Hydroxylation-induced modifications of the Al2O3/NiAl(0 0 1) surface at low water vapour pressure

STM, STS, LEED and XPS data for crystalline θ-Al₂O₃ and non-crystalline Al₂O₃ ultra-thin films grown on NiAl(0 0 1) at 1025 K and exposed to water vapour at low pressure (1 × 10⁻⁷-1 × 10⁻⁵ mbar) and room temperature are reported. Water dissociation is observed at low pressure. This reactivity is assigned to the presence of a high density of coordinatively unsaturated cationic sites at the surface of the oxide film. The hydroxyl/hydroxide groups cannot be directly identify by their XPS binding energy, which is interpreted as resulting from the high BE positions of the oxide anions (O_1s signal at 532.5-532.8 eV). However the XPS intensities give evidence of an uptake of oxygen accompanied by an increase of the surface coverage by Al³⁺ cations, and a decrease of the concentration in metallic Al at the alloy interface. A value of ∼2 for the oxygen to aluminium ions surface concentration ratio indicates the formation of an oxy-hydroxide (AlO_xOH_y with x + y ∼ 2) hydroxylation product. STM and LEED show the amorphisation and roughening of the oxide film. At P(H₂O) = 1 × 10⁻⁷ mbar, only the surface of the oxide film is modified, with formation of nodules of ∼2 nm lateral size covering homogeneously the surface. STS shows that essentially the valence band is modified with an increase of the density of states at the band edge. With increasing pressure, hydroxylation is amplified, leading to an increased coverage of the alloy by oxy-hydroxide products and to the formation of larger nodules (∼7 nm) of amorphous oxy-hydroxide. Roughening and loss of the nanostructure indicate a propagation of the reaction that modifies the bulk structure of the oxide film. Amorphisation can be reverted to crystallization by annealing under UHV at 1025 K when the surface of the oxide film has been modified, but not when the bulk structure has been modified.     

An adaptive scheme for the approximation of dissipative systems

We propose a new scheme for the long time approximation of a diffusion when the drift vector field is not globally Lipschitz. Under this assumption, a regular explicit Euler scheme–with constant or decreasing step–may explode and implicit Euler schemes are CPU-time expensive. The algorithm we introduce is explicit and we prove that any weak limit of the weighted empirical measures of this scheme is a stationary distribution of the stochastic differential equation. Several examples are presented including gradient dissipative systems and Hamiltonian dissipative systems.     

Vaporisation et dissociation thermique des sulfures de phosphore P4S3, P4S7 et P4S10 a l'etat gazeux

Résumé Nous avons montré par spectrométrie Raman à chaud et mesure des tensions de vapeur que P₄S₃ se vaporise de façon congruente tandis que P₄S₇ et P₄S₁₀ se dissocient dès le début de leur vaporisation. P₄S₇ donne réversiblement P₄S₃ et soufre. P₄S₁₀ se dissocie irréversiblement en P₄S₇ et soufre. A l'état de vapeur non saturante, P₄S₃ se dissocie au-dessus de 600° avec formation de phosphore, de soufre et d'autres espèces non identifiées.Nous avons mesuré expérimentalement la capacité calorifique de P₄S₃ liquide, calculé celle de P₄S₃ gazeux et son entropie standard. Nous avons aussi estimé l'enthalpie standard de vaporisation de P₄S₃ à l'aide des mesures des tensions de vapeur saturante. Nous en avons déduit l'entropie standard de P₄S₃ liquide et son point d'ébullition.

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It is shown by Raman spectroscopy at high temperature and by vapor tensimetric measurements that the vaporisation of P₄S₃ is congruent, whereas P₄S₇ and P₄S₁₀ dissociate at the beginning of vaporisation. P₄S₇ gives P₄S₃ and sulfur reversibly. The dissociation of P₄S₁₀ into P₄S₇ and sulfur is irreversible. Above 600°, in non-saturated vapour the dissociation of P₄S₃ gives phosphorus, sulfur and some unidentified gaseous species. The heat capacity of liquid P₄S₃ has been measured. That of gaseous P₄S₃ and its standard entropy have been calculated. The vaporisation standard enthalpy of P₄S₃ has been estimated from the experimental results on the saturated vapour pressures. The standard entropy of liquid P₄S₃ and its boiling point have been derived from these data.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels Raman-Spektrometrie bei erhöhter Temperatur und durch Messung der Dampfdrucke wurde festgestellt, daß sich P₄S₃ verflüchtigt, während P₄S₇ und P₄S₁₀ mit Beginn der Verflüchtigung dissoziieren. P₄S₇ ergibt reversibel P₄S₃ und Schwefel. Im Zustand ungesättigten Dampfes dissoziiert P₄S₃ oberhalb von 600° unter Bildung von Phosphor, Schwefel und anderer nicht identifizierter Substanzen.Die Wärmekapazität von flüssigem P₄S₃ wurde gemessen, während die vom gasförmigem P₄S₃ sowie seine Standard-Entropie berechnet wurden. Die Standard-Enthalpie der Verflüchtigung des P₄S₃ wurde durch Messungen der Sättigungs-Dampfdrucke ermittelt. Daraus wurden die Standard-Entropie des flüssigen P₄S₃ sowie sein Siedepunkt berechnet.

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- - , P₄S₃ , P₄S₇ P₄S₁₀ . P₄S₇ P₄S₃ , P₄S₁₀ P₄S₇ . 600° P₄S₃ , . P₄S₃, P₄S₃ . P₄S₃. P₄S₃ .

