Determination of adsorbate coverages by leed and XPS

Layers of carbon, oxygen, sulfur and potassium adsorbed on an Fe(100) surface were studied by LEED, AES and XPS. When examined quantitatively by XPS, saturated c(2 × 2)CO(β), c(2 × 2)C and p(1 × 1)O surface structures yielded the C/O ratios expected from surface coverages of 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 monolayer, respectively. When these results were normalized to the equivalent coverages of 1.0 monolayer, the relative XPS cross-sections obtained for S, O, C and K were found to agree closely with the results of theoretical calculations. The results illustrate the use of these techniques for the quantitative determination of surface coverages.     

The decomposition of formic acid on Ni(100)

The decomposition of HCOOD was studied on Ni(100). Low temperature adsorption of HCOOD resulted in the desorption of D₂O, CO₂, CO, and H₂. The D₂O was evolved below room temperature. CO₂ and H₂ were evolved in coincident peaks at a temperature above that at which h₂ desorbed following H₂ adsorption and well above that for CO₂ desorption from CO₂ adsorption; CO desorbed primarily in a desorption limited step. The decomposition of formic acid on the clean surface was found to yield equal amounts of H₂, CO, and CO₂ within experimental error. The kinetics and mechanism of the decomposition of formic acid on Ni (110) and Ni(100) single crystal surfaces were compared. The reaction proceeded by the dehydration of formic acid to formic anhydride on both surfaces. The anhydride intermediate condensed into islands due to attractive dipole-dipole interactions. Within the islands the rate of the decomposition reaction to form CO₂ was given by:

$\text{Rate = 6 × 10}{}^{15}\text{exp{?[25,500 + ω(}\text{c}\text{c}{}_{\mathrm{sat}}\text{)]/RT} × c}$

, where c is the local surface concentration, c_sat is the saturation coverage for the particular crystal plane, and ω is the interaction potential. The interaction potential was determined to be 2.7 kcal/mole on Ni(110) and 1.4 kcal/mole on Ni(100); the difference observed was due to structural differences of the surfaces relating to the alignment of the dipole moments within the islands. These attractive interactions resulted in an autocatalytic reaction on Ni(110), whereas the interaction was not strong enough on Ni(100) to sustain the autocatalytic behavior. Formic acid decomposition oxidized the Ni(100) surface resulting in the formation of a stable surface oxide. The buildup of the oxide resulted in a change in the selectivity reducing the amount of CO formed. This trend indicated that on the oxide surface the decomposition proceeded via a formate intermediate as on Ni(110) O.     

Negative refraction

Light bends the wrong way in materials where both ε and μ are negative as was pointed out in 1968, but the absence of natural materials with this property led to neglect of the subject until 1999 when it was shown how to make artificial materials, metamaterials, with negative μ. The rapid advance of the subject since that date, both in theory and experiment, is reflected in the exponential growth of publications now at the 200 per year level and still growing. This interest is explained by the sudden availability of a qualitatively different class of electromagnetic materials combined with the quite startling properties which these materials appear to have; all of which provokes debate as each new facet of their behaviour is revealed. Experiment has been vital to resolution of controversy and has chiefly been in the microwave region of the spectrum though there is potential in the optical region currently being explored by several groups.     

The coadsorption of CO and H2 on Fe(100)

The coadsorption of CO and hydrogen on an Fe(100) surface was studied by temperature programmed desorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that CO adsorption blocked the subsequent dissociative adsorption of H₂, although it did not seem to affect the hydrogen binding energy. Preadsorption of hydrogen was observed to reduce the binding energy of CO subsequently adsorbed and to inhibit the dissociation of CO. A new surface species was identified in a coadsorbed layer of CO and hydrogen. This species was evidenced by the formation of a desorption peak for H₂ at 475 K when CO was adsorbed subsequent to H₂ adsorption.     

Experimental investigations of the nuclear level density by using heavy ion reactions

The transition of the level density parameter a _off from the low excitation energy value a _off=A/8 MeV⁻¹ to the Fermi gas value a _FG ∼ A/15 MeV⁻¹ was discovered a few years ago studying particle spectra evaporated from hot compound systems of A∼ 160. A number of experiments have been recently performed to confirm the earlier findings and extend the investigation to other mass regions and to higher excitation energies. Furthermore, precision coincidence experiments have been done in the lead region in which evaporation residues are tagged by low energy gammarays. Those experiments open the possibility of a detailed study of the level densities in nuclei where the shell effects are important.     

Direct measurement of the 7Be solar neutrino flux with 192 days of borexino data

We report the direct measurement of the 7Be solar neutrino signal rate performed with the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The interaction rate of the 0.862 MeV 7Be neutrinos is 49+/-3stat+/-4syst counts/(day.100 ton). The hypothesis of no oscillation for 7Be solar neutrinos is inconsistent with our measurement at the 4sigma C.L. Our result is the first direct measurement of the survival probability for solar nu(e) in the transition region between matter-enhanced and vacuum-driven oscillations. The measurement improves the experimental determination of the flux of 7Be, pp, and CNO solar nu(e), and the limit on the effective neutrino magnetic moment using solar neutrinos.     

Precision measurement of the (7)Be solar neutrino interaction rate in Borexino

The rate of neutrino-electron elastic scattering interactions from 862 keV (7)Be solar neutrinos in Borexino is determined to be 46.0±1.5(stat)(-1.6)(+1.5)(syst)?counts/(day·100 ton). This corresponds to a ν(e)-equivalent (7)Be solar neutrino flux of (3.10±0.15)×10(9) cm(-2)?s(-1) and, under the assumption of ν(e) transition to other active neutrino flavours, yields an electron neutrino survival probability of 0.51±0.07 at 862 keV. The no flavor change hypothesis is ruled out at 5.0?σ. A global solar neutrino analysis with free fluxes determines Φ(pp)=6.06(-0.06)(+0.02)×10(10) cm(-2)?s(-1) and Φ(CNO)<1.3×10(9) cm(-2)?s(-1) (95% C.L.). These results significantly improve the precision with which the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein large mixing angle neutrino oscillation model is experimentally tested at low energy.     

Non-Fickian water vapor sorption dynamics by Nafion membranes

Dynamics of water absorption from a saturated vapor and water desorption into dry air for Nafion 1100 EW ionomers have been measured for film thicknesses between 51 and 606 microm and at temperatures ranging from 30 to 90 degrees C. Water absorption and desorption exhibit two distinct non-Fickian characteristics: (1) desorption is 10 times faster than absorption and (2) the normalized mass change does not collapse to a single master curve when plotted against time normalized by membrane thickness squared, t/l2, for either absorption or desorption. Water desorption data were fit well by a model in which diffusion is rapid and interfacial mass transport resistance is the rate-limiting process for water loss. Water absorption is described by a two-stage process. At early times, interfacial mass transport controls water absorption, and at longer times, water absorption is controlled by the dynamics of polymer swelling and relaxation.