<Emphasis Type="Italic">FCC/BCC</Emphasis> competition and enhancement of saturation magnetization in nanocrystalline Co-Ni-Fe films

The structure, chemical composition, and magnetic properties of electrochemically deposited nanocrystalline Co-Ni-Fe films were investigated using a number of techniques. A high saturation magnetic induction up to B _s = 21 kG was attained. An enhancement of the saturation magnetization compared to the ideal anticipated one was revealed, which correlated with the nonlinear behavior of the structural phase composition and lattice parameters with the change of the composition. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Ni/Pt multilayers

In this work, the variation of the magnetic moments of the Ni/Pt multilayers are studied using the linearized augmented plane waves (LAPW) method in the framework of the density functional theory (DFT) implemented in the version of WIEN2K program. The systems have been modeled by seven layers slab separated in z direction by a vacuum region of four substrate layers. We present the results of the dependence of the magnetic properties with respect to the thickness variation of the different multilayers. The modeling of these systems finds an important empirical support. Experiment and theory show the same trends for the magnetic moments: hybridization effects between Ni and Pt are mostly localized at the interface.     

Scaling properties of fracture surfaces on glass strengthened by ionic exchange

In this work the results of the statistical topometric analysis of fracture surfaces of soda-lime-silica glass with and without ionic exchange treatment are reported. In this case, the mechanism of substitution is K⁺-Na⁺. atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to record the topometric data from the fracture surface. The roughness exponent (ζ) and the correlation length (ξ) were calculated by the variable bandwidth method. The analysis for both glasses (subjected and non-subjected to ionic exchange) for ζ shows a value ∼0.8, this value agrees well with that reported in the literature for rapid crack propagation in a variety of materials. The correlation length shows different values for each condition. These results, along with those of microhardness indentations suggest that the self-affine correlation length is influenced by the complex interactions of the stress field of microcracks with that resulting from the collective behavior of the point defects introduced by the strengthening mechanism of ionic exchange.     

Holographic sensors for the determination of ionic strength

Holographic sensors for monitoring ionic strength have been fabricated from charged sulphonate and quaternary ammonium monomers, incorporated into thin, polymeric hydrogel films which were transformed into volume holograms. The diffraction wavelength or reflected colour of the holograms was used to characterise their swelling or de-swelling behaviour as a function of ionic strength in various media. The effects of co-monomer structure, buffer composition, ion composition, pH and temperature were evaluated, whilst the reversibility and reproducibility of the sensor was also assessed. An acrylamide-based hologram containing equal molar amounts of negatively and positively charged monomers was shown to be able to quantify ionic strength independent of the identity of the ionic species present in the test solution. The sensor was fully reversible, free of hysteresis and exhibited little response to pH between 3 and 9 and temperature within the range 20-45 °C. The system was successfully used to quantify the ionic strength of milk solutions, which contain a complex mixture of ions and biological components.     

Gas adsorption in mcm-41 porous silicas dynamic measurements using sans

The European Physical Journal E - The isothermal gas adsorption of two hexane isomers (n-hexane and cyclohexane) in the mesopores of MCM-41 silica have been investigated by small angle neutron...     

Phase separation in blends of two homopolymers and a diblock copolymer during film casting

Demixing during film casting of blends of polystyrene, polymethylmethacrylate, and a symmetric diblock copolymer of styrene and methylmethacrylate is discussed. The concentration fluctuations in the homogeneous solutions were calculated in mean field approximation. The structures in the homogeneous and demixed solutions and in the dry films were measured by small-angle x-ray scattering, and the morphologies of the dry films were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The structure of the dry blends is evidently already pre-formed in solution.