A temperature dependence kinetic study of O(1D) + CH4: overall rate coefficient and product yields

Using a recently-developed chemiluminescence technique for monitoring O(1D), the rate coefficient, k1, of the important atmospheric reaction O(1D) + CH4 --> products has been determined over a wide temperature range, 227 to 450 K. The rate coefficient was shown to be independent of temperature, having a value of (1.91 +/- 0.08) x 10(-10) cm3 s(-1); the quoted uncertainties are with 95% confidence. This highly precise value, based on an extended set of determinations with very low scatter, is significantly greater, 26%, than current recommended values. Secondly, the fraction of O(1D) quenched to O(3P) by CH4, k(1q)/k1, was precisely determined from chemiluminescence decays over the temperature range 236 to 340 K. A temperature independent value for k(1q)/k1 of 0.002 +/- 0.003 was found. Finally, LIF detection of OH has been applied to accurately determine the product branching fraction to OH of O(1D) + CH4 at room temperature. Our value, k(1a)/k1 = 0.76 +/- 0.08 (95% confidence), is in line with recent determinations by other groups.     

Quantum chemical and statistical rate investigation of the CF2(a3B1)+NO(X2Pi) reaction: a fast chemical quenching process

The reaction of CF2(a3B1) with NO(X2Pi) was theoretically investigated using the B3LYP, MP2, CCSD(T), G2M, CASSCF, and CASPT2 quantum chemical methods with various basis sets including 6-31G(d), 6-311G(d), 6-311+G(3df), cc-pVDZ, and cc-pVTZ. In agreement with the experimental kinetic data, the CF2(a3B1)+NO(X2Pi) reaction is found to proceed via a fast, barrier-free combination. This process, occurring on the doublet potential energy surface, leads to the electronically excited adduct F2C-NO(22A'), which readily undergoes a surface hopping to the 12A' electronic surface, with a Landau-Zener transition probability estimated to be close to 90% per C-N vibration. The metastable adduct F2C-NO(12A') can then either spontaneously decompose into CF2(X1A1)+NO(X2Pi) in a direct chemical quenching mechanism or relax to its ground-state equilibrium structure F2CNO(X2A'). The product distribution resulting from the latter, chemically activated intermediate was evaluated by solution of the master equation (ME), under different reaction conditions, using the exact stochastic simulation method; microcanonical rate constants were computed using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory, based on the potential energy surfaces (PESs) constructed using both G2M and CASPT2 methods. The RRKM/ME analysis reveals that the hot F2CNO(X2A') rapidly fragments almost exclusively to the same products as above, CF2(X1A1)+NO(X2Pi), which amounts to an indirect chemical quenching mechanism. The reaction on the quartet PES is unlikely to be significant except at very high temperatures. The high crossing probability (up to 90%) between the two "avoided" doublet PESs points out the inherent difficulty in treating chemically activated reactions with fast-moving nuclei within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.     

Irreversible electrowetting on thin fluoropolymer films

A study was conducted to investigate electrowetting reversibility associated with repeated voltage actuations for an aqueous droplet situated on a silicon dioxide insulator coated with an amorphous fluoropolymer film ranging in thickness from 20 to 80 nm. The experimental results indicate that irreversible trapped charge may occur at the aqueous-solid interface, giving rise to contact angle relaxation. The accumulation of trapped charge was found to be related to the applied electric field intensity and the breakdown strength of the fluoropolymer. On the basis of the data, an empirical model was developed to estimate the amount of trapped charge in the fluoropolymer as well as the voltage threshold for the onset of irreversible electrowetting.     

Ring-Closing Metathesis in Carbohydrate Annulation

Even eight-membered rings (such as in 2 ) can be formed by ring-closing metathesis of glucose derivatives such as 1 . Enantiomerically pure tricyclic spiro compounds can also be prepared.     

Exploring the Effect of Ligand Structural Isomerism in Langmuir–Blodgett Films of Chiral Luminescent EuIII Self‐Assemblies

Here we have investigated the influence of the antenna group position on both the formation of chiral amphiphilic Eu^III‐based self‐assemblies in CH₃CN solution and, on the ability to form monolayers on the surface of quartz substrates using the Langmuir–Blodgett technique, by changing from the 1‐naphthyl ( 2(R) , 2(S) ) to the 2‐naphthyl ( 1(R) , 1(S) ) position. The evaluation of binding constants of the self‐ assemblies in CH₃CN solution was achieved using conventional techniques such as UV/Visible and luminescence spectroscopies along with more specific circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The binding constants obtained for EuL , EuL₂ and EuL₃ species in the case of 2‐naphthyl derivatives were comparable to those obtained for 1‐naphthyl derivatives. The analysis of the changes in the CD spectra of 1(R) and 1(S) upon addition of Eu^III not only allowed us to evaluate the values of the binding constants but the resulting recalculated spectra may also be used as fingerprints for assignment of the chiral self‐assembly species formed in solution. The obtained monolayers were predominantly formed from EuL₃ (≈85 %) with the minor species present in ≈15 % EuL₂ .     

