Enhancement of extreme ultraviolet radiations from a laser-produced plasma using copper–tungsten alloy

Continuous extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission intensity from a laser-produced plasma in the wavelength between 40 and 200 nm for a copper–tungsten alloy target was observed to be 1.3 times higher than that for a tungsten target. Using the alloy target, low-opacity regions of one material were filled with high-opacity regions of another material. This opacity effect resulted in the increase of a calculated Rosseland mean opacity compared with either of the constituents, which may explain the increase of the EUV emission intensity.     

Potential of using uric acid fluorescence in eye fluid for freshness assessment on Red Sea bream (Pagrus major)

Abstract

Fluorescence characteristics of uric acid in Red Sea bream (Pagrus major) eye fluid was explored as a potential rapid and simple assessment for fish freshness. To investigate this, eye fluid samples were collected during storage at 22?±?2?°C for standard uric acid measurements by high-performance liquid chromatography at 12?h intervals up until 36?h storage. Simultaneously, uric acid fluorescence spectroscopy measurements by fluorophotometer at 3?h intervals up until 36?h storage were made. High-performance liquid chromatography results showed the concentration of uric acid increased with storage time in the Red Sea bream eye fluid; changes similar to those observed in Japanese dace eye fluid, only differing in concentration and rate of accumulation. The fluorescence signals of uric acid in Red Sea bream eye fluid increased with storage time, which the high-performance liquid chromatography results confirmed. To further explore this, uric acid fluorescence signals were plotted against a standard fish freshness indicator “K value”, which is calculated from the concentration of adenosine triphosphate and its breakdown products using paper electrophoresis method. A good exponential relationship between these two parameters (determination coefficient of 0.94). A high linear correlation between the predicted K value from the uric acid fluorescence signals and the measured K value (determination coefficient of 0.94 and root mean square error of prediction of 6.37%) indicate uric acid fluorescence characteristics in fish eye fluid has a high potential to be employed as a new, fast and simple method to assess fish freshness.     

Fabrication of Mussel‐Inspired Highly Adhesive Honeycomb Films Containing Catechol Groups and Their Applications for Substrate‐Independent Porous Templates

Porous surface patterns are used in a wide variety of practical applications. Honeycomb‐patterned porous polymer films are good templates for preparing porous surfaces due to their simple fabrication and the arrangement of pores on the surface. Catechol groups include in adhesive protein of mussels have attracted much attention due to their highly and substrate‐independent adhesive properties. In this paper, highly and substrate‐independent adhesive honeycomb‐patterned porous polymer films are prepared by using amphiphilic copolymer having catechol moieties. Furthermore, porous surface patterns are transferred on various organic or inorganic substrates by wet etching with using adhesive honeycomb films as templates.

     

Comprehensive visualization of detonation-diffraction structures and sizes in unstable and stable mixtures

The geometry and characteristic length of diffraction and re-initiation during a two-dimensional detonation propagation were revealed by visualization. C₂H₄ + 3O₂ (unstable), 2C₂H₂ + 5O₂ + 7Ar (stable) and 2C₂H₂ + 5O₂ + 21Ar (stable) were used as the test mixtures. Experiments were performed over the deviation angle range from 30° to 150° and the initial pressure range from 15.8 to 102.3 kPa. By self-emitting photography, we confirmed that the geometry and the characteristic length of diffraction are not different among test gases, with the exception of the fan-like structure of re-initiation that occurred regardless of whether the mixture was unstable or stable. We conducted a compensative experiment by changing the deviation angle and initial pressure, and summarized the detonation diffraction by shadowgraph. At deviation angles larger than 60°, we measured the distances from the vertex of the channel corner to the point where the transverse detonation wave reflected on the under wall (= wall reflection distance) and confirmed that wall reflection distances are approximately in the range of 10–15 times the cell width, whether the mixture is unstable or stable.     

Synthesis of novel π‐conjugating polymers based on dibenzothiophene

Novel π‐conjugating polymers based on dibenzothiophene were synthesized with a novel dibenzothiophene derivative, 2,8‐bis(4,4,5,5‐tetramethyl‐1,3,2‐dioxaborolan‐2‐yl)dibenzothiophene ( 1 ), prepared from dibenzothiophene. The Suzuki coupling polycondensation of 1 with 2,7‐dibromo‐9,9‐dioctylfluorene, 3,6‐dibromo‐9‐octylcarbazole, or 1,4‐dibromo‐2,5‐dioctyloxybenzene afforded the corresponding dibenzothiophene‐based polymers. The measurements of photoluminescence indicated that all these polymers exhibited blue emission in solution. The copolymer containing dibenzothiophene and 9,9‐dioctylfluorene units exhibited higher thermal stability than poly[(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl)], although the quantum yield of copolymer was lower than that of poly[(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐2,7‐diyl)]. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1521–1526, 2003     

Rotating ring-disk electrode theory and method to correct quasi-four-electron oxygen reduction over Fe/N/C and N/C cathode catalysts

Understanding the mechanism of the oxygen reduction reaction over nonprecious metal catalysts is important for green and sustainable electrochemical energy conversion. This article presents our recent progress in kinetic studies using rotating ring-disk electrodes. We have established a mathematically and experimentally modified rotating ring-disk electrode approach to calculate the corresponding kinetic rate constants of the 4-e reduction of O₂ to H₂O (k₁), the 2-e reduction of O₂ to H₂O₂ (k₂), and the 2-e reduction of H₂O₂ to H₂O (k₃). Furthermore, the overestimation of the 4-e reduction process, which derives from the (2 + 2)-e pathway in the catalyst layer matrix, was corrected by studying the effect of catalyst loading density. The established method has been successfully applied to the oxygen reduction reaction over Fe/N/C and N/C catalysts in acidic and alkaline media.