Microstructural investigation of nickel deposits obtained by pulsed current

Electrodeposited nickel coatings are applied in functional applications to modify or improve corrosion resistance, hardness, wear, magnetic, and other properties. In this work, Nickel deposits were produced by simple pulse electrodeposition using a free-additive Watts bath. It has been shown that pulse current deposition is able to produce coatings with excellent properties in morphology, particle distribution, structure, grain size, hardness and wear resistance. Pulsed techniques present a larger number of variables, so we propose to optimize the parameters which define the pulsed current to obtain deposits with improved properties. The optimization of the conditions of deposition was established and the influence of pulse parameters, namely, pulse on-time, off-time and average current density, on the grain size, surface morphology and crystal orientation was determined. The morphology of the coatings was characterized by observations in scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction in symmetric mode was also used to evaluate the structure and principal crystallographic orientations of the deposits. The study showed that pulse current results in better properties of deposits and significantly refined the crystal grain.     

Construction of a Pfaff system of Fuchs type with three singular surfaces on a complex projective space

We construct a multidimensional Pfaff equation of Fuchs type for a given monodromy group on CP ⁿ . The monodromy group is generated by three noncommutating matrices.     

Semigroup and Riesz transform for the Dunkl–Schrödinger operators

Semigroup Forum - Let $$L_k=-\Delta _k+V$$ be the Dunkl–Schrödinger operators, where $$\Delta _k=\sum _{j=1}^dT_j^2$$ is the Dunkl Laplace operator associated to the Dunkl operators...     

A characterization of be-critical trees

The b-chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a proper coloring with k colors for which each color class contains a vertex that has at least one neighbor in all the other $k?1$ color classes. A graph G is called $b_e$-critical if the contraction of any edge e of G decreases the b-chromatic number of G. The purpose of this paper is the characterization of all $b_e$-critical trees.     

Synthesis,characterization and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles with controlled size and morphology

Zinc oxide monodispersed nanoparticles were synthesized using a modified polyol process without any requirement to use a catalyst or calcination step at high temperature. The morphology and the size of the resulting oxide particles were adjusted by using several synthesis parameters (temperature, alkaline ratio, hydrolysis ratio, etc.). The increasing of the alkaline ratio results in a great change of the elaborated particles morphology that evolved from irregular and anisotropic forms (conical, nanorod-like and elliptical) to spherical one. A growth mechanism of these particles was proposed on the basis of zincite crystal structure and the morphology evolution as a function of the synthesis parameters. The photoluminescence spectra show UV-excitonic and visible emission bands. The strongest intensity of the visible emission was observed in nanorod-like particles, which implies an increased fraction of oxygen vacancies in this sample. The rod-like particles with 1 μm length show the dominant UV-emission, which evidences their improved stoichiometry.     

Data completion via an energy error functional

We propose, in this Note, a new procedure for data completion based on the minimization of an energy like error functional. The efficiency of the proposed method is illustrated by a thermostatic application. To cite this article: S. Andrieux et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Polypyrrole-coated poly(vinyl chloride) powder particles: surface chemical and morphological characterisation by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy

Polypyrrole (PPy)-coated poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) powder particles were prepared by the in situ chemical polymerisation of pyrrole in aqueous solutions in the presence of PVC powder particles. The PVC particles in suspension served as a hydrophobic substrate for the in situ polymerisation of pyrrole using iron chloride as the oxidising agent and sodium p-toluene sulfonate. In these conditions, tosylate-doped PPy (PPyTS) was obtained and chlorides were inserted as minor codoping species. In some cases, the pyrrole was polymerised after incubating the PVC particles with poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs showed that the PVC particles retained their initial, quasispherical shape after coating by PPy. At low magnification, the coated PVC particles appeared smooth, but at high magnification, they exhibited a decoration by elementary nanoparticles of about 200-nm size due to PPy bulk powder grains. Elemental analysis indicated a mass loading of PPy in the range 1–58% w/w. Specific surface analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) resulted in the spectra of the PPy-coated PVC particles resembling those of bulk powder PPyTS even for low PPy mass loading. The surface fraction of PPy repeat units was found to vary in the 55–91% range. This result is consistent with the SEM observation of the PPy nanoparticles at the surface of PVC powder grains. However, despite the important loading of PPy, the XPS estimation of the overlayer thickness is in favour of a patchy coating rather than continuous coatings of PPy.     

Study of cascade showers generated by near-horizontal muons in the water Cherenkov detector with a dense array of optical modules

The method for reconstructing the cascade curve by the Cherenkov radiation in water of the NEVOD detector with a dense spatial array of optical modules is discussed. Cascades are generated by near-horizontal muons which are separated by the DECOR coordinate detector. The cascade curves and the cascade energy spectrum measured in an ～8000-hour measurement series are presented.     

Cyclosulfamides as Constraint Dipeptides: The Synthesis and Structure of Chiral Substituted 1,2,5-Thiadiazolidine 1,1-Dioxides: Evaluation of the Toxicity

A general synthesis for the preparation of chiral N-N′ substituted 1,2,5-thiadiazolidine 1,1-dioxides has been developed beginning with proteogenic amino acid, sulfuryl chloride, and dibromoethane. The selected chemistry and spectral properties of these compounds are examined. Overall, routes described are applicable to the synthesis of a variety of constrained dipeptidal sulfamides representing novel peptidomimetic scaffolds.     

Electron-deficient adduct site in the ring opening of methylcyclopentane (MCP) on tungsten-oxide-supported Pt,Ir and Pt–Ir catalysts

The activities of Pt/WO₂, Ir/WO₂ and Pt–Ir/WO₂ toward the conversion of methylcyclopentane (MCP) were investigated. The catalysts were prepared using impregnation and co-impregnation methods and were characterized by SEM, XRD, N₂-sorption and TEM investigations. The most active catalyst toward the conversion of MCP, irrespective of the temperature, was Ir/WO₂. The order of the reactivity was Ir/WO₂ > Pt–Ir/WO₂ > Pt/WO₂. Strong metal–support interactions (SMSI) were observed for all the catalysts over the entire investigated temperature range. At 400 °C, the Pt and Pt–Ir showed 100% selectivity toward ring-enlargement reactions associated with the presence of electron-deficient adduct sites on the reducible acidic WO₂ support. Ring opening occurred over all the catalysts in three positions, resulting in the formation of 2-methylpentane (2-MP), 3-methylpentane (3-MP), and n-hexane (n-H). Difficulty in breaking the secondary – tertiary carbon bonds was observed predominantly on the Ir catalyst, which opens the MCP ring via a selective mechanism.