Comparison of the boundary theory with the contact rule of phase regions and Gupta’s method

The phase boundary theory and the contact rule of phase regions are compared, and some weaknesses of the latter are manifested. The comparison between the Gupta’s method and the boundary theory method for constructing multicomponent isobaric sections is also presented.     

A Characterization of Graphs without Even Factors

In this paper, we first reduce the problem of finding a minimum parity (g,f)-factor of a graph G into the problem of finding a minimum perfect matching in a weighted simple graph G*. Using the structure of G*, a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of an even factor is derived. This paper was accomplished while the second author was visiting the Center for Combinatorics, Nankai University. The research is supported by NSFC     

Dispersion and distribution of organically modified montmorillonite in nylon‐66 matrix

Nylon‐66 nanocomposites were prepared by melt‐compounding nylon‐66 with an alkyl ammonium surfactant pretreated montmorillonite (MMT). The thermal stability of the organic MMT powders was measured by thermogravimetric analysis. The decomposition of the surfactant on the MMT occurred from 200 to 500 °C. The low onset decomposition temperature of the organic MMT is one shortcoming when it is used to prepare polymer nanocomposites at high melt‐compounding temperatures. To provide greater property enhancement and better thermal stability of the polymer/MMT nanocomposites, it is necessary to develop MMT modified with more thermally stable surfactants. The dispersion and spatial distribution of the organic MMT layers in the nylon‐66 matrix were characterized by X‐ray diffraction. The organic MMT layers were exfoliated but not randomly dispersed in the nylon‐66 matrix. A model was proposed to describe the spatial distribution of the organic MMT layers in an injection‐molded rectangular bar of nylon‐66/organic MMT nanocomposites. Most organic MMT layers were oriented in the injection‐molding direction. Layers near the four surfaces of the bar were parallel to their corresponding surfaces; whereas those in the bulk differed from the near‐surface layers and rotated themselves about the injection‐molding direction. The influence of the spatial distribution of the organic MMT on crystallization of nylon‐66 was also investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1234–1243, 2003     

Hawking Radiation of Dirac Particles in a Nonuniformly Rectilinearly Accelerating Black Hole

The Hawking radiation of Dirac particles on the event horizon of a nonuniformly rectilinearly accelerating black hole is studied in this paper. First, we construct the symmetrized null tetrad from which the spin coefficients and Dirac equation are derived. Next, by proposing generalized tortoise coordinate transformation, the decoupling problem of the Dirac equation with nonzero rest mass is solved. Finally, by analytic continuation, the Hawking thermal spectrum formula of Dirac particle for nonuniformly rectilinearly accelerating black hole is obtained.     

Surface free energies of electroless Ni–P based composite coatings

Surface free energy of a solid surface gives a direct measure of intermolecular interactions at interfaces and has a strong influence on adsorption and adhesion behaviour. However few data are available for the surface free energies of electroless Ni–P based composition coatings. In this paper, the electroless Ni–P, Ni–P-surfactant, Ni–Cu–P, Ni–P–PTFE and Ni–Cu–P–PTFE composite coatings were prepared under various coating conditions. The chemical compositions, surface morphology and thickness of the coatings were measured using an energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a digital micrometer respectively. The contact angles of water, diiodomethane and ethylene glycol on the coatings were measured automatically using dataphysics OCA-20 contact angle analyser. The surface free energy of the coatings and their components (e.g. dispersion, polar or acid/base portions) were calculated using various methods. The experimental results showed that the incorporation of surfactant or PTFE particles into Ni–P matrixes has a significant influence on the surface free energy of the coatings, while the incorporation of copper into Ni–P matrixes has no significant influence on the surface free energy of the coatings.     

Hydrogen indium vacancy complex VInH4 in n-type InP studied by positron-lifetime

Positron-lifetime experiments have been carried out on two undoped n-type liquid encapsulated Czochralski (LEC)-grown InP samples with different stoichiometric compositions in the temperature range 10-300 K. For temperatures below 120 K for P-rich InP and 100 K for In-rich InP, the positron average lifetime began to increase rapidly and then leveled off, which was associated with the charge state change of hydrogen indium vacancy complexes from (V_InH₄)⁺ to (V_InH₄)⁰. This phenomenon was more obvious in P-rich samples that have a higher concentration of V_InH₄. The transformation temperature of approximately 120 K suggests that the complex V_InH₄ is a donor defect and that the ionization energy is about 0.01 eV. The ionization of neutral V_InH₄ accounted for the decrease of the positron average lifetime when the sample was illuminated with a photon energy of 1.32 eV at 70 K. These results provide evidence for hydrogen complex defects in undoped LEC InP.     

Invariant set and attractor of nonautonomous functional differential systems

The paper is devoted to the invariant set and periodic attractor for nonautonomous functional differential systems. Some sufficient criteria of the invariant set and periodic attractor are derived. Particularly, we have provided an estimate on existence range of periodic attractor by using the properties of nonnegative matrices and differential inequality technique.     

Speciation Analysis of Inorganic Tin (Sn(II)/Sn(IV)) by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Following Ion-Exchange Separation

A new method based on anion exchange resin separation and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) detection is proposed for the determination of inorganic tin species. The result showed that Sn(IV) was quantitatively retained on the resin when [HCl] = 9.0 mol · L⁻¹, but Sn(II) could not be adsorbed on the resin under the same condition. Thus, a separation of Sn(II) and Sn(IV) has been realized. When the concentration of NaOH solution was between 2.0–7.0 mol · L⁻¹, Sn(IV) that adsorbed on the resin could be eluated from the resin completely. Meanwhile, under the atmosphere and the nitrogen states, the translation between Sn(II) and Sn(IV) was investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of Sn(IV) is 0.40 μg · L⁻¹ with RSD of 2.3% (n = 5, c = 2.0 μg · L⁻¹). The proposed method was applied to the speciation analysis of tin in different water samples and the recovery of total Sn was in the range of 98.7–101.7%. In order to verify the accuracy of the method, a certified reference water sample was analyzed and the results obtained were in good agreement with the certified value.