Impact of silica environment on hyperfine interactions in 𝜖-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles have found broad applications in medicine, especially for cell targeting and transport, and as contrast agents in MRI. Our samples of ??-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were prepared by annealing in silica matrix, which was leached off and the bare particles were then coated with amorphous silica layers of various thicknesses. The distribution of particle sizes was determined from the TEM pictures giving the average size ～20 nm and the thickness of silica coating ～5; 8; 12; 19 nm. The particles were further characterized by the XRPD and DC magnetic measurements. The nanoparticles consisted mainly of ??-Fe₂O₃ with admixtures of ～1 % of the α phase and less than 1 % of the γ phase. The hysteresis loops displayed coercivities of ～2 T at room temperature. The parameters of hyperfine interactions were derived from transmission Mössbauer spectra. Observed differences of hyperfine fields for nanoparticles in the matrix and the bare ones are ascribed to strains produced during cooling of the composite. This interpretation is supported by slight changes of their lattice parameters and increase of the elementary cell volume deduced from XRD. The temperature dependence of the magnetization indicated a two-step magnetic transition of the ??-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles spread between ～85 K and ～150 K, which is slightly modified by remanent tensile stresses in the case of nanoparticles in the matrix. The subsequent coating of the bare particles by silica produced no further change in hyperfine parameters, which indicates that this procedure does not modify magnetic properties of nanoparticles.     

Mössbauer studies on ultraporous Fe-Oxide/SiO2 aerogel

Magnetic aerogels with very low volume density of ～0.2 g/cm³ were prepared by sol-gel method and supercritical drying. The resulting materials were monolithic and displayed high surface area. By X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy the crystalline phase formed inside the mesopores of the SiO₂ matrix was identified as a spinel iron oxide. Comparison of the magnetic measurements with Mössbauer spectra at various temperatures contributed to the elucidation of the magnetic state of this nanocomposite system with restricted magnetic interactions, in particular its transition to a superparamagnetic state.     

The Mössbauer spectrum of synthetic hureaulite: Fe5 2+(H2O)4(PO4H)2(PO4)2

The crystal structure of synthetic ferrous hureaulite, Fe₅ ²⁺ (H₂O)₄(PO₄H)₂(PO₄)₂, was refined from single-crystal X-ray data. It is monoclinic, space group C2/c, with a=17.487(4), b=9.017(2), c=9.338(2) Å, β=96.27(3)°, V=1463.6(6) Å³, Z=4 and D _calc=3.327 g/cm³. This end member of the hureaulite series was crystallized under distinctly acidic conditions, by a method that gives perfect crystals, large enough for X-ray single crystal studies. The main feature of the hureaulite structure is that it has an equal number of normal (PO₄)³⁺ and acid (PO₄H)²⁺ tetradentate groups. These are centered on Fe²⁺ atoms and share corners with edge-linked octahedra, forming pentamer units. The five Fe²⁺ atoms are distributed on three distinct sites in these units. This can be directly observed in the Mössbauer spectrum at 295 K, which contains three doublets whose relative intensities correspond to the 1:2:2 distributions of crystallographic sites.     

Preparation and Photophysics of 2-(1-Pyrenyl)acrylic Acid and Its Methyl and 2′,2′,6′,6′-Tetramethyl-4′-Piperidyl Esters

Novel probes represented connection of pyrene as chromophore and sterically hindered amine stabilizers (HAS) in the form of esters of 2-(1-pyrenyl)acrylic acid were synthesized. HAS was in the form of parent amine (PAP) as well as stable nitroxyl radical form (PAP-NO^.). Photophysics of these probes were compared with their precursor as 2-(1-pyrenyl)acrylic acid (PAA) and its methyl ester (PAM). The fluorescence spectrum of PAA strongly depends on the acidity of the solution. The spectrum in neutral methanol indicates that it originates from the anionic form –COO⁻. Changes of acidity or basicity of methanol solution resulted in the changes of shape, position as well as the intensity of fluorescence band. This is due to the presence of protolytic equilibria, either in the ground state or in the singlet excited state, leading to the formation of molecular form –COOH and the cationic form –COOH₂⁺. The ester analogues did not show any changes in various pH conditions. Fluorescence of all probes depends on the polarity of solvents and the presence of oxygen. Intermolecular quenching was studied with external quenchers TEMPO and oxygen and the data were compared with the intramolecular quenching using 1′-oxo-2′,2′,6′,6′-tetramethyl-4′-piperidinyl-2-(1-pyrenyl)acrylate (PAP-NO^.).     

Quantitative analysis of thin samples by differential absorption imaging using a laser-plasma soft X-ray source

We consider the application of the differential absorption imaging technique in the soft X-ray region. The surface-density maps of test samples containing bromine, resulting from the application of the differential absorption imaging technique, are presented. Images of the samples were obtained in an X-ray monochromatic projection imaging scheme based on a spherically bent crystal using line emission close to the $L_2$ edge of bromine from a microplasma produced by focusing a nanosecond laser on the surface of an aluminum target.     

Singularity-free cosmological solutions with non-rotating perfect fluids

A conjecture stated by Raychaudhuri which claims that the only physical perfect fluid non-rotating non-singular cosmological models are comprised in the Ruiz–Senovilla and Fernández–Jambrina families is shown to be incorrect. An explicit counterexample is provided and the failure of the argument leading to the result is explicitly pointed out.     

Diffusion processes on power-law small-world networks

We consider diffusion processes on power-law small-world networks in different dimensions. In one dimension, we find a rich phase diagram, with different transient and recurrent phases, including a critical line with continuously varying exponents. The results were obtained using self-consistent perturbation theory and can also be understood in terms of a scaling theory, which provides a general framework for understanding processes on small-world networks with different distributions of long-range links.     

Creation of helical vortices during magnetization of aligned carbon nanotubes filled with Fe: theory and experiment

We report a novel magnetic phenomenon consisting of the formation of helical spin configurations during the magnetization of densely packed ferromagnetic nanowires encapsulated inside carbon nanotubes. We studied the hysteresis loops when the magnetic fields are applied parallel and perpendicular to the nanotubes axes. We also performed theoretical calculations on aligned nanowire arrays that clearly indicate the creation of helical spin vortices in the hysteresis loops. The latter are caused by the presence of strong dipolar interactions among neighboring wires.     

Scaling and universality of integer quantum Hall plateau-to-plateau transitions

We have investigated the integer quantum Hall plateau-to-plateau transition in two-dimensional electrons confined to AlxGa(1-x)As-Al0.33Ga0.67As heterostructures over a broad range of Al concentration x. For x between 0.65% and 1.6%, where the dominant contribution to disorder is from the short-range alloy potential fluctuations, we observe a perfect power-law scaling in the temperature range from 30 mK to 1 K with a critical exponent kappa = 0.42 +/- 0.01.