Effects of ambient inhaled ozone on vocal fold mucosa in bonnet monkeys

Deleterious effects of ambient ozone (O₃) on the nasal and lower airways is well documented. However, no investigations have considered possible effects on vocal fold mucosa. To this end, six macaque monkeys were exposed to 0.64 ppm O₃ for 8 h/day for a total of 7 days. Three monkeys were killed 12 h postexposure, and the other three at 7 days postexposure. Larynges were excised and subjected to histological staining and morphometric analyses. Results revealed increases in the thickness of epithelial tissue in the 12 h group. In the 7 day group, differences in both epithelial and lamina propria thicknesses were noted. Additional changes consistent with an initial inflammatory response, with associated disruption in glands and vessels, followed by some evidence of healing, were also noted. Implications of the data for the larynx and voice quality in humans exposed to similar and other environmental toxins are discussed.     

Infrared optical properties of Ba(Zr0.20Ti0.80)O3 and Ba(Zr0.30Ti0.70)O3 thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Ba(Zr_xTi_1−x)O₃ (BZT) (x = 0.20 and 0.30) thin films are deposited on Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrate by sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the thin films have a good crystallinity. Optical properties of the films in the wavelength range of 2.5-12 μm are studied by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry (IRSE). The optical constants of the BZT thin films are determined by fitting the IRSE data using a classical dispersion formula. As the wavelength increases, the refractive index decreases, while the extinction coefficients increase. The effective static ionic charges are derived, which are smaller than that in a purely ionic material for the BZT thin films.     

Ferroelectric relaxor behaviour in Pb(Fe0.5Ta0.5)O3

The relaxor ferroelectric lead iron tantalate, Pb(Fe_0.5Ta_0.5)O₃ (PFT) is synthesized by Coulombite precursor method. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample at room temperature shows a cubic phase. The field dependence of dielectric response is measured in a frequency range 0.1 kHz — 1 MHz and in a temperature range from 173–373 K. The temperature dependence of permittivity (ɛ′) shows broad maxima at various frequencies. The frequency dependence of the permittivity maximum temperature (T _m ) has been modelled using Vogel-Fulcher relation.      

Dielectric and impedance measurements on (1−x)Ba(Fe1/2Ta1/2)O3-xBa(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O3 ceramics

In this work, ((1−x)Ba(Fe_1/2Ta_1/2)O₃-xBa(Zn_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃), ((1−x)BFT-xBZT) ceramics with x = 0.00–0.12 were synthesized by the solid–state reaction method. X-ray diffraction data revealed that both the powders and ceramics were of a pure-phase cubic perovskite structure. All ceramics showed large dielectric constants. For the x = 0.12 sample, a very high dielectric constant (>20,600) was observed. A lowering in the dielectric loss compared to pure BFT ceramics was observed with the BZT addition. The impedance measurements indicated that BZT has a strong effect on the bulk grain and grain boundary resistance of BFT ceramics. These results are in agreement with the measured dielectric properties. Based on dielectric and impedance results, (1−x)BFT-xBZT ceramics could be of great interest for high performance dielectric materials applications due their giant dielectric constant behavior.     

异质界面对Ca(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3/CaTiO3叠层薄膜结构和介电性能的影响

采用异质叠层方式制备出一定厚度的Ca(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃/CaTiO₃(CMN/CT)叠层薄膜,研究了异质界面对薄膜结构、微观形貌及介电性能的影响及其规律.根据实验测试结果,提出CMN/CT叠层薄膜的模拟等效电路,建立介电常数和介电损耗的理论计算公式.结果表明:CMN/CT异质叠层薄膜具有完全正交钙钛矿结构,结构致密,厚度均匀,薄膜中存在独立的CMN和CT相.异质界面处存在过渡层,随着薄膜中异质界面个数增加,介电常数增大,介电损耗减小.减小界面过渡层的厚度,有利于提高CMN/CT叠层薄膜的介电性能.     

Photoluminescence investigations on the nanoscale phase transition in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3

The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence spectra of the relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ has been reported. The temperature behaviours of the 1.57, 1.67 and 1.73 eV bands indicate a phase transition at 110 K. This is attributed to a structural phase transition in the charged nanoshell. Analysis of the temperature dependence of 1.67 eV band intensity with a thermal quenching model indicated the existence of a phonon mode at 1153 cm⁻¹. This mode is identified in the Raman spectra measurement. The intensity of the 1.73 eV band showing an anomalous behaviour at 210 K is attributed to a transition from a crystalline phase to an amorphous phase in the charged nanoshell.     

