Stabilisation d'un décharge d'arc par un champ magnétique tournant

The stabilization effect of a rotating radial magnetic field on an arc discharge in argon, at medium current strength and high pressure is shown. The variation of the fluctuations of the arc voltage is studied as a function of the magnitude and rotation frequency of the magnetic field and the current strength.     

Deviation from Ohm's law in electric field assisted capillary liquid chromatography

Earlier studies of electric field assisted LC (EF-LC) have shown that the effect on charged analytes of the application of an electric field over a capillary LC column is relatively small. Charged analytes can only be affected by the electric field while present in the mobile phase, which makes the effective time for influence of the electric field t(0) independent of retention time. Because the charged analytes only can be affected for a short time the electric field strength ought to be high in order to increase the impact of the electric field on the separation. We have, however, found that only a relatively low electric field strength can be used in EF-LC when pressure is used as main driving force. The useful field strength was limited by a dramatic increase in the current. This increase in current was found to origin from an increased concentration of buffer ions that have an electrophoretic mobility towards the pumped flow.     

Non‐Conformity with Faraday Law by Magnetoelectrolysis with Aluminum Electrodes

The present paper presents a study on the anode dissolution and corrosion of aluminum electrodes by electrolysis of aqueous solutions of sodium chloride in a magnetic field. The electrolysis was carried out under a galvanostatic regime with direct current and a uniform electric field. The magnetic field was generated by permanent magnets placed along the axis between an anode and cathode. The parameter current efficiency was used as a measure of the non‐conformity with the generalized Faraday law observed.     

Modification of a Field Emission Source SEM For Quantitative X-Ray Microanalysis

Abstract

We have modified a field emission source SEM in an attempt to obtain a quantitative x-ray microanalysis capability. This report describes how emission current instabilities, characteristic of cold field emission cathodes, were effectively circumvented. The technique involves integrating the electron beam current and terminating x-ray data acquisition at a selected value of integrated current.

Working well in the current ranges available on most electron beam instruments, the scheme may be universally applicable to any charged beam instrument in which some event is, or can be made, dependent on the integrated beam current.     

Structural change of ion-exchange membrane surfaces under high electric fields and its effects on membrane properties

Structural change of an ion-exchange membrane under a high electric field was investigated by comparing water dissociation and the FTIR spectra between the virgin membrane and that used at an overlimiting current density. From a series of water dissociation experiments at overlimiting current densities, it was observed that water dissociation in an anion-exchange membrane used at an overlimiting current density was higher than that in a virgin membrane at the same current density. The FTIR study revealed that the tertiary amine groups are formed from the quaternary ammonium groups on the anion-exchange membrane surface where ion depletion occurs under the influence of the applied strong electric field. The occurrence of increased water dissociation is considered to be caused by the protonation and deprotonation of the tertiary amine groups in the anion-exchange membrane. On the other hand, there was no structural change for the cation-exchange membrane under the electric field investigated in this study, which is coincident with the results of water dissociation experiments for the CMX membrane. In addition, we found that membrane resistance, permselectivity, and plateau length of the current-voltage curve were affected by the converted tertiary amine groups depending on the solution pH.     

The charging of a liquid dielectric upon its flow past a flat-plate

The charging of a liquid dielectric upon its flow past a flat-plate is considered. Analytical expressions for the density distribution of electric charge and charging current are derived. The dependences of the current and charge density distribution on the system parameters are investigated. The effect of the electric field that emerges owing to charge separation on the charging process is taken into account. Consideration of the electric field is shown to lead to lower values of the electric charge density and charging current. As the Debye number decreases, the charge density also decreases. The charging current increases with an increase in the Debye number.     

Alternating current-bipolar electrochemistry

Rotation of a bipolar electrode in a constant electric field between feeder electrodes causes an alternating bipolar current at an AC frequency that depends on the rotation rate. The corresponding oscillation of the feeder current is evaluated by means of a lock-in amplifier. This innovative approach allows the current flowing through the non-wired bipolar electrode in an open bipolar system to be extracted without relying on electrochemical reporter reactions.     

