Heat and mass transport in bundles that move and give off gas

Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, No. 6, pp. 96–103, November–December, 1992.     

Hyperfine investigations of the magnetic state in ordered Pt3−xFe1+x

Mössbauer effect studies of Pt_3−xFe_1+x fcc ordered alloys in the range 4.2 K <T<300 K, in zero and in external magnetic field, for samples with x = 0.16 to 0.28, are reported. The low-temperature spectra show several satellite lines which are related to different excess-Fe nearest-neighbor configurations. Experiments in external fields give information on the different local spin structure at different concentrations.     

Solubility diagrams of the potassium iodide-water-N,N-dimethylformamide and iodine-iodide-water-N,N-dimethylformamide systems at 25°C

The solubility diagrams of the potassium iodide-water-N,N-dimethylformamide (DMFA) and iodine-iodide-water-N,N-dimethylformamide systems were studied at 25°C by the method of sections. The systems are characterized by three-phase equilibria of the peritonic and eutonic types, respectively. Potassium iodide in the I₂-KI-/H₂O-DMFA (95: 5 wt %)/ system was found to salt in crystalline iodine. The selected composition of the H₂O-DMFA mixed solvent possessed a higher iodine-solving ability compared with pure mixture components.     

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of composite TiO2–poly(vinylidenefluoride) films synthesised for applications in pesticide photocatalytic degradation

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was adopted for the analytical characterization of composite titanium dioxide–poly(vinylidenefluoride) (TiO₂–PVDF) films developed for applications in the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants.

The composites were deposited on glass substrates by casting or spin coating from TiO₂–PVDF suspensions in dimethylformamide (DMF). XPS data on the TiO₂–PVDF surface composition were used to optimize preparation conditions (composition of the TiO₂/PVDF suspension, deposition technique) in terms of titanium dioxide surface amount and film stability.

The use of spin-coating deposition and the increase of TiO₂ amount in the DMF suspensions were found to improve the titanium surface content, although high TiO₂/PVDF ratios led to film instability. PVDF–TiO₂ films were also used in preliminary photocatalytic degradation tests on isoproturon, a phenylurea herbicide, under solar UV irradiation; the results were compared to direct photolysis to evaluate the catalytic efficiency of immobilized TiO₂ and the role played by the PVDF film during the degradation process.     

High sensitivity CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy of water in the region of the 1.5 μm atmospheric window

The absorption spectrum of natural water vapour around 1.5 μm has been recorded with a typical sensitivity of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹ by using a CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy set up based on fibred DFB lasers. A series of 31 DFB lasers has allowed a full coverage of the 6130.8-6748.5 cm⁻¹ (1.63-1.48 μm) region corresponding to the H transparency band of the atmosphere. The line parameters (wavenumber and intensity) of a total of 5190 lines, including 4247 lines of water vapor, were derived by a one by one fit of the lines to a Voigt profile. Different isotopologues of water (H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O) present in natural abundance in the sample contribute to the spectrum. For the main isotopologue, H₂¹⁶O, 2130 lines were measured with line intensities as weak as 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule while only 926 lines (including a proportion of 30% inaccurate calculated lines) with a minimum intensity of 3 × 10⁻²⁷ cm/molecule are provided by the HITRAN and GEISA databases. Our comparison in the whole 5750-7965 cm⁻¹ region, has also evidenced that an error in the process of conversion of the intensity units from cm⁻²/atm to cm⁻¹/(molecule × cm⁻²) at 296 K, has led to H₂¹⁶O line intensities values listed in the HITRAN-2000 database, systematically 8 % below the original FTS values. The rovibrational assignment was performed on the basis of the ab initio calculations by Schwenke and Partridge with a subsequent refinement and validation using the Ritz combination principle together with all previously measured water transitions relevant to this study. This procedure allowed determining 172, 139, 71, and 115 new energy levels for the H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O isotopologues, respectively. The results are compared with the available databases and discussed in regard of previous investigations by Fourier transform spectroscopy. The spectrum analysis has showed that most of the transitions which cannot be assigned to water are very weak and are due to impurities such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, leaving only about 3% of the observed transitions unassigned. The interest of a detailed knowledge of water absorption for trace detectors developed in the 1.5 μm range is underlined: for instance HDO contributes significantly to the considered spectrum while no HDO line parameters are provided by the HITRAN database.     

