Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of carbon in helium and nitrogen at high pressure

This work is devoted to the study of the gas pressure effect on the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy signal intensity of carbon. Experiments are performed, using a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser, with carbon solid samples placed inside a high pressure chamber filled with helium or nitrogen, the gas pressure varying from 1 to 80 atm. The signal intensity of the carbon line (247.86 nm) decreases with increasing pressure. As the plasma size strongly decreases with pressure, two collection optical setups are used, showing different raw results. To take into account the plasma size evolution with pressure, calculated corrections are applied to the collected light intensity. Carbon line emission is measured and corrected as a function of pressure in both gases. At 1 atm, the emission line is found to be greater in helium than in nitrogen by a factor of approximately 3, whereas the intensities in the two gases become close to each other at 80 atm.     

The mechanical properties of MoN under high pressure and effect of metallic bonding on its hardness

Using first-principles calculations, the structural, electronic and thermodynamic properties of MoN under high pressure are investigated, as well as the effect of metallic bonding on its hardness. Five structures are considered, i.e., δ-MoN, WC-MoN, NiAs-MoN, NaCl-MoN and CsCl-MoN. The obtained lattice constant, elastic constants are in good agreement with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. δ-MoN phase is found to be energetically the most stable phase closely followed by NiAs-MoN phase at ambient conditions. On the basis of the third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of states, a pressure-induced structural phase transition from δ-MoN to NiAs-MoN is observed. Elastic properties, Poisson's ratio, Debye temperature, and thermal expansion coefficient of MoN under high pressure are derived. Furthermore, the bonding nature of MoN can be described as covalent-like due to hybridization of N and Mo states, together with ionic and metallic characters. Based on Mulliken population analysis, hardness of MoN is evaluated and the obtained results, namely, NiAs-MoN (26.6 GPa) and δ-MoN (24.7 GPa), are consistent with experimental data excellently. Moreover, the hardness of MoN increases with the pressure. This is a first-principles investigation on the structural and thermodynamic properties of MoN, and it still awaits experimental confirmation.     

Raman and infrared vibrational modes of tricosane paraffin under high pressure

This paper reports an experimental study about the pressure dependence of the vibrational modes of tricosane paraffin (C₂₃H₄₈) investigated by in situ Raman and infrared spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). The main vibrational bands were followed up to 11 GPa and the observed behavior indicated a conformational disorder induced by pressure, corresponding to a transition from ordered to disordered state of the linear chains from 2 to 5 GPa followed by a transition to an amorphous state under pressure above 5 GPa. However, this behavior was reversible after compression–decompression cycle showing that this linear compound was structurally and chemically stable up to 11 GPa at room temperature.     

Crystallization and morphology of star-shaped polyethylenoxyde-b-polycaprolactone under high pressure carbon dioxide

Atomic force microscopy（AFM）,wide-angle X-ray diffraction（WAXD） and differential scanning calorimetry are used to analyze the crystallization morphology and melting behavior of 4-arm PEO-b-PCL under high-pressure CO₂.It is demonstrated that CO₂ has certain effect on the melting and crystallization behavior of the samples.After crystallization under CO₂ at 4 MPa,spherulites with concentric ring-banded structure are formed which are composed of crystals with periodic thickness variation,and the band distance decreases with increasing treatment pressure.Due to the plasticization effect of CO₂,depression of the melting temperature is observed with sorption of CO₂ in polymers.     

Synthesis,structure and magnetic properties of ultra-high purity CrO2 prepared under high O2-gas pressure

Ultra-high purity CrO₂ was prepared by decomposing CrO₃ in O₂ with gas pressures up to 40 MPa, which were maintained throughout the decomposition process of CrO₃ to prevent the formation of any other phases of chromium oxides. Our method is different from the traditional methods that start from or under ambient pressures. The high oxygen pressure makes the meta-stable CrO₂ stable from the initial stage of preparation. As a result, the purity of the as-prepared CrO₂ is improved, and this has been further proved by the highest magnetization of the samples. The as-prepared CrO₂ particles show very large grains with flat surfaces, octagonal cross-section, and straight edges, owing to the high mobility of Cr ions in CrO₂ at temperatures above its melting point. The lattice parameters of CrO₂ are a = 4.4176 Å and c = 2.9144 Å. The maximum value of the magnetic entropy change of the high purity CrO₂ particles is ∼2.83 J/kg·K for an applied field of 1.5 T. The preparation of pure CrO₂ is important for studying its intrinsic properties and for applications in spintronic devices.     

