First-Principles Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of Layered B2CN Crystals

Based on the hexagonal BN structure, six possible layered B~ CN structures are constructed. Their total energies, lattice constants as well as electronic properties are calculated using the ab initio pseudopotential density functional method within the local density approximation. The calculated results show that the B2 CN-V configuration with AA stacking sequence is the most stable among the six B2CN layered structures. The characteristics of electronic structures indicate that the B2 CN-V shows metallicity, which mainly comes from -B1-C-B1-C- chains.     

Specific Heat and Thermal Expansion of Triglycine Sulfate–Porous Glass Nanocomposites

The effect of restricted geometry on specific heat capacity and thermal expansion of the triglycine sulfate (TGS)–borosilicate glass composites have been studied first. A decrease in the entropy and temperature of the P2₁ ? P2₁/m phase transition in the TGS component with decreasing the glass matrix pore diameter at the invariable specific heat and thermal expansion coefficient has been observed. The estimates are indicative of the minor effect of internal pressure on the TGS pressure coefficient dT_C/dp in the composites.     

Dispersion of Dielectric Permittivity in a Nanocrystalline Cellulose–Triglycine Sulfate Composite at Low and Ultralow Frequencies

Physics of the Solid State - The dispersion of dielectric permittivity in nanocrystalline cellulose–triglycine sulfate composites is studied in the range of frequencies from 10–3 to 106...     

A Study on Properties of Poly(vinyl chloride)/Poly(α-methylstyrene-acrylonitrile) Binary Blends

Blends of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(α-methylstyrene-acrylonitrile) (α-MSAN) with variable composition of 0 to 100 wt% were prepared by melt mixing. Properties of binary blends were extensively studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), heat distortion temperature (HDT), mechanical properties, melt flow rate (MFR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). A single glass transition temperature (T_g ) was observed by DSC and DMTA, indicating miscibility between PVC and α-MSAN. The results of ATR-FTIR indicated that specific strong interactions were not present in the blends and the miscibility was due to interaction between –CN and PVC. With increasing amount of α-MSAN, considerable increase occurred in HDT, flexural strength, and flexural modulus compared with reverse s-shaped decrease in impact strength and elongation at break. Synergism was observed in tensile strength and MFR. No phase separation was observed in SEM photographs, indicating miscibility between PVC and α-MSAN. In addition, morphology of the impact-fractured surfaces, including roughness and non-fused particles, correlated well with the mechanical properties and MFR.     

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Time Reversal in Cubic Crystals

The self-adaptive focusing of the time reversal in anisotropic media is studied theoretically and experimentally. It is conducted for the compressional wave field in the cubic crystal silicon. The experimental result is in agreement with our theoretical analysis. The focusing gain and the displacement distributions of the time reversal field are analysed in detail. It is shown that the waves from different elements of the transducer array arrive at the original place of the source simultaneously after the time reversal operation. The waveform distortions caused by the velocity anisotropy can automatically be compensated for after the time reversal processing.     

Indentation Size Effect and Microhardness Study of β-Sn Single Crystals

The load dependence of apparent microhardness of β-Sn single crystals having different growth directions is investigated. The measurements are performed on （110） planes of these crystals in the load range from 10 to 50 mN. It is found that the degree of the microhardness anisotropy decreases for higher indentation test loads. The examined materials exhibit the behaviour of indentation size effect （ISE）, i.e., the apparent hardness increases with decreasing indentation load. Neither Meyer＇s law nor the proportional specimen resistance （PSR） model can fully explain the nonlinear variation of microhardness with load. Instead, preference is given to modified the PSR model based on the consideration of the effect of machining-induced residually stressed surface on the hardness measurement.     

Elastic and Dynamical Properties of YB4： First-Principles Study

We present the elastic and dynamical properties of YB4 from first-principles calculations. It is found that the optimized lattice constants and bulk modulus （182 GPa） agree well with the experimental data. The structural stability of tetragonal YB4 is confirmed by the calculated elastic constants and phonon spectra. YB4 holds a Debye temperature of 874 K and has small elastic anisotropy. The estimated hardness of YB4 is about 17 GPa, indicating that YB4 is a hard solid while not a superhard one.     

The Spectrochemical Properties of bis-(α-Methioninephosphonato)Copper(II) in Aqueous Solution

The combined results of spectrophotometric measurements and e.s.r. spectra, as well as those obtained from potentiometric titration studies, are used to determine the structure of the individual complex species formed between copper(II) ion and 1-amino-3-methylthiopropane-phosphonic acid (α-MetP) in aqueous solution. The e.s.r. parameters are typical for CuN₂O₂ coordination geometries. The d-d absorption spectrum of [Cu(α-MetP)₂]^2-chromofore in aqueous solution has been treated by the Angular Overlap Model in C_2h, symmetry. Low-symmetry splittings of the broad asymmetric absorption band in the measured spectrum were found by Gaussian analysis. The effect of the σ-and π-bonding of bidentate ligand upon the central ion d-orbital energies is destribed in a ligand-field framework.     

Study of Spectroscopic Properties of Yb-doped Calcium Fluorapatite

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Synthesis of Photoactive ZnO–SnO2–Ag(AgCl) Nanomaterials for Medical and Ecological Applications and Study of Their Structure and Properties

Optics and Spectroscopy - Photoactive ZnO–SnO2–Ag(AgCl) nanomaterials capable of generating chemically active single oxygen under action of UV and blue light are synthesized using a...     

Ab Initio Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of Hexagonal BC2N

We investigate hexagonal BC2N in graphite unit cells using the first-principles method and calculate the total energies, lattice parameters, and electronic band structures after full relaxation. It is shown that stable hexagonal BC2N should be stacked sequentially with one graphite layer and one h-BN layer. The density of states indicates that this structure should have metallicity.     