A Multifunctional Surface That Simultaneously Balances Hydrophilic Enzyme Catalysis and Hydrophobic Water Repellency

The compatibility of multiple functions at a single interface is difficult to achieve, but is even more challenging when the functions directly counteract one another. This study provides insight into the creation of a simultaneously multifunctional surface formed by balancing two orthogonal functions; water repellency and enzyme catalysis. A partially fluorinated thiol is used to impart bulk hydrophobicity on the surface, and an N‐hydroxysuccinimide ester‐terminated thiol provides a specific anchoring sites for the covalent enzyme attachment. Different ratios of the two thiols are mixed together to form amphiphilic self‐assembled monolayers, which are characterized with polarization‐modulation infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy and contact angle goniometry. The enzyme activity is measured by a fluorescence assay. With the results collected here, specific surface compositions are identified at which the orthogonal functions of water repellency and enzyme catalysis are balanced and exist simultaneously. An understanding of how to effectively balance orthogonal functions at surfaces can be extended to a number of higher‐scale applications.     

Coreflooding Studies to Investigate the Potential of Carbonated Water Injection as an Injection Strategy for Improved Oil Recovery and CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Storage

Carbonated water injection (CWI) is a CO₂-augmented water injection strategy that leads to increased oil recovery with added advantage of safe storage of CO₂ in oil reservoirs. In CWI, CO₂ is used efficiently (compared to conventional CO₂ injection) and hence it is particularly attractive for reservoirs with limited access to large quantities of CO₂, e.g. offshore reservoirs or reservoirs far from large sources of CO₂. We present the results of a series of CWI coreflood experiments using water-wet and mixed-wet Clashach sandstone cores and a reservoir core with light oil (n-decane), refined viscous oil and a stock-tank crude oil. The experiments were carried out to assess the performance of CWI and to quantify the level of additional oil recovery and CO₂ storage under various experimental conditions. We show that the ultimate oil recovery by CWI is higher than the conventional water flooding in both secondary and tertiary recovery methods. Oil swelling as a result of CO₂ diffusion into the oil and the subsequent oil viscosity reduction and coalescence of the isolated oil ganglia are amongst the main mechanisms of oil recovery by CWI that were observed through the visualisation experiments in high-pressure glass micromodels. There was also evidence of a change in the rock wettability that could also influence the oil recovery. The coreflood test results also reveal that the CWI performance is influenced by oil viscosity, core wettability and the brine salinity. Higher oil recovery was obtained with the mixed-wet core than the water-wet core, with light oil than with the viscous oil and low salinity carbonated brine than high-salinity carbonated brine. At the end of the flooding period, an encouraging amount of the injected CO₂ was stored in the brine and the remaining oil in the form of stable dissolved CO₂. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the potential of CWI for improving oil recovery as compared with the conventional water flooding (secondary recovery) or as a water-based EOR (enhanced oil recovery) method for watered out reservoirs.     

Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell–Dirac equations and symmetry reductions

We study the Maxwell–Dirac equations in a manifestly gauge invariant presentation using only the spinor bilinear scalar and pseudoscalar densities, and the vector and pseudovector currents, together with their quadratic Fierz relations. The internally produced vector potential is expressed via algebraic manipulation of the Dirac equation, as a rational function of the Fierz bilinears and first derivatives (valid on the support of the scalar density), which allows a gauge invariant vector potential to be defined. This leads to a Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell tensor and of the Maxwell–Dirac equations, without any reference to gauge dependent quantities. We show how demanding invariance of tensor fields under the action of a fixed (but arbitrary) Lie subgroup of the Poincaré group leads to symmetry reduced equations. The procedure is illustrated, and the reduced equations worked out explicitly for standard spherical and cylindrical cases, which are coupled third order nonlinear PDEs. Spherical symmetry necessitates the existence of magnetic monopoles, which do not affect the coupled Maxwell–Dirac system due to magnetic terms cancelling. In this paper we do not take up numerical computations. As a demonstration of the power of our approach, we also work out the symmetry reduced equations for two distinct classes of dimension 4 one-parameter families of Poincaré subgroups, one splitting and one non-splitting. The splitting class yields no solutions, whereas for the non-splitting class we find a family of formal exact solutions in closed form.     

Selective time-reversal pulses for NMR imaging

Using a nonlinear systems approach, a selective time-reversal pulse for multiple-slice-multiple-echo NMR imaging sequences has been developed. The results of both computer simulation and experiments on a 1.5 T imaging system demonstrate the markedly improved selectivity of the pulse compared to conventional time-reversal pulses.