An efficient blue-emitting phosphor LiCaPO4:Eu2+ for white LEDs

A new blue-emitting phosphor LiCaPO₄: Eu²⁺ was synthesized by solid state reaction at a relatively low temperature of 900 °C. It gives a single intense emission band centering at 470 nm, which corresponds to the 4f⁶5d¹→4f⁷ transition of Eu²⁺. The dependence of luminescence intensities on Eu²⁺ concentration was investigated. The phosphor, with a single excitation band extending from 250 to 400 nm, could be efficiently excited by near-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes and is believed to be a promising blue-emitting phosphor for white light-emitting diodes.     

Efficient temperature compensation strategies for guided wave structural health monitoring

The application of temperature compensation strategies is important when using a guided wave structural health monitoring system. It has been shown by different authors that the influence of changing environmental and operational conditions, especially temperature, limits performance. This paper quantitatively describes two different methods to compensate for the temperature effect, namely optimal baseline selection (OBS) and baseline signal stretch (BSS). The effect of temperature separation between baseline time-traces in OBS and the parameters used in the BSS method are investigated. A combined strategy that uses both OBS and BSS is considered. Theoretical results are compared, using data from two independent long-term experiments, which use predominantly A₀ mode and S₀ mode data respectively. These confirm that the performance of OBS and BSS quantitatively agrees with predictions and also demonstrate that the combination of OBS and BSS is a robust practical solution to temperature compensation.     

Polarisation properties of comet NEAT C/2001 Q4

Comets exhibit high (up to 25 %) amount of optical polarization when they are observed through ground based or space telescopes. These polarizations are caused due to the scattering of cometary dust. The observed linear polarisation of comets is generally a function of the wavelength of incident light (λ), the scattering angle (θ), the geometrical shape and size of the particle and the composition of dust particles in terms of the complex values of the refractive index. The scattering properties of cometary dust will help to know the nature of cometary dust. In the present work, the observed linear polarization data of Comet NEAT are studied through simulations using Ballistic Particle-Cluster Aggregate (BPCA) and Ballistic Cluster-Cluster Aggregate (BCCA). Using Superposition T-matrix code, the best-fitting values of complex refractive indices are calculated which can well fit the observed polarization data of Comet NEAT C/2001 Q4. The best fitting values of complex refractive indices coming out from the present analysis correspond to mixture of both silicates and organics.     

Molecular weight effects on gelation and rheological properties of konjac glucomannan–xanthan mixtures

Fractions of konjac glucomannan (KGM) with various viscosity‐average molecular weights (M_v) ranging from 4.00 × 10⁵ to 2.50 × 10⁶ were prepared by hydrolysis degradation in hydrochloride acid/ethanol. Effect of M_v of KGM on the critical gelation temperature (T_gel) determined by Winter–Chambon criterion and the elasticity of KGM/xanthan mixed gels, a kind of binary gel formed by synergistic gelation, were investigated by dynamic viscoelastic measurements. It was shown that the value of T_gel of the gel was shifted to a higher temperature and the gel strength was enhanced when M_v of KGM was increased. The critical M_v (1.91 × 10⁶) was observed, above which the T_gel and elasticity of the mixed gels showed no or slight increase. It was suggested that T_gel and elasticity of KGM/xanthan mixed gels mainly depend on the structure of junction zones driven by the strong interaction between KGM and xanthan, which was gradually improved with increasing M_v of KGM. It was found that the critical strain and yield stress of the mixed gels increased monotonically with the increasing M_v of KGM. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 313–321, 2010     

Multilayer Film Fabrication Using Flow Injection Coupled with Electrochemical Deposition

A simple method is proposed for the electrodeposition of multilayers using a modified closed flow injection system. The apparatus incorporates flowing streams of electrolyte through a closed atmosphere flow cell for deposition of multilayers. Computer and software control is used to alternate the flow of electrolyte and control the alternating current or potential of the electrochemical cell. Electrodeposition of metallic multilayers of nickel/iron, iron/copper, cobalt/copper, and nickel/copper were used to test the instrument design. X‐ray diffraction was used to verify the composition and orientation of the films and scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the morphology of the deposited films. Advantages are discussed for using this type of instrumental setup for multilayer fabrication.     

Magnetic Screening of the Potential Targeted Protein of Salvianolic Acid B Using T7 Phage Display Library

Salvianolic acid B is one of the effective components from the Chinese traditional drug Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), which is widely used as a usual clinic drug for atherosclerosis-related disorder patients in China. But the targeting protein of salvianolic acid B is still not known. The possible targeting proteins of salvianolic acid B were explored by high throughput screening in this paper. Attached to the magnetic nanoparticles, salvianolic acid B was used for screening the high-affinity protein from the displaying cDNA peptide library phage. After biopanning, the selected protein or peptide sequences were used to explore the whole proteins containing the selected sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information website using blast. One of the selected phages was carried out by affinity analysis with salvianolic acid B using capillary electrophoresis (CE). The CE results indicated that the protein or peptide on the surface of the selected phages could bind the drug salvianolic acid B. The results are helpful to preliminarily explain the pharmacology of salvianolic acid B.     

Size and support effects for CO oxidation on supported Pd catalysts

Science China Chemistry - Supporting Pd catalysts characterized significant different size distribution were obtained using PdCl2, [Pd(NH3)4](NO3)2 and Pd(acac)2 as precursors. High-resolution...