High resolution conductometry for isotopic assay of deuterium in mixtures of heavy water and light water

A PC based high resolution conductivity monitoring technique has been deployed for determination of isotopic purity of heavy water in samples containing heavy water and light water mixtures using pulsating sensor based conductivity monitoring instrument. The technique involves accurate determination of conductivities of a series of specially treated heavy water and light water mixtures of various compositions at a constant solution temperature. The shift in conductivity (Δκ), which is the difference between conductivities of composite mixture after and before the formation of a typical complex compound (boric acid–mannitol complex in this case), shows a smooth and reproducible decreasing trend with increase in percentage composition of heavy water. This relation, which is obtained by appropriate calibration, is used in the software program for direct display of isotopic purity of heavy water. The technique is examined for determination of percentage composition of heavy water in the entire range of concentration (0–100 %) with reasonable precision (relative standard deviation, RSD ≤1.5 %). About 1 mL of sample is required for each analysis and analysis is completed within a couple of minutes after pretreatment of sample. The accuracy in measurement is ≤1.75 %.     

Investigation of energy and exergy performance on a small-scale refrigeration system with PCMs inserted between coil and wall of the evaporator cabin

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Domestic refrigerators have become an indispensable part of the modern life. Since they are connected to the electric mains and operate throughout the...     

Electric field induced non-linear multisubband electron mobility in V-shaped asymmetric double quantum well structure

ABSTRACT

We study the effect of the external electric field F_ext on the low-temperature electron mobility μ in an asymmetrically doped Al_xGa_1-xAs based V-shaped double quantum well (VDQW) structure. We show that nonlinearity of µ occurs under double subband occupancy on account of intersubband effects. The field F_ext alters the VDQW potential leading to transfer of subband wave functions between the wells, which affects the scattering potentials and hence μ. In the VDQW structure, due to the alloy channel layer, the alloy disorder (Al-) scattering happens to be significant along with the ionised impurity (Imp-) scattering. The non-linear behaviour of μ is because of μ^Imp, while the overall magnitude of μ is mostly due to μ^Al. The increase of difference in the doping concentrations of the outer barriers increases the nonlinearity of μ. The oscillatory character of μ is amended by varying the width of the well and barrier and also the height of the VDQW. Our results can be used to study VDQW based nanoscale field effect transistor structures.     

NHC-Pd complex heterogenized on graphene oxide for cross-coupling reactions and supercapacitor applications

N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-palladium(II) complex (GO@NHC-Pd) was synthesized on graphene oxide (GO) support via a simple and cost-effective multistep approach. The spectroscopic, microscopic, thermal, and surface analyses of GO@NHC-Pd confirmed the successful formation of the catalyst. The investigation of catalytic activity showed that GO@NHC-Pd was very effective in Suzuki–Miyaura as well as Hiyama cross-coupling. Being heterogeneous in nature, GO@NHC-Pd was recovered after each reaction cycle easily and reused for up to nine and six cycles in Suzuki–Miyaura and Hiyama cross-coupling, respectively, without significant loss of activity. Further exploration of the supercapacitor performance of GO@NHC-Pd catalyst assembled in a two-electrode cell configuration shown a maximum attained capacitance of 105.26 F/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g with good cycling stability of 96.89% over 2,500 cycles.     

Major ginsenoside contents in rhizomes of Panax sokpayensis and Panax bipinnatifidus

This study compared eight major ginsenosides (Rg1, Rg2, Rf, Re, Rd, Rc, Rb1 and Rb2) between Panax sokpayensis and Panax bipinnatifidus collected from Sikkim Himalaya, India. High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis revealed that all major ginsenosides were present in the rhizomes of P. sokpayensis except ginsenoside Rc, whereas ginsenoside Rf, Rc and Rb2 were not detected in P. bipinnatifidus.     

Spectroscopic, potentiometric and theoretical studies on the binding properties of a novel tripodal polycatechol-imine ligand towards iron(III)

A novel multidentate tripodal ligand, cis,cis-1,3,5-tris[(2,3-dihydroxybenzylidene)aminomethyl]cyclohexane (TDBAC, L) containing one catechol unit in each arms of a tripodal amine, cis,cis-1,3,5-tris(aminomethyl)cyclohexane was investigated as a chelator for iron(III) through potentiometric and spectrophotometric methods in an aqueous medium of 0.1N ionic strength and 25+/-1 degrees C as well as in ethanol by continuous variation method. From pH metric in water, three protonation constants characterized for the three-hydroxyl groups of the catechol units at ortho were used as input data to evaluate the stability constants of the complexes. Formation of monomeric complexes FeLH3, FeLH2, FeLH and FeL were depicted. In ethanol, formation of complexes FeL, Fe2L and Fe3L were characterized. Structures of the complexes were explained by using the experimental evidences and predicted through molecular modeling calculations. The ligand showed potential to coordinate iron(III) through three imine nitrogens and three catecholic oxygens at ortho to form a tris(iminocatecholate) type complex.     

Lifetime measurements of SO2 below the Clement's A-band

High resolution laser induced fluorescence spectrum of jet-cooled SO(2) is recorded toward the blue side of the Clement's A-Band in the region of 314-319 nm. Time resolved fluorescence measurements have been carried out for all the prominent peaks in this region. Most of the peaks exhibited double exponential decay profiles. Some of the rovibronic bands exhibited quantum beats with strong quantum beats observed at 315.261 and 315.271 nm. This is the first observation of quantum beats in SO(2) in the absence of any external magnetic or electric fields. The decay profiles of the beating rovibronic bands were fitted using a four-level model by least-squares fitting method. The fitting shows that all the measured bands were double exponential with a similar first lifetime of approximately 3 mus and a varying second lifetime of the order of 1 micros-100 ns with a beating frequency of approximately 1 MHz. These quantum beats, in the absence of any external field, indicate rotational level mixing between the A (1)A(2) and the B (1)B(1) vibronic states which are near resonant due to the high density of states of these two states.     

A Ferroelectric Aminophosphonium Cyanoferrate with a Large Electrostrictive Coefficient as a Piezoelectric Nanogenerator

Hybrid materials possessing piezo- and ferroelectric properties emerge as excellent alternatives to conventional piezoceramics due to their merits of facile synthesis, lightweight nature, ease of fabrication and mechanical flexibility. Inspired by the structural stability of aminophosphonium compounds, here we report the first A₃BX₆ type cyanometallate [Ph₂(ⁱPrNH)₂P]₃[Fe(CN)₆] ( 1 ), which shows a ferroelectric saturation polarization (P_s) of 3.71 μC cm⁻². Compound 1 exhibits a high electrostrictive coefficient (Q₃₃) of 0.73 m⁴ C⁻², far exceeding those of piezoceramics (0.034–0.096 m⁴ C⁻²). Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) analysis demonstrates the polarization switching and domain structure of 1 further confirming its ferroelectric nature. Furthermore, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) polymer composite films of 1 were prepared and employed as piezoelectric nanogenerators. Notably, the 15 wt % 1 -TPU device gave a maximum output voltage of 13.57 V and a power density of 6.03 μW cm⁻².