Multicomponent <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-(Bi,Sb)<Subscript>2</Subscript>(Te,Se,S)<Subscript>3</Subscript> solid solutions with different atomic substitutions in the Bi and Te sublattices

The thermoelectric properties of n-Bi_{2 ? x} Sb _x Te_{3 ? y ? z} Se _y S _z solid solutions are studied in the temperature range 300–550 K. It is shown that an increase in the parameter β determining the figure-of-merit Z of the material is observed in compositions with the optimally related effective mass of the density of states m/m ₀, the carrier mobility μ₀, and the lattice thermal conductivity κ _L . Within the temperature range 300–350 K, the parameter β and the figure-of-merit Z are found to increase in solid solutions with substitutions in both bismuth telluride sublattices Bi → Sb and Te → Se, S (x = 0.16, y = z = 0.12) for optimum electron concentrations. An increase in the electron concentration and substitutions of atoms only in the tellurium sublattice bring about an increase in the β parameter and the value of Z at higher temperatures. Within the range 350–450 K, the parameters β and Z are observed to increase in a solid solution with a low content of substituted atoms in the tellurium sublattice Te → Se, S for y = z = 0.09 and, at higher temperatures up to 550 K, in compositions with tellurium substituted by selenium only, with increasing content of substituted atoms.     

Detection of acetaminophen using cyclic voltammetry on MnFe2O4/polyaniline

A novel sensing material, MnFe₂O₄/polyaniline (PANI), was fabricated by doping PANI to MnFe₂O₄ on a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). This sensing material was characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM). Using a cyclic voltammetry electrochemical‐sensing method, we tested MnFe₂O₄/PANI, and an acetaminophen concentration of 0.0625–5 mM was recorded. Furthermore, the sensor responses were 2.05–22.44. The detection limit was 2.23 × 10^?7 M. Strong selectivity was observed for MnFe₂O₄/PANI, which is a possible sensing mechanism.     

Study of micro‐channel geometries for internally cooled Si monochromators

Rocking curves of micro‐channel (MC) water‐cooled monochromators are broadened by stresses introduced during fabrication and under X‐ray thermal load. This is a problem which will be even more serious with the rise of the fourth‐generation synchrotron sources, i.e. the free‐electron lasers. The X‐ray optics group at the Institute of Physics at the ASCR v.v.i. in Prague is designing, testing and, with company Polovodi?e a.s., fabricating novel internally water‐cooled Si monochromators. Here three new micro‐channel geometries are introduced which reduce rocking‐curve enlargement owing to the fabrication to less than 2.5 µrad (～0.5 arcsec). All three MC designs show less rocking‐curve enlargement and smoother topographic images. The designs also show better cooling efficiencies than the classical MC design in finite‐element analysis calculations.     

Solvability of the power flow problem in DC overhead wire circuit modeling

Applications of Mathematics - Proper traffic simulation of electric vehicles, which draw energy from overhead wires, requires adequate modeling of traction infrastructure. Such vehicles include...     

Reaction of Tertiary 2-Chloroketones with Cyanide Ions: Application to 3-Chloroquinolinediones

3-Chloroquinoline-2,4-diones react with cyanide ions in dimethyl formamide to give 3-cyanoquinoline-2,4-diones in small yields due to the strong hindrance of the substituent at the C-3 atom. Good yields can be achieved if the substituent at this position is the methyl group. In the methanol solution, the reaction proceeds by an addition mechanism to form 2-oxo-1a,2,3,7b-tetrahydrooxireno[2,3-c]quinoline-7b-carbonitriles, from which 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4-carbonitriles are subsequently formed by opening of the epoxide ring with methanol. Some minor products of these reactions have also been isolated. The ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR spectra of the prepared compounds were measured, and all resonances were assigned using appropriate two-dimensional spectra.     

Hydrogenation of poly(myrcene) and poly(farnesene) using diimide reduction at ambient pressure

Ambient pressure chemical hydrogenation using p-toluene sulfonyl hydrazide (TSH) via thermal diimide formation (N₂H₂) permitted reduction of double bonds of poly(myrcene) (poly[Myr]) and poly(farnesene) (poly[Far]). Both pendent and backbone double bonds in poly(Myr) (M_n = 56 kg/mol) and poly(Far) (M_n = 62 kg/mol) synthesized by conventional free radical polymerization were hydrogenated to almost completion. Furthermore, TSH semi-batch addition efficiently hydrogenated double bonds, while avoiding undesired autohydrogenation of diimides that occurred in batch mode. Thermal stability improved for hydrogenated poly(Myr) and poly(Far), where temperature at 10% weight loss (T_10%) increased from 188 to 404°C for poly(Myr) and from 310 to 379°C for poly(Far). T_gs of poly(Myr) and poly(Far) also increased by about 10–25°C, indicating increased stiffness after hydrogenation. Finally, viscosities of poly(Myr) and poly(Far) were also increased after hydrogenation, and a greater increase was observed for poly(Myr) (by two orders of magnitude from 10² to 10⁴ Pa s) due to its M_n being much higher than its entanglement molecular weight. Poly(Far) viscosity only increased by 1.5 times after hydrogenation (~10⁴ Pa s), comparable to the poly(Myr) after hydrogenation, suggesting unsaturated poly(Far) was more entangled than unsaturated poly(Myr) because of its longer side chains.     

3-(1-Methyl-1-nitroethyl-1-<Emphasis Type="Italic">ONN</Emphasis>-azoxy)-4-aminofuroxan. Synthesis and transformations of the amino group

A four-step procedure to convert 4-(1-methyl-1-nitroethyl-1-ONN-azoxy)-3-cyanofuroxan into 3-(1-methyl-1-nitroethyl-1-ONN-azoxy)-4-aminofuroxan was developed. The pathways of transformation of the amino group of the synthesized compound into N-nitramino-, N-alkyl-N-nitramino-, N,N’-methylenediamino-, N,N’-methylene-N,N’-dinitramino-, and azo groups were studied.