Solubility parameter determination of cationic surfactants by inverse GC

Summary The solubility parameters of cationic surfactants were obtained using the inverse gas chromatographic technique. The surfactants didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide and dodecyl pyridinium chloride were used as stationary phase and retention data of different probe solutes were measured at different temperatures. The results were analysed by the combination of Flory-Huggins and Hildebrand theories, and the solubility parameters of the surfactants were obtained in a range of temperatures between 80–120°C.     

EPR and optical absorption studies on VO ions in KZnClSO4·3H2O single crystals—an observation of superhyperfine structure

EPR spectra of VO²⁺ ions doped in KZnClSO₄·3H₂O single crystals have been studied at different temperatures. The EPR spectrum shows a well-resolved hyperfine and superhyperfine structure patterns. The angular variation of EPR spectra reveals the presence of more than three magnetic complexes, which correspond to distinct sites of VO²⁺ ion. From the angular variation EPR data, the spin-Hamiltonian parameters are evaluated and discussed. The optical absorption spectrum studied at room temperature shows bands corresponding to C_4v symmetry. From the EPR and optical data, the molecular-orbital bonding coefficient ε² and β² are evaluated and discussed. The observed five-line superhyperfine structure has been attributed to four protons (with I=1/2) from the surrounding water molecules of one of the vanadyl sites.     

Study of relaxor-like behaviour of laser ablated (Pb, La)Tio3 thin films

Lanthanum modified lead titanate (PLT) thin films are one of the potential candidates for the pyroelectric and memory applications due to their excellent dielectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties. PLT thin films with 25 at.% of La were deposited on platinum coated Si substrates by the laser ablation technique. The phase transition studies were done in the temperature range of −40 to 150 °C as a function of frequency and ac field. A diffused phase transition with the shifting of the maximum dielectric permittivity (?_max) to higher temperatures with the increase of frequency and dielectric dispersion with frequency at the lower temperatures were observed. The variation of the temperature corresponding to maximum dielectric constant T_m, with frequency follows the Vogel-Fulcher relation, which is the characteristic of the relaxor-like behavior of the material. With the increase of ac drive, the T_max was shifted to lower value.     

Trace cocharacters and the Kronecker products of Schur functions

It follows from the theory of trace identities developed by Procesi and Razmyslov that the trace cocharacters arising from the trace identities of the algebra M_r(F) of r×r matrices over a field F of characteristic zero are given by TC_r,n=∑_λΛr(n)χ^λχ^λ where χ^λχ^λ denotes the Kronecker product of the irreducible characters of the symmetric group associated with the partition λ with itself and Λ_r(n) denotes the set of partitions of n with r or fewer parts, i.e. the set of partitions λ=(λ₁λ_k) with kr. We study the behavior of the sequence of trace cocharacters TC_r,n. In particular, we study the behavior of the coefficient of χ^(ν,n−m) in TC_r,n as a function of n where ν=(ν₁ν_k) is some fixed partition of m and n−mν_k. Our main result shows that such coefficients always grow as a polynomial in n of degree r−1.     

Spreading Code Design Using a Global Optimization Method

The performance of a code division multiple access system depends on the correlation properties of the employed spreading code. Low cross-correlation values between spreading sequences are desired to suppress multiple access interference and to improve bit error performance. An auto-correlation function with a distinct peak enables proper synchronization and suppresses intersymbol interference. However, these requirements contradict each other and a trade-off needs to be established. In this paper, a global two dimensional optimization method is proposed to minimize the out-of-phase average mean-square aperiodic auto-correlation with average mean-square aperiodic cross-correlation being allowed to lie within a fixed region. This approach is applied to design sets of complex spreading sequences. A design example is presented to illustrate the relation between various correlation characteristics. The correlations of the obtained sets are compared with correlations of other known sequences.     

Magnetic phases in Mn<Subscript>1</Subscript>_<Subscript>x</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>x</Subscript>WO<Subscript>4</Subscript> studied by neutron powder diffraction

The magnetic structures of Mn_1-xFe_xWO₄ with x = 0.0, 0.16, 0.21, 0.225, 0.232, 0.24, 0.27, 0.29, and 1.0 were refined from neutron powder diffraction data. The magnetic phase diagram could be completed in the coexistence range of different magnetic structures up to x = 0.29. For the magnetic state at 1.5 K a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with a propagation vector = (±1/4, 1/2, 1/2) was found for x ⩽ 0.22 while the magnetic spins order with = (1/2, 0, 0) for x ≥ 0.22. In the latter phase, additionally, weak magnetic reflections indexed to an incommensurate ordering with = (- 0.214, 1/2, 0.457) occur in the diffraction pattern up to x = 0.29 indicating the occurence of a reentrant phase. For 0.12 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.29 the low temperature phases are separated from a magnetic high temperature phase showing only magnetic reflections indexed to a spin arrangement with = (1/2, 0, 0). The magnetic phase diagram is discussed qualitatively considering random superexchange between the statistically distributed Mn²⁺- and Fe²⁺-ions in the coexistence range 0.12 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.29 of different magnetic structures related to those of pure MnWO₄ and FeWO₄. Received 9 October 2002 Published online 14 March 2003     

Charge transfer excitons: dynamic theory of vibronic spectra

The vibronic spectra of charge transfer excitons (CTE) in a molecular one-component or alternatingly ordered two-component chain are treated in the framework of a dynamic approach (neglecting thermal excitations of the intramolecular vibrations). The model introduces two mechanisms of coupling between CTEs and vibrational quanta: (1) shift of the equilibrium positions of the nuclei in the ionized donor or acceptor; (2) change of the vibrational frequency in the ionized molecule. This model allows to generalize the simple CTE Hamiltonian and the vibronic Hamiltonian of Frenkel excitons. The linear optical susceptibility is calculated in the vibronic region (one CTE and one vibrational quantum). The double splitting of vibronics of CTEs was analyzed: (1) the splitting connected with the location of the intramolecular vibration on the donors or on the acceptors; (2) the splitting connected with the symmetry of the vibronic spectra (in the degenerate case). The general structure of the vibronic spectra of CTEs is established. It contains structureless absorption lines, which correspond to two-particle bands (the phonon is excited on a neutral molecule neighboring the donor or the acceptor) and Lorentz-type lines of one-particle states, which correspond to the bound propagation of the CTE and the phonon.     

Half-width temperature dependence of nitrogen broadened lines in the ν2 band of H2O

Forty-seven N₂ broadened water vapor line-widths have been measured in the 1845-2140 cm⁻¹ spectral range with a Fourier Transform spectrometer in the 258-330 K temperature range at a spectral resolution of 0.005 cm⁻¹ for the lines with upper state rotational quantum number up to 16. The measured exponents of the temperature dependence of the width exhibit a large range of values from 1.60 to −0.86. Theoretical calculations were made using a semi-empirical technique based on the Anderson theory. The calculated broadening coefficients as well as the temperature exponents for the half-width agree satisfactory with measured values.