Protection of iron corrosion by stearic acid and stearic imidazoline self-assembled monolayers

A type of stearic imidazoline (IM) inhibitor was prepared using stearic acid (SA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) as raw materials. The monolayers of IM and SA were assembled on the iron surface. The electrochemical characterization of stearic acid (SA) and stearic imidazoline (IM) on an oxide free iron surface had been studied. The monolayers of IM inhibitor were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), electrochemical polarization curves, double layer capacitance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and molecular simulation. The results of electrochemical studies had illustrated that the inhibition efficiency of IM was higher than SA. XPS showed that the IM molecules adsorbed on the iron surface. The molecular simulation calculations showed that the IM molecules were tilted at an angle on the iron surface.     

Study of asymmetric charge writing on Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films by Kelvin probe force microscopy

Polycrystalline Pb(Zr_0.55Ti_0.45)O₃ thin film was deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) by radio-frequency-magnetron sputtering method, and the writing of charge bits on the surface of PZT thin film was studied by Kelvin probe force microscopy. It is found that the surface potential of the negative charge bits are higher than those of the corresponding positive ones. When ferroelectric polarization switching occurs, the potential difference becomes even more remarkable. A qualitative model was proposed to explain the origin of the asymmetric charge writing. It is demonstrated that the internal field in the interface layer, which is near the ferroelectric/electrode interface in ferroelectric film, is likely to be the cause for the occurrence of this phenomenon.     

Different effects of cerium ions doping on properties of anatase and rutile TiO2

Pure and Ce⁴⁺ doped anatase and rutile TiO₂ were prepared by hydrothermal methods and characterized by XRD, TEM, UV-vis diffusion spectroscopy, and XPS measurements. The photocatalytic reactivity of the catalysts was evaluated by the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RB) under ultraviolet irradiation. The photocatalytic efficiency of the rutile sample doped with an appropriate amount of Ce⁴⁺ was enhanced while all Ce⁴⁺ doped anatase samples showed a much lower activity than pure anatase. The reasons were discussed     

Microstructure of laser melted Al18B4O33w/2024Al composite

The microstructure of a laser treated Al₁₈B₄O₃₃w/2024Al composite has been investigated using transmission electron microscope (TEM), low-angle (glancing angle) X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Various surface microstructures were observed in the laser treated composite. The Al₁₈B₄O₃₃ whisker on the surface of the composite was decomposed during laser surface melting, various decomposition products were studied in the laser treated composite. Eutectic phases and the precipitation in the matrix of the composite with laser-treated were observed. The main phases detected in the molten zone were aluminum and decomposition products Al₂O₃. The effect of laser treatment on the hardness of the composite was also examined. A surface hardness of 400 Hv was noted.     

Thin strain-relaxed SiGe grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition

Large-scale preparation of thin strain-relaxed SiGe is achieved by combining ion implantation and ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The resulting materials were analyzed by double crystal X-ray diffraction, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and tapping mode atomic force microscope. Results revealed that 100-nm-thick Si_0.7Ge_0.3 layers with the diameter of 125 mm and full strain relaxation are successfully prepared by pre-modifying the Si substrates using 50 keV Ar⁺ ions. The strain relaxation is also disclosed to change with both ion species and energy. However, post-modification of SiGe by ion implantation will cause serious damage to the crystal structures, and result in the formation of poly-crystal SiGe.     

Circumferential and longitudinal defect detection using T(0,1) mode excited by thickness shear mode piezoelectric elements

Different kinds of defects, such as corrosions, notches and cracks etc, exist in pipes. Mode choice is important since unfortunately not all ultrasonic guided wave modes are suitable for these kinds of defect detection. T(0,1) mode which is non-dispersive is the lowest and fastest torsional mode and most suitable for defect detection in pipes. Two completely different artificial defects including longitudinal and circumferential defects are processed successively in a 4-m-long, 60-mm-OD, 3.5-mm-wall steel pipe. T(0,1) mode at 45 kHz is excited to detect these defects using thickness shear mode piezoelectric elements. Experimental results show that two kinds of defects are detectable using T(0,1) mode. Comparing with longitudinal modes, torsional modes are dominant in pipe inspection for their sensitivities to different kinds of defects.     

Collision-induced dissociation of hydrated adenosine monophosphate nucleotide ions: protection of the ion in water nanoclusters

Fragmentation of singly charged anions of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP-) induced by collisions with neutral atoms (Ne, Na) has been studied at a collision energy of 50 keV. The experiments were performed with isolated AMP- as well as with AMP- anions nanosolvated in a cluster with a given number m of water molecules. In the first case, the dominant fragmentation channels concern the loss of adenine, PO3- and H2PO4-. In the latter, loss of water molecules becomes the dominating process, and the AMP- ion is fully protected when m is larger than approximately 13. The observed fragment distributions are well described with the model of an evaporative ensemble.     

Control of an ultrasonic transducer to realize low speed driven

This paper deals with the control of a transducer to realize low speed. A new PWM control is proposed to fit the transducer. By this control method, the transducer is directly excited by pulses whose width can be modulated. The noise induced by conventional PWM control is eliminated and the motor works more steadily and more quietly. Instead of the general method of decreasing vibrating amplitude of ultrasonic motor to realize low speed, in this paper, two fast contrary elliptical vibrations of the transducer's two Langevin vibrators are excited to restrain skip-slip influence on ultrasonic motor's low speed performance and the driven is realized by the difference of the two vibrators' vibrating amplitudes. Experiments had been carried out by driving an aerostatic guide and fuzzy control is applied. The controlled speed reached 0.1 mm/s.     

The evolution of the cavitation bubble driven by different sound pressure

In this paper, the relation between the ambient radius R(0) of the acoustic cavitation bubble and its driving pressure was investigated by an improved method. The evolution of the bubble was gained with a long-distance microscope and a bundle of 532 nm laser switched by an acousto-optic modulator. The ambient radius R(0) was determined by fitting the numerical calculation based on Rayleigh-Plesset equation to the experimental data. The results showed that as the sound pressure increased R(0) decreased at beginning and increased after the pressure reached to about 1.2 atm. Although the same rule was gotten from the relation between the maximum radius R(m) and the sound pressure, the ratio R(m)/R(0) varied monotonously with the sound pressure. It indicates that enhancing the sound pressure can increase the compression ratio of the bubble even if the mass inside the bubble is also increased.