Influence of Hydrothermal Temperature on Structures and Photovoltaic Properties of SnO2 Nanoparticles

Two SnO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method at 170°C and 180°C, respectively. Transmission electron microscope observations reveal that the diameters of both the nanoparticles are around 6nm. At the same time, surface photovoltage spectroscopy measurements show that the nanoparticle synthesized at 180°C has more surface electronic states at 0.3eV below the conduction band than the one synthesized at 170°C. This means that the temperatures chosen in hydrothermal synthesis have significant influence on the surface electronic characteristics of resultant SnO² nanoparticles but the effect on their sizes is not obvious. However, after being calcined at 500°C for 2h, the diameter of the nanoparticle synthesized at 180°C increased to 23nm and that of the nanoparticle synthesized at 170°C increased to 32nm as calculated from X-ray diffraction pattern.     

High-brightness white light-emitting organic electroluminescent devices using poly(N-vinylcarbazole) as a hole-transporter

A white light-emitting organic electroluminescent (EL) device with multilayer thin-film structure, which shows high-brightness and high-efficiency, is demonstrated. The device structure of glass substrate/indium–tin oxide/poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK)/1,1,4,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene/8-(quinolinolate)-aluminum (Alq) doped with 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene/Alq/Mg/Al was employed. The turn-on voltage is as low as 2.5 V. The white light emission covers a wide range of the visible region, and the Commission Internationale de 1' Eclairage coordinates of the emitted light are (0.319, 0.332) at 10 V. Bright white light, over 20 000 cd/m², was successfully obtained at about 18 V, and the maximum efficiency reaches to 1.24 lm/W at 9 V. The reasons of obtaining high level EL properties of our device have been discussed.     

Pair-produced heavy particle topologies: MSSM neutralino properties at the LHC from gluino/squark cascade decays

Processes of the form pp → anything → X_iX_j → + + notE are studied via a technique that may be viewed as an adaptation of time-honoured Dalitz plot analyses. X_i and X_j are new heavy states (with i, j =1, . . .,n), which may be identical or distinct; and and are necessarily distinct standard model (SM) fermion pairs whose invariant masses can be measured. A Dalitz-like plot of said invariant masses, versus , exhibits a topology connected to the masses and specific decay chains of X_i and X_j. Aside from relatively minor details, observed patterns consist of a collection of box and wedge shapes. This collection is model-dependent: comparison of the observed pattern to the possibilities for a specific model yields information on which new particle pair combinations are actually being produced, information beyond that extractable from conventional one-dimensional invariant mass distributions. The technique is illustrated via application to the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) process pp → → e⁺e^- + μ⁺μ^- notE. Here the heavy states are neutralinos (i = 2,3,4) - note that is excluded - which are produced in gluino/squark ( / ) cascade decay chains. Even with fairly modest expectations for the LHC performance during the first few years, this method still provides substantial insight into the neutralino mass spectrum and couplings if gluino/squark masses are relatively low (≃ 400 GeV). Arrival of the final proofs: 29 November 2005     

One-pot synthesis of uniform hollow cuprous oxide spheres fabricated by single-crystalline particles via a simple solvothermal route

Uniform Cu₂O hollow spheres fabricated by single-crystalline particles (smaller than 20 nm) are facile synthesized in ethylene glycol (EG) solution by a simple solvothermal route without using pre-fabricated templates and reductive agents. EG in this protocol is not only used as a solvent, complexing agent, and reducing agent, but also served as a structure-directing agent for the formation of hollow structure. By control of reaction conditions, such as reaction time, temperature, and the anions, the morphology and structure of the hollow spheres can be tuned. A coordination adsorption and oriented attachment and Ostwald ripening mechanism is proposed for explaining the formation process of hollow Cu₂O spheres in EG solution; and importantly, the hollow Cu₂O spheres exhibit an excellent property for the electro-catalytic oxidization of ascorbic acid in acetic acid buffer solution. Moreover, the hollow spherical Cu₂O particles could be potentially applied in catalysis, sensor, and as model for fundamental research.     