Electrical characteristics and low-temperature sintering of BiFeO3-modified Pb(Zr,Ti)O3–Pb(Fe2/3W1/3)O3–Pb(Mn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramics with ZnO addition

Effects of ZnO addition on electrical properties and low-temperature sintering of BiFeO₃-modified Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃–Pb(Fe_2/3W_1/3)O₃–Pb(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ were investigated. The investigations revealed that the sintering temperature can be decreased to 950 °C, and the favorable properties were obtained with 0.10 wt% ZnO added ceramics. The electrical properties were as follows: d₃₃ = 313 pC/N, K_p = 0.56, tan δ = 0.0053, ε_r = 1407 and T_c = 295 °C, which showed that this system was a promising material for the multilayer devices application.     

Al2O3-Y2O3-ZrO2三相复合陶瓷的介电谱研究

采用传统的固相反应法,在1400–1500 ℃下烧结,制备得到Al₂O₃-Y₂O₃-ZrO₂三相复合陶瓷.样品的结构、形貌和电性能分别用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)及介电谱表征.XRD表明此三相复合体系无其他杂相,加入Y₂O₃及ZrO₂后使得Al₂O₃成瓷温度降低;SEM表明此体系晶粒直径为200–500 nm,并且样品随烧结温度的升高而变得更加致密,晶界更加清晰;介电损耗谱中出现峰值弛豫现象,根据Cole-Cole复阻抗谱得出其为非德拜弛豫. 关键词： 2O₃-Y₂O₃-ZrO₂三相陶瓷')" href="#">Al₂O₃-Y₂O₃-ZrO₂三相陶瓷 介电弛豫 阻抗谱 热导率     

Structural and electrical impedance study of Pb(Sr1/3Nb2/3)O3

Lead-based ceramic Pb(Sr_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ (PSN) is prepared by the columbite precursor method and structurally characterized using XRD. The X-ray diffraction shows a perovskite structure with cubic pyrochlore phase. Detailed studies of ε′ and ε″ of the compounds show that the compounds exhibit dielectric anomaly. Impedance spectroscopy is used to characterize the electrical behaviour. Results indicate that the relaxation mechanism of the material is temperature dependent and has dominant bulk contribution in different temperature ranges. Modulus spectroscopic data were used to gain an insight into the electrical properties of the samples and with a view to observe the relaxations in them. Frequency dependence dielectric permittivity shows typical Debye-type dielectric dispersion. Temperature-dependent DC resistivity shows that resistance decreases with the increase in temperature and follows Arrhenius behaviour in different temperature regions.     

铌镁酸铅-钛酸铅铁电阴极电子发射特性

研究了铌镁酸铅-钛酸铅铁电材料的铁电、介电性能对阴极发射阈值电压的影响, 以及铁电阴极发射电流与激励脉冲电压和抽取电压之间的关系, 并分析了其发射机理. 结果表明, 室温介电常数高、极化强度变化量大的弛豫铁电体0.9Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-0.1PbTiO₃具有较小的发射阈值电压; 铁电阴极电子发射与快极化反转和等离子体的形成有关; 由极化反转所致电子发射的自发射电流随激励脉冲电压的增大呈幂律增长关系, 其发射电流开始于激励脉冲电压的下降沿; 在抽取电压较大时, 发射电流随抽取电压的增大呈线性增长关系, 说明大电流主要取决于抽取电压; 其发射电流开始于激励脉冲电压的上升沿, 与“三介点”处的场增强效应和等离子体的形成有关; 当抽取电压为2500 V 时, 得到的发射电流幅值为210 A, 相应的电流密度为447 A/cm².     

The multiferroic properties of Bi(Fe0.95Co0.05)O3 films

Bi(Fe_0.95Co_0.05)O₃ films were prepared on conductive indium tin oxide (ITO)/glass substrates by chemical solution deposition. Well saturated polarization hysteresis loop has been observed with a remnant polarization value of about 22 μC/cm² at room temperature. Weak ferromagnetism with saturation magnetization of about 3 emu/cm³ was observed at room temperature. The clear observation of both room temperature ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties suggests the potential multiferroic applications of Bi(Fe_0.95Co_0.05)O₃.     

