Effect of amorphization on the electronic and lattice specific heat of an Ni2B alloy

The specific heats of the Ni₂B amorphous system and of its crystal analog were studied in the temperature range 3–270 K. The data obtained permitted us to isolate the contribution due to atomic vibrations from the experimentally measured specific heat, determine the electronic density of states at the Fermi level and the temperature dependence of the characteristic Debye parameter Θ, and to calculate some average frequencies (moments) of the vibrational spectrum. The electronic density of states at the Fermi level increases under amorphization. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the lattice specific heat showed that amorphization brings about a substantial growth in the density of vibrational states at low frequencies, whereas the spectrum-averaged and rms frequencies change very little, which is in good agreement with neutron diffraction measurements.     

Evaluation of Free Radical-Scavenging Activity of Sea Urchin Pigments Using HPTLC with Post-Chromatographic Derivatization

Chromatographic separation, analysis of in situ radical-scavenging activity, and quantitative analysis of green sea urchin shell pigments were carried out by online HPTLC-DAD and HPTLC-DPPH methods. Methanol:chloroform:acetic acid:water (11:50:5:2, v/v) was selected as the best mobile phase on silica gel plates for the separation of the pigments. Two pigment spots, S1 and S2, were observed on the TLC plates, while echinochrome A was not detected in the pigment extract of green sea urchin shells. Based on the estimated ID₅₀ values, the antiradical activity was S2 (0.043 μg) > S1 (0.058 μg) > echinochrome A (0.134 μg).     

Anisotropy of the heat capacity of a mixed-state superconducting Nd<Subscript>1.85</Subscript>Ce<Subscript>0.15</Subscript>CuO<Subscript>4</Subscript> single crystal for various magnetic field orientations with respect to the crystallographic axes

The anisotropy in the superconducting properties of single-crystal Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ was studied from measurements of the heat capacity within the temperature interval 2–40 K in zero magnetic field and in a magnetic field of 8 T. We report on the first observation of heat capacity jumps occurring at the superconducting transition for various magnetic field orientations with respect to the crystallographic axes and on a strong anisotropy of the magnetic contribution to heat capacity in magnetic fields oriented in the a-b plane and perpendicular to it. These measurements yielded the anisotropy in the electronic heat capacity coefficient γ_n(H) and in the superconducting transition temperature T_c(H). The angular dependence of the Sommerfeld coefficient γ_n in the a-b plane observed in a magnetic field of 8 T exhibits four-lobe symmetry and zero gap direction of the order parameter. A comparison of the results obtained on the Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ single crystal with the data available for La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO₄ permits one to conclude that the mechanisms of superconductivity in the electron-and hole-doped superconductors are similar.     

Aspect-ratio dependent oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the floating half zone

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection.The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio,and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several mil...     

Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2μm （diameter） polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water （H2O）, deuterium oxide （D2O） and methanol （MeOH） as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes （reduction） in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.     

Field and temperature dependences of the specific heat of the La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 superconductor

This paper reports on the temperature and field dependences of the specific heat of high-quality La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO₄ single crystals carried out at low temperatures in magnetic fields of up to 8 T for two magnetic field orientations, namely, along the [100] and [110] crystallographic axes. The field dependence of the electronic density of states (DOS) was found to be anisotropic for different magnetic field orientations in the a–b plane, with the electronic density being the lowest along the a axis (for H ∥ [100]) and maximum for the field inclined at 45° to the a axis (for H ∥ [110]). Electronic specific heat in a magnetic field was observed to depend linearly on temperature T and nonlinearly on the magnetic field H: C _DOS=bTH ^1/2. In a zero field, the electronic specific heat grows quadratically with temperature as C _DOS=αT ². Estimation of the maximum superconducting gap width from the experimentally determined values of the α coefficient of T ² and of the electronic DOS in the normal state yields Δ ₀=300 K. The observed features indicate that La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO₄ is a superconductor with d symmetry of the order parameter.