The influence of Na<Superscript>+</Superscript> on the anilinepropylsilica xerogel synthesis by using the fluoride nucleophilic catalyst

Anilinepropylsilica xerogel was obtained by using an appropriate organosilane and tetraethyl orthosilicate as precursor reagents. The gelation was carried out using HF and NaF as catalysts. The presence of Na⁺ (when NaF was used) resulted in a decrease in the final organic content of the materials. This effect was interpreted as an inhibition of the organosilane polycondensation possibly due to the Na⁺ interaction with the SiO^- groups of the hydrolyzed organosilane. The presence of Na⁺ also results in morphological changes in the xerogels.     

An experimental study on the kinetics of leaching for the preparation of a Raney-silver catalyst

A Raney-Ag catalyst was prepared by leaching out aluminium from a Raney Ag-Al alloy with NaOH solution. The kinetics of leaching has been investigated in a stirred-batch-reactor at various temperatures by using alloy particles of different sizes. The kinetic model best fitting the experimental results has been determined. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sound radiation from a joint of plates of different thickness

A method of solving the problem of sound radiation from a plate with elements of different thickness in its plane is proposed, and the results obtained with this method are presented. It is shown that the main sources of sound radiation are the inhomogeneous flexural fields formed in the elements on both sides of their joint.     

Separating Classical and Quantum Correlations

We examine to what extent the correlation between two quantum observables at a mixed state can be separated into a classical and a quantum term. The nonunique decomposition of quantum mixed states into pure states makes such a separation ambiguous. We outline this fact by a simple example, which also shows that classical and quantum correlations may cancel each other out.     

Dynamics of two-mode radiation in optical waveguides with strong mode coupling

Amplitude equations, as well as the effective dispersion and nonlinearity parameters, which define the dynamics of a wave packet formed by two strongly coupled modes, are derived with allowance for the frequency dependence of the linear mode coupling coefficient. These equations are used to study the onset of the modulation instability of the two-mode wave packet, soliton-like pulses, and compression modes. Unlike single-mode systems, the last two effects in optical waveguides may arise for both a negative and positive disper-sion of the waveguide material.     

New insights on amorphous silicon-nitride microcavities

All amorphous silicon-nitride planar optical microcavities operating in the visible range have been grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The luminescence intensity of the N-rich silicon-nitride layer from a microcavity with 6 period distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) is two order of magnitude higher than that of the luminescent layer without the cavity. Moreover, a strong directionality of the microcavities emission can be observed. Such results can be ascribed to the anisotropic optical density of states induced in the Fabry–Perot structure. The quality factors of the resonators are strictly correlated to the number of periods of the DBRs.     

Study of removal processes of <Superscript>7</Superscript>Be and <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs from the atmosphere

In order to understand better the way in which radioactive contamination may be transferred from the atmosphere to other ecological compartments it is necessary to obtain information of the deposition mechanisms of radionuclides. Concentration and speciation of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁷Be in the atmospheric aerosol and deposition were studied. The mixed deposition velocities of water-soluble and insoluble ¹³⁷Cs and ⁷Be were determined. The relation between activity concentrations of insoluble ⁷Be in the atmosphere and its amount in deposition was observed. It is supposed that in the deposition process of radiocesium the precipitation plays an important role in scavenging of water-soluble radiocesium by falling raindrops, in contrast to insoluble ¹³⁷Cs where the dry deposition becomes predominant.     

Asymptotics of collision integral matrix elements in the isotropic case

The method of nonlinear moments, when used to solve the Boltzmann equation, necessitates the calculation of collision integral matrix elements. The matrix elements are hard to calculate numerically, especially at large indices. The asymptotics of the matrix elements are constructed. In terms of the model of pseudopower particle interaction, a formula free of summation is derived. This makes it possible to find the asymptotic behavior of linear and nonlinear elements when two indices are large. For an arbitrary interaction cross section, asymptotic expansions of linear and nonlinear matrix elements in one index are obtained. For Maxwellian molecules, asymptotic formulas are derived for three large indices.     

Quantum-Chemical Study of Structural and Energy Characteristics of Benzonitrile Dimers

Ab initio MP2 calculations with several basis sets proved the existence of a stable benzonitrile dimer with a planar structure and a short contact between the H atom of one molecule and the N atom of another. The structure is greatly stabilized by attraction between the neighboring oppositely directed dipoles and donor-acceptor interaction between the orbital of the lone electron pair of the N′ atom and the vacant antibonding orbital localized on the C-H bond.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by O. V. Sizova, E. P. Sokolova, V. I. Baranovskii, D. A. Rozmanov, and O. A. Tomashenko__________Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 807–815, September–October, 2004.