Oxygen adsorption and oxidation reactions on Au(2 1 1) surfaces: Exposures using O2 at high pressures and ozone (O3) in UHV

Nanosized gold particles supported on reducible metal oxides have been reported to show high catalytic activity toward CO oxidation at low temperature. This has generated great scientific and technological interest, and there have been many proposals to explain this unusual activity. One intriguing explanation that can be tested is that of Nørskov and coworkers [Catal. Lett. 64 (2000) 101] who suggested that the “unusually large catalytic activity of highly-dispersed Au particles may in part be due to high step densities on the small particles and/or strain effects due to the mismatch at the Au-support interface”. In particular, their calculations indicated that the Au(2 1 1) stepped surface would be much more reactive towards O₂ dissociative adsorption and CO adsorption than the Au(1 1 1) surface. We have now studied the adsorption of O₂ and O₃ (ozone) on an Au(2 1 1) stepped surface. We find that molecular oxygen (O₂) was not activated to dissociate and produce oxygen adatoms on the stepped Au(2 1 1) surface even under high-pressure (700 Torr) conditions with the sample at 300-450 K. Step sites do bind oxygen adatoms more tightly than do terrace sites, and this was probed by using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of O₂ following ozone (O₃) exposures to produce oxygen adatoms up to a saturation coverage of θ_O = 0.90 ML. In the low-coverage regime (θ_O ? 0.15 ML), the O₂ TPD peak at 540 K, which does not shift with coverage, is attributed to oxygen adatoms that are bound at the steps on the Au(2 1 1) surface. At higher coverages, an additional lower temperature desorption peak that shifts from 515 to 530 K at saturation coverage is attributed to oxygen adsorbed on the (1 1 1) terrace sites of the Au(2 1 1) surface. Although the desorption kinetics are likely to be quite complex, a simple Redhead analysis gives an estimate of the desorption activation energy, E_d, for the step-adsorbed oxygen of 34 kcal/mol and that for oxygen at the terraces near saturation coverage of 33 kcal/mol, values that are similar to others reported on Au surfaces. Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) indicates an oxygen-induced step doubling on the Au(2 1 1) surface at low-coverages (θ_O = 0.08-0.17 ML) and extensive disruption of the 2D ordering at the surface for saturation coverages of oxygen (θ_O ? 0.9 ML). Overall, our results indicate that unstrained step sites on Au(2 1 1) surfaces of dispersed Au nanoparticles do not account for the novel reactivity of supported Au catalysts for CO oxidation.     

Piezoelectric properties of [Li0.03(K0.48Na0.52)0.97](Nb0.97Sb0.03)O3-(Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.90Zr0.10)O3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

[Li_0.03(K_0.48Na_0.52)_0.97](Nb_0.97Sb_0.03)O₃-(Ba_0.85Ca_0.15)(Ti_0.90Zr_0.10)O₃ [(1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ] lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid state method, and effects of BCTZ content on the piezoelectric properties of LKNNS ceramics were mainly investigated. A stable solid solution has been formed between LKNNS and BCTZ, and a morphotropic phase boundary of (1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ ceramics is identified in the range of 0 < x ≤ 0.02. The Curie temperature of (1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ ceramics decreases with increasing BCTZ content. A higher ?_r value and a lower tan δ value are demonstrated for the (1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ ceramic with x = 0.02. The (1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ ceramic with x = 0.02 has an enhanced electrical behavior of d₃₃ ∼ 237 pC/N, k_p ∼ 48.6%, ?_r ∼ 1451, tan δ ∼ 0.037, and T_c ∼ 335 °C. As a result, (1−x)LKNNS-xBCTZ ceramics are promising candidate materials for the field of lead-free piezoelectric materials.     

Effects of substrates on the structure and dielectric properties of Ba(Sn0.15Ti0.85)O3 thin films

Ba(Sn_0.15Ti_0.85)O₃ (BTS) thin films were grown on Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si and LaNiO₃(LNO)/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by a sol-gel processing technique, respectively. The BTS thin films deposited on annealed Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si and annealed LNO/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates exhibited strong (1 1 1) and perfect (1 0 0) orientations, respectively. The BTS thin films grown on un-annealed Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates showed random orientation with intense (1 1 0) peak, while the films deposited on un-annealed LNO/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate exhibited random orientation with intense (1 0 0) peak, respectively. The dielectric constant of the BTS films deposited on annealed Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si, annealed LNO/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si, un-annealed Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si and un-annealed LNO/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates was 512, 565, 386 and 437, respectively, measured at a frequency of 100 kHz. A high tunability of 49.7% was obtained for the films deposited on annealed LNO/Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate, measured at the frequency of 100 kHz with an applied electric field of 200 kV/cm. The high tunability has been attributed to the (1 0 0) texture of the films and larger grain sizes.     