Electronic current and breakdown characteristics of tantalum oxide films

Steady electronic current data through extremely thick films in contact with aqueous electrolytes have been obtained. The effects of field strength, temperature of the bath, composition, concentration and resistivity of the contacting electrolyte have been studied. The data show that the same relation between electronic current and field holds irrespective of the film thickness. The data also indicate a direct relation between electronic current and breakdown voltage. The effect of electrolyte concentration on breakdown voltage can be explained in terms of Ikonopisov's electron injecting avalanche model. The major factor contributing to a decrease of breakdown voltage with an increase in the concentration of the electrolyte has been found to be due to the increase in primary electronic current.     

电场作用下金属锌在薄液膜下的腐蚀电化学研究

采用薄液膜实验装置,测量了外加直流电场作用下锌在薄液膜体系中的腐蚀电位、阴极极化电流以及阴极极化曲线等. 研究了外加直流电场对锌在薄液膜下腐蚀行为的影响. 结果表明,外电场的作用可以使锌电极的腐蚀电位负移,也可以使锌电极在阴极极化条件下的阴极电流增加. 分析结果表明,外电场与薄液膜体系中锌电极电化学过程中的相关因素发生了协同作用,改变了锌电极的阴极过程.     

Electro-osmosis of the second kind near the heterogeneous ion-exchange membrane

The features of concentrated polarization by an electric current passing through an ion-exchange membrane, with heterogeneous ionic conductivity, are considered in this paper. A space charge appears inside the concentrated polarization zone caused by a strong electric field. In the case of a surface with nonuniform conductivity, the tangential to the surface component of electric field occurs. The action of the tangential component on the induced space charge produces electro-osmotic whirlwinds, which change the main characteristics of the concentrated polarization and increase the current through the membrane.

The peculiarities of the polarization processes are analyzed for laminar and turbulent flows of liquid along the interface. It has been shown that a combination of electro-osmotic convection with turbulent pulsation leads to a significant rise in current above the limiting value.     

Scaling analysis of a charged jet formed upon electrospinning of a viscoelastic liquid

The dependences of the parameters of a jet and the intensity of the current generated in it during electrospinning of a viscoelastic liquid on the conductivity, viscosity, surface tension, and other characteristics of the liquid, as well as the strength of an external electric field and the liquid flow rate, are considered. The process is described in terms of the Maxwell liquid model, which is characterized by a single relaxation time and convective-type nonlinearity. Two regimes corresponding to high and low liquid flow rates are identified. The jet diameter is shown to decrease with a rise in the liquid conductivity coefficient and electric field strength. Moreover, at high flow rates, the current intensity almost linearly grows with the field strength.     

The effect of magnetic fields on the electrodeposition of iron

The effect of a uniform magnetic field with flux density up to 1 T on the electrodeposition of Fe from sulphate electrolyte has been investigated under different field configurations relative to the electrode surface. Voltammetric and chronoamperometric experiments have been carried out coupled with an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance for in situ mass change measurements. The structure and morphology of the deposited films were determined by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Results show that, when the magnetic field is applied parallel to the electrode surface, the limiting current density and the deposition rate are increased due to the magnetohydrodynamic effect. The nucleation process is also affected in parallel configuration; the current density of the maximum on the chronoamperograms is decreased, and an additional nucleation step might be observed. This effect is attributed to the hydrodynamic response of the electrochemical system. No significant influence on the electrochemical reaction was observed when a magnetic field was applied perpendicular to the electrode. But in this configuration, the morphology of deposited layers is changed by the magnetic field. The morphology changes are discussed. No effect of the magnetic field on the crystallographic structure was observed.     