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Nous remercions Monsieur Letoffe du laboratoire du Professeur J. Bousquet, INSA de Lyon, 20 Avenue Albert Einstein 401, 69621 Villeurbanne, qui a r6alis6 pour nous les déterminations expérimentales des capacités calorifiques de P₄S₈ liquide.     

Exact exponent for the number of persistent spins in the zero-temperature dynamics of the one-dimensional Potts model

For the zero-temperature Glauber dynamics of theq-state Potts model, the fractionr(q, t) of spins which never flip up to timet decays like a power lawr(q, t)t ^–(q) when the initial condition is random. By mapping the problem onto an exactly soluble one-species coagulation model (A+AA) or alternatively by transforming the problem into a free-fermion model, we obtain the exact expression of (q) for all values ofq. The exponent (q) is in general irrational, (3)=0.53795082..., (4)=0.63151575..., ..., with the exception ofq=2 andq=, for which (2)=3/8 and ()=1.     

The thermodynamic properties of acetals+heptane mixtures at 298.15 K

Excess enthalpies and excess volumes were determined at 298.15 K for: dimethoxymethane+heptane, diethoxymethane+heptane, 1,1-dimethoxyethane+heptane, 1,1-diethoxyethane+heptane, 2,2-dimethoxypropane+heptane and 1,1-diethoxypropane+heptane.     

Etude de l'équilibre azido ⇌ tétrazole dans la séric du thiazolo[2,3-e]-tétrazole. III. Effects des substituants

The substituent effects on azido/tetrazole equilibrium on a series of 2-substituted thiazoles, benzothiazoles, thiadiazoles, benzoxazoles and isoxazoles has been studied by proton magnetic resonance in two solvents (DMSO-d₆ and deuteriochloroform). For thiazole an excellent Hammett relationship was found, both for the 4 and 5 positions.     

Ion cyclotron resonance studies of some reactions of C+ ions

Product distributions and rate constants for the reaction of ground state C⁺ ions with O₂, NO, HCl, CO₂, H₂S, H₂O, HCN, NH₃, CH₄, H₂CO, CH₃OH, and CH₃NH₂ have been measured. Rate constants were obtained using ion cyclotron resonance trapped ion methods at JPL, and product distributions were obtained using a tandem (Dempster-ICR) mass spectrometer at the University of Utah. Rapid carbon isotope exchange has also been observed in C⁺-CO collisions.     

Redox control of the P450cam catalytic cycle: effects of Y96F active site mutation and binding of a non-natural substrate

Spectroelectrochemistry measurements are used to demonstrate that active site mutation and binding of an non-natural substrate to P450cam (CYP101) reduces the shift in the redox potential caused by substrate-binding, and thereby results in slower catalytic turnover rate relative to wild-type enzyme with the natural camphor substrate.     

A SIFT ion-molecule study of some reactions in Titan's atmosphere. reactions of N(+), N(2)(+), and HCN(+) with CH(4), C(2)H(2), and C(2)H(4)

The results of a study of the ion-molecule reactions of N(+), N(2)(+), and HCN(+) with methane, acetylene, and ethylene are reported. These studies were performed using the FA-SIFT at the University of Canterbury. The reactions studied here are important to understanding the ion chemistry in Titan's atmosphere. N(+) and N(2)(+) are the primary ions formed by photo-ionization and electron impact in Titan's ionosphere and drive Titan's ion chemistry. It is therefore very important to know how these ions react with the principal trace neutral species in Titan's atmosphere: Methane, acetylene, and ethylene. While these reactions have been studied before the product channels have been difficult to define as several potential isobaric products make a definitive answer difficult. Mass overlap causes difficulties in making unambiguous species assignments in these systems. Two discriminators have been used in this study to resolve the mass overlap problem. They are deuterium labeling and also the differences in reactivities of each isobar with various neutral reactants. Several differences have been found from the products in previous work. The HCN(+) ion is important in both Titan's atmosphere and in the laboratory.     

Structural aspects of the metal-insulator transitions in V0.985Al0.015O2

The crystal structure of V_0.985Al_0.015O₂ has been refined from single-crystal X-ray data at four temperatures. At 373°K it has the tetragonal rutile structure. At 323°K, which is below the first metal-insulator transition, it has the monoclinic M₂ structure, where half of the vanadium atoms are paired with alternating short (2.540 Å) and long (3.261 Å) V-V separations. The other half of the vanadium atoms form equally spaced (2.935 Å) zigzag V chains. At 298°K, which is below the second electric and magnetic transition, V_0.985Al_0.015O₂ has the triclinic T structure where both vanadium chains contain V-V bonds, V(1)-V(1) = 2.547 Å and V(2)-V(2) = 2.819 Å. At 173°K the pairing of the V(1) chain remains constant: V(1)-V(1) = 2.545 Å, whereas that of the V(2) chain decreases: V(2)-V(2) = 2.747 Å. From the variation of the lattice parameters as a function of temperature it seems that these two short V-V distances will not become equal at lower temperatures. The effective charges as calculated from the bond strengths at 298 and 173°K show that a cation disproportionation has taken place between these two temperatures. About 20% of the V⁴⁺ cations of the V(1) chains have become V³⁺ and correspondingly 20% of the V⁴⁺ cations of the V(2) chains have become V⁵⁺. This disproportionation process would explain the difference between the two short V-V distances. Also it would explain why the T → M₁ transition does not take at lower temperatures.