Development of a screening method for the determination of xenobiotic organic pollutants in municipal landfill leachate using solvent extraction and comprehensive GCxGC-qMS analysis

In the present study, we propose a method for the evaluation of different classes of xenobiotic organic compounds enclosed in the municipal landfill leachate using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with quadrupole mass spectrometry (GCxGC-qMS). Here we show that, due to high peak capacity of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, in a single run it is possible to separate compounds with different physical-chemical properties (such as aliphatic and aromatic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, phthalates, aldehydes, ketones, nitrogen containing compounds, organo-phosphoric flame retardants etc.), compounds which have proved to be endocrine disruptors, compounds that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, reprotoxic or harmful for the environment. Even though a solvent extraction method has been optimised, the extraction step still remains the main problem for a comprehensive characterization of all classes of organic toxicants enclosed in the municipal landfill leachate.

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Electron Interference in a Double‐Dopant Potential Structure

Herein, an analysis of interference effects as a result of the electron evolution within a coherent transport medium is presented, offering a double‐dopant Coulomb potential structure. Injection of coherent electron states into the structure is used to investigate the effects on the current transport behavior within the quantum Wigner phase space picture. Quantum effects are outlined by using classical simulation results as a reference frame. The utilized signed particle approach inherently provides a seamless transition between the classical and quantum domain. Based on this the occurring quantum effects caused by the non‐locality of the action of the quantum potential, leading to spatial resonance, can be indentified. The resulting interference patterns enable novel applications in the area of entangletronics.     

Toward sustainable energy: photocatalysis of Cr-doped TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>: 1. electronic structure

The present chain of five papers considers the concept of defect engineering in processing TiO₂-based photosensitive semiconductors for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. The papers report the effect of chromium on the key performance-related properties of polycrystalline TiO₂ (rutile), including (i) electronic structure, (ii) chromium-related photocatalytic properties, (iii) oxygen-related photocatalytic properties, (iv) electrochemical coupling and (v) surface versus bulk properties. The present work reports the effect of chromium on defect disorder and the related electronic structure of TiO₂, including the band gap and mid-gap energy levels. It is shown that chromium incorporation into the TiO₂ lattice results in a decrease of the band gap from 3.04 eV for pure TiO₂ to 1.4 and 1.3 eV, for Cr-doped TiO₂ (1.365 at% Cr) after annealing at 1373 K in the gas phase of controlled oxygen activity, 21 kPa and 10^?10 Pa, respectively. The optical properties determined using the ultraviolet-vis spectroscopy (in the reflectance mode) indicate that chromium incorporation results in the formation of mid-band energy levels. In this work, we show that chromium at and above the concentrations levels of 0.04 and 0.376 at% results in the formation of acceptor-type energy levels at 0.57 and 1.16 eV (above the valence band), respectively, which are related to tri-valent chromium in titanium sites and titanium vacancies, respectively. Application of well-defined protocol leads to the determination of data that are well reproducible. The new insight involves the determination of the band gap of TiO₂ processed in the gas phase of controlled oxygen activity.

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International nanotechnology development in 2003: Country,institution, and technology field analysis based on USPTO patent database

Nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) have seen rapid growth and expansion in new areas in recent years. This paper provides an international patent analysis using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data searched by keywords of the entire text: title, abstract, claims, and specifications. A fraction of these patents fully satisfy the National Nanotechnology Initiative definition of nanotechnology (which requires exploiting specific phenomena and direct manipulation at the nanoscale), while others only make use of NSE tools and methods of investigation. In previous work we proposed an integrated patent analysis and visualization framework of patent content mapping for the NSE field and of knowledge flow pattern identification until 2002. In this paper, the results are updated for 2003, and the new trends are presented.     

Quantum wire network with magnetic flux

The charge transport and the noise of a quantum wire network, made of three semi-infinite external leads attached to a ring crossed by a magnetic flux, are investigated. The system is driven away from equilibrium by connecting the external leads to heat reservoirs with different temperatures and/or chemical potentials. The properties of the exact scattering matrix of this configuration as a function of the momentum, the magnetic flux and the transmission along the ring are explored. We derive the conductance and the noise, describing in detail the role of the magnetic flux. In the case of weak coupling between the ring and the reservoirs, a resonant tunneling effect is observed. We also discover that a non-zero magnetic flux has a strong impact on the usual Johnson–Nyquist law for the pure thermal noise at small temperatures.     

Torsion-complete and algebraically compact groups with compact endomorphism rings

We give a complete characterization of torsion-complete and algebraically compact abelian groups whose endomorphism rings admit a compact ring topology.     

Periodicity of the Spectrum of a Finite Union of Intervals

A set Ω, of Lebesgue measure 1, in the real line is called spectral if there is a set Λ of real numbers such that the exponential functions e _λ (x)=exp (2πiλx), λ∈Λ, form a complete orthonormal system on L ²(Ω). Such a set Λ is called a spectrum of Ω. In this note we present a simplified proof of the fact that any spectrum Λ of a set Ω which is finite union of intervals must be periodic. The original proof is due to Bose and Madan.     

Structural characterization and photoluminescence of nanocrystalline Ho-doped BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> derived from sol–gel method

Nanocrystalline Ho-doped BaTiO₃, with average nanocrystals size of 20 nm, have been prepared using a sol–gel combustion technique. The structural and morphological properties of the powders have been investigated by X-ray powder diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Chemical states of the holmium on the Ba_0.97Ho_0.03TiO₃ ceramic surface were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, their photoluminescence properties were analyzed.     

Universal mechanism of dissipation in Fermi superfluids at ultralow temperatures

We show that the vortex dynamics in Fermi superfluids at ultralow temperatures is governed by the local heating of the vortex cores creating the heat flux carried by nonequilibrium quasiparticles emitted by moving vortices. This mechanism provides a universal zero temperature limit of dissipation in Fermi superfluids. For the typical experimental conditions realized by the turbulent motion of ^{3}He-B, the temperature of the vortex cores is estimated to be of the order 0.2 T(c). The dispersion of Kelvin waves is derived, and the heat flow generated by Kelvin cascade is shown to have a value close to that experimentally observed.     

Integration of individual TiO2 nanotube on the chip: Nanodevice for hydrogen sensing

Titania (TiO₂) exists in several phases possessing different physical properties. In view of this fact, we report on three types of hydrogen sensors based on individual TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) with three different structures consisting of amorphous, anatase or anatase/rutile mixed phases. Different phases of the NTs were produced by controlling the temperature of post‐anodization thermal treatment. Integration of individual TiO₂ nanotubes on the chip was performed by employing metal deposition function in the focused ion beam (FIB/SEM) instrument. Gas response was studied for devices made from an as‐grown individual nanotube with an amorphous structure, as well as from thermally annealed individual nanotubes exhibiting anatase crystalline phase or anatase/rutile heterogeneous structure. Based on electrical measurements using two Pt complex contacts deposited on a single TiO₂ nanotube, we show that an individual NT with an anatase/rutile crystal structure annealed at 650 °C has a higher gas response to hydrogen at room temperature than samples annealed at 450 °C and as‐grown. The obtained results demonstrate that the structural properties of the TiO₂ NTs make them a viable new gas sensing nanomaterial at room temperature. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)