New oxyborates in the MgMnBO system

Two new oxyborate compounds were synthesized during a study of the phase relationships between the pinakiolite-ludwigite series of compounds. The structural topologies of these previously unreported materials have been determined experimentally by comparing calculated with observed electron microscope images. Both of these structures are very similar to each other, and also closely related to pinakiolite which consists of flat walls of edge-sharing octahedra connected to zigzag chains of octahedra by triangular BO₃ groups. The two new structures contain similar infinite walls which are separated by slabs of octahedra that are wider than the zigzag chains found in pinakiolite. A new series of structurally related oxyborate compounds can be envisaged and are described.     

Thermodynamics of the URuC system

Thermodynamic measurements by the electromotive force method were made on the binary intermetallic phases URu₃ and U₃Ru₅ and on the ternary carbides URu₃C_0.7 and U₂RuC₂ of the URu and the URuC systems between 950 and 1200 K using galvanic cells with CaF₂ single crystal electrolytes: U, UF₃¦CaF₂¦UF₃, URu₃, Ru; U, UF₃¦CaF₂¦UF₃, U₃Ru₅, URu₃; Ru, URu₃, UF₃¦CaF₂¦UF₃, URu₃C_0.7, Ru, C; U, UF₃¦CaF₂¦UF₃, URu₃C_0.7, U₂RuC₂, C. The Gibbs energies of formation of URu₃, U₃Ru₅, URu₃C_0.7 and U₂RuC₂ were evaluated from the measured electromotive force which give ^fΔG^o〈URu₃〉 = −199 100 + 35.9 T J mol^−1fΔG^o〈U₃Ru₅〉 = −398 600 + 43.6 T J mol^−1fΔG^o〈URu₃C_0.7〉 = −192 600 + 2.5 T J mol^−1fΔG^o〈U₂RuC₂〉 = −380 200 + 52.5 T J mol⁻¹ The implications of these thermodynamic data for the behaviour of the fission product ruthenium in irradiated carbide fuels are discussed.     

Comparison of the magnetic properties of MmFeband NdFeB compounds

NdFeB and corresponding MmFeB compounds were studied, the high field magnetization at 4.2 K, the a.c. susceptibility (4.2 < T < 300 K) and the anisotropy field were measured using the singular point detection technique (77 < T < 570 K). At room temperature the anisotropy field of the MmFeB is about 3T, whereas that of NdFeB compounds is about 7T. The MmFeB compounds showed effects due to the cerium (lowering the Curie temperature) as well as due to the neodymium (spin reorientation at low temperatures).     

High-Tc superconductivity in the ErBaCuO and related systems

ErBa₂Cu₃O₇ and Er_0.5Y_0.5Ba₂Cu₃O₇ are both high-T_c superconductors attaining zero resistance above 80 K. Preliminary studies indicate that Yb_1−xY_xBa₂Cu₃O₇ also exhibits zero resistance above 77 K.     

Phase diagram for the system Bi2O3CaOSrOCuO in the SrO-rich region

It has been found experimentally that phase diagram for the system Bi₂O₃CaOSrOCuO in SrO-rich region at 850°C in the open air includes three elementary tetrahedra: CaOSrOSr₆Bi₂O₁₁Sr₂CuO₃, CaOSr₂CuO₃Sr₆Bi₂O₁₁Sr_3,5Ca_0,5Bi₂O₇ and Sr₃Bi₂O₆Sr₆Bi₂O₁₁Sr_3,5Ca_0,5Bi₂O₇ Sr₂CuO₃. In the considered interval of corresponding oxide concentrations quaternary oxides are not formed under the above conditions.     

Phase equilibrium diagram of the system MnCrO

A hypothetical oxygen pressure-composition phase diagram and a projection of the oxygen pressure-temperature-composition diagram on the composition triangle were constructed from phase equilibria in the system MnCrO on the basis of the data available in literature. The temperature-composition phase equilibrium diagram of this same system in air was specified. Isomorphism of solid solutions with spinel and hausmannite structure and their intertransformation was studied. Two chemical compounds, MnCr₂O₄ and Cr₄Mn₂₈O₄₈, are supposed to exist in the system.     

