The129I hyperfine interaction in fatty acids studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Oleic acid substituted by iodine and saponified by Ca²⁺ cations has been studied by¹²⁹I Mössbauer spectroscopy. The quadrupole coupling constants and isomer shifts, determined from the γ-resonance spectra recorded at 4.2 K, have been described by 5p and 5s orbital populations of iodine. It was also found that saponification of the fatty acid has no significant influence on the measured iodine bonds. However, the increased order of fatty acids in soap form is reflected by narrowing of the resonant linewidth due to the reduction of the electric field gradient distribution.     

Jauch-Piron system of imprimitivities for phonons. I. Localizability in discrete space

This paper is devoted to a discussion of the notion of localizability for phonons, i.e., quasiparticles arising from the harmonic vibrations of a system ofn atoms bound to one another by elastic forces. The natural tools for the analysis of localizability are the projection operatorsÊ() acting on the Hilbert space of one-phonon states, where is an arbitrary subset of the set that consists ofn vectors specifying the equilibrium positions ofn atoms. The expectation value ofÊ() is the probability that the phonon belongs to the atoms whose equilibrium positions are characterized by the elements of . For a strongly localizable phonon all of the projection operatorsÊ() commute with one another, whereas in the case of a weakly localizable phonon the operatorsÊ(₁) andÊ(₂) do not commute when ₁ and ₂ overlap. With the aid of the Jauch-Piron quantum theory of localization in space, the present paper describes the method of obtainingÊ() and also shows that if in the system ofn atoms there exist normal modes of zero frequency, then the phonon is only weakly localizable. Given the explicit expression forÊ(), one can define the number-of-phonons operator as well as the quasiparticle analogue (given in a companion paper) of the Wigner distribution function.     

No-local-broadcasting theorem for multipartite quantum correlations

We prove that the correlations present in a multipartite quantum state have an operational quantum character even if the state is unentangled, as long as it does not simply encode a multipartite classical probability distribution. Said quantumness is revealed by the new task of local broadcasting, i.e., of locally sharing preestablished correlations, which is feasible if and only if correlations are stricly classical. Our operational approach leads to natural definitions of measures for quantumness of correlations. It also reproduces the standard no-broadcasting theorem as a special case.     

Lifetimes and side-feeding population of the yrast band levels in 131La

Lifetimes of yrast levels with spins I^π = 23/2^--43/2^- in ¹³¹La populated in the ¹²²Sn(¹⁴N, 5n) reaction at a beam energy of 70MeV are measured by the Doppler Shift Attenuation method. A model of side-feeding population is presented. The model parameters are determined in an experiment based on the lineshape of γ-transitions from two highest spin levels and from the intensity distribution along the yrast band. The properties of the h_11/2 band in ¹³¹La are compared with the theoretical predictions obtained in the framework of the Core-Quasi-Particle Coupling and the self-consistent Total Routhian Surface models.     

Application of continuous flow and alternative energy devices for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural production

Dehydration of fructose and glucose in dipolar, aprotic solvents leads to formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Conditions for continuous flow reactions using a cartridge-based reactor system and a stop-flow microwave reactor were established showing very good product yields and selectivity without the limitation of a batch process such as upscaling and precise temperature monitoring and control. A maximum product HPLC yield of 90.3% under cartridge-based heating and 85.6% under microwave heating could be achieved using mild and quick reaction conditions. Formation of levulinic acid as a by-product could not be detected under the optimized reaction conditions.     

Electrochemical studies on novel films consisting of phosphorus-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Ionics - Films consisting of phosphorus-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (further denoted as P-MWCNTs) were fabricated by means of chemical vapor deposition technique with decomposition of...     

