Tunable and reversible surface wettability transition of vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays

Vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with different surface morphology were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on sapphire substrate. To study the effect of surface morphology on wettability, the contact angle (CA) of water was measured. It was demonstrated that the CA of the deposited ZnO NRs varied between 104° and 135° depending upon the surface morphology. The ZnO NRs became super-hydrophilic after ultraviolet (UV) illumination. However, the NR arrays were reconverted to their previous hydrophobic state after low temperature annealing (50 °C) in open atmosphere. Structural effect and preferential adsorption of water molecules on the defective sites of UV illuminated surface was used to explain the transition mechanism. Under the alternations of heat treatment and UV illumination, a reversible transition between hydrophobicity and super-hydrophilicity were observed.     

Influences of microscopic parameters of chiral molecules on the zero-frequency first hyperpolarizabilities

Based on one-electron-on-a-helix model and two-coupled-oscillator model, zero-frequency first hyperpolarizabilities of chiral molecules are investigated. Their expressions and the relations between them and microscopic parameters of chiral molecules are obtained by theoretical derivation. Furthermore, the relations of zero-frequency first hyperpolarizabilities with the wavelength of incident light and microscopic parameters of chiral molecules are simulated numerically. We find the fact that influences of microscopic parameters of chiral molecules on zero-frequency first hyperpolarizabilities are different by using different chiral molecular microscopic parameters such as the helix radius and the helix pitch for one-electron-on-a-helix model and α for two-coupled-oscillator model. Furthermore, the influence of microscopic molecular parameter to the zero-frequency first hyperpolarizabilities can also help to comprehend nonlinear optical mechanism of chiral molecules.     

Study on the interaction of tropisetron hydrochloride and l-tryptophan by spectrofluorimetry and its analytical application

A new method to determine tropisetron hydrochloride with l-tryptophan in the medium with pH=9.0 was studied, which is based on the fluorescence quenching effect of tropisetron hydrochloride on l-tryptophan. The fluorescence quenching mechanism and various factors influencing fluorescence quenching were discussed. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range and detection limit were 0.03-12.0 and 0.01 μg/mL (correlation coefficient r=0.9970), respectively. The calibration curve equation was ΔF=6.17+12.56 C (μg/mL). RSD was 3.4% (c=4.0 μg/mL, n=5); the detection limit estimated (S/N=3) was 0.01 μg/mL. The proposed method had been successfully applied to determine tropisetron hydrochloride in real samples and the obtained results were in good agreement with the results of the official method.     

Photoemission and coincidence studies on gas-phase molecules

This article describes Young’s double-slit experiment using high-energy core-level photoemission from N₂ molecules and experimental identification of interatomic Coulombic decay in Ar₂ dimers after Auger decay using k-resolved electron–ion–ion coincidence spectroscopy, aiming to illustrate the leading edge of gas-phase experiments using synchrotron radiation.     

Coupled radiation and natural convection: Different approaches of the slw model for a non-gray gas mixture

The coupling between non-gray radiation heat transfer and convection-conduction heat transfer is studied. The spectral line weighted sum of gray gases model (slw) is used to account for non-gray radiation properties. The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of the different approaches used when calculating the parameters of the slw model. Such strategies include the use of optimized model coefficients to reduce the number of operations, and the interpolation of the distribution function instead of the use of mathematical correlations. Non-gray calculations are also compared to gray solutions using the Planck mean absorption coefficient, which can be also calculated with the slw model. The radiative transfer equation (rte) is solved by means of the discrete ordinates method (dom). A natural convection driven cavity is chosen to couple radiation and conduction-convection energy transfer. Several cases, with a significant variation of the ratio between radiation to convection heat transfer, as well as the ratio between radiation to conduction heat transfer, are discussed.     

Monoatomic and cluster beam effect on ToF-SIMS spectra of self-assembled monolayers on gold

Self-assembled monolayers represent well-defined systems that is a good model surface to study the effect of primary ion beams used in secondary ion mass spectrometry. The effect of polyatomic primary beams on both aliphatic and aromatic self-assembled monolayers has been studied. In particular, we analysed the variation of the relative secondary ion yield of both substrate metal-cluster (Au_n⁻) in comparison with the molecular ions (M⁻) and clusters (M_xAu_y⁻) by using Bi⁺, Bi₃⁺, Bi₅⁺ beams. Moreover, the differences in the secondary ion generation efficiency are discussed. The main effect of the cluster beams is related to an increased formation of low-mass fragments and to the enhancement of the substrate related gold-clusters. The results show that, at variance of many other cases, the static SIMS of self-assembled monolayers does not benefit of the use of polyatomic primary ions.     

