Solvent relaxation of a room-temperature ionic liquid [bmim][PF6] confined in a ternary microemulsion

In this paper we have reported the solvent and rotational relaxation of 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]) confined in tween 20/([bmim][PF₆]/water microemulsion using coumarin 153 (C-153) as probe. The most interesting feature of our experiment was that we observed an increase in solvent relaxation time with increase in R (R = tween 20-to-[bmim][PF₆] molar ratio). This is due to the fact that with increase in [bmim][PF₆] content of the microemulsions, the microviscosity of the pool of the microemulsions increases, and motion of ions of [bmim][PF₆] is hindered in the pool of microemulsions. Since motion of ions is responsible for solvation in room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), solvent-relaxation time increases with increase in R.     

Motion of test particles around domain walls

We present a detailed analysis of the motion of test particles around domain walls. The study of the trajectories of the test particles has been done using the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism. In most of the cases we show that the particles can not be trapped by the walls.     

Spectroscopic studies on nanodispersions of CdS, HgS, their core-shells and composites prepared in micellar medium

CdS is a large band gap material compared to HgS. Both are interesting from academic and technological points of view. The nanodispersions (colloids) of CdS and HgS as well their core-shell products and composites (co-colloids) were prepared by varied modes of precursor addition in micellar solution of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The prepared dispersions were studied by spectroscopic and electron microscopic techniques.     

6.4 GHz ECR ion source at VECC

The 6.4 GHz ECR ion source that was indigenously developed a few years ago has been operating continuously for injecting oxygen and neon beams to the cyclotron since 1997. VEC-ECR is a single stage high magnetic field ion source provided with a negatively biased electron repeller placed on the axis, near the injection mirror point. The supply of cold electrons and use of low mass mixing gas improve the stability of ECR plasma. Very recently, the effect of aluminum oxide coating on the copper plasma chamber wall has been studied. The plasma chamber wall was coated with aluminum by vacuum evaporation method and then exposed to oxygen gas to form aluminum oxide. It was noticed that the process substantially shifts the charge state distribution to the higher charge state with an enhancement of ion current by an order of magnitude. With the aluminized plasma chamber, the VEC-ECR can now produce 12 μA of O⁷⁺, 6.5 μA of Ar¹²⁺, 1.5 μA of Kr²⁰⁺ and 1.0 μA of Xe³¹⁺.     

Green's function theory of biquadratic exchange in a heisenberg ferromagnet

In this paper the effect of biquadratic exchange on Curie temperature has been discussed on the basis of double-time temperature-dependent Green-function formalism with the utilization of Callen decoupling scheme. Calculation has been done for a spin-1 bcc Heisenberg ferromagnet by the method of Flax and Raich and it has been observed that the variation of Curie temperature with the biquadratic exchange parameter α obeys a law prescribed by the previous authors.     

Circular orbits of an electron around a proton in Schwarzschild geometry

The energy of an electron in circular orbits around a proton in Schwarzschild geometry has been investigated and is found to be red shifted. The electrical dipole moment of such a system is also estimated.     

Statistical mechanics of a Bethe lattice

The statistical mechanics of a spin-one Bethe lattice is discussed. The exact expression for Curie temperature is derived using a Bethe-Peierls approximations. The effect of the inclusion of a single-spin anisotropy to each Ising model of the lattice is also studied. It is seen that under certain situations a first-order phase transition appears.     

Correlated electrons in narrow channels

We investigate the properties of a system of interacting electrons in a narrow channel in the quantum Hall effect regime. We find that an increase in the strength of the Coulomb interaction causes abrupt changes in the width of the charge-density profile of translationally invariant states. The resulting phase diagram includes many of the stable odd-denominator states and also a novel fractional quantum Hall state at lowest half-filled Landau level. The collective modes evaluated at and at reveal soft modes in between the translationally invariant states in the phase diagram. 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.     

Literature study of microwave-assisted digestion using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The literature on the use of microwave-assisted digestion procedures for subsequent sample analysis by means of electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) is reviewed. The literature survey reveals that this digestion technique has been applied mainly for biological materials. The elements most extensively determined by this method are cadmium and lead followed by copper, chromium, nickel and iron. The microwave digestion conditions, ETAAS furnace programmes and analytical details of the developed methodologies have been carefully revised.