Experimental research of effects of different rotation radii on the growth rate of potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals

Comparing with the traditional concentric rotation method (rotation radius is 0 cm), the effects of different rotation radii on the growth rate of KDP crystals were studied by experimental methods. It was found that with the increase of rotation radius from 0 cm, the growth rate of each direction of crystals first increased and then decreased in a size‐unchanged vessel. The smaller the distance between the crystal and vessel wall, the less the growth rate. This phenomenon was named the “wall collision effect”. Also, the value of growth rate reached a maximum when the rotation radius was about half of its allowable largest value in the size‐unchanged vessel. In addition, an increase of the rotation radius could improve the crystal growth rate under the same linear velocity of crystal movement. Finally, the uniformity of crystal growth has also been analyzed compared with the concentric rotation radius. It was found that the uniformity of crystal growth was best when the rotation radius was half of its allowable maximum value, and it was more conducive to the actual application of KDP crystals.     

Universality of the Kondo effect in quantum dots with ferromagnetic leads

We investigate quantum dots in clean single-wall carbon nanotubes with ferromagnetic PdNi-leads in the Kondo regime. Most of the Kondo resonances exhibit a splitting, which depends on the tunnel coupling to the leads and an external magnetic field B, but only weakly on the gate voltage. Using numerical renormalization group calculations, we demonstrate that all salient features of the data can be understood using a simple model for the magnetic properties of the leads. The magnetoconductance at zero bias and low temperature depends in a universal way on gμ(B)(B-B(c))/k(B)T(K), where T(K) is the Kondo temperature and B(c) the external field compensating the splitting.     

Phase-controlled one-dimensional shape evolution of InSe nanocrystals

Cubic-phase InSe nanowires were synthesized. Obtaining an appropriate high reaction temperature for formation of nanocrystals using poor solubility of Se powder in oleylamine induced the generation of unusual cubic phase of InSe to form nanowires. In comparison, hexagonal-phase nanoplates were formed by dissolving Se powder in oleylamine before increase of reaction temperature. The diameter of highly monodisperse wires was controlled by varying the amount of Se.     

Synthesis of trisubstituted thiazoles by ligand-free palladium-catalyzed direct 5-arylation of 2,4-disubstituted thiazoles under conventional and microwave-assisted heating

Trisubstituted thiazoles were synthesized with excellent yields using ligand-free, palladium-catalyzed, direct 5-arylation of 2,4-disubstituted thiazole and conventional or microwave-assisted heating. The palladium-catalyzed reaction yields were significantly influenced by LiCl additive, solvent, and heating method. The reaction times were reduced dramatically by employing microwave radiation instead of conventional heating. The synthetic methods can be applied to diverse 2,4,5-trisubstituted thiazoles by varying the aryl bromide and disubstituted thiazole reactants.     

Facile synthesis of TiO2 inverse opal electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Engineering of TiO(2) electrode layers is critical to guaranteeing the photoconversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Recently, a novel approach has been introduced for producing TiO(2) electrodes using the inverted structures of colloidal crystals. This paper describes a facile route to producing ordered macroporous electrodes from colloidal crystal templates for DSSCs. Using concentrated colloids dispersed in a volatile medium, the colloidal crystal templates were obtained within a few minutes, and the thickness of the template was easily controlled by changing the quantity of colloidal solution deposited. Here, the effects of the structural properties of the inverse opal TiO(2) electrodes on the photovoltaic parameters of DSSCs were investigated. The photovoltaic parameters were measured as a function of pore ordering and electrode film thickness. Moreover, DSSC applications that used either liquid or viscous polymer electrolyte solutions were investigated to reveal the effects of pore size on performance of an inverse opal TiO(2) electrode.     

Diffusion of spheres in crowded suspensions of rods

Translational tracer diffusion of spherical macromolecules in crowded suspensions of rodlike colloids is investigated. Experiments are done using several kinds of spherical tracers in fd-virus suspensions. A wide range of size ratios L/2a of the length L of the rods and the diameter 2a of the tracer sphere is covered by combining several experimental methods: fluorescence correlation spectroscopy for small tracer spheres, dynamic light scattering for intermediate sized spheres, and video microscopy for large spheres. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is shown to measure long-time diffusion only for relatively small tracer spheres. Scaling of diffusion coefficients with a/xi, predicted for static networks, is not found for our dynamical network of rods (with xi the mesh size of the network). Self-diffusion of tracer spheres in the dynamical network of freely suspended rods is thus fundamentally different as compared to cross-linked networks. A theory is developed for the rod-concentration dependence of the translational diffusion coefficient at low rod concentrations for freely suspended rods. The proposed theory is based on a variational solution of the appropriate Smoluchowski equation without hydrodynamic interactions. The theory can, in principle, be further developed to describe diffusion through dynamical networks at higher rod concentrations with the inclusion of hydrodynamic interactions. Quantitative agreement with the experiments is found for large tracer spheres, and qualitative agreement for smaller spheres. This is probably due to the increasing importance of hydrodynamic interactions as compared to direct interactions as the size of the tracer sphere decreases.     