Synthesis of Co(II) Complex with Hexamethylenetetramine Using Jet Milling and Its Influence on the Thermal Performance of Poly(l-lactic acid)

Cobalt(II)-hexamethylenetetramine (Co(II)-HMTA) complex was prepared using jet milling. Elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that the structure of the Co(II)-HMTA complex was Co(HMTA)₂Cl₂·6H₂O (LG). The influence of LG on the thermal performance of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) was investigated. Isothermal crystallization behavior and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) results of PLLA/LG showed that LG could improve the crystallization performance of PLLA; 1% LG caused the half time of overall crystallization (t_1/2) of PLLA to decrease from 96.5 min to a minimum value 3.8 min at 100°C. However, the isothermal crystallization kinetics of PLLA/LG described using the Avrami equation and XRD analysis indicated that the isothermal crystallization temperature and the LG concentration significantly affected the isothermal crystallization process of PLLA. In particular, 0.3% LG caused the intensity of the X-ray crystal diffraction peaks of PLLA to decrease with an increase of isothermal crystallization time after increasing for the first 5 min. The thermal decomposition analysis of PLLA/LG showed that the onset decomposition temperature of PLLA with a small amount of LG was higher than that of the neat PLLA and PLLA with a high concentration LG.     

Influence of the pump threshold on the single-frequency output power of singly resonant optical parametric oscillators

We demonstrate that for a given pump source, there is an optimum pump threshold to achieve the maximum single-frequency output power in singly resonant optical parametric oscillators. Therefore, cavity losses and parametric amplification have to be adjusted. In particular, continuous-wave output powers of 1.5 W were achieved with a 2.5 cm lithium niobate crystal in comparison with 0.5 W by a 5 cm long crystal within the same cavity design. This counter-intuitive result of weaker amplification leading to larger powers can be explained using a model from L.B. Kreuzer (Proc. Joint Conf. Lasers and Opt.-Elect., p. 52, 1969). Kreuzer also states that single-mode operation is possible only up to pump powers which are 4.6 times the threshold value. Additionally, implementing an outcoupling mirror to increase losses, single-frequency waves with powers of 3 W at 3.2 μm and 7 W at 1.5 μm could be generated simultaneously.     

Influence of Blend Composition on Crystallization of Poly(L-Lactic Acid)/Poly (Ethylene Oxide) Crystalline/Crystalline Blends

The effect of blend composition on crystallization morphology and behavior of a crystalline/crystalline blend, poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), during slow, non-isothermal crystallization was studied by polarized light microscopy (PLM) connected with a hot-stage and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that all of the PLLA/PEO blends produced spherulites which gradually became bigger and looser, as well as coarser, with the increment of the PEO content, indicating that the PEO crystals was resided in the interlamellar or interfibrillar (between clusters of commonly oriented lamellae) regions of the PLLA spherulites. In the (25/75) and (10/90) blends, the nucleation and growth processes of the PEO spherulites could be clearly observed in the pre-existing PLLA spherulites. The onset crystallization temperature and the melting point of one component decreased with increasing the content of the other one owing to the good miscibility of the two components in the non-crystalline state and the interaction between their macromolecules, indicating that the crystallization of each component was influenced by the other one.     

