Theoretical study of the stability of lithium atoms in alpha-rhombohedral boron

The stability of lithium atoms in alpha-rhombohedral boron was investigated by first-principles calculations of total energies and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In the case of a low concentration (1.03 at. %), Li at the center of the icosahedral B12 site (the I-site) had a negative binding energy, which suggests Li at the I-site is unstable. However, MD simulations at temperatures below 750 K indicated that Li is still confined in the B12 cage under these conditions, which means Li at the I-site is metastable. Over 800 K, Li began to move away from the B12 site and settled at the tetrahedral site (the T-site) or at the octahedral site (the O-site). Li at the T-site also had a negative binding energy, but MD simulations indicated it was metastable up to 1400 K and did not move to other sites. Li at the O-site was energetically the most favorable, having a positive binding energy. In the case of a high concentration (7.69 at. %), the I-site changed to an unstable saddle point. At this concentration, the T-site was metastable and the O-site became the most stable. In MD simulations at 1400 K, Li atoms at the O-site never jumped to other sites regardless of concentration. Considering these facts, the diffusion coefficient of Li in alpha-rhombohedral boron would have to be very small below 1400 K.     

Gelatinization Mechanism of Rice Starch

ABSTRACT

The non-Newtonian behavior and dynamic viscoelasticity of rice starch (Nihonbare; amylose content, 15.8%) solutions were measured with a rheogoniometer. A gelatinization of Nihonbare starch occurred above 3.0% after heating at 100 °C for 30 min. The Nihonbare starch showed shear-thinning behavior at a concentration of 2.0%, but plastic behavior above 3.0% at 25 °C. The viscosity of Nihonbare starch at a concentration of 2.0% solution decreased gradually with increase in temperature from 10 to 55 °C, then it stayed at a constant value with further increase in the temperature. However, for 4.0% solution, rapid decrease in the viscosity was observed after the temperature reached 25 °C up to 50 °C, then it stayed at a constant value. The dynamic modulus of Nihonbare starch stayed at a constant value during increase in the temperature at 4%. The tan δ of the starch showed low values, 0.28, at low temperature range and stayed at a constant up to 30 °C, then it increased a little with increasing temperature. A little decrease of dynamic modulus of Nihonbare starch was observed at low temperature range upon addition of urea (4.0 M). The dynamic modulus, however, decreased rapidly when the temperature reached 50 °C, which was estimated to be a transition temperature. The dynamic modulus also decreased rapidly in 0.10 M NaOH solution above 50 °C. A possible mode of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between amylose and amylopectin molecules of Nihonbare starch is proposed. The short chains (A and B1) of the amylopectin molecules may take part in the intermolecular association in aqueous solution.     

Electrochemical determination of adenine and adenosine: adsorption of adenine and adenosine at the pyrolytic graphite electrode

Adenine and adenosine are polarographically reducible from aqueous solution at pH 4.7 at the DME at the same E(1 2 ) and are also voltammetrically oxidizable at the PGE, but at different potentials, adenosine at higher potentials. Competitive adsorption of both compounds at the PGE results in a decrease in the scanning voltammetric oxidation peak of adenine in the presence of adenosine, reaching a constant value when the concentration of the latter is above 6 mM. In mixtures, the sum of the two is obtained by polarography at the DME. Solid adenosine is then added to the solution and the adenine is determined by voltamrnetry at the PGE.     

Physical and chemical changes of medicinals in mixtures with adsorbents in the solid state. II. Application of reduced pressure treatment for the improvement of dissolution of flufenamic acid

Flufenamic acid (FFA) was mixed with magnesium aluminum silicate (MAS) and stored at 60 degrees C at a reduced pressure of about 2.5 mmHg. After storage, when its concentration was not more than 20%, FFA was observed by X-ray diffraction and polarizing microscopy to be amorphous. The dissolution of FFA was thus enhanced in comparison with that of a freshly prepared mixture. Furthermore, the dissolution curves showed a typical supersaturation pattern, and the supersaturation state continued longer, the higher the pH value of the dissolution medium. Flufenamic acid, in a mixture with MAS, became amorphous more rapidly at reduced pressure than at atmospheric pressure, and therefore the effect of improved dissolution appeared earlier at reduced pressure. Infrared spectral studies suggested that FFA, after storage at a reduced pressure with MAS, was dispersed monomolecularly in an ionic form. The technique of treating crystalline medicinals, that have poor solubility in water, with adsorbent at reduced pressure may be useful for improving their dissolution characteristics.     

