Raman spectroscopy of carbon fibres

Investigations of coated carbon fibres are reported using Raman spectroscopy. Relationships between different process parameters (for example precursor concentration, reactor temperature and various precursors) and the resulting types of carbon fibres are discussed.     

Structural changes in discotic samples during transition from crystal to discotic mesophase as revealed by electron microscopy and diffraction

Classical methods of structural analysis cannot be applied to liquid crystals because higher order reflections disappear during the transition from crystal to liquid crystal due to the reduction in long range orientational and translational correlations. However, in order to relate physical properties to the molecular architecture, it is essential to have information about molecular positions and orientations in the crystalline state as well as in the liquid crystalline state. In this work, the transition from crystalline to liquid crystalline phase is carefully monitored and the relationship between the original lattice and the new molecular positions found using electron diffraction. In addition to this, a new high resolution electron-microscopic technique is described in which the positions of molecules in the crystalline and the quenched discotic phase are directly imaged and the defects observed in the crystalline and LC phase compared and quantitatively analysed.     

Surface heating and energy transfer in pulsed microwave catalytic systems: A microwave-induced acoustic study

Since the early demonstrations of our concept of pulsed microwave catalysis in chemistry, we have witnessed the coming of age of the technique as an enabling technology in the industrial world, despite the inadequate understanding of the basic mechanisms of how microwaves interact with metallic surface sites and the subsequent energy transfer. We shall present here some very recent developments of the microwave-induced acoustic technique and its applications to a better understanding of the basic surface heating and energy transfer phenomena in pulsed microwave catalytic systems.     

Trace determination of Tl, Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn in specimens of the limnic environment using isotope dilution mass spectrometry with thermal ionization

Within the framework of the German Environmental Specimen Bank program, Tl, Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn were determined in homogenized materials from the limnic environment using Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry (IDMS) with thermal ionization. The analytical procedures which were developed for the trace metal analysis of bioindicator and sediment samples are described in detail. Results obtained in bream, mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and sediments of Lake Constance/Estuary of Constance in the sampling years 1981, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1993 are discussed and compared with those of bream from the lakeland district of Born-hoeved/Lake Belau and from the River Saar as well as from reference materials.     

Resonance ionization spectroscopy for trace analysis and fundamental research

Resonance ionization spectroscopy (RIS) and its combination with mass spectrometry (RIMS) have grown to become powerful techniques, which offer high sensitivity as well as elemental and isotopic selectivity. The principles of RIS and RIMS are introduced; they primarily concern the analysis of the optical spectra for the choice of efficient excitation schemes and the suitable design of the experimental apparatus. Recent applications span from studies of short-lived isotopes at on-line mass separators to a wide variety of trace analysis applications for radioactive isotopes, which can range from measurements of solar neutrino flux to environmental assessment.On leave from Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, USA     

The influence of the liquid crystalline core geometry on the mesogenicity of novel chiral 2-(4-substituted-phenoxy)propanonitriles

The synthesis and characterization of seven novel (R)-2-(4-substituted-phenoxy)propanonitriles are described. The propanonitriles were prepared to evaluate their potential use as thermochromics and ferroelectric dopants, as well as to determine their twist sense properties. The materials exhibit smectic and chiral nematic phases of high thermal stability; the mesogenic behaviour of the nitriles is directly related to the type of two-ring core unit employed. The effects of the different molecular geometries and polarizabilities of the liquid crystalline cores on mesophase stability are discussed, particularly in relation to other members of this series. The chiral nematic phase of the propanonitriles is assigned as having a left-handed twist sense from contact preparation studies, and this is in agreement with rules relating absolute configuration and molecular structure to helical twist sense.     

The Properties of Voronoi Tessellations for 2D Ising Fluid Near the Second-Order Magnetic Phase Transition

The topological and geometrical properties of Voronoi cells generated for 2D fluid of hard disks with Ising-like spins near the second-order phase transition from the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase are described for different disk densities. The comparison with Voronoi cells generated for the random hard disk system is given.     

Analysis of the structure of an amorphous sediment obtained upon decomposition of potassium oxofluroniobate in water

An amorphous sediment was prepared by the decomposition of potassium oxofluoroniobate K_{2 ? x} Nb₄O₃(O, F)₃F in water. For this sediment, the atomic radial distribution function was analyzed with the use of a fragment model, which allows one to interpret expanded coordination spheres as being formed by first several strongest diffusion maxima. These spheres carry the most reliable information on the structure. It is shown that the amorphous sediment consists of the randomly packed Nb(O,F)₆-octahedra with interatomic distances close to those observed in the ordered region in the N-Nb₂O₅ structure. During decomposition in water, the initial K_{2 ? x} Nb₄O₃(O, F)₃F phase loses KF-layers, whereas Nb₆ clusters with metal bonds are destroyed.     

Aspects of the transpiration model for aerofoil design

Transpiration is a technique in which extra non-physical normal flows are created on an aerofoil surface in order to form a new streamline pattern such that the surface streamlines no longer follow the aerofoil surface under inviscid flow. The transpiration model is an important technique adopted in aerofoil design either to avoid mesh regeneration when aerofoil profile co-ordinates are adjusted or to find shape corrections in inverse design methods. A first-order approximation (with respect to the normal streamline displacement) to the transpiration model is commonly adopted; it is shown that this can be a poor approximation especially in regions of high curvature. In this paper more accurate approximations are developed to address this problem and improve the accuracy.