Development of silicon nitride fiber from Si-containing polymer by radiation curing and its application

A silicon nitride fiber (Si₃N₄) was synthesized from polycarbosilane (PCS) fiber by radiation application. PCS fibers were cured by electron beam (EB) irradiation in a helium gas atmosphere prior to the pyrolysis. The cured PCS fiber was converted to Si₃N₄ ceramic fiber with flexibility by nitridation in ammonia gas at a high temperature of 500–1000°C. The obtained Si₃N₄ fibre showed a high heat resistance up to 1300°C, a high tensile strength of 2 GPa and excellent electrical resistivity of 10¹³ Ω cm. The ceramic fiber was fabricated to cloth and applied for electric wire insulator. The wire cable is flexible and can be applied at a high temperature atmosphere of around 1000°C.     

A novel method for determination of inorganic oxyanions by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using dehydration reactions

Novel methods for the determination of inorganic oxyanions by electrospray (ES) ionization mass spectrometry have been developed using dehydration reactions between oxyanions and carboxylic acids at the ES interface. Twelve oxyanions (VO₃^?, CrO₄^2?, MoO₄^2?, WO₄^2?, BO₃^3?, SiO₃^2?, SiO₄^4?, AsO₄^4?, AsO₂^?, SeO₄^2?, SeO₃^2? and NO₂^?), out of 16 tested, reacted with at least one of four aminopolycarboxylic acids, i.e. iminodiacetic acid (IDA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), trans‐1,2‐diaminocyclohexane‐N,N,N′,N′‐tetraacetic acid and triethylenetetramine‐N,N,N′,N″,N′″,N′″‐hexaacetic acid, at the ES interface to produce the dehydration products that gave intense mass ion responses, sufficient for trace analysis. As examples, trace determinations of Cr^VI and silica in water samples were achieved after online ion exchange chromatography, where the dehydration product of CrO₄^2? and NTA (m/z 290) and that of SiO₄^4? and IDA (m/z 192) were measured. The limits of detection of the respective methods were 17 nM (0.83 ng Cr/ml) for Cr^VI and 0.17 μM (4.8 ng Si/mL) for SiO₄^4?. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An efficient and selective conversion of sorbitol in ionic liquids: Use of ion exchange resin as a solid acid catalyst

Sorbitol was readily converted by heating in hydrophobic ionic liquids by the presence of ion exchange resins. Chemoseletivity of the dehydration depended on the choice of ion exchange resin; Nafion selectively produced isosorbide while Amberlite gave 1,5-anhydrosorbitol along with unreacted sorbitol. Ionic liquids used in the reaction were readily recovered by simple extraction procedure. With these procedures, we succeeded to prepare isosorbide in pure form, not contaminated with either ionic liquids or acid catalyst, by simple experimental procedure.     

Folding interactions in the scattering of soft heavy ions by light nuclei

Scattering of polarized ⁷Li by ¹²C and polarized ⁶Li by ¹⁶O at E_lab～20 MeV is studied by both cluster folding interactions and double folding ones, where projectile virtual excitation effects are included by the coupled-channel method. The results strongly depend on the choices of interactions and reaction mechanisms reflecting low Coulomb barrier effects.     

Functional monomers and polymers. LXXXVI. Photochemical reactions on synthetic polymers with pendant thymine bases: Effect of solvents

Photodimerization of thymine bases present on the side chain of acryloyl and methacryloyl-type polymers was studied in dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide—ethylene glycol mixture. Quantum efficiencies for photodimerization and quenching with isoprene were influenced by the solvents. The self-association of thymine bases estimated from their ultraviolet (UV) spectra and intrinsic viscosity were related to the effect of solvent on the photodimerization.     

Isotope dependence of particle-decay rates of muonic molecular ions (d3,4Heμ) J=1 below (dμ)1s-3,4He threshold

Rates of particle-emitting decay of the resonant state of the muonic molecular ion (dHe) _J=1 lying below the (d)_1s-He threshold can decay to the d-He scattering state. The resonant state is estimated by scattering calculations with the non-adiabatic coupled-rearrangement-channel method. Strong isotope dependence of the decay rates of (d³He) _J=1 and (d⁴He) _J=1 is predicted, though the calculated radiative decay rates of the states are almost the same. In (d³He) _J=1, the particle decay width is three times larger than the radiative decay width, while the two types of decay widths are almost the same in (d⁴He) _J=1. This results in a strong hindrance of the branching ratio of the radiative decay of (d³He) _J=1 compared with the case of (d⁴He) _J=1. This is consistent with a recent observation of the radiative decay of the two molecular states.