The $\beta$-function in duality-covariant non-commutative $\phi^4$-theory

We compute the one-loop -functions describing the renormalisation of the coupling constant and the frequency parameter for the real four-dimensional duality-covariant non-commutative -model, which is renormalisable to all orders. The contribution from the one-loop four-point function is reduced by the one-loop wavefunction renormalisation, but the -function remains non-negative. Both and vanish at the one-loop level for the duality-invariant model characterised by . Moreover, also vanishes in the limit , which defines the standard non-commutative -quantum field theory. Thus, the limit exists at least at the one-loop level.Received: 19 March 2004, Published online: 5 May 2004     

Experimental evidence of chiral crown ether complexation with aromatic amino acids

The complexation of L ‐ and D ‐enantiomers of phenylglycine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan with D ‐mannonaphto‐crown‐6‐ether in methanol solution was studied by NMR and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) at 298.15 K. The total heat effects attributed to the binding phenomena were measured in the range of 1.8 to 7.7 mJ, and the complexation was found stereo‐specific. The binding topologies were estimated basing on ¹H 2D‐ROESY experiments. The analysis of Job plots obtained from ¹H NMR‐monitored titrations proved the coexistence of 1:1 and 1:2 (crown ether:amino acids) complexes, which thermodynamic parameters, K_s, ΔG, ΔH°, and TΔS were determined with the aid of ITC. The 1:1 complexes were found enthalpically stabilized, generally by electrostatic interactions between the charged NH group of amino acid and crown ether macrocyclic moiety, while the binding of the second amino acid molecule was driven entropically due to solvatophobic effect. Strong enthalpy–entropy compensation points towards the uniform binding mode of all complexes studied. The mode of complex formation was found solvent dependent. For phenylalanine guest studied in various solvent systems, in contrast to the aqueous media, the noticeable chiral recognition is observed in methanol solution, and the complex stoichiometry (1:2 ether:Phe) differs from the 2:1 one, determined previously for the same host‐guest system in water (J. Thermal. Anal. Cal. 2006; 83: 575–578). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystal microstructure of annealed nanocrystalline Chromium studied by synchrotron radiation diffraction

The microstructure of electrodeposited nanocrystalline chromium (n-Cr) was studied by using synchrotron radiation (SR) diffraction, SEM, TEM, and EDX techniques. The as-prepared n-Cr samples show the standard bcc crystal structure of Cr with volume-averaged column lengths varying from 25 to 30 nm. The grain growth kinetics and the oxidation kinetics were studied by time resolved SR diffraction measurements with n-Cr samples annealed at 400, 600, and 800 °C. The grain growth process is relatively fast and it occurs within the first 10 min of annealing. The final crystallite size depends only on the annealing temperature and not on the initial grain size or on the oxygen content. The final volume-averaged column lengths observed after 50 min annealing are 40(4), 80(1), and 120(2) nm for temperatures 400, 600, and 800 °C, respectively. It is shown that annealing ex situ of n-Cr at 800 °C both under vacuum and in air gives a grain growth process with the same final crystallite sizes. The formation of the Cr₂O₃ and CrH phases is observed during annealing.     

Optical and microstructural properties of self-assembled InAs quantum structures in silicon

The InAs quantum structures were formed in silicon by sequential ion implantation and subsequent thermal annealing. Two kinds of crystalline InAs nanostructures were successfully synthesized: nanodots (NDs) and nanopyramids (NPs). The peaks at 215 and 235 cm^?1, corresponding to the transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) InAs single-phonon modes, respectively, are clearly visible in the Raman spectra. Moreover, the PL band at around 1.3 µm, due to light emission from InAs NDs with an average diameter 7±2 nm, was observed. The InAs NPs were found only in samples annealed for 20 ms at temperatures ranging from 1000 up to 1200°C. The crystallinity and pyramidal shape of InAs quantum structures were confirmed by HRTEM and XRD techniques. The average size of the NPs is 50 nm base and 50 nm height, and they are oriented parallel to the Si (001) planes. The lattice parameter of the NPs increases from 6.051 to 6.055 Å with the annealing temperature increasing from 1100 to 1200°C, due to lattice relaxation. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) shows almost stoichiometric composition of the InAs NPs.