Drag reduction by Leidenfrost vapor layers

We demonstrate and quantify a highly effective drag reduction technique that exploits the Leidenfrost effect to create a continuous and robust lubricating vapor layer on the surface of a heated solid sphere moving in a liquid. Using high-speed video, we show that such vapor layers can reduce the hydrodynamic drag by over 85%. These results appear to approach the ultimate limit of drag reduction possible by different methods based on gas-layer lubrication and can stimulate the development of related energy saving technologies.     

Two‐arc closed subsets of graphs

A subset of vertices of a graph is said to be 2‐arc closed if it contains every vertex that is adjacent to at least two vertices in the subset. In this paper, 2‐arc closed subsets generated by pairs of vertices at distance at most 2 are studied. Several questions are posed about the structure of such subsets and the relationships between two such subsets, and examples are given from the class of partition graphs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 350–364, 2003     

Microsecond studies of layer motion in a ferroelectric liquid crystal device

Small angle X-ray scattering has been employed to study dynamically the layer motion in a ferroelectric liquid crystal device on application of low electric fields. Microsecond time resolution was achieved and the use of an area detector in the experiment allowed the examination of layer motion in two orthogonal planes. The X-ray data show that during switching the chevron structure adopted by the layers distorts, implying a variation in the chevron angle. A rotation of the layers in the plane of the device is also observed, coincident in time with the change in chevron angle. The motion of the layers takes place on a ten microsecond time scale and the angular rotation of the layers is approximately 1°.     

Resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy of jet-cooled OsC

The optical spectrum of diatomic OsC has been investigated for the first time, with transitions recorded in the range from 17 390 to 22 990 cm(-1). Six bands were rotationally resolved and analyzed to obtain ground and excited state rotational constants and bond lengths. Spectra for six OsC isotopomers, 192 Os 12C (40.3% natural abundance), 190 Os 12C(26.0%), 189 Os 12C(16.0%), 188 Os 12C(13.1%), 187 Os 12C(1.9%), and 186 Os 12C(1.6%), were recorded and rotationally analyzed. The ground state was found to be X 3 Delta 3, deriving from the 4 delta 3 16 sigma 1 electronic configuration. Four bands were found to originate from the X 3 Delta 3 ground state, giving B 0"=0.533 492(33) cm(-1) and r 0 "=1.672 67(5) A for the 192 Os 12C isotopomer (1 sigma error limits); two of these, the 0-0[19.1]2<--X 3 Delta 3 and 1-0[19.1]2<--X 3 Delta 3 bands, form a vibrational progression with Delta G' 1/2=953.019 cm(-1). The remaining two bands were identified as originating from an Omega"=0 level that remains populated in the supersonic expansion. This level is assigned as the low-lying A 3 Sigma 0+ (-) state, which derives from the 4 delta 2 16 sigma 2 electronic configuration. The OsC molecule differs from the isovalent RuC molecule in having an X 3 Delta 3 ground state, rather than the X 2 delta 4, 1 Sigma+ ground state found in RuC. This difference in electronic structure is due to the relativistic stabilization of the 6s orbital in Os, an effect which favors occupation of the 6s-like 16 sigma orbital. The relativistic stabilization of the 16 sigma orbital also lowers the energy of the 4 delta 2 16 sigma 2, 3 Sigma(-) term, allowing this term to remain populated in the supersonically cooled molecular beam.     

Rotationally resolved spectra of jet-cooled RuSi

We report the first gas-phase spectroscopic investigation of diatomic ruthenium silicide (RuSi). The molecules were produced by laser ablation of a Ru disk into a flow of helium carrier gas containing 0.5% SiH(4), and were cooled in a supersonic expansion. The RuSi molecules were then studied using resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy. Investigations conducted in the spectral range from 18,800 to 23,800 cm(-1) show a large number of excited vibronic levels that cannot readily be grouped into electronic band systems. The ground state is been demonstrated to be of (3)Delta(3) symmetry, deriving from the 2delta(3)14sigma(1) electronic configuration. Correcting for the effects of the spin-uncoupling operator, the ground state bond length (r(0)) is determined to be 2.0921+/-0.0004 A (1sigma error limit). Diatomic RuSi is shown to have strong dpi-ppi bonds, unlike the isovalent AlCo molecule.     

