Preparation and Properties of Nickel and Iron Oxides obtained by Calcination of Layered Double Hydroxides

A constant pH precipitation method has been applied to obtain solids with Ni/Fe molar ratios of 2/1, 3/2, 1/1, 2/3, and 1/2. In all cases, a phase with the hydrotalcite‐like structure is obtained, containing Ni^II and Fe^III in the brucite‐like layers and carbonate in the interlayer, and, for samples with a Ni/Fe molar ratio lower than 2/1, amorphous hydrated iron oxides, undetected by X‐ray diffraction, are also formed. The solids have been characterized by element chemical analysis, powder X‐ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis, FT‐IR spectroscopy, temperature‐programmed reduction and assessment of specific surface area by nitrogen adsorption at ?196 °C. In all cases reduction leads to zero‐valent state for the metals, reduced nickel particles probably favouring reduction of Fe^III species; the specific surface area increases with the iron content, probably due to the amorphous nature of the hydrated iron oxides formed. Calcination at 1200 °C in air leads to well crystallized solids, formed by NiFe₂O₄ spinel and, additionally, rocksalt‐type NiO for Ni/Fe ratios larger than 1/2. In this way, solids with tailored compositions of these two phases can be prepared.     

Synthesis of nanosized TiO2/SiO2 particles using microwave processes and their photocatalytic activity on the decomposition of orange II

The nanosized titania and TiO₂/SiO₂ particles were prepared by the microwave-hydrothermal method. The effect of physical properties TTIP/TEOS ratio and calcination temperature has been investigated. The major phase of the pure TiO₂ particle is of the anatase structure, and a rutile peak was observed above 800°C. In TiO₂/SiO₂ particles, however, no significant rutile phase was observed, although the calcination temperature was 900°C. No peaks for the silica crystal phase were observed at either silica/titania ratio. The crystallite size of TiO₂/SiO₂ particles decreases as compared to pure TiO₂ at high calcination temperatures. The TiO₂/SiO₂ particles show higher activity on the photocatalytic decomposition of orange II as compared to pure TiO₂ particles.     

Study of the first nucleation steps of thin films by XPS inelastic peak shape analysis

The initial steps in the formation of thin films have been investigated by analysis of the peak shape (both inelastic background and elastic contributions) of X‐ray photoelectron spectra. Surface coverage and averaged height of the deposited particles have been estimated for several overlayers (nanometre range) after successive deposition cycles. This study has permitted the assessment of the type of nucleation and growth mechanisms of the films. The experiments have been carried out in situ in the preparation chamber of an XPS spectrometer. To check the performance of the method, several materials (i.e. cerium oxide, vanadium oxide and cadmium sulfide) have been deposited on different substrates using a variety of preparation procedures (i.e. thermal evaporation, ion beam assisted deposition and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition). It is shown that the first deposited nuclei of the films are usually formed by three‐dimensional particles whose heights and degree of surface coverage depend on the chemical characteristics of the growing thin film and substrate materials, as well as the deposition procedure. It is concluded that XPS peak shape analysis can be satisfactorily used as a general method to characterize morphologically the first nanometric moieties that nucleate a thin film. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simultaneous Kinetic‐Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrazine and its Derivatives by Partial Least Squares and Principle Component Regression Methods

Simultaneous kinetic‐spectrophotometric determination of a ternary mixture of hydrazine (HZ) and its derivatives by principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) calibration is described. The methods were based on the difference observed in the reduction rate of iron(III) with HZ, thiosemicarbazide (TSCZ) and phenylhydrazine (PHZ) in the presence of 2,2′‐bipyridine (Bpy). The colored complex of [Fe(Bpy)₃]²⁺ was formed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as micellar media, and then monitored at 520 nm. The results showed that simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ could be performed in their concentration ranges of 1.0–70.0, 0.2–6.0 and 0.1–10.0 μg mL^?1, respectively. The root mean squares errors of prediction (RMSEP) of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ were 0.719, 0.164 and 0.105 (for PLS) 0.788, 0.166 and 0.993 (for PCR), respectively. Both methods (PCR and PLS) were validated using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and then applied for simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ in water samples.     