CH4 dissociation on NiCo (1 1 1) surface: A first-principles study

A density-functional theory method has been conducted to investigate the adsorption of CH_x (x = 0-4) as well as the dissociation of CH_x (x = 1-4) on (1 1 1) facets of ordered NiCo alloy. The results have been compared with those obtained on pure Ni (1 1 1) surface. It shows that the adsorption energies of C and CH are decreased while it is increased for CH₃ on NiCo (1 1 1) compared to those on pure Ni (1 1 1). Furthermore, on NiCo (1 1 1), dissociation of CH_x prefers not to the top of Ni, but to the top of Co. The rate-determining step for CH₄ dissociation is considered as the first step of dehydrogenation on NiCo (1 1 1), while it is the fourth step of dehydrogenation on Ni (1 1 1). Furthermore, the activation barrier in rate-determining step is slightly higher by 0.07 eV on Ni (1 1 1) than that on NiCo (1 1 1). From above results, it is important to point out that carbon is easy to form on NiCo (1 1 1) although the adsorption energy of C atom is slightly decreased compared to that on Ni (1 1 1).     

Characteristics of cobalt-based alloy coating on tool steel prepared by powder feeding laser cladding

Co-based alloy coating was deposited on tool steel by powder feeding laser cladding. Sections of such coatings were examined to reveal their microstructures and phases using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The results showed that the prime phase (γ-Co dendrite) and other phases, including Cr₂₃C₆, Co₇W₆, and CrNi existed in the coatings. Some different solidification morphologies, such as planar (at the interface), cellular and dendrite formed, varying from the interface to the surface. Fine microstructures of γ-Co dendrite and lamellar eutectic in dendritical regions strengthened the coatings. Besides, the effects of aged treatment on the microstructure and microhardness of the surface coating were studied. Aged treatment led to the precipitations of some carbide particles (Cr₇C₃ and Co₃C) and boride particles (Co₄B) from the cladded coating, causing an increase in microhardness in the laser-cladded coating.     

Interaction of an electron bunch with a laser pulse in vacuum

The output properties of electrons accelerated by the vacuum laser acceleration scheme CAS (capture and acceleration scenario) are addressed. The transport process of the electron bunch, the fraction of the CAS electrons of the incident electrons, the correlation of electron energy with position and scattering angle, the energy spectrum and angular distributions as well as the emittance of the outgoing electrons are studied at a laser intensity of a₀=10. In addition, the effects of the laser intensity, beam width, and pulse duration on the properties of the output electrons are also examined. Physical explanations of those output characteristics are presented based on the mechanism behind the CAS scheme. The feasibility of CAS to become a realistic laser accelerator scheme is explored. PACS 41.75.Jv; 42.60.Jf; 41.85.Ja     

Basic function method A new numerical method on unstructured grids

A new numerical method-basic function method is proposed. This method can directly discrete differential operators on unstructured grids. By using the expansion of basic function to approach the exact function, the central and upwind schemes of derivative are constructed. By using the polynomial as basic function, applying the technique of flux splitting method and the combination of central and upwind schemes, the non-physical fluctuation near the shock wave is suppressed. The first-order basic function scheme of polynomial type for solving inviscid compressible flow numerically is constructed in this paper. Several numerical results of many typical examples for one-, two- and three-dimensional inviscid compressible steady flow illustrate that it is a new scheme with high accuracy and high resolution for shock wave. Especially, combining with the adaptive remeshing technique, the satisfactory results can be obtained by these schemes.     

Efficiency promotion for an on-ramp system based on intelligent transportation system information

<正>The effect of cars with intelligent transportation systems(ITSs) on traffic flow near an on-ramp is investigated by car-following simulations.By numerical simulations,the dependences of flux on the inflow rate are investigated for various proportions of cars with ITSs.The phase diagrams as well as the spatiotemporal diagrams are presented to show different traffic flow states on the main road and the on-ramp.The results show that the saturated flux on the main road increases and the free flow region is enlarged with the increase of the proportion of cars with ITS.Interestingly,the congested regions of the main road disappear completely when the proportion is larger than a critical value.Further investigation shows that the capacity of the on-ramp system can be promoted by 13%by using the ITS information, and the saturated flux on the on-ramp can be kept at an appropriate value by adjusting the proportion of cars with ITS.     

Structures,microstructures, physical and chemical properties of different rice grains

Herein, we demonstrated a well-rounded exploration of the universal structures, microstructures and physical properties of different rice grains. We show that these rice grains are nanocrystalline in nature, have the standard pattern of type A rice crystalline, and can be attributed to the hexagonal crystal structure with space group of P6. These rice grains have uneven surfaces, clusters of the granules, or schistose structure. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen elements are presented in the rice grains. No significant difference is observed in FTIR spectra in these rice grains, indicating the fundamental chemical structures of these rice grains are analogical. Their microstructural and physical properties were investigated in detail. Moreover, chemical properties (e.g. thermal stability) of the rice grains were explored. This research provides an in-depth understanding on the physical and structural properties on the atomic and molecular level, as well as guidance for food and industry applications.