Fluorescence anisotropy of acridinedione dyes in glycerol: Prolate model of ellipsoid

Time-dependent reorientations of resorcinol-based acridinidione (ADR) dyes in glycerol were studied using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies. The difference between fluorescence anisotropy decays recorded at 460 nm when exciting at 250 nm and those obtained when exciting at 394 nm are reported. When exciting at 394 nm, the fluorescence anisotropy decay is bi-exponential, while on exciting at 250 nm a mono-exponential fluorescence anisotropy decay is observed. We interpret this in terms of different directions of the absorption dipole at 394 and 250 nm with the emission dipole respectively, which is experimentally validated and further analysed as a prolate model of ellipsoid.     

Suppression of aqueous surface hydrolysis by monolayers of short chain organic amphiphiles

Aqueous aerosols and other water surfaces in the environment may be coated with organic films, which can give rise to significant effects on gas-solution transport and surface reactivity. We have used acridine as a molecular fluorescent pH probe to examine the hydration of nitric acid and ammonia at both the uncoated and the organic-coated air-water interface. For uncoated samples, a transient decrease in pH is observed at the interface upon introduction of nitric acid vapour, followed by a relaxation to a final pH which is lower than the initial value. This long-time final change in pH is also measured in bulk pH measurements. Solutions having monolayer and sub-monolayer films of 1-octanol do not display the transient, but do show the same long-time change in pH. The degree of suppression of the surface pH transient depends directly on the amount of octanol present at the surface. Hydrolysis of ammonia at the water surface is also indicated by a surface pH transient which is also suppressed when a monolayer of octanol is present at the surface. Monolayers of butanol and of uncompressed stearic acid at the surface show little difference from the clean interface. The results are related to the concentration of available water at the interface.     

The influence of pressure on the structure of aqueous solutions of NaCl over the pressure range 0.1–1000 MPa according to the integral equation method

The influence of pressure (0.1–1000 MPa) on the structure of aqueous solutions of NaCl (1.91–3.08 m) at constant temperatures of 298 and 623 K was studied by the integral equation method. The most substantial structural rearrangement was found to occur at pressures exceeding 150 MPa. Solution structure formation at 298 K was characterized by a substantial decrease in interparticle distances and a baric distortion of the tetrahedral network of water, which resulted in an increase in the hydration of ions and a decrease in the fraction of ion pairs. Structure changes under compression conditions at 623 K were similar to those observed at 298 K, but the network of water H-bonds was already destroyed in solutions at the higher temperature, and hydration-separated ion pairs did not form over the whole pressure range studied. Ions partially dehydrated at 623 K virtually fully restored the hydration spheres they had at 298 K as the pressure increased to 1000 MPa.     

Gibbs系综Monte Carlo模拟甲烷的吸附平衡

在263、298和313 K下,对甲烷在1.91 nm的活性炭孔中的吸附平衡进行了Gibbs系综Monte Carlo(GEMC)模拟的研究.改进了GEMC方法,使之可用于模拟指定压力下的吸附平衡.通过改进的GEMC模拟,得到了在1.91 nm的活性炭中甲烷在263、298和313 K时的吸附等温线;发现263 K时的超额吸附量要大于298 K、313 K时的超额吸附量; 且不同温度下的超额吸附等温线均存在一最大超额吸附.263 K时,超额吸附量在5.0 MPa时出现最大值;而298 K、313 K时超额吸附量则在7.0 MPa时出现最大值.此工作为不同温度下天然气吸附存贮过程的开发及设计提供了依据.     

Oxygen-independent inactivation of Haemophilus influenzae transforming DNA by monochromatic radiation: action spectrum, effect of histitine and repair.

