only α-particles with energies between 6.2 and 7.5 MeV. The required energy response is obtained only if a removed layer of about 43 μm is achieved in a chemical etching of the detector. The methodology used to determine the etching conditions is described in this paper. The optimum conditions found are: a) chemical etching for 6 h at a temperature of 40°C, using 7.5 M KOH mixed with 50% ethanol as an etchant, and b) electrochemical etching for 1 h at a frequency of 3 kHz and an electric field strength of 34 kV cm⁻¹. Several dosimeters have exposed during 2 months in dwellings located in the Barcelona area, Spain. A ²¹⁴Po averaged concentration of (13.6 ± 8.6) Bq m⁻³ was obtained.     

Angular distribution measurements of Li(p,α)He reaction at 140 keV proton energy using nuclear track detectors

Angular distributions of a ⁶Li(p,α) ³He reaction were measured at six angles for 140 keV proton energy using nuclear track detectors (NTDs). The measurements were carried out over 60°–160° lab. angles in 20° increments using a scattering chamber of 80° beam line of the 350 kV accelerator. A semiconductor silicon surface barrier (SSB) detector was placed at +160° and was used as a monitor. The results have shown that the CR-39 detector has excellent capabilities to distinguish 1.4–2.7 MeV α+ ³He particles from the ⁶Li(p,α) ³He reaction and 8–9.4 MeV α-particles from the ⁷Li(p,α) ⁴He reaction through their track diameters. However, it was not possible to distinguish between the 2.3 MeV ³He ions and the 1.7 MeV ⁴He ions from the ⁶Li(p,α) ³He reaction from their track diameter measurements, but it was possible to differentiate between the two, from the darker contrast of the ³He particles caused by its deeper tracks as compared to those of ⁴He.     

Isoscalar quadrupole strength in Ca from the (p,p′α0) reaction at Ep = 100 MeV

The ⁴⁰Ca(p,p′ α) reaction has been studied at an incident proton energy E_p = 99.5 MeV for proton laboratory scattering angles Θ_p^lab = 17°, 23° and 27°. Emission of α particles coincident with the scattered proton has been measured for an angular range Θ_α 0° − 180° relative to the recoil axis. A multipole decomposition for the α₀-decay channel to the ³⁶Ar ground state has been performed from the angular-correlation functions. The energy distribution of the dominating E2 strength deduced in the excitation energy range E_x = 11–21 MeV agrees reasonably well with the results from electron and α-induced α₀-decay investigations. The exhaustion of the E2 energy-weighted sum rule in this channel up to an energy of 17 MeV is 16.1(4.0)%, in accord with the study of the (α, α′ α₀) reaction. However, this value is twice what is found in the (e,e′ α₀) experiment in the same energy region. Thus, the puzzling discrepancy in the E2 strengths derived from electromagnetic and hadronic probes remains unsolved.     

Electrical conduction properties of Si δ-doped GaAs grown by MBE

The temperature dependent Hall effect and resistivity measurements of Si δ-doped GaAs are performed in a temperature range of 25–300 K. The temperature dependence of carrier concentration shows a characteristic minimum at about 200 K, which indicates a transition from the conduction band conduction to the impurity band conduction. The temperature dependence of the conductivity results are in agreement with terms due to conduction band conduction and localized state hopping conduction in the impurity band. It is found that the transport properties of Si δ-doped GaAs are mainly governed by the dislocation scattering mechanism at high temperatures. On the other hand, the conductivity follows the Mott variable range hopping conduction (VRH) at low temperatures in the studied structures.     

α-Decay calculations of medium mass nuclei within generalized density-dependent cluster model

The α-decay half-lives of even–even medium mass nuclei have been systematically investigated using a radial wave function within the generalized density-dependent cluster model. The α-decay width is calculated using the overlap integral of the quasi-bound initial state wave function, the scattering final state wave function, and the difference of potentials. The effective α–nucleus potential is constructed using the double-folded integral of realistic nucleon–nucleon interactions with the mass density distributions of α particles and daughter nuclei. For comparison calculations are also carried out for the Woods–Saxon shape potential. The present study is restricted to even–even nuclei with 82<N126, where the shell effect on the α-preformation factor has been taken into account for even–even N=126 isotones. The obtained α-decay half-lives are found to agree with the experimental data with a mean factor of less than 2 for both the double-folded potential and the Woods–Saxon shape potential.     

Sol–gel synthesis of pure nano sized β-tricalcium phosphate crystalline powders

β-Tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) nano powders (80 nm) were synthesized using a simple sol–gel route with calcium nitrate and potassium dihydrogenphosphate as calcium and phosphorus precursors, respectively. Double distilled water was used as a diluting media for β-TCP sol preparation and ammonia was used to adjust the pH. After aging, the β-TCP gel was dried at 40 °C and calcined to different temperatures ranging from 200 to 800 °C. The dried and calcined powders were characterized for phase composition using X-ray diffractrometry (XRD) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The particle size and morphology was studied using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Calcination revealed that with increase in temperature, both the crystallinity and crystallite size of β-TCP particles increased. Particle size distribution analysis of the calcined β-TCP at 800 °C showed a narrow skewed distribution plot centered between 70 and 80 nm. This value was in closed agreement with particle size values obtained from XRD analysis (83 ± 6 nm). The present study showed that narrowly distributed, high crystalline, pure β-TCP could be obtained using this simple technique for biomedical applications.     