A trisulfide-linked glycoprotein

The first member of a novel class of chemoselective reagents, glycosyl methanedithiosulfonates, has been synthesized, identified and employed in the first examples of chemical, site-selective construction of a trisulfide-modified protein with complete conversion.     

Scattering of a Bessel beam by a sphere

The exact scattering by a sphere centered on a Bessel beam is expressed as a partial wave series involving the scattering angle relative to the beam axis and the conical angle of the wave vector components of the Bessel beam. The sphere is assumed to have isotropic material properties so that the nth partial wave amplitude for plane wave scattering is proportional to a known partial-wave coefficient. The scattered partial waves in the Bessel beam case are also proportional to the same partial-wave coefficient but now the weighting factor depends on the properties of the Bessel beam. When the wavenumber-radius product ka is large, for rigid or soft spheres the scattering is peaked in the backward and forward directions along the beam axis as well as in the direction of the conical angle. These properties are geometrically explained and some symmetry properties are noted. The formulation is also suitable for elastic and fluid spheres. A partial wave expansion of the Bessel beam is noted.     

Liquid jet response to internal modulated ultrasonic radiation pressure and stimulated drop production

Experimental evidence shows that a liquid jet in air is an acoustic waveguide having a cutoff frequency inversely proportional to the jet diameter. Ultrasound applied to the jet supply liquid can propagate within the jet when the acoustic frequency is near to or above the cutoff frequency. Modulated radiation pressure is used to stimulate large amplitude deformations and the breakup of the jet into drops. The jet response to the modulated internal ultrasonic radiation pressure was monitored along the jet using (a) an optical extinction method and (b) images captured by a video camera. The jet profile oscillates at the frequency of the radiation pressure modulation and where the response is small, the amplitude was found to increase in proportion to the square of the acoustic pressure amplitude as previously demonstrated for oscillating drops [P.L. Marston and R.E. Apfel, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 27-37 (1980)]. Small amplitude deformations initially grow approximately exponentially with axial distance along the jet. Though aspects of the perturbation growth can be approximated from Rayleigh's analysis of the capillary instability, some detailed features of the observed jet response to modulated ultrasound are unexplained neglecting the effects of gravity.     

Novel Pickering Emulsifiers based on pH-Responsive Poly(tert-butylaminoethyl methacrylate) Latexes

Emulsion copolymerization of 2-(tert-butylamino)ethyl methacrylate in the presence of divinylbenzene (DVB) cross-linker and monomethoxy-capped poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) macromonomer at 70 °C afforded sterically-stabilized latexes at approximately 10% solids at pH 9. Dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that relatively narrow size distributions were obtained. SEM confirmed the formation of spherical particles in the absence of any DVB cross-linker using a simple batch protocol, but in the presence of DVB it was necessary to use seeded emulsion polymerization under monomer-starved conditions to prevent the formation of latexes with ill-defined non-spherical morphologies. Lightly cross-linked latexes acquired cationic microgel character upon lowering the solution pH due to protonation of the secondary amine groups. Increasing the degree of cross-linking led to a progressively lower effective pK(a) of the copolymer chains from 8.0 to 7.3, which implies a gradual reduction in their basicity. Poly(tert-butylamino)ethyl methacrylate latex proved to be an effective Pickering emulsifier at pH 10, forming stable oil-in-water emulsions when homogenized with either n-dodecane or sunflower oil at 12?000 rpm for 2 min. These Pickering emulsions exhibited pH-responsive behavior: lowering the solution pH to 3 resulted in immediate demulsification due to the spontaneous desorption of the cationic microgels from the oil/water interface. Following rehomogenization at high pH, four successive demulsification/emulsification pH cycles could be achieved without a discernible loss in performance. However, no demulsification occurred on acidification of the fifth cycle, due to the progressive build-up of background salt.