Study of CeNi4Mn by neutron diffraction

We report neutron diffraction measurements on CeNi₄Mn, which has recently been identified as a soft ferromagnet with a sizeable spin-transport polarization. Our data show conclusively that the Mn atoms occupy a unique site (4c) in the unit cell, which has the symmetry of the cubic MgCu₄Sn-type structure. We infer a moment of 4.6 μ_B on Mn at 17 K, which is oriented ferromagnetically along the {101} plane. The amplitude of the Mn vibrational motion is found to be larger than that of Ce and Ni atoms at all temperatures, thereby lending support to theoretical prediction of rattling phonon modes in this compound.     

MnO2 Nanowires as an Electrode Material for Gel Polymer Electrolyte-Based Zn-Air Battery

Zn-air batteries (ZABs) have drawn an attention due to their high energy density, less complicated chemistry, and relatively low cost. Electrocatalyst plays a significant role in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that occurs during the operation. Various valance states of manganese make MnO₂ as an attractive electrocatalyst. In the present work, MnO₂ nanowires with diameter of 80–90 nm are synthesized via hydrothermal route and tested for electrocatalytic performance in a comparative study of ZABs fabricated using liquid and gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs). The open circuit voltage (OCV) of device lies in the range of 1.35–1.4 V. GPEs based devices show higher stability and exhibited 45 cycles (20 min per cycle) having discharge plateau above 1.06 V at a discharge current density of 1.59 mA cm⁻² while liquid electrolyte-based devices show 20 cycles (4 min per cycle at discharge current rate of 3 mA cm⁻²).     

Nature of the transient species formed in the pulse radiolysis of 4‐hydroxybenzyl alcohol in aqueous solutions: observation of equilibrium in the reaction of OH‐adducts with HPO ions

Reactions of ^. OH/O ^.? radicals, H‐atoms as well as specific oxidants such as N and Cl radicals with 4‐hydroxybenzyl alcohol (4‐HBA) in aqueous solutions have been investigated at various pH values using the pulse radiolysis technique. At pH 6.8, ^. OH radicals were found to react with 4‐HBA (k = 6 × 10⁹ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1) mainly by contributing to the phenyl moiety and to a minor extent by H‐abstraction from the ? CH₂OH group. ^. OH radical adduct species of 4‐HBA, i.e., ^. OH‐(4‐HBA) formed in the addition reaction were found to undergo dehydration to give phenoxyl radicals of 4‐HBA. Decay rate of the adduct species was found to vary with pH. At pH 6.8, decay was very much dependent on phosphate buffer ion concentrations. Formation rate of phenoxyl radicals was found to increase with phosphate buffer ion concentration and reached a plateau value of 1.6 × 10⁵ s^?1 at a concentration of 0.04 mol dm^?3 of each buffering ion. It was also seen that ^. OH‐(4‐HBA) adduct species react with HPO ions with a rate constant of 3.7 × 10⁷ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1 and there was no such reaction with H₂PO ions. However, the rate of reaction of ^. OH‐(4‐HBA) adduct species with HPO ions decreased on adding KH₂PO₄ to the solution containing a fixed concentration of Na₂HPO₄ which indicated an equilibrium in the H⁺ removal from ^. OH‐(4‐HBA) adduct species in the presence of phosphate ions. In the acidic region, the ^. OH‐(4‐HBA) adduct species were found to react with H⁺ ions with a rate constant of 2.5 × 10⁷ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1. At pH 1, in the reaction of ^. OH radicals with 4‐HBA (k = 8.8 × 10⁹ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1), the spectrum of the transient species formed was similar to that of phenoxyl radicals formed in the reaction of Cl radicals with 4‐HBA at pH 1 (k = 2.3 × 10⁸ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1) showing that ^. OH radicals quantitatively bring about one electron oxidation of 4‐HBA. Reaction of ^. OH/O ^.? radicals with 4‐HBA by H‐abstraction mechanism at neutral and alkaline pH values gave reducing radicals and the proportion of the same was determined by following the extent of electron transfer to methyl viologen. H‐atom abstraction is the major pathway in the reaction of O ^.? radicals with 4‐HBA compared to the reaction of ^. OH radicals with 4‐HBA. At pH 1, transient species formed in the reactions of H‐atoms with 4‐HBA (k = 2.1 × 10⁹ dm³ mol^?1 s^?1) were found to transfer electrons to methyl viologen quantitatively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical Investigation of Hydrodynamic Cavitation Control by Ultrasonics