Study on the Cofluorescence Effect of Europium (III)–Yttrium (III)–Balofloxacin–Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate System and Its Analytical Application

A new fluorescence enhancement phenomenon in the europium(III)–balofloxacin–sodium dodecyl sulfate system was observed when yttrium(III) was added. Based on this, a sensitive cofluorescence assay for the estimation of balofloxacin was established. Under the optimized conditions, the enhanced fluorescence signal was linear over the concentration of balofloxacin ranging from 3.0 × 10^?9 to 7.0 × 10^?6 mol L^?1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9993. The detection limit (3 σ) was determined as 8.3 × 10^?10 mol L^?1. The presented method was successfully applied to determination of balofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations, human serum, and urine. The possible fluorescence enhancement mechanism was also discussed.     

Microscopic Study of Nuclear Level Densities and Thermal Properties in^56,57 Fe

We calculate level densities for ^56,57 Fe nuclei using BCS hamiltonian with inclusion of pairing interaction. The results of calculations show that the step structure observed experimentally has been supported by microscopic theory, Also the S-shaped energy and entropy as function of temperature have been obtained in theoretical calculations. Structures in the curves are interpreted as fingerprints of breaking Cooper pairs and quenching of pairing correlations.     

Study of solid-state reactions and order-disorder transitions in Pd/α-Fe(001) thin films

The formation of the hard-magnetic ordered L1₀-FePd phase in thin bilayer Pd/α-Fe(001) films has been experimentally studied. Solid-state reactions initiated by thermal heating in bilayer Pd/α-Fe(001) films with a thickness of 50–60 nm (the atomic ratio Pd: Fe ≈ 50: 50) separated from the substrate have been studied using the in situ electron diffraction methods. It has been shown that the solid-state reaction between the palladium and iron layers in Pd/α-Fe(001) starts at 400°C with the formation of the disordered Fe-Pd phase. At 480°C, the ordered L1₀-FePd phase is formed. The order-disorder phase transition has been studied. It has been established that the transition of the ordered L1₀-FePd phase to the disordered FePd phase starts at 725°C. At 740°C, only the disordered FePd phase is present over the whole volume of the film. The observed temperature of the order-disorder phase transition is shifted from the equilibrium value by 35°C to higher temperatures. This effect is assumingly associated with the higher concentration of palladium atoms at the boundaries of the Fe-Pd crystal grains owing to the grain-boundary adsorption.     

Structural and Interaction Properties of Porphyrin Layers — A Quantum Chemical Study

This paper is proposed to understand the interaction of porphyrin layers with diatomic molecules interacting at their interior regions by applying ab initio and density functional theory(DFT) methods. We have used NO, CO, and O2 diatomic molecules to interact with the porphyrin layers. The most common Fe-centered metalloporphyrin structure with tetra-pyrrlic rings having N4 core is chosen for the study. The optimization of Porphyrin-Porphyrin(P I-P II)and Porphyrin-Diatomic molecule-Porphyrin(P I-AB-P II)(AB = NO, CO, and O2) complexes are performed using HF method. In order to understand the planarity and appropriate stacking size of porphyrins and also to infer the separation of diatomic molecules between porphyrin layers the behavior of P I-AB-P II complexes(where AB = NO, CO, and O2)are analyzed using structural properties and molecular electrostatic potentials(MEP). The MEPs are calculated using hybrid exchange correlation functional B3PW91 of DFT along with 6-31+G* basis set for the P I-P II and P I-AB-P II complexes obtained from HF method.     

Simple Model Study of Phase Transition Properties of Isolated and Aggregated Protein

We investigate the phase transition properties of isolated and aggregated protein by exhaustive numerical study in the confined conformation space with maximally compact lattice model. The study within the confined conformation space shows some general folding properties. Various sequences show different folding properties: two-state folding, three-state folding and prion-like folding behavior. We find that the aggregated protein holds a more evident transition than isolated one and the transition temperature is generally lower than that in isolated case.     

Sulfate Reduction in a Forested Catchment as Indicated by δ(34)S Values of Sulfate in Soil Solutions and Runoff

Abstract In a forested catchment in the Fichtelgebirge mountains (NE-Bavaria, Germany) the long term SO(4) (2-) budget (average 1988-1994) indicated that about 40% of the input with throughfall (16.8 kg SO(4) (2-) S·ha(-1)·yr(-1)) was retained in the catchment. In order to identify processes acting as potential SO(4) (2-) sinks, δ(34)S values of SO(4) (2-) in soil solutions and runoff were measured between May and November 1994. δ(34)S values of the runoff and the fen were higher (5.8‰) than the δ(34)S values of the soil solution of the oxic soils in the terrestrial area (3.9‰). Because there is no lithogenic S source within the catchment, it can be assumed that SO(4) (2-) deposition is the only S source in the catchment. Thus the results were interpreted as a result of SO(4) (2-) reduction within the catchment, because the uptake of (32)S is favoured during the dissimilatory SO(4) (2-) reduction and (34)S is consequently enriched in the soil solution. To estimate the amount of SO(4) (2-) reduced isotopic fractionation factors between - 9‰ and -46‰ were considered, resulting in SO(4) (2-) reduction rates of 1.8-9.3 kg SO(4) (2)-S·ha(-1)yr(-1). It was concluded that besides dissimilatory SO(4) (2-) reduction another sink exists in the catchment (e.g. SO(4) (2-) sorption in deep soil layers).     

Polymer–Salt Synthesis of Yb:YAG Nanopowders and Study of Their Structure and Luminescent Properties

Optics and Spectroscopy - Nanopowders of ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet are synthesized by the polymer–salt method and their crystal structure and spectral-luminescent properties are...