Transfert électronique d'intervalence entre sites inéquivalents: Étude de CaFe3O5 par spectrométrie Mössbauer

As in magnetite Fe₃O₄, calcium ferrite CaFe₃O₅ is an oxide in which electron transfer occurs between the iron ions ($\text{Fe}{}^{\mathrm{3+}}\text{Fe}{}^{\mathrm{2+}}\text{= 2}$). This intervalence exchange process has been studied by ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and by electrical conductivity measurements. In CaFe₃O₅, the Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions occupy different crystallographic sites and have a deformed octahedral coordination. Each Fe²⁺O₆ octahedron shares an edge with two Fe³⁺O₆ octahedra. In the antiferromagnetic region (T_N = 282 ± 2 K), the Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions are well differentiated. Thermally-activated electron transfer is observed above t_n, in the paramagnetic region and is well characterized by the Mössbauer spectra. These are analyzed using the hypothesis of an electron jump limited to a trimer Fe³⁺Fe²⁺Fe³⁺ which leads to a relaxation time of 180 ns at 298 K and 80 ns at 400 K. Within this temperature interval, the process follows the Arrhenius law with an activation energy of 0.10 eV. Electrical conductivity measurements lead to similar results with an activation energy of 0.09 ± 0.02 eV.     

The cracking of Czochralski-grown crystals

Crystals of brittle materials are easily cracked during manufacture and processing. This paper examines the thermal strains existing in crystals during and after pulling and the strains which can be built-in by the facet effect. It is shown that during the growth of a crystal with a radius R, there is a maximum acceptable axial gradient roughly proportional to R^?1.5 and that to prevent cracking after growth there is a maximum rate of cooling proportional to R^?2. Results obtained with bismuth silicon oxide for which all the relevant parameters (breaking strain, expansion coefficient, thermal diffusivity and cooling constant) have been measured are in accord with these relations at least for 4 <R<23 mm. The analysis seems valid for other materials (e.g. lithium niobate) with small breaking strains and negligible plastic ranges. For bismuth silicon oxide, (110) and (100) facets have lattice constants larger than the bulk of the crystal by about 4 and 6 parts in 10⁵ respectively. The edges of these facets are thus regions which are strained by amounts corresponding to 20 or 30% of the breaking strain. Under normal growth conditions, this strain is not particularly significant, but it does affect post-growth handling and during rapid growth, interface instabilities develop first at the facet edges.     

A mesoporous hydrogen-bonded organic-inorganic framework bearing the isopolymolybdate [Mo36O112(OH2)16]8-

The mesoporous H-bonded organic-inorganic hybrid material is built up from the assembly of the isopolymolybdate [Mo36O112(OH2)16]8- and H2bipy2+, which displays large interconnected cavities and exhibits a reversible water sorption behaviour while maintaining its striking crystal integrity.     

Direct sample fraction deposition using electrospray in narrow-bore size-exclusion chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for polymer characterization

A direct sample fraction deposition method was developed for off-line size-exclusion chromatography (SEC)/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. By using electrospray, the SEC eluent, together with a suitable matrix solution added coaxially, was directly deposited on the MALDI plate. Owing to the formation of very small droplets in electrospray, solvent evaporation is much faster. The fractionation volume in narrow-bore SEC, which can directly be collected in one MALDI spot, can easily be optimized in the range of a few microlitres. In addition, fairly homogeneous sample spots were obtained. The possible influence of composition variation of the SEC effluent on the analytical results using direct fraction deposition was investigated; no substantial effects were observed. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by characterizing a broad poly(methyl methacrylate) sample. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbo‐biphenyls and Carbo‐terphenyls: Oligo(phenylene ethynylene) Ring Carbo‐mers

Ring carbo‐mers of oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s (OPEn, n=0–2), made of C₂‐catenated C₁₈ carbo‐benzene rings, have been synthesized and characterized by NMR and UV‐vis spectroscopy, crystallography and voltammetry. Analyses of crystal and DFT‐optimized structures show that the C₁₈ rings preserve their individual aromatic character according to structural and magnetic criteria (NICS indices). Carbo‐terphenyls (n=2) are reversibly reduced at ca. ?0.42 V/SCE, i.e. 0.41 V more readily than the corresponding carbo‐benzene (?0.83 V/SCE), thus revealing efficient inter‐ring π‐conjugation. An accurate linear fit of E_1/2^red1 vs. the DFT LUMO energy suggests a notably higher value (?0.30 V/SCE) for a carbo‐quaterphenyl congener (n=3). Increase with n of the effective π‐conjugation is also evidenced by a red shift of two of the three main visible light absorption bands, all being assigned to TDDFT‐calculated excited states, one of them restricting to a HOMO→LUMO main one‐electron transition.     

Synthese et propriétés de conduction ionique des phases Li8−2xCaxCeO6 (0 < x ≤ 0,5) et Li6CaCeO6

The solid solution Li_8−2xCa_xCeO₆ (0 < x ≤ 0,5) and the definite phase Li₆CaCeO₆ have been obtained at 800°C through a study of Li---Ca---Ce---O system. Electrical measurements on the doped phases Li^tetr.₆ [Li_2-2xCa_xCe□]^oct.O₆ show that the conductivity varies slightly with the creation of vacancies in the octahedral layers. This result unambiguously confirms the following diffusion mechanism: the conduction is assumed essentially by lithium ions located in the tetrahedral layers. The compound Li₆CaCeO₆ is isostructural with Li₆In₂O₆. The cell is trigonal, Å, c = 10,603 Å, c/a = 1,058₇, and Z = 6. This new quaternary phase, which belongs to the same structural family of oxides of the type Li₈MO₆, either pure or doped with calcium, may be represented by the formula Li^tetr.₆[Ca Ce□]^oct.O₆. Electrical and structural data are correlated for this compound.