Synthesis,Crystal Structures,and Spectroscopic Properties of Novel Gadolinium and Erbium Triphenylsiloxide Coordination Entities

In alkali metal and lanthanide coordination chemistry, triphenylsiloxides seem to be unduly underappreciated ligands. This is as surprising as that such substituents play a crucial role, among others, in stabilizing rare oxidation states of lanthanide ions, taking a part of intramolecular and molecular interactions stabilizing metal-oxygen cores and many others. This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of new lithium [Li₄(OSiPh₃)₄(THF)₂] (1), and sodium [Na₄(OSiPh₃)₄] (2) species, which were later used in obtaining novel gadolinium [Gd(OSiPh₃)₃(THF)₃]·THF (3), and erbium [Er(OSiPh₃)₃(THF)₃]·THF (4) configuration, it can result in res were determined for all 1–4 compounds, and in addition, IR, Raman, absorption spectroscopy studies were conducted for 3 and 4 lanthanide compounds. Furthermore, direct current (dc) variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements on polycrystalline samples of 3 and 4 were carried out in the temperature range 1.8–300 K. The 3 shows behavior characteristics for the paramagnetism of the Gd³⁺ ion. In contrast, the magnetic properties of 4 are dominated by the crystal field effect on the Er³⁺ ion, masking the magnetic interaction between magnetic centers of neighboring molecules.     

3D X-ray Micro-CT Analysis of Rebar Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete Subjected to a Chloride-Induced Environment

The paper presents experimental investigations of the concrete covers’ protective ability to counteract rebar corrosion in reinforced concrete cubes. The concrete sample was subjected to a chloride-induced environment to get corroded and combined with an un-corroded sample. The chloride-accelerated technique can induce a high degree of corrosion within a controlled time. Moreover, detailed and thorough experimental measurements and analyses of reinforcement loss due to corrosion and its influence on concrete microstructure, were studied through 3D X-ray micro-computed tomography. The rebar outside the concrete was heavily corroded due to the chloride-accelerated test, whereas, only local surface corrosion products appeared inside the concrete. It turned out that the concrete cover showed protective ability to counteract the reinforcing-steel corrosion mechanism despite the accelerated corrosion environment. Moreover, the bond strength between the reinforcement rebar and concrete was not visibly affected since the failure force in the pull-out test and failure mechanisms, observed by 3D X-ray micro-CT, were similar for corroded and un-corroded samples. The failure occurred due to radial cracks with a maximum width equal to approximately 0.25 mm.     

Solution and asymptotic analysis of a boundary value problem in the spring–mass model of running

We consider the classic spring–mass model of running which is built upon an inverted elastic pendulum. In a natural way, there arises an interesting boundary value problem for the governing system of two nonlinear ordinary differential equations. It requires us to choose the stiffness to ascertain that after a complete step, the spring returns to its equilibrium position. Motivated by numerical calculations and real data, we conduct a rigorous asymptotic analysis in terms of the Poicaré–Lindstedt series. The perturbation expansion is furnished by an interplay of two time scales what has an significant impact on the order of convergence. Further, we use these asymptotic estimates to prove that there exists a unique solution to the aforementioned boundary value problem and provide an approximation to the sought stiffness. Our results rigorously explain several observations made by other researchers concerning the dependence of stiffness on the initial angle of the stride and its velocity. The theory is illustrated with a number of numerical calculations.

     

Preparation of thin SnO2 layers by inorganic sol-gel process

SnO₂ sols were prepared in the following way: (1) precipitation of metastannic acid with aqueous ammonia from aqueous solutions of SnCl₄, (2) washing the precipitates with NH₄NO₃ solution and water, (3) peptization of precipitates in water, sometimes with an addition of HNO₃, at elevated temperature using mechanical stirring. In those sols, sometimes diluted with water or ethanol, substrates (glass or silica derived wafers) were dipped and withdrawn at various rates. Gel coatings were converted into crystalline SnO₂ by thermal treatment at 600°C. Coatings with thickness between 300–2000 Å were prepared.     

Independent Components Analysis of the Overlapping Voltammetric Signals

This paper introduces the Independent Components Analysis (ICA) to voltammetry and extends possibility of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of binary mixtures of similar oxidation/reduction potentials. It was demonstrated that even in the case of distance between peaks potentials equal to 10 mV, determinations may be realized according to typical validation criteria. The methodology was presented using the simulated data and capabilities and limitations of the method were described. Further, the usefulness of ICA was presented for voltammograms registered during simultaneous determination of copper and antimony, and thallium and indium. The results of high practical importance for chemical analysis were achieved and documented. In the quantitative analysis a property was extensively used, that ICA is an unsupervised method.