Study of the miscibility and the thermal degradation of PVC/PMMA blends

The aim of this paper is to study the miscibility and the thermal degradation of PVC/PMMA blends. For that purpose, blends of variable compositions from 0 to 100 wt% were prepared with and without plasticizer. Their physico-chemical characterization was carried out by differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Their thermal degradation under nitrogen at 185°C was studied and the HCl evolved from PVC was measured by the pH method. Degraded samples were characterized, after purification, by FTIR and UV-visible spectroscopy. The DSC analysis showed polymer miscibility up to 60 wt% of PMMA. This miscibility is due to a specific interaction of hydrogen bonding type between carbonyl groups (C=O) of PMMA and hydrogen from (CHCl) groups of PVC as evidenced by FTIR analysis. On the other hand, it was found that PMMA exerted a stabilizing effect on the thermal degradation of PVC by reducing the zip dehydrochlorination and by leading to the formation of short polyenes.     

Third-order laser-field-expansion analysis of the Lorenz–Haken equations

This paper revisits a few aspects of laser-dynamics with a strong-harmonic expansion analysis from which new analytical information, within the intrinsic pulsing regime that characterizes the non-linearly coupled differential Lorenz–Haken equations, is extracted. The analysis is expected to provide clearer insights to the physics involved in the laser-dynamics issue. Carried out to third-order in electric field amplitude, the procedure allows for the derivation of a closed form expression which describes the permanent-oscillation frequency of the unstable periodic state. Comparison between the frequency values evaluated from the literal formula and those obtained through direct numerical simulations shows a realistic fit inside the control parameters space that displays symmetric period-one pulsing solutions.     

A polynuclear coordination glutarate of lanthanum(III) with an uncommon cage feature

The title compound, tri­aqua­tris­(glutarato)­dilanthanum(III) dihydrate, {[La₂(C₅H₆O₄)₃(H₂O)₃]·2H₂O}_n, is the first re­ported glutarate coordination polymer of lanthanum(III) without a protonated ligand. The noteworthy features in the structure are, firstly, the unusual binuclear lanthanum cage formed by three bridging bonds through O atoms involved in different coordination modes and, secondly, the very rare `malonate' mode exhibited by a di­carboxyl­ate ligand with an alkyl chain of five C atoms. To our knowledge, this η⁷ chelation for the glutarate ligand has not been reported and was thought to be forbidden for steric reasons. The gauche–gauche conformation of the corresponding ligand favours cage formation, but trans geometries created along the ligating O atoms prevent cluster packing. The two independent La atoms are nine‐ and tenfold coordinated, leading to distorted one‐face‐sharing LaO₇(H₂O)₂ and LaO₉(H₂O) polyhedra, respectively. In the three‐dimensional framework, these asymmetric subunits are linked in a zigzag manner via one‐edge‐sharing LaO₉(H₂O) polyhedra and are connected by the carbon backbone chains of the ligands. The structure is very compact and, unlike many other reported di­carboxyl­ate lanthanides, connectivity between the two metal atoms and the three ligands yields a crystal packing with cavities accommodating two guest water mol­ecules but without an open framework.     

Study of the physical properties of amorphous Zr doped Al2O3 powders

Alumina (Al₂O₃) powders doped with different amounts of zirconium (Zr) ions were synthesized by the sol-gel process. The Zr concentration was changed from 0 to 3%. Here we attempted to fabricate Zr doped Al₂O₃ samples and characterized them for their optical and structural properties. Ultraviolet-Visible analysis (UV-Vis), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to characterize the optical properties, phase evolution and crystallinity of the obtained samples. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that all the Al₂O₃ powders obtained were completely amorphous. An optical study was employed to determine the band gap of the samples. The transmittance had decreased from 90 to 86% and the band gap of pure Al₂O₃ was found to be 4.116 eV, and it was shifted to 4.038 eV for 3% Zr doped Al₂O₃. The results obtained in this study are discussed comparatively with those cited in the literature.     

Interference in the collective electron momentum in double photoionization of H2

We investigate single-photon double ionization of H(2) by 130 to 240 eV circularly polarized photons. We find a double slitlike interference pattern in the sum momentum of both electrons in the molecular frame which survives integration over all other degrees of freedom. The difference momentum and the individual electron momentum distributions do not show such a robust interference pattern. We show that this interference results from a non-Heitler-London fraction of the H(2) ground state where both electrons are at the same atomic center.     

Measurement of vacuum-assisted photoionization at 1 GeV for Au and Ag targets

We report a measurement of photon impact ionization of K and L shell of Au and K shell of Ag targets in the 1-GeV energy range. We show that the cross section is dominated by a contribution from a new channel called vacuum-assisted photoionization. In this process the energy-momentum balance associated with the removal of the innershell electron is obtained by conversion of a high-energy photon into an electron-positron pair. This measurement is consistent with the theoretical prediction that vacuum-assisted photoionization is the most probable ionization mechanism at very high energies.     

Exponential growth of positive initial-energy solutions of a system of nonlinear viscoelastic wave equations with damping and source terms

This work is concerned with a system of nonlinear viscoelastic wave equations with nonlinear damping and source terms acting in both equations. We will prove that the energy associated to the system is unbounded. In fact, it will be proved that the energy will grow up as an exponential function as time goes to infinity, provided that the initial data are large enough. The key ingredient in the proof is a method used in Vitillaro (Arch Ration Mech Anal 149:155–182, 1999) and developed in Said-Houari (Diff Integr Equ 23(1–2):79–92, 2010) for a system of wave equations, with necessary modification imposed by the nature of our problem.     

Ultrafast internal conversion in ethylene. I. The excited state lifetime

Using a combined theoretical and experimental approach, we investigate the non-adiabatic dynamics of the prototypical ethylene (C(2)H(4)) molecule upon π → π? excitation. In this first part of a two part series, we focus on the lifetime of the excited electronic state. The femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectrum (TRPES) of ethylene is simulated based on our recent molecular dynamics simulation using the ab initio multiple spawning method with multi-state second order perturbation theory [H. Tao, B. G. Levine, and T. J. Martinez, J. Phys. Chem. A 113, 13656 (2009)]. We find excellent agreement between the TRPES calculation and the photoion signal observed in a pump-probe experiment using femtosecond vacuum ultraviolet (hν = 7.7 eV) pulses for both pump and probe. These results explain the apparent discrepancy over the excited state lifetime between theory and experiment that has existed for ten years, with experiments [e.g., P. Farmanara, V. Stert, and W. Radloff, Chem. Phys. Lett. 288, 518 (1998) and K. Kosma, S. A. Trushin, W. Fuss, and W. E. Schmid, J. Phys. Chem. A 112, 7514 (2008)] reporting much shorter lifetimes than predicted by theory. Investigation of the TRPES indicates that the fast decay of the photoion yield originates from both energetic and electronic factors, with the energetic factor playing a larger role in shaping the signal.