Infrared spectra of homogeneous and heterogeneous proton-bound dimers in the gas phase

Infrared multiphoton dissociation spectra of three homogeneous and two heterogeneous proton-bound dimers were recorded in the gas phase. Comparison of the experimental infrared spectra recorded in the fingerprint region of the proton-bound dimers with spectra predicted by electronic structure calculations shows that all modes which are observed contain motion of the proton oscillating between the two monomers. The O-H-O asymmetric stretch for the homogeneous dimers is shown to occur at around 800 cm-1. As expected, the O-H-O asymmetric stretching modes for the heterogeneous proton-bound dimers are observed to shift to significantly higher energy with respect to those for the homogeneous proton-bound dimers due to the asymmetry of the O-H-O moeity. This shift is shown to be predictable from the difference in proton affinities between the two monomers. Density functional predictions of the infrared spectra based on the harmonic oscillator model are demonstrated to predict the observed spectra of the homogeneous proton-bound dimers with reasonable accuracy. Calculations of the structure and infrared spectrum of protonated diglyme at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level and basis also agree well with an infrared spectrum recorded previously. For both heterogeneous proton-bound dimers, however, the predicted spectra are blue-shifted with respect to experiment.     

Sensitive detection of ionic organolead compounds by coupling hydride generation (HG) with transversely heated graphite atomizer-atomic absorption spectrometry (THGA-AAS)

The detection of ionic alkyllead compounds using the coupling of flow injection analysis system-hydride generation (FIAS-HG) with transversely heated graphite atomizer atomic absorption spectrometry (THGA-AAS) has been worked out. Very low limits of detection can be achieved if the hydride products are enriched in the graphite furnace. Under optimised conditions (concentration of sodium borohydride, hydrogen peroxide and acidity as well as the furnace temperature) calibrations are carried out in the range of 0.1 to 5 μg/L. With a 1.5 mL sample loop, the limit of detection is calculated to be about 7 ng/L, but it can be lowered to below 1 ng/L if larger sample volumes are used for the enrichment.     

Spectrophotometric determination of calcium with 8—quinolinol

The spectrophotometric determination of calcium with 8-quinolinol is described. Interference from all the commonly encountered metals and elements with the exception of magnesium and strontium can be eliminated by preliminary carbamate-chloroform and cupferron-chloroform solvent extractions. The proposed method is adapted to the determination of calcium in battery lead.     

Characterisation of nanocrystalline magnesium oxide by X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

There are numerous methods of preparing nanocrystalline materials. Magnesium oxide is an ideal model system on which to probe the relation of the preparative route and the microstructure. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) we show that the sol-gel route can be used to prepare highly crystalline material provided there is careful control of the calcination conditions. In the present work this is achieved by calcining at high temperatures (at least 800 degrees C). However, this results in grain growth that can be prevented by the addition of a pinning agent, SiO(2), during the preparation of the sol. The pinned samples maintain a particle size of 11 nm even after calcining at 1000 degrees C. Ball-milling is a common method of preparing nanocrystalline oxides, however the present work shows that this produces a significant fraction of amorphous material, the fraction increasing with decreasing grain size (e.g. approximately 30 % for a grain size of 23 nm).     

μ+SR study of two-dimensional antiferromagnets,delafossite-type compounds

⁺SR experiments were performed on delafossite-type compounds, CuCrO₂, AgCrO₂, CuFeO₂, which are model compounds of triangular lattice antiferromagnets. The initial asymmetries are much smaller than the expected value, implying muonium formation. The time spectra are composed of slow andfast relaxation components. We attributed the components to signals from ⁺ stopped at the center of O^2– ions andmuonium far from nuclear dipole moments, respectively. The asymmetries decrease belowT _N but no precession spectra were observed. Relaxation rates of slow andfast relaxation components show maxima atT _N.     

Thermal heat reservoirs via Gauss' principle of least constraint; Dissipation,chaos, and phase-space dimensionality loss in one-dimensional chains

We use Gauss' principle of least constraint to impose different kinetic temperatures on the two halves of a periodic one-dimensional chain. The thermodynamic result is heat flow, as predicted by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The statistical-mechanical result can be either a phase-space limit cycle or a strange attractor, depending on the chain length and the size of the temperature difference. We document the sensitivity of the Lyapunov spectrum and the underlying phase-space topology by varying the chain length and the size of the kinetic-temperature difference.