Synthesis, structure, magnetic properties and structural distortion under high pressure of a new osmate, Sr2CuOsO6

A new osmate Sr₂CuOsO₆ was synthesized and its structure refined using powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The results of the Reitveld refinements indicate complete B-cation order in a double perovskite crystal structure. Furthermore, the analysis of the B-cation bond lengths indicates a symmetric coordination around Os, as opposed to a significant distortion of Cu-O bond lengths. The octahedral distortion around Cu(II) is characteristic of a Jahn-Teller distortion. Within the crystal structure of Sr₂CuOsO₆, the long Cu-O bonds are aligned in the same direction along the c-axis in the tetragonal unit cell. This parallel arrangement of long Cu-O bonds produces a lattice parameter ratio, c/(2^1/2a), that is greater than unity. The magnetic susceptibility of Sr₂CuOsO₆ was measured using a SQUID magnetometer and was observed to be consistent with an assignment of Cu(II)-Os(VI) formal oxidation states, thus confirming the bond valences calculated on the basis of the crystal structure. In perovskites, octahedral tilting and bond shortening are two competing compression mechanisms. Compression mechanisms of this double perovskite were characterized using high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Application of hydrostatic pressure up to 6 GPa significantly decreased the lattice parameter ratio, demonstrating the primary compression mechanism is a shortening of the long Cu-O bond.     

Measurements of excess enthalpies at high temperature and pressure using a new type of mixing unit

A flow mixing unit (calorimetric cell and auxiliary devices) has been designed for measuring the enthalpy of mixing or reaction of two fluids (gas+liquid or liquid+liquid). The indicator of the heat effect is a differential heat flux calorimeter, SETARAM C-80, allowing measurements at temperatures up to 300°C. The mixing cell is made of a stainless-steel capillary (o.d 1.6 mm, length 2.4m) which is coiled in a cylindrical form and tightly fitted in the thermopile well of the calorimeter. The fluids are delivered from the high pressure piston pumps and circulated through the system at controlled flow rates ranging from 100 to 1500 L-min^–1. The tests were carried out at pressures up to 20 MPa. Special care was taken to allow good thermostatting of fluids entering the mixing cell. Check measurements were made with one liquid-liquid system (C₂H₅OH+H₂O) and one gas-liquid system (CO₂+C₆H₅CH₃); our enthalpies of mixing agreed with the literature values in most cases to 2%. For the system ethanol+water the experiments have been also performed at temperature of 250°C and pressures of 15 and 20 MPa. The endothermal mixing effect was higher than expected indicating an increase in the excess heat capacity.     

One-step green synthesis of cuprous oxide crystals with truncated octahedra shapes via a high pressure flux approach

Cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) was synthesized via reactions between cupric oxide (CuO) and copper metal (Cu) at a low temperature of 300 °C. This progress is green, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. Cu₂O crystals with truncated octahedra morphology were grown under high pressure using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) with a molar ratio of 1:1 as a flux. The growth mechanism of Cu₂O polyhedral microcrystals are proposed and discussed.     

Equations of states for an ionic liquid under high pressure: A molecular dynamics simulation study

The high-pressure dependence of density given by empirical equation of states (EoS) for the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (or triflate), [C₄C₁im][TfO], is compared with results obtained by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Two EoS proposed for [C₄C₁im][TfO] in the pressure range of tens of MPa, which give very different densities when extrapolated to pressures beyond the original experiments, are compared with a group contribution model (GCM). The MD simulations provide support that one of the empirical EoS and the GCM is valid in the pressure range of hundreds of MPa. As an alternative to these EoS that are based on modified Tait equations, it is shown that a perturbed hard-sphere EoS based on the Carnahan–Starling–van der Waals equation also fits the densities calculated by MD simulations of [C₄C₁im][TfO] up to ∼1.0 GPa.     