High electric-field-induced strain of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 crystals in multilayer actuators

An optimum composition range (29%≤x≤31%) of 〈001〉 oriented (1−x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbTiO₃(PMNT) crystals was ascertained for multilayer actuator applications, which exhibited high-strain and low-hysteresis behavior. A −1.5 kV/cm negative E-field can be applied to PMNT ferroelectric samples with low hysteresis. Forty layer actuators with individual element sizes of 7×7×0.7 mm³ were fabricated under identical processing conditions using two different materials: (1) single crystal PMNT and (2) commercial PZT-SF ceramics. Under free-load conditions, 48 μm displacements can been achieved in PMNT actuators at electric fields ranging from −1.5 to 10 kV/cm, which is more than twice the displacement of the PZT-SF actuators driven from −10 to 10 kV/cm. Under 4 kg loading, the displacements in PMNT stain actuators are decreased to 42.5 μm.     

Phase transition, structural and electrical properties of Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-doped Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 ceramics prepared by solid-state reaction method

Phase pure perovskite (1−x−y)Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-yPbTiO₃ (PNN-PZN-PT) ferroelectric ceramics were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method via a B-site oxide mixing route. The PNN-PZN-PT ceramics sintered at the optimized condition of 1185 °C for 2 h exhibit high relative density and rather homogenous microstructure. With the increase of PbTiO₃ (PT) content, crystal structure and electrical properties of the synthesized PNN-PZN-PT ceramics exhibit successive phase transformation. A morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) is supposed to form in (0.9−x)PNN-0.1PZN-xPT at a region of x=32-36 mol% confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement and dielectric measurement. The MPB composition can be pictured as providing a “bridge” connecting rhombohedral ferroelectric (FE) phase and tetragonal one since crystal structure of the MPB composition is similar to both the rhombohedral and tetragonal lattices. Dielectric response of the sintered PNN-PZN-PT ceramics also exhibits successive phase-transition character. 0.64PNN-0.1PZN-0.26PT exhibits broad, diffused and frequency dependent dielectric peaks indicating a character of diffused FE-paraelectric (PE) phase transition of relaxor ferroelectrics and 0.40PNN-0.1PZN-0.50PT exhibits narrow, sharp and frequency independent dielectric peaks indicating a character of first-order FE-PE phase transition of normal ferroelectrics. The FE-PE phase transition of 0.56PNN-0.1PZN-0.34PT is nearly first-order with some diffused character, which also exhibits the largest value of piezoelectric constant d₃₃ of 462pC/N.     

Sub-coercive field dynamic hysteresis in morphotropic phase boundary composition of Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3-Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramic and its scaling behavior

Sub-coercive field dynamic ferroelectric hysteresis of a morphotropic phase boundary composition of the PZT-PZN ceramic was investigated under influence of the compressive stress. The scaling relation of hysteresis area 〈A〉 against frequency f, field amplitude E₀, and stress σ took a form of , which is not different significantly to that of other PZT-PZN compositions with pure tetragonal or rhombohedral structure, as well as to that of soft and hard PZT bulk ceramics. This study suggested that the domain structures, not ceramic compositions, played a key role in controlling dynamic hysteresis behavior of ferroelectric materials.     

Ba2(Cu0.7Cd0.3)O3: a new double-center perovskite structure

A new phase of Ba₂(Cu_0.7Cd_0.3)O₃ has been discovered. The composition of the phase was examined by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The phase exhibits a tetragonal structure with lattice constants a=4.077 Å and c=7.970 Å, and its space group is P4/mmm. We propose a double-center-perovskite structure model, which is similar to that of (Ba, Sr)₂CuO₂(CO₃) [1, 2]. The simulated XRD is close to the observed one. The analysis results of elemental analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer reveal that the phase does not contain CO . The cuprate is an insulator, but its new cell structure and the large size of the CuO₂ planes seem to suggest a good reason for researching new superconductors. The roles of CdO in the solid state reaction and the formation of the new phase are discussed.