Monitoring of safety features,fissile material accumulation and concentration in nuclear reprocessing by active and passive neutron counting techniques

The application, the advantage and limits of neutron monitoring techniques, such as Hf-monitors, fissile material accumulation and concentration monitors are being discussed. The active neutron counting technique applied to emptied pulsed extraction columns containing Hf-sieve plates allows conclusive answers as to the position of the plates in the columns. Pu-accumulations on Hf-sieve plates in pulsed extraction columns can be estimated within a factor of two, whereby the detection limit is about equal to or less than 1 g Pu/plate. Fissile material concentration changes of 1.1 g/l can be detected in the case of²³⁵U in solution and of 0.4 Pu/l if a²³⁹Pu/²⁴⁰Pu ratio of 4 to 1 is assumed.     

Spectroscopic investigation of the chromium-doped LiNbGeO5 laser crystal

Polarized absorption and emission spectra, and temperature dependences of the fluorescence lifetimes and intensities for the chromium-doped LiNbGeO₅ laser crystal are presented. Crystal symmetry and comparison with the infrared fluorescence properties of the Cr-doped Mg₂SiO₄ and Y₃Al₅O₁₂ laser crystals seem to identify the active center as a Cr⁴⁺ ion in a tetrahedral site.     

Molecular weight dependence of diblock copolymer segregation at a polymer/polymer interface

Utilizing forward recoil spectrometry (FRES), we have determined the segregation isotherm which describes the interfacial excess z_i^* of diblock copolymers of poly (d₈-styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine) (dPS-PVP) at the interface between the homopolymers PS and PVP as a function of ?_∞, the volume fraction of diblock copolymer remaining in the host homopolymer. All the samples were analyzed after annealing at temperatures and times sufficient to achieve equilibrium segregation. The effect of the degree of polymerization of both the diblock copolymers and the host homopolymers on the segregation isotherm is investigated. When the degree of polymerization of the homopolymer is much larger than that of the diblock copolymer, the normalized interfacial excess (z_i^*/R_g), where R_g is the radius of gyration of an isolated block copolymer chain, is a universal function of that portion of the block copolymer chemical potential due to chain stretching. The existence of such a universal function is predicted by theory and its form is in good agreement with self-consistent mean field calculations. Using these results, one can predict important aspects of the block copolymer segregation (e.g., the saturation interfacial excess) without recourse to the time-consuming numerical calculations. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Influence of intrachain hydrogen bonding on the cyclization of a polystyrene chain

Cyclization of a polystyrene chain (M_n = 10,600; M_w/M_n = 1.09) both ends labeled with 4-(1-pyrenyl)butanoamide groups was studied in cyclohexane between 25 and 95°C. The amide groups (peptide bonds) at both ends can form an intrachain hydrogen bond between the amide hydrogen at one chain end and the carbonyl oxygen at the other. The presence of two sets of conformers, random coils, and chains cyclized through hydrogen bonding, complicates the data analysis. The pyrene excimer kinetics of this polymer is well described by a model composed of two monomers (hydrogen bonded and nonbonded chains) and one excimer, in equilibrium. The cyclization rate constant for hydrogen-bonded chains is larger than the one for nonhydrogen-bonded chains. The pyrene excimer binding energy (ca. 1.6 kcal/mol) is lower than the published value for nonhydrogen-bonded chains (～ 9 kcal/mol), suggesting that intrachain hydrogen bonding hinders the stabilization of the excimer. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Coupled lubrication and Stokes flow finite elements

A method is developed for performing a local reduction of the governing physics for fluid problems with domains that contain a combination of narrow and non‐narrow regions, and the computational accuracy and performance of the method are measured. In the narrow regions of the domain, where the fluid is assumed to have no inertia and the domain height and curvature are assumed small, lubrication, or Reynolds, theory is used locally to reduce the two‐dimensional Navier–Stokes equations to the one‐dimensional Reynolds equation while retaining a high degree of accuracy in the overall solution. The Reynolds equation is coupled to the governing momentum and mass equations of the non‐narrow region with boundary conditions on the mass and momentum flux. The localized reduction technique, termed ‘stitching,’ is demonstrated on Stokes flow for various geometries of the hydrodynamic journal bearing—a non‐trivial test problem for which a known analytical solution is available. The computational advantage of the coupled Stokes–Reynolds method is illustrated on an industrially applicable fully‐flooded deformable‐roll coating example. The examples in this paper are limited to two‐dimensional Stokes flow, but extension to three‐dimensional and Navier–Stokes flow is possible. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Den Nachweis geringer Mengen von salpetriger S?ure, Untersalpeters?ure und Salpeters?ure

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)‐graft‐[poly(D,L‐lactide)/poly(D,L‐lactide‐co‐glycolide)] hydrogels

Poly(D ,L ‐lactide) and poly(D ,L ‐lactide‐co‐glycolide) with various composition and with one methacrylate and one carboxylate end group were synthesized and grafted onto poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) via the carboxylate group. The graft copolymers were crosslinked via the methacrylate groups using a free radical initiator. The polymer networks were characterized by means of NMR and studied qualitatively by means of IR spectroscopy. The influence of the glycolide content in the polyester grafts and of the number of ester units in the grafts on thermal properties and swellability were studied as well. The high swellability in water is characteristic of all hydrogels. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed a single glass transition temperature that occurs in the range between 51 and 69 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the networks showed the main loss in weight in the temperature range between 290 and 370 °C. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4536–4544, 2007