单程直驱超高压纳升泵的研制与评价

随着生命科学的发展，纳升液相色谱系统在生化分析领域有着越来越多的应用。纳升流速输液泵作为系统的关键部件之一，其性能直接影响分析结果的准确性与重复性。该文基于高精度直驱电机和十通切换阀研制了一种单程直驱超高压纳升泵，并对其进行了评价。测试结果表明，该纳升输液泵在500 nL/min下的流速准确性优于1%，稳定性优于0.7%，最大输液压强超过100 MPa，梯度输液偏差低于1%。进一步利用该纳升输液泵构建纳升液相色谱-质谱联用系统，对1 μg牛血清白蛋白（BSA）酶解液进样分析，序列覆盖率可达45%，分析1.25 μg Hela细胞蛋白质酶解液鉴定到2809个蛋白质。说明构建的单程直驱超高压纳升泵能够用于生化分析，尤其是蛋白质组学分析研究中。     

The high strain-rate behaviour of three molecular weights of polyethylene examined with a magnesium alloy split-Hopkinson pressure bar

A traditional split-Hopkinson pressure bar system has been modified by the addition of ZK60A magnesium alloy pressure bars in order to increase the resolution of data when examining specimens of low-density, high-density and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. It was found that the low density of the ZK60A allowed a decent increase in transmitted pulse amplitude, whilst its relatively high yield strength afforded long-term reliability of the system. The accuracy of data obtained from the fitted strain gauges was verified with the use of a high-speed video camera, and was found to be an excellent match.     

Lithium monosilicide (LiSi), a low-dimensional silicon-based material prepared by high pressure synthesis: NMR and vibrational spectroscopy and electrical properties characterization

Lithium monosilicide (LiSi) was formed at high pressures and high temperatures (1.0-2.5 GPa and 500-700°C) in a piston-cylinder apparatus. This compound was previously shown to have an unusual structure based on 3-fold coordinated silicon atoms arranged into interpenetrating sheets. In the present investigation, lowered synthesis pressures permitted recovery of large (150-200 mg) quantities of sample for structural studies via NMR spectroscopy (²⁹Si and ⁷Li), Raman spectroscopy and electrical conductivity measurements. The ²⁹Si chemical shift occurs at −106.5 ppm, intermediate between SiH₄ and Si(Si(CH₃)₃)₄, but lies off the trend established by the other alkali monosilicides (NaSi, KSi, RbSi, CsSi), that contain isolated Si₄⁴⁻ anions. Raman spectra show a strong peak at 508 cm⁻¹ due to symmetric Si-Si stretching vibrations, at lower frequency than for tetrahedrally coordinated Si frameworks, due to the longer Si-Si bonds in the 3-coordinated silicide. Higher frequency vibrations occur due to asymmetric stretching. Electrical conductivity measurements indicate LiSi is a narrow-gap semiconductor (E_b∼0.057 eV). There is a rapid increase in conductivity above T=450 K, that might be due to the onset of Li⁺ mobility.     

Lab on a chip packing of submicron particles for high performance EOF pumping

The packing of submicrometer sized silica beads inside a microchannel was enabled by a novel method which avoids the complication and limitations of generating a frit using conventional approaches and the restriction of flow using a submicrometer sized weir. A micrometer sized weir and two short columns of 5 μm and 800 nm silica beads packed in succession behind the weir together functioned as a high pressure frit to allow the construction of a primary packed bed of 390 nm silica beads. This packed bed microchannel was tested as an EOF pump, wherein it exhibited superior performance with regards to pressure tolerance, i.e., sustaining good flow rate under extremely high back pressure, and maximal pressure generation. Under a modest applied electric field strength of 150 V/cm, the flow rate against a back pressure of 1200 psi (～8.3 MPa) was 40 nL/min, and the maximal pressure reached 1470 psi (～10 MPa). This work has demonstrated that it is possible to create a high performance packed bed microchannel EOF pump using nanometer sized silica beads, as long as proper care is taken during the packing process to minimize the undesirable mixing of two different sized particles at the boundaries between particle segments and to maximize the packing density throughout the entire packed bed.     

The effect of high external pressures on the infrared and Raman spectra of crystalline tetra-n-propylammonium bromide

The infrared and Raman spectra of crystalline tetra-n-propylammonium bromide, (n-C₃H₇)₄NBr, have been measured in the 3000 – 700 cm⁻¹ region and vibrational assignments are proposed in part on the basis of the known crystal structure. Pressure-tuning infrared and Raman studies of this material were also undertaken using a diamond-anvil cell. There is a pressure-induced phase transition occurring between 1.8 and 2.1 GPa, which is most likely a second-order transition. Some differences are noted between the infrared data reported here and those given in an earlier high-pressure infrared study. The spectroscopic results will be useful in examining zeolites involving (n-C₃H₇)₄NBr as a template.     

