α-Fe2O3@carbon core–shell nanostructure for luminescent upconversion and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The unique characteristics of metal–organic frameworks such as structural tunability, high surface area, low density, and tailored porosity have made this...     

Natural radioactivity in surface marine sediments near the shore of Vizag, South East India and associated radiological risk

Naturally occurring radioactive materials were determined in surface sediments from the marine environment near the shore of Vizag in the South eastern part of India using gamma spectrometry technique. The mean activity concentration was found to be 36 ± 11, 34 ± 15, 75 ± 38 and 782 ± 223 Bq/kg and ranged from 19 to 48 Bq/kg, 11 to 57 Bq/kg, 31 to 145 Bq/kg and 363 to 1,024 Bq/kg for ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, respectively. The mean radium equivalent activity, external hazard index, air absorbed gamma dose rate and annual effective dose equivalent are 203 ± 62 Bq/kg, 0.6 ± 0.2, 94 ± 27 nGy/h and 0.12 ± 0.03 mSv/year respectively. This data will serve as the baseline level for naturally occurring radionuclides in the study area and will be useful for tracking and assessing any pollution inventory in the environment of this region.     

Reduced ionic contaminations in CdSe quantum dot dispersed ferroelectric liquid crystal and its applications

Octadecylamine capped cadmium selenide quantum dots (CdSe QDs) were dispersed in the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) FELIX 16/100. The QD dispersed FLC system was investigated on the planar anchored cell. Addition of specific concentration of the QDs in the pure FLC induces a new relaxation mode along with the Goldstone relaxation mode. QDs assisted quantum fluctuations are probably responsible for the existence of this new relaxation mode in the QDs dispersed FLC system. The ionic contaminations associated with the FLC materials were trapped on the surface of QDs due to the ion-trapping character of QDs. The trapping of ionic contaminations was confirmed by the a.c. conductivity measurement. The physical properties of the pure and dispersed FLC were carried out as a function of doping concentration of QDs, temperature and frequency.     

Kinetic studies of the oxidation of transition metal(II) malate complexes by peroxomonosulphate

The kinetics of oxidation of malic acid by peroxomonosulphate (PMS) in the presence of Cu(II) (2.50 × 10^?4–5.00 × 10^?3 M), Co(II) (2.00 × 10^?6–1.00 × 10^?5 M) and Ni(II) (5.00 × 10^?4–6.00 × 10^?3 M) were studied in the pH range 4.05–5.89. The oxidation of Ni(II) malate follows simple first-order kinetics with respect to both [PMS] and [Ni(II)], while the oxidations of Cu(II) malate and Co(II) malate show autocatalysis. There is an appreciable induction period in the Cu(II) malate oxidation, while Co(II) malate oxidation follows a simple curve. The initial oxidation product for all three systems was identified as malonic semialdehyde. Alcohol quenching studies suggest that, even in the Co(II) malate-PMS system, no radical intermediates such as $ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{ - .} $ or $ {\text{OH}}{}^{.} $ are detected. The malonic semialdehyde intermediate may react with M(II) malates to give a hemiacetal, which may be more reactive.     

Temporal variation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in PM10 from the Kathmandu Valley and their gas-particle concentrations in winter

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in particulate matter (PM) with a diameter <10 µm (PM₁₀, 50% cut off) were investigated in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, during 2003. In order to understand the dynamics of atmospheric PAHs in winter, the PAH concentrations in total PM and in the gaseous phase were investigated in the valley in December 2005. Total of 45 PAH compounds (∑45PAHs) were analysed by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). In 2003, the ∑45PAH concentrations in PM₁₀ ranged between 4.3 and 89 ng m^?3 (annual average; 27 ± 24 ng m^?3). The average concentrations of ∑45PAHs in December 2005 were 210 ± 33 ng m^?3 in total PM and 430 ± 90 ng m^?3 in the gaseous phase. The ∑45PAH concentration in PM accounted for more than 30% of the sum of their particulate and gaseous forms. Phenanthrene (Ph) was the most predominant compound in the gaseous phase, whereas four- to seven-ring PAHs were predominant in total PM. The highest values of ∑45PAHs occurred in the winter and spring. Estimates of emission sources based on diagnostic molecular ratios showed that atmospheric PAHs in the Kathmandu Valley mainly originated from the exhaust gas of diesel engine. In the winter and spring, PAH pollution would be accelerated by the operations of brick kilns and the frequent formation of an atmospherically stable layer in the valley.     

