High-temperature redox behavior of doped SrTiO3 and LaCrO3

The stability of high-temperature fuel cell electrodes to their ambient environment is important for the long-term reliability of fuel cells. In this report the behavior of oxide electrode materials as a function of oxygen activity and temperature is considered. Models for the oxidation-reduction behavior of both p- and n-type oxides are presented. These models take into account the absorption and evolution of oxygen which take place as oxygen activity is varied. The resulting instability in electrical conductivity is explained as a consequence of changes in carrier concentration due to variability in ionic defect concentration. The proposed models are applied to acceptor-doped LaCrO₃ and donor-doped SrTiO₃. It is shown that the models explain the experimental data well and as a consequence diagrams can be made which show the regions of oxygen activity and temperature for which stability of electrical conductivity and defect structure might be expected.     

Multiple Solutions of Generalized Multipoint Conjugate Boundary Value Problems

We consider the boundary value problem

A study of\bar np annihilations between 0.5 and 0.8 GeV/c

A study of \(\bar np\) annihilations with \(\bar n\) momentum between 0.5 and 0.8 GeV/c is presented. The search fors-channel resonances in \(\bar np\) annihilations reveal possibly two narrow structures in the odd pions final state. Inclusiveρ ⁰ andf ⁰ cross sections in \(\bar np\) annihilations have been estimated to be 9.0±0.6 mb and 3.4±0.6 mb respectively. Longitudinal and transverse momentum distributions for inclusiveρ ⁰ production have been presented. A study of resonance production in exclusive final state revealsρ ⁰ production to be dominant in the odd pion final states andρ ⁺,ω ⁰ productions are most important for the even pion final states. Theπ ⁺ π ^? effective mass spectra in the backward and the forward directions in the \(\bar np\) c.m. system have been examined for a possible ?-ω interference effect.     

Probing crystallinity of never-dried wood cellulose with Raman spectroscopy

The structure of wood cell wall cellulose in its native state remains poorly understood, limiting the progress of research and development in numerous areas, including plant science, biofuels, and nanocellulose based materials. It is generally believed that cellulose in cell wall microfibrils has both crystalline and amorphous regions. However, there is evidence that appears to be contrary to this assumption. Here we show, using 1064-nm FT-Raman spectroscopy, that (1) compared to the crystalline state, cellulose in the never-dried native state is laterally aggregated but in a less-than crystalline state wherein internal chains are water-accessible, (2) hydroxymethyl groups (CH₂OH) in cellulose exist not only in the tg conformation but also in the gt rotamer form, and (3) in native-state fibrils, low-frequency Raman bands due to cellulose crystal domains are absent, indicating the lack of crystallinity. Further evidence of the absence of crystallinity of the fibrils was the failure of the normal 64 % H₂SO₄ hydrolysis procedure to produce nanocellulose crystals from untreated wood. X-ray diffraction data obtained on wood, treated-wood, and wood-cellulose samples were consistent with the new finding and indicated that full-width-at-half-height of the X-ray diffractograms and lateral disorder in samples as measured by Raman were correlated (R² = 0.95).     

Iodination of industrially important aromatic compounds with aqueous potassium triiodide

A new reagent system consisting of aqueous KI₃ in AcOH and NaIO₄ as oxidant has been found to be effective in iodinating a variety of commercially important aromatic substrates under ambient conditions. The presence of Na₂SO₃ enhances the yield and the product purity. The procedure ensures high yields (72–98%) at room temperature in a short reaction time. A remarkable feature of this system is that even acidsensitive functionalities like anilines can be iodinated quantitatively.     

