Thermal treatment of the carbon nanotubes and their functionalization with styrene

In this work we studied the functionalization of commercially available multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (Nanocyl 3100) with polystyrene by the method so called “grafting from”. The nanotubes were used as received and oxidized in air at 400 °C. The functionalization was started using thionyl chloride under reflux, followed by a reaction with ethylene glycol which allowed the inclusion of hydroxyl groups. The reaction of those with 2-chloropropionyl chloride led to the generation of the polymerization initiator. Last, the radical polymerization of the functionalized nanotubes, using styrene as the monomer, led to new materials which were studied with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy.     

Massless Sine-Gordon and Massive Thirring Models: Proof of Coleman’s Equivalence

We prove Coleman’s conjecture on the equivalence between the massless Sine-Gordon model with finite volume interaction and the Thirring model with a finite volume mass term.     

The additive multiboxes

We introduce the new notion of additive “multibox” for linear logic proof-nets. Thanks to this notion, we define a cut-elimination procedure which associates with every proof-net of multiplicative and additive linear logic a unique cut-free one.     

J/psi production in Indium-Indium collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon

The NA60 experiment studies muon pair production at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. In this Letter we report on a precision measurement of J/psi in In-In collisions. We have studied the J/psi centrality distribution, and we have compared it with the one expected if absorption in cold nuclear matter were the only active suppression mechanism. For collisions involving more than approximately 80 participant nucleons, we find that an extra suppression is present. This result is in qualitative agreement with previous Pb-Pb measurements by the NA50 experiment, but no theoretical explanation is presently able to coherently describe both results.     

On vibrations induced in a cylinder in the wake of another due to vortex shedding

Summary Purpose of this work is to describe the results obtained in a wind-tunnel on a model consisting of two cylinders, one in the wake of the other, with both fixed or with the downstream cylinder allowed to vibrate.The fundamental characteristics of the fluid in the wake and the forces acting on the downstream cylinder are also reported. The value of energy introduced by the fluid on a vibrating cylinder in the wake is also determined.

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Sommario Vengono riportati i risultati sperimentali ottenuti in galleria del vento su un modello costituito da due cilindri, di cui uno è posto in scia dell'altro, nei casi in cui siano entrambi fissi o che il cilindro in scia possa vibrare.Sono pure riportate le caratteristiche fondamentali del fluido nella scia e le forze che agiscono sul cilindro a valle. Nel caso in cui il cilindro in scia possa vibrare viene pure riportato il valore dell'energia introdotta dal fluido.

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This work is the outcome of a collaboration between ENEL, Salvi S.p.A. and the Institute of Applied Mechanics, Polytechnic of Milan. The Institute of Applied Mechanics received a CNR subsidy to take part in this research.     

Enhanced nonlinear effects in pulse propagation through epsilon‐near‐zero media

In recent years, unconventional metamaterial properties have triggered a revolution of electromagnetic research which has unveiled novel scenarios of wave‐matter interaction. A very small dielectric permittivity is a leading example of such unusual features, since it produces an exotic static‐like regime where the electromagnetic field is spatially slowly‐varying over a physically large region. The so‐called epsilon‐near‐zero metamaterials thus offer an ideal platform where to manipulate the inner details of the “stretched” field. Here we theoretically prove that a standard nonlinearity is able to operate such a manipulation to the point that even a thin slab produces a dramatic nonlinear pulse transformation, if the dielectric permittivity is very small within the field bandwidth. The predicted non‐resonant releasing of full nonlinear coupling produced by the epsilon‐near‐zero condition does not resort to any field enhancement mechanism and opens novel routes to exploiting matter nonlinearity for steering the radiation by means of ultra‐compact structures.

     

Direct determination of total mercury in phosphate rock using alkaline fusion digestion

The aim of this work was to develop a new method to determine the mercury (Hg) concentrations in phosphate rock using a dedicated analytical instrument (the DMA80 Tricell by Milestone) that employs an integrated sequence of thermal decomposition followed by catalyst conversion, amalgamation and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. However, this instrument underestimates Hg concentrations when phosphorite and apatite rocks are investigated with a classic thermal decomposition treatment that complies with US EPA method 7473.