An unusual chain cadmium(II) coordination polymer: catena‐poly[[(2,2′‐bipyridyl‐κ2N,N′)cadmium(II)]‐di‐μ‐chlorido‐[(2,2′‐bipyridyl‐κ2N,N′)cadmium(II)]‐di‐μ‐thiocyanato‐κ2N:S;κ2S:N]

The title complex, [CdCl(NCS)(C₁₀H₈N₂)]_n, represents an unusual Cd^II coordination polymer constructed by two types of anionic bridges and 2,2′‐bipyridyl (bipy) terminal ligands. These two types of bridges are arranged around inversion centers. The distorted octahedral coordination of the Cd^II center is provided by two chloride ions, one N‐ and one S‐donor atom from two thiocyanate ions, and a pair of N atoms from the chelating bipy ligand. Interestingly, adjacent Cd^II ions are interconnected alternately by paired chloride [Cd...Cd = 3.916 (1) Å] and thiocyanate bridges [Cd...Cd = 5.936 (1) Å] to generate an infinite one‐dimensional coordination chain. Furthermore, weak interchain C—H...S interactions between the bipy components and thiocyanate ions lead to the formation of a layered supramolecular structure.     

Alternating copolymer of thiophene andN‐(phenylethynyl)pyrrole. New π‐conjugated alternating five‐membered ring copolymer and its packing structure

An alternating copolymer, Copoly‐1 , of thiophene and N‐(phenylethynyl)pyrrole was prepared by palladium‐catalyzed polycondensation. Powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that Copoly‐1 formed a stacked packing structure with doubly‐running polymer main chains. Optical data support the molecular and packing structures of Copoly‐1 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2219–2224, 2005     

Rigorous information-theoretic derivation of quantum-statistical thermodynamics. II

Part I of the present work outlined the rigorous application of information theory to a quantum mechanical system in a thermodynamic equilibrium state. The general formula developed there for the best-guess density operator \(\hat \rho\) was indeterminate because it involved in an essential way an unspecified prior probability distribution over the continuumD _H of strong equilibrium density operators. In Part II mathematical evaluation of \(\hat \rho\) is completed after an epistemological analysis which leads first to the discretization ofD _H and then to the adoption of a suitable indifference axiom to delimit the set of admissible prior distributions. Finally, quantal formulas for information-theoretic and thermodynamic entropies are contrasted, and the entire work is summarized.     

Itosides A – I,New Phenolic Glycosides from Itoa orientalis

Eight new benzoylated gentisyl alcohol (=2‐(hydroxymethyl)benzene‐1,4‐diol) glucosides, itosides A–H ( 1 – 8 ), together with the new pyrocatechol (=benzene‐1,2‐diol) glycoside itoside I ( 9 ) were isolated from the bark and twigs of Itoa orientalis (Flacourtiaceae). In itosides B–D ( 2 – 4 ), the gentisyl alcohol moiety was esterified by 1‐hydroxy‐6‐oxocyclohex‐2‐ene‐1‐carboxylic acid, while itosides E–H ( 5 – 8 ) contained instead an additional 2‐hydroxybenzoic acid moiety. The compounds were accompanied by the known derivatives 4‐hydroxytremulacin ( 10 ), poliothyrsoside ( 11 ), poliothyrsin ( 12 ), homaloside D ( 13 ), tremulacin, and pyrocatechol β‐D ‐glucopyranoside. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectral and chemical methods.     

Stabilities in field electron emissions from noble‐metal covered W nano‐tips: apex structure dependence

We observed field emission microscopy (FEM) patterns of noble‐metal (NM) covered W nano‐tips with three different apex structures fabricated by field evaporation. Each of the three tips was terminated with a single atom, three atoms or ten atoms. We investigated the temporal changes in the FEM of these tips to discuss the stabilities in the spatial distributions of the field emission (FE) beams. The single‐atom tip showed two characteristics that were superior to the others. First, the beams emitted from the single‐atom tip were the most collimated among the three tips (the semi‐cone angle of 1.0° , FWHM). Second, adsorption of residual gas had little influence on FE from the single‐atom tip, while the other tips were easily contaminated even at ultra high vacuum, resulting in the emission fluctuation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.