Reversible hydrogen-storage functions for mixtures of Li3N and Mg3N2

The hydriding and dehydriding reactions occurring in mixtures of lithium and magnesium nitrides (Li₃N and Mg₃N₂) were investigated for the first time in fixed composition ratios. A mixture of Li₃N–20 at.%Mg₃N₂ after heat treatment at 833 K was hydrogenated at 523 K in 35 MPa according to the following overall reaction: 4Li₃N+Mg₃N₂+12H₂ 12LiH+3Mg(NH₂)₂. This reaction is one of the candidates for reversible hydrogen-storage functions in which 9.1 mass% of hydrogen can be stored in the solid state. PACS 81.05.Zx; 71.20.Ps; 82.30.-b     

Formation region and hydrogen storage abilities of perovskite-type hydrides

Formation region and hydrogen desorption and absorption properties of the perovskite-type structure in Li_xNa_1−xMgH₃ with x = 0, 0.17, 0.33, 0.50 and 1.00 were studied in the present work. The experimental results are reasonably explained from the viewpoint of the geometric restrictions of ions that are described by so-called Goldschmidt tolerance factors. In NaMgH₃ (x = 0), two plateau pressures of about 0.040 and 0.15 MPa were clearly detected by hydrogen pressure–composition (p–c) isotherm measurement at 673 K. Moreover, NaMgH₃ can be reversibly formed in 1.0 MPa of hydrogen at 673 K, from the decomposed phase of elemental Na and Mg.     

The von Neumann facet and a global asymptotic stability

We will study a multi-sector discrete-time optimal growth model with neoclassical non-joint technology and show that any path on ann-dimensional flat supported by the optimal steady state price will converge to the optimal steady state and is optimal. Burmeister and Graham have proved a similar result in a continuous-time setting. Although their result is limited, it is a first challenge to generalize the global stability result obtained by Uzawa and Srinivasan in a two-sector optimal growth model. One prominent advantage of our approach is that due to the discrete-time model setting, we can apply the duality approach and introduce the so called "von Neumann facet" intensively studied by McKenzie, which plays a very important role in proving the saddle point stability.     

Dynamical valence fluctuation at the charge-density-wave phase boundary in iodide-bridged Pt compound [Pt(chxn)2I]I2

We synthesized a novel iodo-bridged linear chain platinum compound, having the quasi-two-dimensional charge-density-wave (CDW) ground state and the smallest band gap. In this compound, we discovered an anomalous valence state in the boundary region at which the CDW phase alternates in the crystal by means of ESR, X-ray diffuse scattering, STM, and electrical resistivity. This anomalous state can be explained by the fast fluctuation between Pt(IV)-I...Pt(II) and Pt(II)...I-Pt(IV) in the double well potential. This is the first observation of the dynamical fluctuation of the CDW phase among the quasi one-dimensional halogen-bridged complexes.     

Hydrogen absorption and desorption by the Li-Al-N-H system

Lithium hexahydridoaluminate Li(3)AlH(6) and lithium amide LiNH(2) with 1:2 molar ratio were mechanically milled, yielding a Li-Al-N-H system. LiNH(2) destabilized Li(3)AlH(6) during the dehydrogenation process of Li(3)AlH(6), because the dehydrogenation starting temperature of the Li-Al-N-H system was lower than that of Li(3)AlH(6). Temperature-programmed desorption scans of the Li-Al-N-H system indicated that a large amount of hydrogen (6.9 wt %) can be released between 370 and 773 K. After initial H(2) desorption, the H(2) absorption and the desorption capacities of the Li-Al-N-H system with a nano-Ni catalyst exhibited 3-4 wt % at 10-0.004 MPa and 473-573 K, while the capacities of the system without the catalyst were 1-2 wt %. The remarkably increased capacity was due to the fact that the kinetics was improved by addition of the nano-Ni catalyst.     

Stratigraphy of the Middle-Upper Permian and Lowermost Triassic at Chaotian,Sichuan, China: Record of Late Permian double mass extinction event

Precise stratigraphic analysis of Middle-Upper Permian and Lower Triassic sequence at Chaotian in northern Sichuan, China, identified two remarkable mass extinction horizons, one at the Middle-Upper Permian (Guadalupian-Lopingian; G-L) boundary and the other at the Upper Permian-Lower Triassic (P-T) boundary. Across each of the boundaries, biodiversity declined sharply in fusulinid, rugose coral, brachiopod, ammonite, conodont, and radiolaria. Both boundaries are characterized by two biohorizons, i.e., one marked by major extinction of pre-existing fauna and the other by the first appearance of younger fauna. It is noteworthy that a peculiar rhyo-dacitic tuff bed occurs at each of the extinction horizons. Thus the Late Permian biosphere was strongly affected twice by highly explosive, severe volcanism. Regional correlation of the G-L and P-T boundary tuff beds throughout South China, and partly to Japan, positively suggests a cause-effect link between large-scale explosive volcanism and mass extinction.     

Intrinsic and mechanically modified thermal stabilities of α-, β- and γ-aluminum trihydrides AlH3

The intrinsic and mechanically modified thermal stabilities of the α-, β-, and γ-phases of AlH₃ have been experimentally determined. The thermogravimetric profiles of the α- and γ-phases exhibit dehydriding reactions in the temperature range of 370–450 K. The amounts of hydrogen released are nearly 9 mass %. The profile of the β-phase shows the continuous dehydriding reactions, which differs from the other two phases. The values of the enthalpy of dehydriding reactions ΔH_dehyd. are determined to be 6.0±1.5, -3∼-5 and 1.0±0.5 kJ/mol H₂ for the α-, β- and γ-phases, respectively. The milling-time dependences of the powder X-ray diffraction measurement and thermal analyses indicate the occurrence of the dehydriding reactions both in the α- and γ-phases during milling, but there is no drastic change in the β-phase. PACS 84.60.Ve; 51.30.+i; 81.70.Pg     

Facile one‐step fabrication of highly transparent and flexible superhydrophobic substrate by room‐temperature ion irradiation method

Highly transparent (transparency 96.5%), flexible and antireflective superhydrophobic (water contact angle >150°) surfaces have been fabricated at room temperature by the ion irradiation method. This one‐step fabrication route was fairly easy to carry out without any heat or chemical treatment and can be completed within few seconds. This novel chemical free fabricating strategy could be extended to numerous polymeric substrates to achieve transparent and flexible superhydrophobic structures for their potential applications in diverse fields. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Design of RLS fixed-lag smoother using covariance information in linear discrete stochastic systems

This paper newly designs the recursive least-squares fixed-lag smoother using the covariance information in linear discrete-time stochastic systems. It is assumed that the signal is observed with additive white observation noise and the signal is uncorrelated with the observation noise. The fixed-lag smoother uses the covariance function of the signal in the semi-degenerate kernel form and the variance of the observation noise. The proposed fixed-lag smoother is suitable for the estimations of stationary or non-stationary stochastic signals generally.