Electron and X-ray diffraction studies of chemically deposited thin films of cadmium selenide following reaction with mercury(II) chloride solution

The reaction between thin films of CdSe and aqueous HgCl₂ was studied using electron diffraction (ED) powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that α-Hg₃Se₂Cl₂ is formed in the CdSe film following its reaction with 0.01 M HgCl₂ for a period of 5 minutes. Upon completion of the reaction of CdSe powder with 0.01 M HgCl₂, Hg₂Cl₂ is present in addition to α-Hg₃Se₂Cl₂ in a molar ratio of 1:3.1. The effect of air annealing on CdSe powder was also studied. Heating in air to 450°C for 1 hour resulted in an XRD pattern corresponding to the hexagonal form of CdSe.     

Peptide synthesis in aqueous environments: the role of extreme conditions and pyrite mineral surfaces on formation and hydrolysis of peptides

A comprehensive study of free energy landscapes and mechanisms of COS-mediated polymerization of glycine via N-carboxy anhydrides (NCAs, "Leuchs anhydrides") and peptide hydrolysis at the water-pyrite interface at extreme thermodynamic conditions is presented. Particular emphasis is set on the catalytic effects of the mineral surface including the putative role of the ubiquitous sulfur vacancy defects. It is found that the mere presence of a surface is able to change the free energetics of the elementary reaction steps. This effect can be understood in terms of a reduction of entropic contributions to the reactant state by immobilizing the reactants and/or screening them from bulk water in a purely geometric ("steric") sense. Additionally, the pyrite directly participates chemically in some of the reaction steps, thus changing the reaction mechanism qualitatively compared to the situation in bulk water. First, the adsorption of reactants on the surface can preform a product-like structure due to immobilizing and scaffolding them appropriately. Second, pyrite can act as a proton acceptor, thus replacing water in this role. Third, sulfur vacancies are found to increase the reactivity of the surface. The finding that the presence of pyrite speeds up the rate-determining step in the formation of peptides with respect to the situation in bulk solvent while stabilizing the produced peptide against hydrolysis is of particular interest to the hypothesis of prebiotic peptide formation at hydrothermal aqueous conditions. Apart from these implications, the generality of the studied organic reactions are of immediate relevance to many fields such as (bio)geochemistry, biomineralization, and environmental chemistry.     

Fragment angular momenta in low and medium energy fission of242Pu

Independent isomeric yield ratios of¹²⁸Sb were determined radiochemically in the thermal neutron induced fission of²⁴¹Pu and 34 MeV alpha particle induced fission of²³⁸U, both involving the same compound nucleus (²⁴²Pu). Fragment angular momenta estimated from the measured isomer ratios using the statistical model analysis showed significantly larger fragment angular momenta in the medium energy fissioning system compared to the low energy fissioning system. This has been attributed to the effect of higher excitation energy and angular momentum in the entrance channel leading to increased fragment temperature, moments of inertia and angular velocity. An attempt was made to calculate the fragment angular momentum in the medium energy fission using the Fermi gas model for the fissioning nucleus, taking into account the multichance fission, saddle shapes of the fissioning nuclei and the angular velocity components of the fissioning nuclei both along and orthogonal to the fission axis. The calculated angular momenta agree well with the experimental results.     

Transient analysis of finite state birth and death process with absorbing boundary states

Transient analysis of finite state birth and death process with absorbing barriers is carries out. Closed form expression for state probabilities and density functions of time of absorption and first passage time for each case is obtained along with the moments. The results are expressed in terms of eigenvalues of symmetric triadiagonal matrix which can be easily computed     

Glasner sets and polynomials in primes

A set of integers is said to be Glasner if for every infinite subset of the torus and there exists some such that the dilation intersects every integral of length in . In this paper we show that if denotes the th prime integer and is any non-constant polynomial mapping the natural numbers to themselves, then is Glasner. The theorem is proved in a quantitative form and generalizes a result of Alon and Peres (1992).

     

Proof of the local REM conjecture for number partitioning. II. Growing energy scales

We continue our analysis of the number partitioning problem with n weights chosen i.i.d. from some fixed probability distribution with density ρ. In Part I of this work, we established the so‐called local REM conjecture of Bauke, Franz and Mertens. Namely, we showed that, as n → ∞, the suitably rescaled energy spectrum above some fixed scale α tends to a Poisson process with density one, and the partitions corresponding to these energies become asymptotically uncorrelated. In this part, we analyze the number partitioning problem for energy scales α_n that grow with n, and show that the local REM conjecture holds as long as n^‐1/4α_n → 0, and fails if α_n grows like κn^1/4 with κ > 0. We also consider the SK‐spin glass model, and show that it has an analogous threshold: the local REM conjecture holds for energies of order o(n), and fails if the energies grow like κn with κ > 0. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2009     

Coalescence suppression in model immiscible polymer blends by nano-sized colloidal particles

The effect of nanometer sized silica particles (R16 nm) on the flow-induced morphology of immiscible polymer blends is studied. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyisobutylene (PIB) are chosen as model components. A stable droplet/matrix microstructure is obtained for blends of 30% PIB in 70% PDMS or vice versa. Rheological measurements are used to show that the silica particles alter the sensitivity of the of dispersed phase/matrix microstructure to shear flow. Coalescence is suppressed or at least slowed down on a practical time scale, especially when PDMS is the matrix phase. The effect of mixing conditions, pre-shear rate and particle concentration on the blend morphology are studied. Cryo-SEM is used to observe the accumulation of the particles at the interface. Blends stabilized by solid particles could provide an interesting alternative to blends compatibilized by block-copolymers.This paper was presented at the first Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Guimarães, Portugal, September 11-13, 2003.     

Separation of rare earths by reverse phase partition chromatography

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Individual separation of rare earth isotopes from lanthanum to lutetium has been carried out using reverse phase partition chromatography and...     

Studies on the thermal properties of silicone polymer based thermal protection systems for space applications

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Thermal decomposition, thermal conductivity, specific heat and flammability of polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) resin and three PDMS-based systems with...     

Experimental investigation on the thermophysical properties of beryllium oxide-based nanofluid and nano-enhanced phase change material

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Low thermal conductivity is a primary issue in the development of efficient heat transfer fluids and materials required for the thermal management of...