Solid state phase equilibria in the PtGaAs system

The PtGaAs solid state equilibrium phase diagram was determined at 600 °C with the use of X-ray powder diffraction, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). No ternary PtGaAs phases were found and limited solid solubility was measured in the constituent binary PtGa and PtAs compounds. GaAs, PtGa and PtAs₂ form a region of three-phase equilibrium which dominates the GaAs side of the phase diagram. The phase diagram is in agreement with previous observations that PtGa and PtAs₂ are the stable phases when platinum thin films are reacted to completion on GaAs.     

Thermodynamic and sintering studies in the CoWC system

Sintering studies of WC-11%Co samples have been performed in a dilatometer. The temperature dependence of the shrinkage and the shrinkage rate during heating and isothermal treatment has been determined using computer evaluation. The relative magnitude of the densification in the solid and liquid states, respectively, has been determined and correlated to the CoWC phase diagram. Furthermore, some structural changes occurring under decarburizing conditions have been explained. Mechanisms for solid and liquid state sintering are presented.     

Bubble-point pressures of the H2COCO2 system

Bubble-point pressures of the H₂COCO₂ system were measured at temperatures from 253.15 to 303.15 K and pressures up to 9 MPa. Multiple bubble-points were observed within certain limits of hydrogen compositions. The data have been compared with the calculated results by the Redlich-Kwong and the Peng-Robinson equations of state.     

Liquid-liquid extraction model for the system LaCl3Nd(NO3)3HNO3H2OHDEHP-AMSCO

The liquid-liquid extraction model for a binary metal system successfully applied to the lanthanide nitrate system was found to be applicable to the binary metal-mixed ligand system only when equal mole fractions of each metal components are present in the feed solution. The agreement in this special case is explained satisfactorily in terms of the two-suffix Margules equations. The lack of agreement between the chemically based model and the experimental data was attributed to the effects of the stability constants and the degree of formation of the lanthanide mixed ligand complexes on the separation factors.     

The oxygen potentials corresponding to the YBa2Cu3O6+x phase in the YBaCuO system

Phase relations in the vicinity of the YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x in the CuO-rich part of the YBaCuO system were studied by the equilibration and quenching technique. At 950°C, the system is characterized by the large number of solid four-phase combinations. The oxygen potential as a function of temperature for two four-phase combinations, i.e., YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x + BaCuO₂ + BaCu₂O₂ + Y₂BaCuO₅ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x + BaCu₂O₂ + Y₂BaCuO₅ + Cu₂O, were studied by means of solid state EMF measurements. At higher oxygen potentials the pair of YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x and Y₂BaCuO₅ is stable in contact with BaCuO₂. At lower oxygen pressures this pair coexists in equilibrium with BaCu₂O₂ or Cu₂O.     

Investigation of the CeFe binary system

The CeFe binary system was investigated and an FeCe binary phase diagram was proposed. This system consists of

• 1.(i) two peritectic reactions, γ-Fe + L → Ce₂Fe₁₇ and Ce₂Fe₁₇ + L → CeFe₂, occurring isothermally at 1063°C and 925°C respectively;
• 2.(ii) a eutectic reaction, L → CeFe₂ + Ce, occurring isothermally at 592°C with eutectic containing 83.3 at.% Ce (92.6 wt.% Ce);
• 3.(iii) a peritectoid reaction, γ-Fe + Ce₂Fe₁₇ → α-Fe(Ce), occurring isothermally at 922 °C.

The solid solubility of cerium in iron in the temperature range 850–900 °C was found to be less than 0.04 at.% (0.1 wt.%). The Curie temperature of α-Fe(Ce) was slightly lowered with increasing cerium content in solid solution.     

