Recent radiochemical studies of the fission process

This article summarizes the recent radiochemical investigations on mass, charge kinetic energy and fragment angular distributions in low energy fission of actinides.     

Thermal neutron polarisation

The basic principle for the production of polarised thermal neutrons is discussed and the choice of various crystal monochromators surveyed. Brief mention of broad-spectrum polarisers is made. The application of polarised neutrons to the study of magnetisation density distributions in magnetic crystals, the dynamic concept of polarisation, principle and use of polarisation analysis, the neutron spin-echo technique are discussed.     

Magnetic properties of carbon nanosheets

Two-dimensional carbon nanosheets have been fabricated using inductively coupled radio frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition. The structural properties of the nanosheets have been characterised using atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometer. The magnetisation of the samples was studied using vibrating sample magnetometer. The magnetisation of the nanosheets was found to be diamagnetic for fast synthesis processes (30 and 60 min). On the other hand, the nanosheets exhibited a weak ferromagnetic response for the slow (120 min) synthesis process. Energy dispersive spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy confirmed that the magnetisation exhibited by the carbon nanosheets was an intrinsic property and that it was not due to contamination from the substrate. Raman spectroscopy studies revealed that the ferromagnetic carbon nanosheets have a higher ratio (1.20) of graphite peak (I _G) to disordered peak (I _D) than normally expected (0.75–0.90). Available data indicated that the magnetisation was due to the presence of structural disorders.     

Facile one‐pot method of initiator fixation for surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization on carbon hard spheres

An efficient and novel one‐pot process is developed to immobilize the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiators onto the surface of fully pyrolyzed carbon hard spheres (CHSs) via a radical trapping process from the in situ thermal decomposition of bis(bromomethylbenzoyl)peroxide. The CHSs do not require any additional preparative treatment prior to the initiator immobilization. Styrene and methyl methacrylate are polymerized onto initiator‐immobilized CHSs by surface‐initiated atomic transfer radical polymerization (SI‐ATRP). Samples are characterized using Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. These methods of characterization confirmed that all the CHSs are coated with a uniform layer of grafted polymer. This efficient, one‐pot immobilization of ATRP‐initiators represents an exceptionally simple route for the rapid preparation of various polymer‐coated carbon‐based nanomaterials using SI‐ATRP. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3314–3322     

Level density of a bose gas and extreme value statistics

We establish a connection between the level density of a gas of noninteracting bosons and the theory of extreme value statistics. Depending on the exponent that characterizes the growth of the underlying single-particle spectrum, we show that at a given excitation energy the limiting distribution function for the number of excited particles follows the three universal distribution laws of extreme value statistics, namely, the Gumbel, Weibull, and Fréchet distributions. Implications of this result, as well as general properties of the level density at different energies, are discussed.     

高效可回收多相催化剂SiO_2-Cu_2O催化伯胺和仲胺苄基化反应(英文)

A mild,effective,and selective procedure is reported for the mono N-benzylation and N,N-dibenzylation of primary amines as well as mono N-benzylation of secondary amines using silicasupported copper(I) oxide in water.The silica-supported Cu2O was generated in situ by the reaction of Fehling solution and glucose at 100 °C onto activated silica.The catalyst was filtered,washed with water,and oven-dried,and was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,thermogravimetric analysis,scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,and atomic absorption spectroscopy.The prepared Cu2O-SiO2 was found to be thermally stable up to 325 °C.The copper was uniformly distributed onto the surface of the silica,and the mean particle diameter was 7 nm.The catalyst served as a selective heterogenous catalyst for the N-benzylation of primary and secondary amines.The catalyst is recyclable and was used effectively upto fifth run without a significant loss of catalytic activity.Various reaction solvents including water,acetonitrile,and toluene were screened for N-benzylation of amines,and the success of the aqueous system highlights the low environmental impact of the procedure.     

Exact maximal height distribution of fluctuating interfaces

We present an exact solution for the distribution P(h(m),L) of the maximal height h(m) (measured with respect to the average spatial height) in the steady state of a fluctuating Edwards-Wilkinson interface in a one dimensional system of size L with both periodic and free boundary conditions. For the periodic case, we show that P(h(m),L)=L(-1/2)f(h(m)L(-1/2)) for all L>0, where the function f(x) is the Airy distribution function that describes the probability density of the area under a Brownian excursion over a unit interval. For the free boundary case, the same scaling holds, but the scaling function is different from that of the periodic case. Numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with our analytical results. Our results provide an exactly solvable case for the distribution of extremum of a set of strongly correlated random variables.     

On Berezin Number Inequalities for Operator Matrices

In this article, we refine certain earlier existing bounds for Berezin number of operator matrices. We also prove some new Berezin number inequalities for general n × n operator matrices.Further, we establish several upper bounds for Berezin number and generalized Euclidean Berezin number for off-diagonal operator matrices. Finally, some interesting examples are discussed.     

Effect of contact angle on the morphology of nanostructures produced by solution wetting of anodized aluminum oxide templates

Template-assisted nanofabrication is a simple and effective method to produce various nanostructure morphologies by controlling the polymer, solvent, and template characteristics. In this study, the importance of the surface interactions between the solution and the template in controlling the morphology of the nanostructures has been highlighted. Contact angles between various polymer solutions and anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates have been determined. The morphology of the resultant nanostructures has been correlated with the measured contact angles between solution and template. It is generally observed that nanorods (diameter of 100–350 nm) are produced at low contact angles, whereas nanotubes (diameter of 200–400 nm) tend to form at high contact angles. Therefore, desired nanostructure morphology for a given application can be obtained by controlling the initial wetting interaction between solution and template.