Stretching excitations of tetrahedral molecules in an anharmonically coupled local mode model

Summary  An anharmonically coupled local mode model is used to study highly excited stretching vibrational spectra and intensities of infrared transition in a tetrahedral molecule. This model is successfully applied to silane and silicon tetrafluoride. The author is very grateful to Prof. Zhong-Qi Ma for his continuing interest, support and sound advice. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Grant No. LWTZ-1298 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Thermal Performance of a Blend System Based on Poly(l-lactic acid) and an Aliphatic Multiamide Derivative of 1H-Benzotriazole

An aliphatic multiamide derivative derived from 1H-benzotriazole, N, N'-bis(1H-benzotriazole) sebacic acid acethydrazide (SA), was synthesized to evaluate its effect on the thermal performance, including non-isothermal crystallization and melting behavior as well as thermal stability, of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA). The comparative study, by means of DSC measurements, showed that the incorporation of SA caused a non-isothermal crystallization peak to appear and become sharp, showing its advanced crystallization promoting effect for PLLA. The non-isothermal crystallization results further indicated that 2 wt% SA was the saturation concentration for PLLA crystallization, and that the cooling rate was also a crucial determinant for PLLA crystallization. Considering the melting behavior, the difference between the virgin PLLA and PLLA/2%SA further confirmed the crystallization accelerative effect of SA for PLLA, with the increase of crystallization temperature in the temperature zone from 90 to 130°C being beneficial to the crystallization of PLLA during processing. Compared to the virgin PLLA, the trends of thermal decomposition curves were similar, suggesting that the introduction of SA of 0.5–3 wt% did not significantly change the thermal decomposition behavior of PLLA.     

EPR and optical absorption studies of VO doped l-alanine (C3H7NO2) single crystals

VO²⁺ doped l-alanine (C₃H₇NO₂) single crystals and powders are examined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and optical absorption spectroscopy. Three magnetically different sites are resolved from angular variations of l-alanine single crystal EPR spectra. In some specific orientations each VO²⁺ line splits into three superhyperfine lines with intensities of 1:2:1 and maximum splitting value of 2.23 mT. The local symmetries of VO²⁺ complex sites are nearly axial. The optical absorption spectra show three bands. Spin Hamiltonian parameters are measured and molecular orbital coefficients are calculated by correlating EPR and optical absorption data for the central vanadyl ion.     

Topologically non-trivial chiral transformations

The role of chiral transformations in effective theories modeling Quantum Chromo Dynamics is reviewed. In the context of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model the hidden gauge and massive Yang-Mills approaches to vector mesons are linked by a special chiral transformation which removes the chiral field from the scalar-pseudoscalar sector. The chirally rotated axial vector meson field (à _μ ) transforms homogeneously under flavor rotations and may thus be dropped without violating chiral symmetry. The fermion determinant for static meson field configurations is computed by summing the discretized eigenvalues of the Dirac Hamiltonian. It is discussed how the local chiral transformation loses its unitary character in a finite model space. This technical issue proves to be crucial for the construction of the soliton within the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model when the chirally rotated axial vector field is neglected. In the background of this soliton the valence quark is strongly bound, and its eigenenergy turns out to be negative. This important feature, which usually is generated by non-vanishing axial vector profiles, is thus maintained by the simplificationà _μ = 0.     

Novel sets of coupling expansion parameters for low-energy pQCD

In quantum theory, physical amplitudes are usually presented in the form of a Feynman perturbation series in powers of coupling constant α. However, it is known that these amplitudes are not regular functions at α = 0. For QCD, we propose new sets of expansion parameters w _k (α _s ) that reflect singularity at α _s = 0 and should be used instead of powers α _s ^k . Their explicit form is motivated by the so-called Analytic Perturbation Theory. These parameters reveal saturation in a strong coupling case at the level α _s ^eff (α _s 1) = w ₁(α _s 1) ∼ 0.5. They can be used for the quantitative analysis of divers low-energy amplitudes. We argue that this new picture with non-power sets of perturbation expansion parameters, as well as the saturation feature, is of a rather general nature. The text was submitted by the author in English. A preliminary version with the main results was published in [1].     

Influence of the plasma parameters on the properties of aluminum oxide thin films deposited by laser ablation

The plasma produced by the ablation of a high purity Al₂O₃ target, using the fundamental line (1064 nm) of a Nd:YAG laser, was characterized. The laser fluence was varied in order to study its effect on the characteristics of the produced plasma as well as on the properties of the material deposited. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to determine the type of excited species present in the plasma. The mean kinetic energy of the ions and the maximum plasma density were determined from the time of flight (TOF) curves, obtained with a planar Langmuir probe. The obtained results reveal that the fast peak in the probe curve could be attributed to Al III, while the slow peak corresponds to the Al II. Aluminum oxide thin films were then deposited under the same conditions of the diagnosed plasma, in an attempt to correlate the plasma parameters with the properties of the deposited material. It was found that when Al II ion energies are lower than 461.0 eV the films deposited have structural characteristics similar to that of α-Al₂O₃, whereas at ion energies greater than 461.0 eV amorphous material was obtained.     