Quantitative Comparison of the Antimicrobial Efficiency of Leaching versus Nonleaching Polymer Materials

New antimicrobial materials will be more and more in the focus for hygienic and clinical disease control. Antimicrobial materials have to be distinguished in leaching and nonleaching materials. For many applications of antimicrobial materials on implants the use of nonleaching materials is essential. Therefore, the antimicrobial efficiency of leaching and nonleaching polymers has been investigated quantitatively in vitro in direct comparison on a highly relevant implant of central venous catheters (CVCs) using a well‐established called Certika test. This test is especially designed to test antimicrobial properties of leachable and nonleachable materials. This contribution demonstrates that newly developed nonleaching antimicrobial CVCs are equivalent to conventional leaching CVC systems in their antimicrobial performance against gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria, as well as Candida species. The use of new nonleaching antimicrobial polymers as shown here for CVCs represents a different mode of action with the aim to prevent infections also with antibiotic‐resistant strains and reduced side effects.

     

Compact standing wave thermoacoustic generator for power conversion applications

In the past decade, a variety of thermoacoustic engines (TAEs) were devised to convert thermal energy to acoustic power. In this paper, we optimized the design of a standing wave thermoacoustic generator that can provide high intensity acoustic pressure and convert it into electrical power output using a low cost alternator. Three prototypes of standing wave thermoacoustic generator (TAG) were designed to optimize the overall efficiency. The first prototype of standing wave TAG could produce an acoustic pressure of 0.9 kPa (153 dB) with an input thermal power of 210 W. Further, the maximum heat to electrical conversion efficiency was 0.045% with an input thermal power of 250 W. However, the performance of this system was not fully optimized. The performance of TAE depends upon various parameters including stack position, stack length and resonator length. Hence, a new second prototype of tunable TAG was developed to tune these critical parameters in order to improve the overall efficiency. A compact third prototype of TAG was successfully built with optimized parameters and has been tested. In the improved design, high intensity acoustic pressure of 2.9 kPa (163.5 dB) was observed for the same 210 W input thermal power. The maximum heat to electrical energy conversion efficiency was 0.084% with an input of 250 W which is 87% higher as compared to the first prototype. The major reason for the lower conversion efficiency is due to the low efficiency of the alternator. In future, high efficiency alternator designs can be employed along with careful impedance matching to obtain higher conversion efficiencies. The results described in this paper demonstrate the potential of developing compact portable acoustic power and electricity generators for decentralized power applications.     

Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles on Gold Nanorods Using Functionalized Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) as Polymeric “Glue”

A telechelic thermoresponsive polymer, α‐amino‐ω‐thiol‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (H₂N‐PNiPAM‐SH), is used as the polymeric glue to assemble gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) around gold nanorods (AuNRs) into a satellite structure. Prepared by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization followed by hydrazinolysis, H₂N‐PNiPAM‐SH is able to interlink the two types of the gold building blocks with the thiol‐end grafting on AuNRs and the amine‐end coordinating on the AuNP surface. The density of the grafted AuNPs on AuNRs can be tuned by adjusting the molar ratio between AuNPs and AuNRs in the feed. The resulted satellite‐like assembly exhibits unique optical property that was responsive to temperature change.     

Variational relation problems in a general setting

In this paper, we consider variational relation problems involving a binary relation. The framework presented is more general than that in [J. Optim. Theory Appl. 138 (2008) , 65–76] and in other recent papers which deal with this subject.     

Screen conformal lightlike submanifolds of semi-Riemannian manifolds

Since the induced objects on a lightlike submanifold depend on its screen distribution which, in general, is not unique and hence we can not use the classical submanifold theory on a lightlike submanifold in the usual way. Therefore, in present paper, we study screen conformal lightlike submanifolds of a semi-Riemannian manifold, which are essential for the existence of unique screen distribution. We obtain a characterization theorem for the existence of screen conformal lightlike submanifolds of a semi-Riemannian manifold. We prove that if the differential operator D^s is a metric Otsuki connection on transversal lightlike bundle for a screen conformal lightlike submanifold then semi-Riemannian manifold is a semi-Euclidean space. We also obtain some characterization theorems for a screen conformal totally umbilical lightlike submanifold of a semi-Riemannian space form. Further, we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for a screen conformal lightlike submanifold of constant curvature to be a semi-Euclidean space. Finally, we prove that for an irrotational screen conformal lightlike submanifold of a semi-Riemannian space form, the induced Ricci tensor is symmetric and the null sectional curvature vanishes.