Voltage effects on the nanoelectrospray characteristics in fully voltage-controlled atomisation of gold nanocolloids

The voltage effects on fully voltage-controlled nanoelectrospraying of aqueous gold nanocolloids were investigated. In the nanoelectrospray using 30 μm nozzle, with an increasing of voltage two stable spray regimes of pulsating and cone-jet mode were clearly observed by a combination of current measurement and fast imaging technology. In this nanoelectrospray uniquely determined by the electrical field voltage the current-voltage characteristics were analysed and evaluated based on an equivalent circuit method. At high field in cone-jet regime all the equivalent resistances derived by fitting appear close to a value of 0.53 ± 0.03 GΩ, showing independence to the conductivity of the nanocolloids. In low field pulsating regime a high pulsation frequency up to 100 kHz with relatively stable current pulse was exhibited in all the gold nanocolloids. A linear relationship between the DC components in the pulsating current and the voltage was found and the DC equivalent resistance obtained from the fitting varies between 0.90 and 1.47 GΩ. A strong correlation between the pulsating properties and the conductivity of the colloids was identified.     

Electrokinetic particle translocation through a nanopore

Nanoparticle electrophoretic translocation through a single nanopore induces a detectable change in the ionic current, which enables the nanopore-based sensing for various bio-analytical applications. In this study, a transient continuum-based model is developed for the first time to investigate the electrokinetic particle translocation through a nanopore by solving the Nernst-Planck equations for the ionic concentrations, the Poisson equation for the electric potential and the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow field using an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method. When the applied electric field is relatively low, a current blockade is expected. In addition, the particle could be trapped at the entrance of the nanopore when the electrical double layer (EDL) adjacent to the charged particle is relatively thick. When the electric field imposed is relatively high, the particle can always pass through the nanopore by electrophoresis. However, a current enhancement is predicted if the EDL of the particle is relatively thick. The obtained numerical results qualitatively agree with the existing experimental results. It is also found that the initial orientation of the particle could significantly affect the particle translocation and the ionic current through a nanopore. Furthermore, a relatively high electric field tends to align the particle with its longest axis parallel to the local electric field. However, the particle's initial lateral offset from the centerline of the nanopore acts as a minor effect.     

Electrically driven flow near a colloidal particle close to an electrode with a Faradaic current

To elucidate the nature of processes involved in electrically driven particle aggregation in steady fields, flows near a charged spherical colloidal particle next to an electrode were studied. Electrical body forces in diffuse layers near the electrode and the particle surface drive an axisymmetric flow with two components. One is electroosmotic flow (EOF) driven by the action of the applied field on the equilibrium diffuse charge layer near the particle. The other is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow arising from the action of the applied field on charge induced in the electrode polarization layer. The EOF component is proportional to the current density and the particle surface (zeta) potential, whereas our scaling analysis shows that the EHD component scales as the product of the current density and applied potential. Under certain conditions, both flows are directed toward the particle, and a superposition of flows from two nearby particles provides a mechanism for aggregation. Analytical calculations of the two flow fields in the limits of infinitesimal double layers and slowly varying current indicate that the EOF and EHD flow are of comparable magnitude near the particle whereas in the far field the EHD flow along the electrode is predominant. Moreover, the dependence of EHD flow on the applied potential provides a possible explanation for the increased variability in aggregation velocities observed at higher field strengths.     

Evaluation of viability of retinal photoreceptor cells by using their endogenous electrical field

The rod photoreceptor cells are electrical dipoles sustained by cell metabolic energy. Polarity of photoreceptor cells is directly connected to the so-called "dark current" which circulate along the living photoreceptors. Since only the living cells in a good functional state display electrical polarity, the orientation of photoreceptors in static electric field reflects their viability as long as it depends on the functionality of molecular mechanisms that maintain the dark current.Studying the rod cells' orientation in static electric field at different times after their isolation is thus an accurate way to evaluate the cell viability/degeneration. Retinal transplant experiments in animals and humans, which are presently in progress, require a quick and reliable viability test of cells/tissue to be transplanted. Checking the orientation pattern of rod photoreceptors in static electric field prior to transplantation is a candidate method for an accurate cell viability test.     