Abstract— The action spectrum for the oxygen-independent inactivation of native transforming DNA from Haemophilus influenzae with near-UV radiation revealed a shoulder beginning at 334 and extending to 460 nm. The presence of 0.2 M histidine during irradiation produced a small increase in inactivation at 254, 290 and 313 nm, a large increase at 334 nm and a decrease in inactivation at 365, 405 and 460 nm. Photoreactivation did not reverse the DNA damage produced at pH 7.0 at 334, 365, 405 and 460 nm, but did reactivate the DNA after irradiation at 254, 290 and 313 nm. The inactivation of DNA irradiated at 254, 290 and 313 nm was considerably greater when the transforming ability was assayed in an excision-defective mutant compared with the wild type, although DNA irradiated at 334, 365, 405 and 460 nm showed smaller differences. These results suggest that the oxygen-independent inactivation of H. influenzae DNA at pH 7 by irradiation at 334, 365, 405 and 460 nm is caused by lesions other than pyrimidine dimers.     

Structural change of water by gelation of curdlan suspension

Phase transition of water restrained by curdlan suspension annealed at a temperature from 20 to 110°C was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The melting temperature of water restrained by annealed curdlan discontinuously decreased at around 60°C, while the amount of bound water calculated from enthalpy of melting increased at 60°C, regardless of water content. Using a highly sensitive DSC, curdlan suspension with various concentrations was studied. It was found that an endothermic transition was observed at ca. 58°C in a wide range of concentrations. The transition observed at 60°C is thermo-reversible and both temperature and transition enthalpy are constant even after gel formation. Well equilibrated suspension at a temperature lower than 60°C formed no gel.     

HPLC study of tissue distribution of loganin in rats

A rapid, sensitive and selective high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for determination of loganin in rat tissues. Samples were prepared based on a simple protein precipitation. Separation of loganin was achieved on a reversed-phase C(18) column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water (16:84, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 236 nm and the temperature of the column was kept at 30 degrees C. The method was applied to study tissue distribution of loganin in rats after a single administration of loganin at a dose of 20 mg/kg. The highest level was observed in kidney, then in stomach, lung and small intestine. The lowest level was found in brain. The peak levels were attained at 90 min in most tissues. It was indicated that kidney was the major distribution tissue of loganin in rats, and that loganin had difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier. It was also found there was no long-term accumulation of loganin in rat tissues.     

X-ray diffraction study of the structure of Al-Co melts

The structure of Al-Co melts with 0 at.%, 10 at.%, 18 at.%, 23.5 at.%, 26 at.%, 80.7 at.%, and 100 at.% Co has been studied by X-ray diffraction. Inverse Monte Carlo simulation using the experimental curves of the structural factor was employed to reconstruct the models of melts, analyzed by the Voronoi-Delaunay technique. The dependence of parameters that define short-and longer range ordering of atoms is nonmonotonous in the range 85–74 at.% Al and is extremal in the vicinity of a melt with 76.5 at.% Al. In the stated range of concentrations, the cobalt atoms basically lie at distances of ≈4.2 Å in the pentagonal rings of icosahedral type polytetrahedral clusters. Therefore one can speak about correlation in the character of atomic ordering in melts and corresponding periodic and quasiperiodic phases.     

Existence of conformers revealed by spectral analysis of single molecules of perylene orange in thin sol-gel films

This paper reports on the spectral dynamics of perylene orange in thin sol-gel films. The studies are performed at the single molecule level to retrieve local information on such samples. The fluorescence spectrum of a molecule depends on the properties of the molecule itself and especially on its conformation in the ground state and in the state reached after excitation. Studies have been performed at room temperature and at a lower temperature, around 173 K. A large number of the recorded spectra reflect dual fluorescence. It is the rule at room temperature. However, at low temperature, single molecules either are relatively free to change conformation or are caught in a rigid environment. In the latter case, they present the spectrum of a rigid dye and we have identified the signature of several conformers of perylene orange in the ground state.     

Oscillatory kinetics and mechanism of the chromate catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

Oscillatory change of pH occurs during the chromate-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in a weakly acidic medium at elevated temperature and at high initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide. In a closed system, there are only two or three periods, but sustained oscillation occurs in a CSTR. In a CSTR bistability is also found. In closed systems the temperature exhibits a great maximum (up to 15°C increase), in a CSTR sustained oscillation occurs at a constant stationary temperature.     

