Formation of negative oxidation states of platinum and gold in redox ionic liquid: Electrochemical evidence

The electrochemical reduction of noble metal electrodes in the presence of redox ionic liquid, 1-ferrocenylethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [FcEMIM][TFSI], was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Our experiments suggest the formation of metal with negative oxidation states, in the cases of platinum and gold electrodes [M_n⁻, FcEMIM⁺]. By analogy with the previous work, the formation of these phases is concomitant with the insertion of the supporting electrolyte; which correspond in our experimental condition to the redox cation of the ionic liquid. As an exciting result, the electrochemical investigations of the reduced electrode in electrolytic solution, containing solvent and supporting electrolyte, evidence the presence of the ferrocene groups at the electrode surface. Moreover, the reduced electrode exhibits the presence of the ferrocene even after, contact with air, after ultrasound, and after physical polishing, highlighting the large stability of this organo-metallic phases formed in this media. The AFM investigations demonstrate the morphological change of the platinum surface after the reduction process. Finally, our works bring a formal electrochemical proof of the presence of the ionic liquid cation inside the electrode material after the cathodic treatment in this media.     

Lattice systems with a continuous symmetry

We prove that the expansion in powers of the temperatureT of the correlation functions and the free energy of the plane rotator model on ad-dimensional lattice is asymptotic to all orders inT. The leading term in the expansion is the spin wave approximation and the higher powers are obtained by the usual perturbation series. We also prove the inverse power decay of the pair correlation at low temperatures ford=3.Supported by NSF Grant No. MCS 78-01885Supported by NSF Grant No. PHY 78-15920Supported by NSF Grant No. DMR 73-04355Supported by NSF Grant No. PHY-7825390 A01On leave from: Institut de Physique Théorique, Université de Louvain, BelgiumAlso: Department of Physics     

Debye-Hückel limit of quantum coulomb systems

In this paper, we consider charge symmetric quantum Coulomb systems with Boltzmann statistics. We prove that the theory of screening of Debye and Hückel is a combined classical and mean field limit of these quantum Coulomb systems.Supported by the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research     

Angular distribution of 1.04 GeV protons scattered by 12C, 58Ni, 208Pb

Angular distribution measurements for elastic and inelastic scattering of 1.04 GeV proton by ¹²C, ⁵⁸Ni and ²⁰⁸Pb with an energy resolution of the order of 100 keV are presented.     

Sensitivity improvement in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry achieved using a methane/argon and methanol/water/argon mixed gas plasma

The influence of the addition of carbon using methane or methanol/water to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) via the carrier gas flow on the sensitivity in laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was studied. During the ablation of SRM NIST 610 with simultaneous addition of CH(4) (0.6-1.4 ml min(-1)), a sensitivity enhancement of more than one order of magnitude for selected analytes (e.g. (75)As(+)) was observed. In addition to the sensitivity enhancement for As, Te, I and Se, also all other measured elements showed a significantly enhanced sensitivity (minimum by a factor of 2). Potential mechanisms for the observed intensity enhancement include charge transfer reactions, a change in the ICP shape and a temperature increase in the plasma. Furthermore, the aspiration of a methanol-water mixture into a cooled spray chamber and the simultaneous addition to the laser ablated aerosol was investigated. This type of mixing leads to a sensitivity enhancement up to a factor of 20. To prevent clogging of the sampler cone and skimmer cone by carbon deposition, a fast cleaning procedure for the interface is tested during running ICP, which allows the application of such a set-up for specific applications.     

Lattice systems with a continuous symmetry

We consider perturbations of a massless Gaussian lattice field on ? ^d ,d≧3, which preserves the continuous symmetry of the Hamiltonian, e.g., $$ - H = \sum\limits_{< x,y > } {(\phi _x - \phi _y )^2 + T(\phi _x - \phi _y )^4 ,\phi _x \in \mathbb{R}.} $$ It is known that for allT>0 the correlation functions in this model do not decay exponentially. We derive a power law upper bound for all (truncated) correlation functions. Our method is based on a combination of the log concavity inequalities of Brascamp and Lieb, reflection positivity and the Fortuin, Kasteleyn and Ginibre (F.K.G.) inequalities.