Tuneable sandwich thickness in potassium-ammonia graphite intercalation compounds

We have studied the composition dependence of the sandwich thickness, d_sn, in stages 1 and 2 (n = 1,2) K(NH₃)_xC₂₄ (0<x≤4.48) using high resolution x-ray diffraction. The variation of d_s1 with x is accurately predicted with a model of the sandwich energy which accounts explicitly for charge exchange, f, and for size and stiffness differences between the NH₃ and K species. Surprisingly, the reduction of f with increasing x markedly increases the elastic energy of the K ion.     

Structure and thermodynamics of polymeric liquids: Polymer kirkwood integral equation method

A statistical mechanical theory is employed to predict the structural and thermodynamic properties of polymeric liquids. The theory consists of a coupled set of self-consistent integral equations for the pair correlation functions which relates the polymer structure to molecular interaction potentials. In this article, the essentials of the method are reviewed and the results are shown in comparison with other theories and simulation data. Quantitative agreements are found between the results of the theory and those of the simulations for a wide range of density and temperature.     

Monitoring of Portland cement chemical reaction and quantification of the hydrated products by XRD and TG in function of the stoppage hydration technique

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Cement hydration occurs according to a sequence of reactions whose products have a direct influence on the working properties of concretes and mortars...     

Analysis of coupled conduction and radiation heat transfer in presence of participating medium- using a hybrid method

The current study addresses the mathematical modeling aspects of coupled conductive and radiative heat transfer in presence of absorbing, emitting and isotropic scattering gray medium within two-dimensional square enclosure. The walls of the enclosure are considered to be opaque, diffuse and gray. The enclosure comprised of isothermal vertical walls and insulated horizontal walls. A new hybrid method where the concepts of modified differential approximation employed by blending discrete ordinate method and spherical harmonics method, has been developed for modeling the radiative transport equation. The finite volume method has been adopted as the numerical technique. The effect of various influencing parameters i.e., radiation-conduction parameter, surface emissivity, single scattering albedo and optical thickness has been illustrated. The compatibility of the method with regard to solving coupled conduction and radiation has also been addressed.     

Preparation and characterization of MgB2 superconductor

The MgB₂ superconductor, synthesized using solid-state and liquid-phase sintering methods, have been characterized for various properties. The upper critical field, irreversibility line and critical current density have been determined using magnetization data. The current-voltage characteristics recorded under an applied magnetic field revealed the existence of vortex glass transition. The surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that MgB₂ is sensitive to atmospheric degradation.     

CVD金刚石膜中1145cm~(-1)拉曼峰的研究

用拉曼光谱手段对CVD方法生长的金刚石膜,特别是其中最有争议的1145cm-1附近的拉曼峰进行了研究。用不同波长激光激发得到此峰的拉曼谱与量子尺寸选择效应所预期规律的相反,反驳了将1145cm-1附近的拉曼峰指认为纳米晶金刚石本征峰的说法。而通过对不同样品的比较,从侧面支持了将它归结为杂质,即反式聚乙炔的指认。更进一步通过分析不同尺寸的样品中杂质峰的相对强度,提出了这个峰的强度或许可以作为金刚石晶粒尺寸判据的建议。     

纳米级的一维Ⅱ-Ⅵ族化合物的合成及其电子结构研究

Various single crystalline IIB-VIA one-dimensional nanostructures have been fabricated using thermal evaporation. Although these nanostructures possess large amount of unpassivated surface, it does not lead to dissociation of excitons, which fact indicates the high purity and high quality of the electronic structure of these nanostructures.……     

Formation of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells by introducing an interfacial layer of long-range ordered mesoporous TiO2 thin film

Long-range ordered cubic mesoporous TiO 2 films with 300 nm thickness were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) process using F127 as a structure-directing agent. The prepared mesoporous TiO 2 film (Meso-TiO 2) was applied as an interfacial layer between the nanocrystalline TiO 2 film (NC-TiO 2) and the FTO electrode in the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The introduction of Meso-TiO 2 increased J sc from 12.3 to 14.5 mA/cm (2), and V oc by 55 mV, whereas there was no appreciable change in the fill factor (FF). As a result, the photovoltaic conversion efficiency ( eta) was improved by 30.0% from 5.77% to 7.48%. Notably, introduction of Meso-TiO 2 increased the transmittance of visible light through the FTO glass by 23% as a result of its excellent antireflective role. Thus the increased transmittance was a key factor in enhancing the photovoltaic conversion efficiency. In addition, the presence of interfacial Meso-TiO 2 provided excellent adhesion between the FTO and main TiO 2 layer, and suppressed the back-transport reaction by blocking direct contact between the electrolyte and FTO electrode.     

Measurement of the ground state 2n pickup probability for 28Si+68Zn and its role in sub-barrier fusion enhancement

The ground state and excited state transfer yields for the 2-neutron pickup channel in the ²⁸Si+⁶⁸Zn system have been measured explicitly. The recoil mass separator at the nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi was used for the measurement. A NaI(T1) detector was used for detecting the deexcitation γ’s from the transfer products. The kinematic coincidence technique was employed for the transfer measurement. Simplified coupled channels calculations show that out of all transfer channels the major contribution to the sub-barrier enhancement comes from the ground state 2 neutron pickup channel with a ground state Q-value of+1.83 MeV.