Stability of response of the ferrous-cupric sulfate dosimeter at different temperatures

Aqueous solution of ferrous-cupric sulfate has been evaluated spectrophotometrically as radiation dosimeter and post-irradiation stability at different storage temperatures has been studied. The response curve drawn at a peak wavelength of 304 nm shows a linear response of up to 7 kGy. However, with proper calibration, the system can be used up to 14 kGy. At room temperature (ca. 25 °C) in the dark, the irradiated solution showed stable response up to about 12 h, followed by a small decrease in response up to 20 d. Post-irradiation storage at lower temperature (10 °C) shows no significant change in absorbance over a storage period of 6 d. However, for storage at higher temperature (40 °C) the dosimeter showed a stable response only up to a few hours and at longer storage times the response of the dosimeter increased.     

Local electronic structure of olivine phases of LixFePO4

Changes in the local electronic structure at atoms around Li sites in the olivine phase of LiFePO4 were studied during delithiation. Electron energy loss spectrometry was used for measuring shifts and intensities of the near-edge structure at the K-edge of O and at the L-edges of P and Fe. Electronic structure calculations were performed on these materials with a plane-wave pseudopotential code and with an atomic multiplet code with crystal fields. It is found that both Fe and O atoms accommodate some of the charge around the Li+ ion, evidently in a hybridized Fe-O state. The O 2p levels appear to be fully occupied at the composition LiFePO4. With delithiation, however, these states are partially emptied, suggestive of a more covalent bonding to the oxygen atom in FePO4 as compared to LiFePO4. The same behavior is found for the white lines at the Fe L2,3-edges, which also undergo a shift in energy upon delithiation. A charge transfer of up to 0.48 electrons is found at the Fe atoms, as determined from white line intensity variations after delithiation, while the remaining charge is compensated by O atoms. No changes are evident at the P L2,3-edges.     

Mechanism of the formation of a dehydrated ion by an unusual loss of oxygen at the 4'-carbonyl group of abscisic acid methyl ester in electron ionization mass spectrometry

Methyl ester of abscisic acid (ABA), a plant hormone, gives a dehydrated ion at m/z 260 in electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI-MS). This dehydrated ion had been considered to be derived only from the elimination of the tertiary hydroxyl group at C-1'. We found that 34% of the dehydrated ion was formed by elimination of the oxygen atom at the 4'-carbonyl group, and the remaining 66% by elimination of the 1'-hydroxyl group. This unusual elimination of the carbonyl oxygen was shown with [4'-(18)O]ABA methyl ester. Involvement of the 4'-carbonyl oxygen in dehydration was observed in methyl ester of phaseic acid (PA), a natural metabolite of ABA, but not in 1'-deoxy-ABA methyl ester or isophorone. This suggested that the 1'-hydroxyl group was necessary for the elimination of the 4'-carbonyl oxygen. ABA methyl esters labeled with stable isotopes showed that hydrogen atoms at the 1'-hydroxyl group and at C-4 or -5 or -3' or - 5' or -7' were eliminated with the 4'-carbonyl oxygen. These results allow us to propose a formation mechanism of the dehydrated ion derived from the elimination of 4'-carbonyl oxygen and hydrogen atoms at C-4 and 1'-oxygen in ABA methyl ester as follows: first, ionization at the 1'-hydroxyl group occurs to give an ion radical, and the proton at the 1'-oxygen migrates to the 4'-carbonyl oxygen after the bond fission between C-1'-C-6'; second, migration of the proton at C-4 to the 1'-oxygen is followed by migration of the protons at C-5 and C-7' to C-4 and C-5, respectively; finally, the proton at the 1'-oxygen migrates to the 4'-hydroxyl group, and H(2)O at C-4' is eliminated to give the dehydrated ion. Our findings point out that a dehydrated ion is not always derived from the elimination of a hydroxyl group.     

Radiation chemistry of linear low-density polyethylene. II. Kinetics of alkyl and allyl free-radical decay reactions

Quenched and annealed samples of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) were γ irradiated in vacuo at 77 K; the kinetics of the alkyl free-radical decay reactions were studied at room temperature, and of the allyl free-radical reactions at 60, 70, and 80°C. The ESR signals saturate at a slightly higher microwave power in the LLDPE than in high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and the alkyl radicals start decaying at a lower temperature in the LLDPE than in the HDPE. As in the HDPE the decay of the alkyl free radicals at room temperature in the LLDPE follows the kinetic equation for two simultaneous first-order reactions with the fraction of the faster-decaying component being slightly greater in the quenched than in the annealed samples. In the case of the allyl free radicals the decay at 60°C follows the equation based on one fraction of the radicals decaying according to second-order kinetics in the presence of other nondecaying radicals. At higher temperatures the data are best understood in terms of a second-order rate equation with a continuously variable time-dependent rate constant as suggested by Hamill and Funabashi.     