Measuring structural inhomogeneity of a helical conjugated polymer at high pressure and temperature

We report on X‐ray scattering measurements of helical poly[9,9‐bis(2‐ethylhexyl)‐fluorene‐2,7‐diyl] by mapping the sample with 10 μm spatial resolution from 0.3 GPa to 36 GPa. We follow the strongest 00l reflection, which moves toward higher scattering angles with pressure indicating planarization of helical polyfluorene. Lateral inhomogeneity is increased for >10 GPa concomitant with the solidification of the pressure transmitting medium (a 4:1 mixture of methanol and ethanol). We also follow the 00l reflection with increasing temperature at the constant pressure of 4.3 GPa in neon. We observe a sharp shift toward higher scattering angles indicative of a phase transition at 167–176 °C. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 392–396     

Syntheses and structures of Li3ScF6 and high pressure LiScF4−, luminescence properties of LiScF4, a new phase in the system LiF-ScF3

Colorless single crystals of Li₃ScF₆ have been prepared by reacting the binary components LiF and ScF₃ at 820 °C for 16 h in argon atmosphere. This complex fluoride is the only stable phase in the system LiF-ScF₃ under ambient pressure. According to a structure refinement based on single crystal X-ray diffraction data it crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group with and . The new structure of Li₃ScF₆ is a filled variant of the Na₂GeF₆ type structure and can be described in terms of a hexagonal close packing of fluorine in which 2/3 of the octahedral holes are occupied by Sc and Li.High pressure/high temperature studies of the system LiF-ScF₃ show that the new phase LiScF₄ is formed at around 5.5 GPa and 575 °C. According to Rietveld refinements of powder X-ray diffraction data LiScF₄ adopts the Scheelite type structure (space group I4₁/a) with and . A sample of LiScF₄ doped with 1% Er exhibits an intense luminescence in the far IR region.     

The preparation and evaluation of superior bonded phases for reversed-phase,high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary The preparation of efficient chemically bonded phases based upon interaction of silica gel with trichlorosilanes is reported. Chlorinated solvents are found to yield superior products whilst reaction at elevated temperatures is shown to be unnecessary. A new capping procedure, involving methanolysis and subsequent reaction with trimethylchlorosilane, is shown to be more effective than existing procedures.     

Development and evaluation of a diffusive gradients in a thin film technique for measuring ammonium in freshwaters

A new diffusive gradients in a thin film (DGT) technique, using Microlite PrCH cation exchange resin, was developed and evaluated for measuring NH₄–N in freshwaters. Microlite PrCH had high uptake (>92.5%) and elution efficiencies (87.2% using 2 mol L⁻¹ NaCl). Mass vs. time validation experiments over 24 h demonstrated excellent linearity (R² ≥ 0.996). PrCH-DGT binding layers had an extremely high intrinsic binding capacity for NH₄–N (∼3000 μg). NH₄–N uptake was quantitative over pH ranges 3.5–8.5 and ionic strength (up to 0.012 mol L⁻¹ as NaCl) typical of freshwater systems. Several cations (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺) were found to compete with NH₄–N for uptake by PrCH-DGT, but NH₄–N uptake was quantitative over concentration ranges typical of freshwater (up to 0.012 mol L⁻¹ Na⁺, 0.006 mol L⁻¹ K⁺, 0.003 mol L⁻¹ Ca²⁺ and 0.004 mol L⁻¹ Mg²⁺). Effective diffusion coefficients determined from mass vs. time experiments changed non-linearly with electrical conductivity. Field deployments of DGT samplers with varying diffusive layer thicknesses validated the use of the technique in situ, allowed deployment times to be manipulated with respect to NH₄–N concentration, and enable the calculation of the diffusive boundary layer thickness. Daily grab sample NH₄–N concentrations were observed to vary considerably independent of major rainfall events, but good agreements were obtained between PrCH-DGT values and mean grab sample measurements of NH₄–N (C_DGT:C_SOLN 0.83–1.3). Reproducibility of DGT measurements in the field was good (relative standard deviation < 11%). Limit of detection was 0.63 μg L⁻¹ (equivalent to 0.045 μmol L⁻¹) based on 24 h deployments.