Char characteristics and particulate matter formation during Chinese bituminous coal combustion

The characteristics of char particles and their effects on the emission of particulate matter (PM) from the combustion of a Chinese bituminous coal were studied in a laboratory-scale drop tube furnace. The raw coal was pulverized and divided into three sizes, <63, 63–100, and 100–200 μm. These coal samples were subjected to pyrolysis in N₂ and combusted in 20 and 50% O₂ at 1373, 1523, and 1673 K, respectively. Char samples were obtained by glass fiber filters with a pore size of 0.3 μm, and combustion-derived PM was size-segregated by a low pressure impactor (LPI) into different sizes ranging from 10.0 to 0.3 μm. The characteristics of char particles, including particle size distribution, surface area, pore size distribution, swelling behavior and morphology property, were studied. The results show that, coal particle size and pyrolysis temperature have significant influence on the char characteristics. The swelling ratios of char samples increase with temperature increasing from 1373 to 1523 K, then decrease when the temperature further increases to 1623 K. At the same temperature, the swelling ratios of the three size fractions are markedly different. The finer the particle size, the higher the swelling ratio. The decrease of swelling ratio at high temperature is mainly attributed to the high heating rate, but char fragmentation at high temperature may also account for the decrease of swelling ratio. The supermicron particles (1–10 μm) are primarily spherical, and most of them have smooth surfaces. Decreasing coal particle size and increasing the oxygen concentration lead to more supermicron-sized PM formation. The influence of combustion temperature on supermicron-sized PM emission greatly depends on the oxygen concentration.     

Observation of χb production in the exclusive reaction ′→γγχb→γγ→γγ(eeorμμ−)

We report on the observation of 1 ³P_J (χ_b) production in the reaction ′→γχ_b→γγ→γγ(e⁺e⁻ or μ⁺μ⁻). The data were recorded with the nonmagnetic CUSB detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, CESR. We observe 124 γγ events with either an electron or muon pair in the final state. In the γγ correlation plot about 40% of the events cluster around (120, 430) MeV.     

A pulsed synthesis of β-FeSi2 layers on silicon implanted with Fe ions

Continuous layers and fine-grained films of β-FeSi₂ were synthesized using the implantation of Fe⁺ ions into Si (1 0 0) with subsequent pulsed nanosecond ion-beam treatment of the implanted layers. The X-ray diffraction studies showed that the pulsed ion-beam treatment brings about the formation of a mixture of two phases: FeSi and β-FeSi₂ with strained crystal lattices. Subsequent rapid thermal annealing led to the complete transformation of the FeSi phase into the β-FeSi₂ phase with the formation of a textured layer. The data obtained using Raman spectroscopy corroborate the formation of the β-FeSi₂ phase with a high degree of silicon crystallinity.The results of measuring the optical absorption point to the formation of β-FeSi₂ layers and precipitates with a direct-gap structure, an optical gap of E_g≈0.83 eV. The photoluminescence band peaked at λ≈1.56 μm and caused by direct band-to-band transitions in β-FeSi₂ was observed at temperatures lower than 210 K.     

Magnetic and structural properties of nitrified FINEMET powder using mechanical milling method

The magnetic and structural properties of FINEMET [Fe_73.5Si_13.5B₉Nb₃Cu₁ wt%] amorphous powder were investigated after nitrification and mechanical milling. Fe-based amorphous powder were nitrified and crystallized simultaneously at 550 °C using by ammonia (NH₃) gas. Nitrified powder exhibited iron nitride phase such as γ′-Fe₄N, Fe₃N, and α″-Fe₁₆N₂. Nitrified particles were more brittle than raw particles. As a result, nanometer-sized nitride powder was fabricated by high-energy ball milling method. The saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) of nitrified powder were increased due to nitride phase.     

Spectroscopy of non-equilibrium electrons in quantum Hall conductors

Spectroscopy of local cyclotron emission from the hot spots is carried out on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure two-dimensional electron gas system at B=6 T (ν=2.5) by applying a terahertz scanning microscope. The spectra of CE at the current entry and exit corners (hot spots) are remarkably broadened towards lower frequencies with increasing I up to 300 μA, indicating substantial relevance of non-equilibrium electrons generated in higher-level LLs; in terms of effective electron temperature, T_E reaching as high as 300 K is suggested while T_E=25–30 K on an average in the surrounding region (within a distance of 50 μm) about the hot point.     

Experimental Study on Light Scattering of High Concentration Suspension

To understand the optical properties of living tissue in the NIR range, it appeared informative to investigate the scattering properties of high concentration particle suspension. We measured the angular light scattering of aqueous suspension of 3.5 μmφ polystyrene particles contained in a 60 μm thick cuvette up to 50% volume concentration at 805 nm wavelength using a goniophotometer. We found that the discrepancy between the measurement and the Monte Carlo simulation becomes larger with increased concentration, which is attributable to the phase function change as well as the scattering coefficient change.