In recent experimental work, Chatterjee and Arakeri have demonstrated that an imposed acoustic field of sufficiently high strength and frequency can suppress or control cavitation. In this paper, we analytically study the equation governing the dynamics of a single bubble in a time-varying pressure field, for parameter ranges representative of those experimental conditions. The governing equation is strongly nonlinear and intractable in general; however, for the parameter ranges of interest, we are able to nondimensionalize and scale the governing equation into a form that, though still strongly nonlinear, is amenable to analysis using the method of multiple scales (MMS) based on an arbitrarily chosen “small” parameter ∊. Removal of secular terms, a key step in the MMS, raises an interesting issue which we discuss. Second order MMS gives the slow average evolution of the bubble radius. Numerical solutions of the original equation match the MMS approximation well on time scales of (1/∊). The MMS approximation also provides insight into the roles played by relevant physical parameters in the system. Our results provide theoretical support for the abovementioned experimental results.     

Addition-elimination in the reaction of alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals with 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid and nicotinic acid: example of inner sphere organic electron transfer

Reactions of alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals with 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (3,5-PDCA) and nicotinic acid (NA) were studied at appropriate pHs in aqueous solutions by pulse radiolysis technique. At pH 1, CH(3)C*HOH and *CH(2)OH radicals were found to react with 3,5-PDCA by rate constants of 2.2 x 10(9) and 5.1 x 10(8) dm(3) mol(-1) s(-1), respectively, giving radical adduct species. The adduct species formed in the reaction of CH(3)C*HOH radicals with 3,5-PDCA underwent unimolecular decay (k = 9.8 x 10(4) s(-1)) giving pyridinyl radicals. Reaction of (CH(3))(2)C*OH, CH(3)C*HOH, and *CH(2)OH radicals with NA at pH 3.3 gave the adduct species which subsequently decayed to the pyridinyl radicals. At pH 1, wherein NA is present in the protonated form, (CH(3))(2)C*OH radicals directly transfer electrons to NA, whereas CH(3)C*HOH and *CH(2)OH radicals react with higher rate constants compared with those at pH 3.3, initially giving the adduct species which subsequently undergo elimination reaction giving pyridinyl radicals. Reactions of alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals with 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid and nicotinic acid are found to proceed by an addition-elimination pathway that provides one of the few examples of organic inner sphere electron-transfer reactions. Rate constant for the addition reaction as well as rate of elimination varies with the reduction potential of alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals.     

Microwave and electrical properties of Co-Ti substituted M-type Ba hexagonal ferrite

The microwave characteristics of Co²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ ions substituted, BaCo _x Ti _x Fe_(12?2x)O₁₉ (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9) ferrite have been studied as a function of thickness, frequency and substitution. The results depict reflection loss of ? 31.94 dB at 10.47 GHz in x = 0.9. The highest static electrical current is observed at lower substitution. The model accompanying microwave absorption is used to evaluate microwave absorption characteristics. The electromagnetic and static electrical characteristics are improved with the substitution of Co²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ ions. The compositions for possible electromagnetic applications are also explored.     

Some characterization theorems in rotatory magneto thermohaline convection

The present paper extends the results of Banerjeeet al [2] for the hydromagnetic thermohaline convection problems of Veronis’ [9] and Stern’s [8] types to include the effect of a uniform vertical rotation.     

Synthesis and antibacterial evaluation of some new 4‐substituted‐3‐aryl‐1‐(2,6‐dimethylpyrimidin‐4‐yl)pyrazoles

Synthesis of a series of new 4‐substituted‐3‐aryl‐1‐(2,6‐dimethylpyrimidin‐4‐yl)pyrazoles ( 2a , 2b , 2c , 2d , 2e , 2f , 2g , 3a , 3b , 3c , 3d , 3e , 3f , 3g , and 4a , 4b , 4c , 4d , 4e , 4f , 4g ) is described. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated in vitro for their antibacterial activity against two gram‐positive and two gram‐negative bacteria, namely, Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 8509), Bacillus stearothermophilus (MTCC 8508), Escherichia coli (MTCC 51), and Pseudomonas putida (MTCC 121), and their activity was compared with two commercial antibiotics, streptomycin and chloramphenicol. Two compounds, namely, 3‐(4‐anisyl)‐1‐(2,6‐dimethylpyrimidin‐4‐yl)pyrazole‐4‐carboxaldehyde ( 2b ) and 3‐(2‐thienyl)‐1‐(2,6‐dimethyl pyrimidin‐4‐yl)pyrazole‐4‐carboxaldehyde ( 2g ) were found to be equipotent to streptomycin and chloramphenicol against gram‐negative bacteria, E. coli having minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value = 4 μg/mL. Compounds 4b and 4d also displayed good activity against E. coli with MIC = 8 μg/mL. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).