Aerodynamics of ski jumping: experiments and CFD simulations

The aerodynamic behaviour of a model ski jumper is investigated experimentally at full-scale Reynolds numbers and computationally applying a standard RANS code. In particular we focus on the influence of different postures on aerodynamic forces in a wide range of angles of attack. The experimental results proved to be in good agreement with full-scale measurements with athletes in much larger wind tunnels, and form a reliable basis for further predictions of the effects of position changes on the performance. The comparison of CFD results with the experiments shows poor agreement, but enables a clear outline of simulation potentials and limits when accurate predictions of effects from small variations are required.     

Analysis of iron storage proteins in chicken liver and spleen tissues in comparison with human liver ferritin by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Summary Characterization of iron storage proteins in liver and spleen from normal chicken and chicken with lymphoid leukemia in comparison with human liver ferritin were considered by M?ssbauer spectroscopy (preliminary results). Small differences in M?ssbauer hyperfine parameters for both normal and lymphoid leukemia chicken liver and spleen were observed. The value of quadrupole splitting for human liver ferritin was higher than those for chicken tissues. A decrease of iron content in lymphoid leukemia chicken tissues was also found, however, the reason of this fact (pathology or feeding) was not clear yet.     

Measurements of total and positronium-formation cross sections for the scattering of positrons by alkali atoms

We present a review of our recent measurements of total cross sections (Q _T's) for the scattering of positrons by Na, K, and Rb, and positronium-formation cross sections (Q _Ps's) for Na and K. For our total cross section measurements, a beam transmission technique has been used. For ourQ _Ps measurements, our approach involves setting upper and lower limits onQ _Ps using a combination of (1) measuring the transmission of the positron beam with the angular discrimination of the apparatus made as poor as possible, and (2) measuring the 511 keV annihilation gamma rays in coincidence produced by the decay of para-Ps formed in the scattering cell. Comparison with theoretical calculations shows that our measuredQ _T's andQ _Ps's for Na and K agree reasonably well with a close coupling approximation (CCA) calculation which takes into account the formation of Ps in then=1 andn=2 states. In the 3–10 eV energy range, this calculation predicts a peak in theQ _T's andQ _Ps's for K which also appears in our measurements. The absence of such a peak in our measuredQ _T's andQ _Ps's (preliminary) for Na in this energy range is also consistent with the same theory. Comparisons with five-state CCA calculations ofQ _T which do not take Ps-formation into account also show good agreement with our positron-Na, K, and RbQ _T measurements for energies above 20 eV, but show dramatic departures from our measurements below 10 eV for K and Rb.     

«Living polymers» in organic solvents: Bicopper (II) tetracarboxylate solutions

Summary Viscoelastic solutions of a binuclear copper(II) tetracarboxylate (Cu₂S₈) in tert-butylcyclohexane (TBC) have been investigated by rheology and small-angle neutron scattering techniques. The data are analysed in the theoretical framework of the so-called ?living polymers?. The Cu₂S₈ aggregates are semi-rigid thin heterogeneous molecular threads undergoing scission/recombination reactions. Structural and dynamical correlations have been made with the thermotropic columnar phase and some lyotropic swollen mesophases of the system. The simplicity of the composition and structural constitution enables to avoid the usual salt and composition problems of the aqueous analogues and also to deduce some most probable behaviours related to the scission mechanisms, chain flexibility and dynamics of stress relaxation. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994. Member of CNRS.     

Structure and reactivity of 2-methyl-9-hydroxy-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one

It has been shown that the alkylation of 2-methyl-9-hydroxy-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one takes place at the oxygen atom, but electrophilic substitution takes place mainly at position 8 of the molecule (the ortho position relative to the hydroxy group).Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp. 1660–1666, December, 1992.