Mercury-rare gas van der Waals complexes: From the lightest HgHe to the heaviest HgXe

Mercury helium and mercury xenon van der Waals complexes have been observed in a supersonic free jet expansion by laser-induced fluorescence in the vicinity of the Hg(³P₁¹S₀) transition. The helium complex very weakly bonded in the ground state (D₀ = 8 ± 1 cm⁻¹) exhibited a simple rotational structure. The strongly bonded xenon complex has shown a clear example of isotopic broadening in its vibronic spectra.     

Phase investigations of the AlIr system

The phase behavior of the AlIr system has been studied using differential thermal analysis, electron microprobe analysis, X-ray diffraction, chemical analysis and X-ray fluorescence. Our work confirms the existence of four compounds: Al₉Ir₂, Al₃Ir, Al_2.7Ir and AlIr. We also observed an additional intermetallic phase, with a stoichiometry corresponding to Al₁₃Ir₄; however, this compound exhibits a complex X-ray pattern and currently no structure has been determined.Peritectic temperatures were determined for Al₉Ir₂ (900 °C), Al₁₃Ir₄ (1015 °C) and Al₃Ir (1450 °C). The Al_2.7Ir phase is stable to above 1450 °C, and the congruent melting temperature of AlIr is 2120 ± 20 °C. The solubility of aluminum in iridium was measured between 1085 and 1850 °C, and the maximum solid solubility was extrapolated to 18 at.% at 2058 °C. The maximum solid solubility of iridium in aluminum was measured to be less than 0.1 at.%. A phase diagram for the AlIr system is presented.     

The frequency of the HOH bending fundamental in solids and liquids

A survey has been made of HOH bending frequencies in water-containing solids and liquids, using data from the literature and from the author's laboratory. After the effects of hydrogen bonding and dynamic coupling have been allowed for, HOH bending frequencies are found to be lowered by cation—water interactions. This frequency lowering increases statistically with increasing cation charge and with decreasing cation size.     

First principles search of hard materials within the SiCN ternary system

Starting from C₃N₄ and Si₃N₄ stoichiometries and from the pseudocubic model structure of the former, intermediate phases SiC₂N₄ and Si₂CN₄ are proposed and geometry optimised within density functional built pseudopotential method using both local density (LDA) and generalised gradient approximations (GGA). The ternary compounds are found to be less stable than the two binary systems but the trends in the calculated magnitudes of the bulk moduli B₀ from the fit of the E(V) curves with Birch equation of state: B₀ (SiC₂N₄)=334.5 GPa and B₀ (Si₂CN₄)=270.3 GPa can be interpolated from those of the two extreme compounds: B₀ (C₃N₄)=424.1 GPa and B₀ (Si₃N₄)=219.8 GPa. This translates the chemical role of the substituting element on one hand and allows validating Cohen's semiempirical law relating B₀ to the inverse powers of the average interatomic distances on the other hand. From a mismatch of the chemical bonding in Si(C)NC(Si) chain observed by the electron localisation function (ELF) plot we propose an interpretation for the instability of the intermediate ternary phases. The electronic structure (density of states and band structures) obtained from augmented spherical wave (ASW) calculations of the relaxed structures point to semiconducting behaviour with smaller band gaps for the intermediate phases (∼2 eV, compared with the ∼4 eV gap of binaries).     

Reversible and irreversible changes in the system PtPdH during cathodic charging

The deflection technique developed originally for the study of the reversible diffusion-elastic phenomenon has been generalized for the study of eventual irreversible changes due to cathodic charging. The total deflection may be resolved in many cases into two components which are due to irreversible and reversible changes. It was found useful to regard the ratio of these two components as a criterion for the extent of permanent structural changes due to hydrogen charging. The method was applied to the system PtPdH. Metallographic studies were used to detect conspicuous irreversible changes on the surface of the samples. Increased hydrogen solubility in the system studied (attained, for example, by further alloying with Pd) reduces irreversible changes due to hydrogen charging.