On the influence of alpha-particle cyclotron damping on the lower hybrid current drive

Some preliminary results of the influence of the cyclotron harmonic damping of lower hybrid waves by thermonuclearly produced alpha-particles are presented. Recently, the usefulness of the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) in reactor regime was doubted in connection with this effect. The quasilinear change of the slope of the alpha-particle distribution function is taken into account. Analytical estimates are obtained showing that at a sufficiently high wave energy density the power absorped by alpha-particles saturates (in the approximation used). For the parameters of a hybrid reactor, the saturated power was found much lower than that computed from the linear theory. It seems, therefore, that, at least for hybrid reactor conditions, the alphaparticles need not represent a serious obstacle to LHCD. Some further aspects of this effect are discussed.The authors are grateful to Drs. R. Klima, V. A. Petrílka and J. Preinhealter for valuable discussions.     

Chemical dynamics of the CH(X2Π) + C2H4(X1A1g), CH(X2Π) + C2D4(X1A1g), and CD(X2Π) + C2H4(X1A1g) reactions studied under single collision conditions

The crossed beam reactions of the methylidyne radical with ethylene (CH(X(2)Π) + C(2)H(4)(X(1)A(1g))), methylidyne with D4-ethylene (CH(X(2)Π) + C(2)D(4)(X(1)A(1g))), and D1-methylidyne with ethylene (CD(X(2)Π) + C(2)H(4)(X(1)A(1g))) were conducted at nominal collision energies of 17-18 kJ mol(-1) to untangle the chemical dynamics involved in the formation of distinct C(3)H(4) isomers methylacetylene (CH(3)CCH), allene (H(2)CCCH(2)), and cyclopropene (c-C(3)H(4)) via C(3)H(5) intermediates. By tracing the atomic hydrogen and deuterium loss pathways, our experimental data suggest indirect scattering dynamics and an initial addition of the (D1)-methylidyne radical to the carbon-carbon double bond of the (D4)-ethylene reactant forming a cyclopropyl radical intermediate (c-C(3)H(5)/c-C(3)D(4)H/c-C(3)H(4)D). The latter was found to ring-open to the allyl radical (H(2)CCHCH(2)/D(2)CCHCD(2)/H(2)CCDCH(2)). This intermediate was found to be long lived with life times of at least five times its rotational period and decomposed via atomic hydrogen/deuterium loss from the central carbon atom (C2) to form allene via a rather loose exit transition state in an overall strongly exoergic reaction. Based on the experiments with partially deuterated reactants, no compelling evidence could be provided to support the formation of the cyclopropene and methylacetylene isomers under single collision conditions. Likewise, hydrogen/deuterium shifts in the allyl radical intermediates or an initial insertion of the (D1)-methylidyne radical into the carbon-hydrogen/deuterium bond of the (D4)-ethylene reactant were found to be-if at all-of minor importance. Our experiments propose that in hydrocarbon-rich atmospheres of planets and their moons such as Saturn's satellite Titan, the reaction of methylidyne radicals should lead predominantly to the hitherto elusive allene molecule in these reducing environments.     

Photovoltaic cells based on nickel phthalocyanine and zinc oxide formed by atomic layer deposition

The introduction of an ultrathin zinc oxide (ZnO) layer formed by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique was found to improve the operation parameters of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) based photovoltaic cells with a transparent bottom electrode, indium tin oxide (ITO). This improvement is attributed to several reasons, such as I) increase of photovoltaic yield in ITO/p-NiPc/n-ZnO/Al cells incorporating a hybrid heterojunction as compared to single-layer ITO/NiPc/Al cells, II) enhancement of the overall spectral response in the double-layer cells and III) extension of long-term operational stability.     

Direct Catalytic Trifluoromethylthiolation of Boronic Acids and Alkynes Employing Electrophilic Shelf‐Stable N‐(trifluoromethylthio)phthalimide

A new and safe method for the synthesis of N‐(trifluoromethylthio)phthalimide, a convenient and shelf‐stable reagent for the direct trifluoromethylthiolation, has been developed. N‐(Trifluoromethylthio)phthalimide can be used as an electrophilic source of F₃CS⁺ and reacts readily with boronic acids and alkynes under copper catalysis. The utility of CF₃S‐containing molecules as biologically active agents, the mild reaction conditions employed, and the high tolerance of functional groups demonstrate the potential of this new methodology to be widely applied in organic synthesis as well as industrial pharmaceutical and agrochemical research and development.     

