Studies on electrophoretically deposited nanostructured barium titanate systems and carrier transport phenomena

We report on the development of nanostructured barium titanate (BaTiO₃, BT) films on ~200-μm-thick Ag substrates by employing a cathodic electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique, where solid-state-derived BT nanoparticles are used as the starting material. Structural, morphological and compositional analyses of the as-synthesized BT nanoparticles and films were performed by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy studies. The synthesized nano-BT system has an average crystallite size of ~8.1 nm and a tetragonality (c/a) value ~1.003. To reveal current transport mechanism, the BT films possessing microporous structures and surrounded by homogeneously grown islands were assessed in a metal–insulator–metal (MIM) conformation. The forward current conduction was observed to be purely thermionic up to respective voltages of ~1.4 and 2.2 V as for the fresh and 3-day aged samples. On the other hand, direct tunneling (DT)-mediated Ohmic feature was witnessed at a comparatively higher voltage, beyond which Fowler–Nordheim tunneling (FN) dominates in the respective MIM junctions. The magnitude of current accompanied by FN process was observed to be stronger in reverse biasing than that of forward biasing case. The use of microporous BT films can offer new insights as regards regulated tunneling events meant for miniaturized nanoelectronic elements/components.     

Synthesis of 5-alkylated barbituric acids and 3-alkylated indoles via microwave-assisted three-component reactions in solvent-free conditions using Hantzsch 1,4-dihydropyridines as reducing agents

Reaction of barbituric acids with aldehydes and dihydropyridines in one pot under microwave (MW) irradiation in the absence of solvent, affords 55–82% of the 5-benzylated barbituric acids. Use of alkyl nitriles or barbituric acids with indole-3-aldehyde and dihydropyridine (DHP) afforded 3-alkylated indoles in 57–76 % yield. In each case DHPs are converted to pyridines.     

Extending photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles to visible region of illumination by doping of cerium

Cerium-doped Titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) nanoparticles are prepared by sol-gel method. Doping shifts the UV absorption edge of TiO(2) to the visible region, making it efficient for visible light photocatalysis. Incorporation of cerium decreases the effective band gap of TiO(2) and increases the Urbach energy levels. At the dopant concentrations of 0.015 and 0.025 mol the luminescence intensity increases compared to undoped TiO(2); however, the luminescence is quenched at 0.035 mol. Quenching of luminescence indicates efficient separation of charge carriers. Undoped TiO(2) is showing poor performance in the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible light. However, on cerium doping its photoactivity is increased, and is drastically enhanced at 0.035 mol of cerium. Further increase in Ce(3+) doping level to 0.045 mol results in the reduction of the photodegradation of the dye. On UV irradiation, entire samples show good photocatalytic activity up to 30 min, but their efficiency decreases when irradiation time is increased to 45 min. Irradiation for longer time results in negative charging of the TiO(2) surface with migrating electrons. The negatively charged surface repels the OH(-) ion and O(2) molecule from adsorbing on its surface thus decreasing the availability of hydroxyl and superoxide radical for dye degradation.     

Efficient synthesis of methyl carbamate via Hofmann rearrangement in the presence of TsNBr2

An efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of carbamates from the corresponding amides via the Hofmann rearrangement using N,N-dibromo-p-toluenesulfonamide (TsNBr₂) in the presence of DBU in methanol. The reaction goes into completion in 10–20 min at 65 °C to produce the corresponding carbamate in excellent yield.     

Synthesis of some novel functionalized dihydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines via an one-pot three-component reaction catalysed by InCl3

Some novel functionalized dihydropyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives 4 were synthesized using a one-pot three-component reaction of 6-aminouracils 1, aryl aldehydes 2 and 3-cyanoacetyl indole 3 using InCl₃ as catalyst.     

Carbon-13 NMR relaxation and transitions in polymers

High-resolution proton-decoupled carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation parameters have been obtained as a function of temperature for a set of completely amorphous polymers, semicrystalline polymers, and a series of ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymers. With these samples the nature of the glass temperature, other postulated amorphous transitions, and the β transition were investigated. For the completely amorphous polymers, the average correlation times depend on temperature according to the Williams–Landel–Ferry relation. Spectral collapse occurs at temperatures whose ratio to T_g is in the range 1.2–1.4 and corresponds to a correlation time of about 10^?7s. The loss of resolvable spectra is demonstrated to be a consequence of experimental methods and is not due to the occurrence of another amorphous transition. Both the methylene and methine carbons can be resolved for the ethylenevinyl acetate copolymers. Although the correlation time for the methylene carbon is continuous and resolvable through the β transition region, the methine branch-point resonance is lost. The implication of these results to the molecular nature of the β transition is discussed.     

连续波锁模Pr3+:YLF激光器

本文报导了采用氩离子激光器来泵浦Pr³⁺:YLF晶体,应用声光调制器实现了主动锁模;同时应用振动─高反射平面镜也实现了被动锁模,两种锁模均得到了ps光脉冲.据作者了解这是这种晶体材料的第一次锁模运转.     

Solution of sparse quasi-square rectangular systems by Gaussian elimination

We present a general method for the linear least-squares solutionof overdetermined and underdetermined systems. The method isparticularly efficient when the coefficient matrix is quasi-square,that is when the number of rows and number of columns is almostthe same. The numerical methods for linear least-squares problemsand minimum-norm solutions do not generally take account ofthis special characteristic. The proposed method is based onLU factorization of the original quasi-square matrix A, assumingthat A has full rank. In the overdetermined case, the LU factorsare used to compute a basis for the null space of A^T. The right-handside vector b is then projected onto this subspace and the least-squaressolution is obtained from the solution of this reduced problem.In the case of underdetermined systems, the desired solutionis again obtained through the solution of a reduced system.The use of this method may lead to important savings in computationaltime for both dense and sparse matrices. It is also shown inthe paper that, even in cases where the matrices are quite small,sparse solvers perform better than dense solvers. Some practicalexamples that illustrate the use of the method are included.