Charge-transfer hybrids containing covalently bonded polyoxometalates and ferrocenyl units

Two new charge-transfer hybrids with one or two ferrocenyl units covalently attached to a hexamolybdate cluster through an extended pi-conjugated bridge have been prepared using Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions on monoiodo- or diiodo-functionalized cluster substrates in over 60% yields. These hybrids have been characterized by (1)H NMR, FTIR, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. The electronic spectra of these hybrids show a broad absorption tail extending beyond 550 nm, indicating the existence of charge-transfer transition from the ferrocenyl donor to the cluster acceptor. The observation of the clear charge-transfer transition indicates the contribution of charge-transfer resonance to the ground state in both 2a and 2b even though the donor-acceptor separation distance of 11.29 A is rather long, signaling a through-bond charge-transfer nature made possible by the organic pi-conjugated bridge. Cyclic voltammetry studies reveal a one-electron oxidation wave and a one-electron reduction wave for the hybrid with one ferrocenyl unit. For the one with two ferrocenyl units, a lower reduction potential and a two-electron oxidation wave are observed, indicating negligible electronic interactions between the two ferrocenyl units.     

Comparative evaluation of three heat transfer enhancement strategies in a grooved channel

 Results of a comparative evaluation of three heat transfer enhancement strategies for forced convection cooling of a parallel plate channel populated with heated blocks, representing electronic components mounted on printed circuit boards, are reported. Heat transfer in the reference geometry, the asymmetrically heated parallel plate channel, is compared with that for the basic grooved channel, and the same geometry enhanced by cylinders and vanes placed above the downstream edge of each heated block. In addition to conventional heat transfer and pressure drop measurements, holographic interferometry combined with high-speed cinematography was used to visualize the unsteady temperature fields in the self-sustained oscillatory flow. The locations of increased heat transfer within one channel periodicity depend on the enhancement technique applied, and were identified by analyzing the unsteady temperature distributions visualized by holographic interferometry. This approach allowed gaining insight into the mechanisms responsible for heat transfer enhancement. Experiments were conducted at moderate flow velocities in the laminar, transitional and turbulent flow regimes. Reynolds numbers were varied in the range Re = 200–6500, corresponding to flow velocities from 0.076 to 2.36 m/s. Flow oscillations were first observed between Re = 1050 and 1320 for the basic grooved channel, and around Re = 350 and 450 for the grooved channels equipped with cylinders and vanes, respectively. At Reynolds numbers above the onset of oscillations and in the transitional flow regime, heat transfer rates in the investigated grooved channels exceeded the performance of the reference geometry, the asymmetrically heated parallel plate channel. Heat transfer in the grooved channels enhanced with cylinders and vanes showed an increase by a factor of 1.2–1.8 and 1.5–3.5, respectively, when compared to data obtained for the basic grooved channel; however, the accompanying pressure drop penalties also increased significantly. Received on 5 April 2001     

Effects of speaking style on speech intelligibility for Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant users

Cochlear implant (CI) users' speech understanding may be influenced by different speaking styles. In this study, speech recognition was measured in Mandarin-speaking CI and normal-hearing (NH) subjects for sentences produced according to four styles: slow, normal, fast, and whispered. CI subjects were tested using their clinical processors; NH subjects were tested while listening to a four-channel CI simulation. Performance gradually worsened with increasing speaking rate and was much poorer with whispered speech. CI performance was generally similar to NH performance with the four-channel simulation. Results suggest that some speaking styles, especially whispering, may negatively affect Mandarin-speaking CI users' speech understanding.     

基于NbN，AIN技术的体声波器件研究

体声波滤波器由于其低插损、小尺寸、高带外抑制等特性，随着第三代移动通信以及蓝牙技术的发展而得到广泛研究，而MEMS技术和压电薄膜制备技术的进一步发展使高性能的体声波滤波器制作成为可能．我们以单晶MgO作为器件衬底，MgO/NbN多层结构作为AIN薄膜体声波器件的反射器，NBN／AIN／NbN三层结构为谐振器．在这样的多层结构的设计中由于各种材料之间的晶格失配小，可以获得从几十纳米到几百纳米厚度不等的单晶AIN薄膜．通过控制AIN薄膜和NbN薄膜的不同厚度，可以获得不同频段范围的谐振器．压电薄膜的质量，以及体声波在多层结构界面上的能量损耗，直接影响到谐振器电学性能．基于AIN材料的压电性能，设计了NBN／AIN／NBN三层结构的谐振器，并进行了数值模拟．