Nickel-Catalyzed Chain-Walking Cross-Electrophile Coupling of Alkyl and Aryl Halides and Olefin Hydroarylation Enabled by Electrochemical Reduction

The first electrochemical approach for nickel-catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling was developed. This method provides a novel route to 1,1-diarylalkane derivatives from simple and readily available alkyl and aryl halides in good yields and excellent regioselectivity under mild conditions. The procedure shows good tolerance for a broad variety of functional groups and both primary and secondary alkyl halides can be used. Furthermore, the reaction was successfully scaled up to the multigram scale, thus indicating potential for industrial application. Mechanistic investigation suggested the formation of a nickel hydride in the electroreductive chain-walking arylation, which led to the development of a new nickel-catalyzed hydroarylation of styrenes to provide a series of 1,1-diaryl alkanes in good yields under mild reaction conditions.     

Inhomogeneous 2D linear intergrowth structures among novel Y–Cu–Mg ternary compounds with yttrium/copper equiatomic ratio

Single crystals of the Y₅Cu₅Mg₈, Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₃, Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₆ and YCuMg₄ compounds were synthesized by heating in a resistance furnace evacuated quartz vials containing Ta-crucibles with element pieces. SEM-EDXS analyses were performed to check phases composition. The structures were refined from X-ray single crystal diffraction data. Y₅Cu₅Mg₈, Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₃ and Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₆ represent new structure types: Y₅Cu₅Mg₈ – orthorhombic, Pmma, oP36, a = 2.63723(15), b = 0.40066(2), c = 0.74115(6) nm, Z = 2, wR₂ = 0.0597, 939 F² values, 60 variables; Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₃ – orthorhombic, Cmcm, oS92, a = 0.40973(2), b = 1.92794(8), c = 2.57907(11) nm, Z = 4, wR₂ = 0.1134, 1208 F² values, 75 variables; Y₅Cu₅Mg₁₆ – orthorhombic, Cmcm, oS104, a = 0.41360(8), b = 1.9239(4), c = 2.9086(6) nm, Z = 4, wR₂ = 0.0760, 1383 F² values, 84 variables. YCuMg₄ crystallizes in the TbCuMg₄ structure type (Cmmm, oS48, a = 1.35754(4), b = 2.03153(6), c = 0.39060(1) nm, Z = 8, wR₂ = 0.0401, 661 F² values, 45 variables). The crystal chemistry of these two-layer structures is comparatively discussed. Majority of novel compounds were characterized as members of inhomogeneous 2D intergrowth structure series of R₅M₅X₅, X₄ (Mg₄) and empty Mg octahedra building blocks of general formula R_5kM_5kX_{5k + 4l + m}. The common pentagonal prism derivative structural fragments around the most electropositive yttrium atoms were outlined in all these intermetallics.     

Surface driven transition in a nematic liquid crystal cell

Surface driven reorientation effects in a nematic liquid crystal cell caused by light-induced changes of the anchoring parameters were studied. Theoretical consideration of one-dimensional flat distributions of the director has shown that the director can undergo threshold reorientation between hybrid, homeotropic, and planar alignments as the anchoring energy varies continuously. The threshold reorientation takes place when the reference and light-induced easy axes are perpendicular. In the one-elastic-constant approximation the light-induced transition was found to be of second order as shown by a critical increase of the director thermal fluctuations in the vicinity of the transition point. These effects were experimentally studied in the cells containing 5CB liquid crystal aligned by the photosensitive azo-containing polymer layer. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 2045–2055 (December 1997) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

An L-shaped method with strengthened lift-and-project cuts

Computational Management Science - Lift-and-project (L &P) cuts are well-known general 0–1 programming cuts which are typically deployed in branch-and-cut methods to solve MILP...     

Luminescence properties of pHEMA-TiO2 gels based hybrids materials

Photoluminescence (PL) of photochromic pHEMA-TiO₂ gels-based hybrids was studied by means of time- and energy-resolved spectroscopy at temperatures between 300 K and 10 K. The PL band at 485 nm is assigned to S0←T1 transition of methoxyphenol (organic molecule added to the commercial monomer hydroxyethyl methacrylate, HEMA and used as an inhibitor of spontaneous polymerisation) in the polymer environment, while the PL band at 600 nm is assigned to the self-trapped exciton onto octahedral TiO₆ site of the inorganic component. The mechanisms of the excited states population are discussed. In particular it is shown that both singlet-triplet energy transfer in methoxyphenol and methoxyphenol–TiO₂ charge transfer are strongly affected by the material composition and temperature. The hypothesis about the photoexcited holes annihilation with the trapped electrons is confirmed to be one of main mechanisms limiting the Ti³⁺ centres concentration.