Electrical properties of triple-doped bismuth oxide electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells

In this study, the quaternary solid solutions of (Bi₂O₃)_(0.8?x)(Tb₄O₇)_0.1(Ho₂O₃)_0.1(Dy₂O₃)_x (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) as an electrolyte were synthesized for solid oxide fuel cells by the technique of solid-state synthesis.

The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, differential thermal analysis/thermal gravimetry and the four-point probe technique (4PPT). The total electrical conductivity is measured on the temperature and the doped concentration by 4PPT.

All samples have been obtained as the δ-phase. According to the measurements of the 4PPT, the electrical conductivities of the samples increase with the temperature but decrease with the amount of doping rate. The value of the highest conductivity (σ) is found as 1.02?×?10^?1 S cm^?1 for the system of (Bi₂O₃)_0.75(Tb₄O₇)_0.1(Ho₂O₃)_0.1(Dy₂O₃)_0.05 at 850 °C. The thermal gravimetry (TG) curve shows that there is no mass loss of sample during the measurement. The analyses of differential thermal reveal that there are neither endothermic peaks nor exothermic peaks during the heating and cooling cycles (ranging from 30 to 1000 °C).     

Asymmetric logistic peak as a suitable function for the resolution of highly asymmetric voltammograms in non-bilinear systems

The asymmetric logistic peak is tested as a new function for the parametric signal fitting (PSF) of highly asymmetric electrochemical signals in non-bilinear datasets, such as those obtained in linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) or in the presence of irreversible electrochemical processes. This new multivariate curve resolution strategy (PSF-ALPA) is successfully applied to LS voltammograms measured for the Cd(II)-glutathione system with a hanging mercury drop electrode, where Cd(II) is reversibly reduced, and to differential pulse voltammograms (DPV) measured at a glassy carbon electrode, where Cd(II) reduction becomes irreversible. Matrix augmentation by using LS voltammograms measured at different scan rates provides good results and encourages the development of ALPA methodology for third order data.     

SIMPRE: A software package to calculate crystal field parameters,energy levels,and magnetic properties on mononuclear lanthanoid complexes based on charge distributions

This work presents a fortran77 code based on an effective electrostatic model of point charges around a rare earth ion. The program calculates the full set of crystal field parameters, energy levels spectrum, and wave functions, as well as the magnetic properties such as the magnetization, the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, and the Schottky contribution to the specific heat. It is designed for real systems that need not bear ideal symmetry and it is able to determine the easy axis of magnetization. Its systematic application to different coordination environments allows magneto‐structural studies. The package has already been successfully applied to several mononuclear systems with single‐molecule magnetic behavior. The determination of effective point charge parameters in these studies facilitates its application to new systems. In this article, we illustrate its usage with two example studies: (a) an ideal cubic structure coordinating a lanthanoid ion and (b) a system with slow relaxation of the magnetization, LiHo_xY_(1‐x)F₄. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction method for the evaluation of mobility of toxic elements in contaminated soils

A method for the fast sequential extraction of toxic elements in contaminated soil samples using an ultrasonic water bath, followed by determination with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), was developed and compared with other methods introduced in the literature. The five-step sequential extraction (Tessier scheme) was shortened using ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction (UASE). The optimization of the five-step sequential extraction was based on the analysis of SRM 2710 using Tessiers’s method as a reference. Several extracting solutions with different sonication times and temperatures were tested in the optimization procedure. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc were determined in SRM 2710, SRM 2711, and contaminated soil samples with high accuracy and precision. The certified acid-leachable concentrations of the SRM 2710 were obtained for all elements investigated by using an optimized UASE method. Tessiers’s method yielded total element concentrations that were too high. The determination of zinc in SRM 2711 yielded concentrations that were too low, whereas arsenic determination yielded concentrations that were too high by the UASE method and analysis by ICP-OES. The analysis of the SRMs showed that the UASE method is highly comparable with the other methods used for such purposes. The major advantages of the UASE method are the high treatment rate (40 samples simultaneously with a sonication time of 54 min) and a low sample and reagent usage.     