Recent results from parton-cascade/microscopic transport

The parton-cascade model is a microscopic transport approach in the study of the space-time evolution of the quark–gluon plasma produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and its experimental manifestations. In the following, parton-cascade calculations on elliptic flow and thermalization will be discussed. Dynamical evolution is shown to be important for the production of elliptic flow including the scaling and the breaking of the scaling of elliptic flow. The degree of thermalization is estimated using both an elastic parton-cascade and a radiative transport model. A longitudinal to transverse pressure ratio of P _L /P _T ≈0.8 is shown to be expected in the central cell in central collisions. This provides information on viscous corrections to the ideal hydrodynamical approach.     

Influence of the separation energy on the radius of neutron rich nuclei

The intensive studies of equilibration processes in heavy ion reactions have produced a need for information on nuclear level densities at high energies. In a recent paper, it was concluded that standard Fermi gas formulas will be incorrect by exponential factors at energies above 100 MeV. Exact calculations of the nuclear level density in bases as large as 10³⁸ have been made and are compared with Fermi gas formulas. Two possible alternative forms are considered. Both forms produce much better agreement at high energies than does the Fermi gas model. All calculations reported are for non-interacting Fermions, but the effects expected from the two-body interaction are briefly examined. These considerations have consequences not only in heavy ion physics but also in astrophysics.     

DC-60 heavy ion cyclotron complex: The first beams and project parameters

The construction of the DC-60 Heavy Ion Cyclotron for the Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Complex (ISRC) in Astana started in early 2004. The cyclotron was manufactured and tested at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR) in Dubna. The main units were delivered to Astana and assembled in the ISRC building in the summer of 2006. The cyclotron was turned on in September, 2006. The first heavy ion beams in the whole A/Z and energy ranges were accelerated and extracted in December, 2006. The complex, based on the DC-60 cyclotron, is intended for applied and fundamental research using accelerated heavy ion beams ranging from Carbon to Xenon with energies in the range of 0.34–1.77 MeV/nucleon, as well as for experiments on the channel of low energy ion beams, where the ion extraction voltage supplied by the ECR source reaches 25 kV. The energy variation of the accelerated ions is accomplished by changing the ion charge. The possibility of smoothly tuning the ion energy by ±30% of its nominal value can be seen by changing the cyclotron magnetic field. Within the framework of commissioning the DC-60 cyclotron, a number of experiments were carried out with accelerating charged particle beams in the main points of the working diagram

耦合双振子模型手性分子的微观参量对和频过程的影响

用经典理论方法推出了适合于耦合双振子模型的手性分子的超极化率,给出了分子超极化率与分子微观参量的关系式.由微观与宏观极化率的关系,具体讨论了分子微观参量对宏观介质极化与和频过程产生效率的影响,本模型得到的理论结果与已有的实验结果很好地符合. 关键词： 手性分子介质 和频产生 超极化率 二阶极化率     

Both experimental and theoretical investigations of solid-state 17O NMR for L-valine and L-isoleucine

We have presented an experimental investigation of the carboxyl oxygen NMR parameters for four distinct sites in l-valine and l-isoleucine. The carboxyl (17)O quadrupolar coupling constant, C(Q), and isotropic chemical shift, delta(iso), for these compounds are obtained by analyzing two-dimensional (17)O multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning (MQMAS) and/or 1D MAS spectra. The values of C(Q) and delta(iso) found to be in the range of 7.00-7.85 MHz, and 264-314 ppm, respectively. Extensive quantum chemical calculations at the density functional levels have been performed for a full cluster of l-valine molecules and a few theoretical models. The calculated results indicated that there was a correlation between the (17)O NMR parameters and C-O bond lengths, which was helpful for the spectral assignment. They also demonstrated that the torsion angle of l-valine plays an important role in determining the magnitudes of (17)O NMR parameters.