Tuning the mechanical properties of silica microcapsules

Heat treatment is a standard method to increase the hardness of silica in various applications. Here, we tested the effect of high temperature annealing on the mechanical properties of silica microcapsules by force spectroscopy under point loads applied to the particle shell. The Young's modulus of the shells moderately increases after annealing at temperatures above 500 °C. Temperatures over 850 °C result in a much stronger increase and the Young's modulus is close to that of fused silica after annealing at 1100 °C. NMR analysis revealed that in untreated microcapsules synthesized by seeded growth using the St?ber method only 55% of the silicon atoms form siloxane bonds with four neighbors, whereas the remaining ones only form three or less siloxane bonds each and, thus, a large number of ethoxy and silanol groups still exist. During annealing at 500 °C, these are successively transformed into siloxane bonds through condensation reactions. This process correlates with only a moderate increase in Young's modulus. The strong increase at temperatures above 850 °C was associated with a densification which was associated by a decrease in capsule size and shell thickness while the shells remained homogenous and of spherical shape. The main strengthening of the shells is thus mainly due to compaction by sintering at length scales significantly larger than that of local siloxane bonds.     

Preparation and characterization of standard reference material 1849 infant/adult nutritional formula

Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1849 Infant/Adult Nutritional Formula has been issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a replacement for SRM 1846 Infant Formula, issued in 1996. Extraction characteristics of SRM 1846 have changed over time, as have NIST's analytical capabilities. While certified mass fraction values were provided for five constituents in SRM 1846 (four vitamins plus iodine), certified mass fraction values for 43 constituents are provided in SRM 1849 (fatty acids, elements, and vitamins) and reference mass fraction values are provided for an additional 43 constituents including amino acids and nucleotides, making it the most extensively characterized food-matrix SRM available from NIST.     

Analysis of coir fiber acoustical characteristics

Coir fiber from coconut husk is an important agricultural waste in Malaysia. Acoustic absorption coefficient of the fiber as a porous material is studied in this paper. Two types of fiber are investigated, fresh from wet market and industrial prepared mixed with binder. Moreover two analytical models, namely; Delany–Bazley and Biot–Allard are used for analysis. Experimental measurements in impedance tube are conducted to validate the analytical outcomes. Results show that fresh coir fiber has an average absorption coefficient of 0.8 at f > 1360 Hz and 20 mm thickness. Increasing the thickness is improved the sound absorption in lower frequencies, having the same average at f > 578 Hz and 45 mm thickness. Delany–Bazley technique can be used for both types of fiber while Biot–Allard method is compensated for the industrial prepared fiber considering the binder additive. This form generally shows poor acoustical absorption in low frequencies. Inevitably, fiber has to be mixed with additives in commercial use to enhance its characteristics such as stiffness, unti-fungus and flammability. Hence other approaches such as adding air gap or perforated plate should be used to improve the acoustical properties of industrial treated coir fiber.     

Ablation yield and angular distribution of ablated particles from laser-irradiated metals: The most fundamental determining factor

Five metals (Zn, Cu, Ni, Ti, and Mo) were irradiated with 150 shots of a Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser in a vacuum of 10⁻³ torr. The ions projected out of the laser-produced plasma (LPP) plume were detected by CR-39 detectors positioned at −15°, 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° with respect to the target-surface normal at a distance of 5 cm from the target in each case. The angular distribution of LPP ions, which is characterized by the exponent n of cosⁿ θ distribution, is given by n = 2.5-11 for the five target metals. The value of the exponent n has no systematic correlation with the square-root of atomic mass of the target metals but exhibits systematic dependence on the room temperature Debye-Waller's thermal parameter B or the mean-square amplitude of atomic vibrations 〈u²〉. Likewise, the ablation yield (atoms/shot) of the twelve target metals investigated by Thestrup et al. (2002) [8] under identical irradiation conditions is a function of the room temperature B-factor or 〈u²〉.     

EM-Wave Diffraction by a Finite Plate with Dirichlet Conditions in the Ionosphere of Cold Plasma

In the current communication, the problem of plane wave diffraction by a conductible plate of finite length in the presence of cold plasma is investigated. The boundary-value problem corresponding to this model is formulated by Fourier transform which then leads to the Wiener?Hopf equation. The resulting equation has been solved by the Wiener?Hopf procedure in a standard way. The separated field (diffracted field) is analyzed in an anisotropic medium using asymptotic expansion and modified stationary phase method. The problem can be made simple by assuming ε₂→0, where ε₂ is the element of permittivity tensor. This happens, if the operating frequency is assumed to be very large as compared to ω_c (cyclotron frequency) while it is of same order of ω_p (the plasma frequency). The case ε₁ =1, ε₂→0 leads to the results for soft plate of finite length in an isotropic medium. Graphical study is performed to investigate the behavior of separated field for various physical parameters for isotropic and anisotropic media.     

The effect of the slip condition on flows of an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid

The steady flows of a non-Newtonian fluid are considered when the slippage between the plate and the fluid is valid. The constitutive equations of the fluid are modeled by those for an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid. They give rise to non-linear boundary value problems. The analytical solutions are obtained using powerful, easy-to-use analytic technique for non-linear problems, the homotopy analysis method. It is shown that solutions exist for all values of non-Newtonian parameters. The solutions valid for no-slip condition for all values of non-Newtonian parameters can be derived as the special cases of the present analysis. Finally, graphs are plotted and critical assessment is made for the cases of slip and no-slip conditions.     

Penalty Method for Variational Inequalities

In this paper we deal with the existence theory for a problem and give the proof of the existence by a penalty argument. We shall treat the problem for a variational inequality by introducing the penalized differential equation and then taking the limits of the equation resulting from the penalized approximation. We also discuss the error estimate for the difference of the two solutions in an appropriate norm.     

Phase Transitions of Ruthenium-Doped Iron Oxide Studied by 57Fe Mössbauer Spectroscopy at Elevated Temperatures

Hyperfine Interactions - The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra recorded in situ from 5% ruthenium-doped maghemite show parameters typical for maghemite up to 600 K and a hyperfine field distribution...     

Evidence for the decay D0-->K(-)pi(+)pi(-)e(+)nu(e)

Using a 281 pb{-1} data sample collected at the psi(3770) with the CLEO-c detector, we present the first absolute branching fraction measurement of the decay D0-->K(-)pi(+)pi(-)e(+)nu(e) at a statistical significance of about 4.0 standard deviations. We find 10 candidates consistent with the decay D0-->K(-)pi(+)pi(-)e(+)nu(e). The probability that a background fluctuation accounts for this signal is less than 4.1 x 10{-5}. We find B(D0-->K(-)pi(+)pi(-)e(+)nu(e)) = [2.8{-1.1}{+1.4}(stat)+/-0.3(syst)]x10{-4}. By restricting the invariant mass of the hadronic system to be consistent with K1(1270), we obtain the product of branching fractions B(D{0}-->K{1}{-}(1270)e{+}nu{e})xB(K1-(1270)-->K{-}pi{+}pi{-})=[2.5{-1.0}{+1.3}(stat)+/-0.2(syst)]x10{-4}. Using B(K1-(1270)-->K{-}pi{+}pi{-})=(33+/-3)%, we obtain B(D{0}-->K{1}{-}(1270)e{+}nu{e})=[7.6{-3.0}{+4.1}(stat)+/-0.6(syst)+/-0.7]x10{-4}. The last error accounts for the uncertainties in the measured K1-(1270)-->K{-}pi{+}pi{-} branching fractions.