Determination of mineral and trace element concentrations in pine needles by ICP-OES: evaluation of different sample pre-treatment methods

In the present study, the determination of mineral and trace elements (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) from pine needles using three sample pre-treatment methods followed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, was examined. Sample pre-treatment methods tested were microwave digestion, ultrasound-assisted digestion and dry ashing. The new ultrasound-assisted digestion method was optimised by the analysis of the standard reference material (SRM) 1575a (pine needles) sample. The speed of dry ashing method was significantly increased by ultrasound dissolution after ashing. All the ICP-OES measurements were performed in robust plasma conditions which were tested by measuring the Mg II 280.270 nm/Mg I 285.213 nm line intensity ratios. The microwave digestion resulted generally in slightly higher element concentrations than ultrasound-assisted digestion. B, Cu and Na resulted in such low concentrations that they could not be accurately determined by using the microwave digestion method. The t-tests found no significant differences between the certified and the determined element concentrations of the SRM 1575a using the dry ashing method followed with ultrasound dissolution.     

Visibility in ghost imaging with classical partially polarized electromagnetic beams

We consider classical second-order ghost imaging with uniformly partially polarized electromagnetic beams and examine the effect of the degree of polarization of the incident light on the visibility of the image. Closed-form expressions for two previously proposed definitions of visibility are derived. Both results are physically similar and show that the visibility increases with the degree of polarization. Hence, a polarized beam is superior to an unpolarized one to obtain a high-visibility ghost image. Some related issues in recent literature are also addressed.     

Study of the Complexation of Pb(II) with meso‐2,3‐ Dimercaptosuccinic Acid (DMSA) and 2,3‐Dimercapto‐1‐propanesulfonic acid (DMPS) Using a Bismuth‐Bulk Rotating Disk Electrode

For the first time, the suitability of bismuth bulk rotating disk electrode (BiB‐RDE) for the study of metal complexation has been tested. Cyclic (CV) and differential pulse (DPV) voltammetry have been used to study the complexation of Pb(II) with two of the most effective chelating agents for the treatment of Pb(II) poisoning (meso‐2,3‐dimercaptosuccinic acid, DMSA, and 2,3‐dimercapto‐1‐propanesulfonic acid, DMPS). Multivariate curve resolution has been applied to voltammetric data to obtain the stoichiometries and stability constants of the complexes formed. In both systems, the ML₂ complex was predominant, with log β₂ values of 10.13 and 8.80 for DMSA‐Pb(II) and DMPS‐Pb(II), respectively.     

Polarizability of gyrotropic sphere

The polarizability of gyrotropic spheres is studied in this short article. Gyrotropic media are anisotropic in two respects: the symmetric part of the permittivity dyadic is uniaxial, and furthermore, there is also antisymmetric part in the permittivity. The polarizability is also dyadic with its components depending on the relations of the permittivity components of the material.     

Computing Voronoi skeletons of a 3-D polyhedron by space subdivision

We tackle the problem of computing the Voronoi diagram of a 3-D polyhedron whose faces are planar. The main difficulty with the computation is that the diagram's edges and vertices are of relatively high algebraic degrees. As a result, previous approaches to the problem have been non-robust, difficult to implement, or not provenly correct.

We introduce three new proximity skeletons related to the Voronoi diagram: (1) the Voronoi graph (VG), which contains the complete symbolic information of the Voronoi diagram without containing any geometry; (2) the approximate Voronoi graph (AVG), which deals with degenerate diagrams by collapsing sub-graphs of the VG into single nodes; and (3) the proximity structure diagram (PSD), which enhances the VG with a geometric approximation of Voronoi elements to any desired accuracy. The new skeletons are important for both theoretical and practical reasons. Many applications that extract the proximity information of the object from its Voronoi diagram can use the Voronoi graphs or the proximity structure diagram instead. In addition, the skeletons can be used as initial structures for a robust and efficient global or local computation of the Voronoi diagram.

We present a space subdivision algorithm to construct the new skeletons, having three main advantages. First, it solves at most uni-variate quartic polynomials. This stands in sharp contrast to previous approaches, which require the solution of a non-linear tri-variate system of equations. Second, the algorithm enables purely local computation of the skeletons in any limited region of interest. Third, the algorithm is simple to implement.