Time accurate fast wavelet‐Taylor Galerkin method for partial differential equations

We introduce the concept of fast wavelet‐Taylor Galerkin methods for the numerical solution of partial differential equations. In wavelet‐Taylor Galerkin method discretization in time is performed before the wavelet based spatial approximation by introducing accurate generalizations of the standard Euler, θ and leap‐frog time‐stepping scheme with the help of Taylor series expansions in the time step. We will present two different time‐accurate wavelet schemes to solve the PDEs. First, numerical schemes taking advantage of the wavelet bases capabilities to compress the operators and sparse representation of functions which are smooth, except for in localized regions, up to any given accuracy are presented. Here numerical experiments deal with advection equation with the spiky solution in one dimension, two dimensions, and nonlinear equation with a shock in solution in two dimensions. Second, our schemes deal with more regular class of problems where wavelets are not efficient procedure for data compression but we can use the good approximation properties of wavelet. Here time‐accurate schemes lead to consistent mass matrix in an explicit time stepping, which can be solved by approximate factorization techniques. Numerical experiment deals with more regular class of problems like heat equation as well as coupled linear system in two dimensions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

Internal pressure,ultrasonic velocity and viscosity of multi-component liquid systems

Ultrasonic velocity, density and viscosity were measured in two ternary liquid systems namely,n-pentane +n-hexane + benzene(I) andn-hexane + cyclohexane + benzene(II) and one quaternary liquid system,n-pentane +n-hexane + benzene + toluene (III). The experimental as well as literature values of thermal expansion coefficient and iso-thermal compressibility of pure liquid components were utilized to deduce the ideal value of internal pressure and excess internal pressure for the above liquid systems at 298·15K using two different approaches. In the conventional approach one needs the experimental values ofα andβ _T of mixtures for computing internal pressure, which was not possible. The second method which is proposed here utilizes only the density, ultrasonic velocity and viscosity data of the mixture. This method is used in computing internal pressure and its excess value for multicomponent liquid systems. A satisfactory agreement has been observed.     

Speciation of phenyltin(IV) compounds using high‐performance liquid chromatography. Part 2: The direct analysis of mixed standard solutions of triphenyltin halides/pseudohalide and of triphenyltin carboxylates containing functional group variations in the esteryl moiety

Simultaneous speciation of mixed standard solutions of triphenyltin halides (triphenyltin chloride, bromide, iodide) and pseudohalide (triphenyltin isothiocyanate) has been achieved with reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography on a Waters Spherisorb S5W ODS‐2 (octadecyl‐silica) column. An isocratic mixture of 95:5 (v/v) acetonitrile:water was used as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml min^?1. A series of selected triphenyltin carboxylates, Ph₃SnOCOZ, where Z = Me, Ph, CH:CHPh, CH:NOMe, CH₂SC₅H₄N and CH₂SC(S)NMe₂, was also similarly analysed using this system with two separate isocratic elutions using 100% acetonitrile and 96:4 (v/v) acetonitrile:water as the mobile phase. UV detection was done at 254 nm and the total run time for each analysis was less than 3 min. The detection limits for all the phenyltin(IV) compounds were in the range 0.01–0.03 ppm. Spiked water samples containing the triphenyltin carboxylates could also be simultaneously analysed by the above method without the need for any prior derivatization, following extraction with hexane. Pretreatment of the aqueous sample with NaCl/HCl and of the organic phase with hexamethylphosphoramide enabled recoveries of about 80% of the triphenyltins. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speciation of phenyltin(IV) compounds using high‐performance liquid chromatography: Part 1. The direct analysis of mixed standard solutions of tetraphenyltin,triphenyltin chloride,triphenyltin hydroxide and triphenyltin acetate

A rapid speciation high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of phenyltin compounds. The commercially important products of triphenyltin‐chloride, ‐acetate, ‐hydroxide and tetraphenyltin were separated by reversed‐phase HPLC on a Waters Spherisorb S5W ODS‐2 (octadecylsilica) column using an isocratic mixture of 90:10 (v/v) acetonitrile:water as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 ml min^?1. The phenyltin compounds were detected by UV detection at 254 nm and the total elution time is 8 min. The elution order is triphenyltin‐chloride, ‐acetate, ‐hydroxide and tetraphenyltin. Detection limits were 0.01 ppm for each of the triphenyltin compounds and 0.02 ppm for tetraphenyltin. Spiked water samples containing the three biocidal triphenyltin compounds could also be analysed simultaneously by the above method without the need for any prior derivatization, following extraction with toluene. The versatility of the method in sensing substituent group variations on the phenyl ring was also demonstrated by the successful resolution of the hydroxides, tris(p‐chlorophenyl)tin hydroxide, diphenyl(p‐chlorophenyl)tin hydroxide and triphenyltin hydroxide. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Current algebra results for theB - D systems

Using the equal time commutation relations for the components of the vector and axialvector currents and keeping single particle states we obtain relations for the weak form factors for theB - D systems. In the heavy quark effective theory (HQET) limit these relations determine the Isgur-Wise function.