Improvement of corrosion resistance of AA6061 alloy by tapioca starch in seawater

This study examines the use of tapioca starch for improvement of corrosion resistance of AA6061 alloy in seawater. Gravimetric, potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization resistance and electrochemical impedance measurements were employed to study the corrosion behavior of AA6061 alloy in seawater. The electrochemical measurements for AA6061 alloy in seawater showed that the presence of tapioca starch significantly decreases the corrosion rates, corrosion current densities (i_corr), and double layer capacitance (C_dl), simultaneously increases the values of polarization resistance (R_p). The inhibition efficiencies increase with increasing of tapioca starch concentration. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm fits well with the experimental data. The nature of adsorption of tapioca starch on the metal surface has also been examined. The analysis of SEM and EDS confirmed the formation of precipitates of tapioca starch on the metal surface, which reduced the overall corrosion reaction.     

Impulsive generalized function synchronization of complex dynamical networks

This Letter investigates generalized function synchronization of continuous and discrete complex networks by impulsive control. By constructing the reasonable corresponding impulsively controlled response networks, some criteria and corollaries are derived for the generalized function synchronization between the impulsively controlled complex networks, continuous and discrete networks are both included. Furthermore, the generalized linear synchronization and nonlinear synchronization are respectively illustrated by several examples. All the numerical simulations demonstrate the correctness of the theoretical results.     

Preparation and surface modification of silicon nanowires under normal conditions

Preparation and surface modification of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) grown by the metal catalyzed solution method under normal conditions (room temperature, 1 atm) had been studied in this paper. Firstly, SiNWs using a simple solution method via electroless metal deposition (EMD) of silver under room temperature, standard pressure had been prepared. The influence of the growth parameters such as solution concentration, etching time on the SiNWs formation had been studied. Secondly, the surface modification of SiNWs with platinum and copper had been investigated. The results indicated that the SiNWs modified with Pt and Cu showed different surface morphologies. Pt modification on SiNWs presented in the form of nanoparticles, whereas Cu modification in the form of membrane. Therefore, the Pt modified SiNWs have more vast surface-to-bulk ratio than the unmodified ones, and SiNWs modified with copper nanoparticles will lead to the smaller surface-to-bulk ratio. So the platinum-modified SiNWs have a promising application in sensors’ field.     

Circular polarized electronically-controlled antenna array based on CRLH-TL

In this paper, a circular polarized electronically-controlled scanning microstrip antenna array is designed, which is based on composite right left-handed transmission line (CRLH TL) and is realized by varactor diodes. Proposed electronically-controlled antenna arrays till now are always linear-polarized as the axial ratio (AR) may be spoiled by the DC feed line, especially in the CRLH TL based case. A more separated CRLH TL integrated with active lumped elements is utilized to solve the problem. The antenna array is composed of the CRLH microstrip transmission line structure and circular polarized microstrip antenna. The direction of the main lobe varies from ?1° to ?20 ° by continuously modifying the varactor diodes bias voltages from 0 to 20 V with 5 V as a step. The AR remains below 3 dB in the scanning range. The simulation and experimental results show a good consistence.     

236U AMS measurement at CIRCE

In order to measure the isotopic ratio of actinides,the upgrade of the accelerator mass spectrometry system at the Center for Isotopic Research on Cultural and Environmental heritage at the Second University of Naples,Italy,was performed.The beam emittance of 238U and the isotopic abundance sensitivity of 236U were measured on the present beam line.Utilizing a 16-strip silicon detector,the sensitivity of 236U/238U≈ 1×10-11 was obtained.     

Effect of solvent on directional drift in Brownian motion of particle/molecule with broken symmetry

The directional drifting of particles/molecules with broken symmetry has received increasing attention. Through molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the effects of various solvents on the time-dependent directional drifting of a particle with broken symmetry. Our simulations show that the distance of directional drift of the asymmetrical particle is reduced while the ratio of the drift to the mean displacement of the particle is enhanced with increasing mass, size, and interaction strength of the solvent atoms in a short time range. Among the parameters considered, solvent atom size is a particularly influential factor for enhancing the directional drift of asymmetrical particles, while the effects of the interaction strength and the mass of the solvent atoms are relatively weaker. These findings are of great importance to the understanding and control of the Brownian motion of particles in various physical, chemical, and biological processes within finite time spans.     

Measurement of 129Xe frequency shift due to Cs–129Xe collisions

Enhancement factor K0, which characterizes NMR and EPR frequency shifts for Cs-129Xe, is measured for the first time. The enhancement factor r-o was measured to be （702±41） at 80 ℃ and （653±20） at 90 ℃, using the NMR frequency shift, detected by atomic magnetometer at a low magnetic field of 100 nT. This result is useful for predicting the EPR frequency shifts for Cs and the NMR frequency shifts for 129Xe in spin-exchange cells.     

Material growth and device fabrication of terahertz quantum-cascade laser based on bound-to-continuum structure

The terahertz quantum-cascade laser （THz QCL） based on bound-to-continuum structure is demonstrated. The X-ray diffraction measurement of the material shows a high crystalline quality of the active region. A THz QCL device was fabricated with semi-insulating surface-plasmon waveguide. The test device is lasing at about 3 THz and operating up to 60 K. It shows a single frequency property under different drive currents and temperatures. At 9 K, the maximum output power is greater than 2 mW with a threshold current density of 159 A/cm2.     

X-ray diffraction studies on crystallite size evolution of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared using mechanical alloying and sintering

Nanosized cobalt ferrite spinel particles have been prepared by using mechanically alloyed nanoparticles. The effects of various preparation parameters on the crystallite size of cobalt ferrite which includes milling time; ball-to powder weight ratio (BPR) and sintering temperature, were studied using X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Scherrer's equation was used to study the crystallite size evolution of the as-prepared materials. The results of the as-milled sample revealed that both milling time and BPR plays a role in determining the crystallite size of the milled powder. However, where sintering is involved, the sintering temperature results in grain growth, and thus plays a dominant role in determining the final crystallite size of the samples sintered at higher temperature (above 900 °C). From the vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) measurement it was observed that the coercivity of the as-milled samples without sintering is almost negligible, which is a type characteristic of superparamagnetic material. However, for the sintered samples, the saturation increases while coercivity decreases with increases sintering temperature.     

用HI-13串列加速器质谱装置测量182Hf的研究

¹⁸²Hf的半衰期为(8.90±0.09)Ma, 是一个接近灭绝的放射性核素. 超新星爆炸是自然界中已知的惟一能产生¹⁸²Hf的途径. 因此¹⁸²Hf是研究近1亿年来在地球附近可能发生的超新星事件的理想核素. 另外, ¹⁸²Hf是核工程中特别感兴趣的一个长寿命放射性核素. 精确测量超痕量的¹⁸²Hf对反应堆的设计和核天体物理学以及其他研究领域都是非常重要的. 用加速器质谱有可能实现对超低含量¹⁸²Hf的测量. 在中国原子能科学研究院的HI-13加速器质谱装置上对¹⁸²Hf的测量方法以及样品的化学去钨方法进行了研究, 分别得到了空白样品以及系列标准样品的¹⁸²Hf和¹⁸³W的能量-飞行时间双维谱. ¹⁸²W对¹⁸²Hf计数的贡献是通过测量¹⁸³W的计数归一扣除的. 目前本工作对¹⁸²Hf的测量灵敏度为4.15±10^－11 (¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf比值).