High-magnetic-field electromagnetophoresis of micro-particles in a capillary flow system

The electromagnetophoretic migration of micro-particles in a capillary flow system was demonstrated using a homogeneous magnetic field applied at right angles to an electric current. We utilized a high-magnetic-field of 10 T for observing this phenomenon. When the direction of the electric current was alternatively changed, polystyrene latex particles in a flowing aqueous medium migrated zigzag affected by a Lorentz force exerted on the medium. Carbon particles also migrated in the same manner with polystyrene particles. Further, we tried the electromagnetophoretic migration of biological particles, such as yeasts and human red blood cells. The migration velocity component perpendicular to the flow was proportional to both the electric current and the magnetic flux density. These results proved that the dominant force of the zigzag migration was an electromagnetophoretic buoyancy generated in the flowing medium. Moreover, it was found that the force exerted on the particles in the magnetic field of 10 T was sufficient for the desorption of particles adsorbed on the capillary wall.     

Effect of the Coil Angle in an Inductively Coupled Plasma Torch: A Novel Two-Dimensional Model

A two-dimensional model has been developed for the calculation of the electromagnetic (EM) fields generated by spiral coil currents, in order to obtain a better representation of the actual configuration used in a typical inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch. In order to obtain the EM fields in a two-dimensional model, the change of EM field in tangential direction is neglected and the coil is assumed to be a concentric cylinder. In order to justify our assumption, the EM, flow and temperature fields resulting from five-ring coil and concentric cylinder coil are compared and the results are almost the same except for the EM field in the vicinity of the coil. In the case of the spiral coil, the coil current is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. Therefore current in the cylinder coil is assumed to have the same inclined angle, which is split into tangential and axial components. The axial electric field and hence an axial current in plasma is induced by the axial component of the spiral coil current. Charge density is accumulated in the plasma, since the axial current cannot form a loop. In order to obtain the EM field and the charge distribution in the plasma generated by the spiral coil, the equations of axial vector potential and electrostatic potential have been derived. Due to the swirling Lorentz force (J_z×B_r) an axisymmetrical swirling fluid model is used to simulate the plasma flow in an axisymetrical configuration. With an inclined angle of the coil current being 3.7° and the frequency being 3 MHz, computational results show that the swirling Lorentz force causes plasma swirling with a maximum speed of 3.41 m/s near the plasma center when the injected sheath gas and central gas are not swirling. In these conditions, the real and imaginary parts of the maximum electrostatic potential are 0.95 V and 1.66 V, respectively. When the electrostatic field is neglected, the swirling velocity of the plasma is 3.95 m/s.     

Simultaneous measurement of the migration velocity and adsorption force of micro-particles using an electromagnetophoretic force under a high magnetic field.

A simultaneous measurement technique for determining the migration velocity of a micrometer-sized particle in a capillary and the adsorption force to the inner surface of the capillary has been proposed. This technique is based on an electromagnetophoretic force being exerted on a micro-particle in an electrolyte solution, which is governed mainly by the electromagnetic buoyancy, when a homogeneous magnetic field is applied at a right angle to the electric current through the medium. By the electromagnetic buoyancy, micro-particles such as polystyrene, carbon and yeast were migrated perpendicular to the direction of the electric current and reached a fused-silica wall. A switching of the current direction could desorb the particle from the wall, and allowed to calculate the detaching force from the desorbing current. The migration velocity normalized to the size in the magnetic field of 10 T was increased in the order of yeast, carbon and polystyrene, while reflecting the decreasing order of the apparent conductivity of the particles. The desorption force could be measured up to 1 nN with a sensitivity of pN. The observed interaction forces of polystyrene and carbon were in the range of 250-600 pN with large deviations.