Measurement of the kinetic rate constants for the adsorption of superspreading trisiloxanes to an air/aqueous interface and the relevance of these measurements to the mechanism of superspreading

Super-spreading trisiloxane surfactants are a class of amphiphiles which consist of nonpolar trisiloxane headgroups ((CH3)3-Si-O)2-Si(CH3)(CH2)3-) and polar parts composed of between four and eight ethylene oxides (ethoxylates, -OCH2CH2-). Millimeter-sized aqueous drops of trisiloxane solutions at concentrations well above the critical aggregate concentration spread rapidly on very hydrophobic surfaces, completely wetting out at equilibrium. The wetting out can be understood as a consequence of the ability of the trisiloxanes at the advancing perimeter of the drop to adsorb at the air/aqueous and aqueous/hydrophobic solid interfaces and to reduce considerably the tensions of these interfaces, creating a positive spreading coefficient. The rapid spreading can be due to maintaining a positive spreading coefficient at the perimeter as the drop spreads. However, the air/aqueous and solid/aqueous interfaces at the perimeter are depleted of surfactant by interfacial expansion as the drop spreads. The spreading coefficient can remain positive if the rate of surfactant adsorption onto the solid and fluid surfaces from the spreading aqueous film at the perimeter exceeds the diluting effect due to the area expansion. This task is made more difficult by the fact that the reservoir of surfactant in the film is continually depleted by adsorption to the expanding interfaces. If the adsorption cannot keep pace with the area expansion at the perimeter, and the surface concentrations become reduced at the contact line, a negative spreading coefficient which retards the drop movement can develop. In this case, however, a Marangoni mechanism can account for the rapid spreading if the surface concentrations at the drop apex are assumed to remain high compared to the perimeter so that the drop is pulled out by the higher tension at the perimeter than at the apex. To maintain a high apex concentration, surfactant adsorption must exceed the rate of interfacial dilation at the apex due to the outward flow. This is conceivable because, unlike that at the contact line, the surfactant reservoir in the liquid at the drop center is not continually depleted by adsorption onto an expanding solid surface. In an effort to understand the rapid spreading, we measure the kinetic rate constants for adsorption of unaggregated trisiloxane surfactant from the sublayer to the air/aqueous surface. The kinetic rate of adsorption, computed assuming the bulk concentration of monomer to be uniform and undepleted, represents the fastest that surfactant monomer can adsorb onto the air/aqueous surface in the absence of direct adsorption of aggregates. The kinetic constants are obtained by measuring the dynamic tension relaxation as trisiloxanes adsorb onto a clean pendant bubble interface. We find that the rate of kinetic adsorption is only of the same order as the area expansion rates observed in superspreading, and therefore the unaggregated flux cannot maintain very high surface concentrations at the air/aqueous interface, either at the apex or at the perimeter. Hence in order to maintain either a positive spreading coefficient or a Marangoni gradient, the surfactant adsorptive flux needs to be augmented, and the direct adsorption of aggregates (which in the case of the trisiloxanes are bilayers and vesicles) is suggested as one possibility.     

The formation of a series of barium tungsten bronzes

The phases occurring in samples of gross composition Ba_xWO₃ (0.01 < x < 0.33) heated at temperatures between 1073 and 1373°K have been determined using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. At all temperatures a tetragonal tungsten bronze phase with a narrow homogeneity range of x = 0.20?0.21 was observed to form. In addition, at temperatures up to 1273°K, a series of orthorhombic intergrowth bronzes forms within a restricted composition range around x = 0.04. The latter phases are unstable at higher temperatures and were not found in preparations made at 1323°K. Similarly a new type of bronze phase forms at x = 0.14?0.16 at temperatures up to 1323°K, but not at 1373°K. The structure of this phase is unknown. Aspects of the crystal chemistry of the barium bronzes and the relationships to other bronze phases are discussed.