Uranium recovery via melt separation of rare earth elements and chemical oxidation

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Pyroprocessing of spent fuels, especially the recovery of U, improves the overall efficiency of nuclear recycling. The recovery of U/Transuranic...     

Pulsed laser deposition of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin film on cobalt ferrite nano-seed layered Pt(111)/Si substrate: effect of oxygen pressure

The effect of oxygen pressure during pulsed laser deposition of Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) thin films on CoFe₂O₄ nano-seed layered Pt(111)/Si substrate was investigated. The PZT film deposited at oxygen pressure lower than 25 mTorr is identified as both perovskite and pyrochlore phases and the films deposited at high oxygen pressure (50-100 mTorr) show the single-phase perovskite PZT that has a perfect (111)-orientation. In addition, the film deposited at P_O2 of 50 mTorr has a uniform surface morphology, whereas the film deposited at P_O2 of 100 mTorr has a non-uniform surface morphology and more incompacted columnar cross-section microstructure. The polarization of film deposited at 100 mTorr is higher than that deposited at 50 mTorr, but shift of the hysteresis loop along the electrical field axis in the film deposited at P_O2 of 100 mTorr is larger than that of the film deposited at P_O2 of 50 mTorr.     

Fluorescent and pH-responsive diblock copolymer-coated core-shell CdSe/ZnS particles for a color-displaying, ratiometric pH sensor

A color distinctive, ratiometric pH sensor was demonstrated using pH responsive and fluorescent (PyMMP-b-P2VP) diblock copolymer coated CdSe/ZnS QDs. Due to the change in the P2VP conformations in response to pH change, the color of QDs in solution changes distinctly from blue to red.     

A Concise Total Synthesis of (+)‐Tetrabenazine and (+)‐α‐Dihydrotetrabenazine

Highly concise asymmetric total syntheses of (+)‐tetrabenazine ( 1 ), a drug for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington’s disease, and of (+)‐α‐dihydrotetrabenazine ( 2 ), an active metabolite of 1 , have been accomplished. Our synthetic route features a trans‐selective enol etherification, followed by an unprecedented cation‐dependent aza‐Claisen rearrangement to establish the carbon framework and two stereogenic centers of tetrabenazine. The syntheses consist of seven steps (34 % overall yield) for (+)‐ 2 and eight steps (22 % overall yield) for (+)‐ 1 .     

Removal of rare earth elements from a U/RE ingot via a reaction with UCl3

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A chemical equilibrium experiment was conducted to remove rare earth (RE) elements from a U/RE ingot using UCl3 as an oxidant. Upon analysis, the...     

Biophysical characterization of the molecular orientation of an antibody-immobilized layer using secondary ion mass spectrometry

The molecular orientation of antibody layers formed on separate solid matrices (e.g., gold-coated glass substrate) was characterized by means of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) in static mode. For comparison, three different antibody species, IgG, F(ab')(2), and Fab, were prepared, biotinylated in random and site-directed fashions, and immobilized on distinct streptavidin-coated surfaces. ToF-SIMS analyses of each antibody layer revealed that the secondary ion intensity peaks measured at the mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio 253, 325, and 647 were unique to the site-directly immobilized antibodies. The ions in the three peaks were detected neither from the streptavidin layer nor from the randomly prepared antibody, indicating that the insolubilized antibody layers constructed in the two different manners had distinct molecular arrangements. The antibody preparations were further tested for their binding characteristics in sandwich-type immunoassays, which showed that the site-directed antibodies consistently enhanced the detection capability comparing to those randomly prepared. Based on the analytical results of both the ToF-SIMS analysis and sandwich-type immunoassays, the site-directed antibody species were immobilized on the surfaces in a more orientated manner, with their antigen binding sites exposed to the bulk solution, than when random immobilization was used.     

Heat Treatment of the Photonic Crystal Fiber

We report heat treatment of the photonic crystal fiber. As the temperature was increased, the transmission of the photonic crystal fiber was increased, unlike conventional single mode fiber. The transmission increase at short wavelength region was larger than long wavelength region for the various temperatures. After crystallization of the silica glass, the spectra of the photonic crystal fiber were just decreased at all wavelength regions, but, in case of the single mode fiber, the absorption in visible region around 450 nm increased with increasing temperature.     

OH Diffusion in Silica Glass Preform During Jacketing Process by Oxy-Hydrogen Burner

Radial distribution of OH diffusion in silica glass preform during jacketing process using a oxy-hydrogen burner was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy. The OH peaks at the jacketing boundary and the surface of the preform were found to be due to diffusion of OH incorporated from the burner.