Rare earth centers properties and electron trapping in SnO2 thin films produced by sol–gel route

Some very relevant optical, electrical, and structural properties of SnO₂ doped with rare-earth ions Er³⁺ and Eu³⁺ are presented. Films are produced by the sol–gel-dip coating process, and may be described as a combination of nanoscopic dimension crystallites (about 3–10 nm) with their respective intergrain potential barriers. The Er³⁺ and Eu³⁺ ions are expected to act as acceptors in SnO_2, which is a natural n-type conductor, inducing a high degree of charge compensation. Electron trapping and emission spectra data are presented and are rather distinct, depending on the location of the rare-earth impurity. This behavior allows the identification of two distinct centers: located either in the SnO₂ lattice or segregated at the particles surface. Based on a model for thermally activated cross-section defects, the difference between the capture energy of the photo-excited electron and the intergrain potential barrier is evaluated, leading to distinct values for high and low symmetry sites. A higher distortion in the lattice of undoped SnO₂ and SnO₂:Eu (1 at.%) was evaluated from Rietveld refinements of X-ray diffraction data. This was confirmed by Raman spectra, which are associated with the particles size and disorder. By comparing the samples with the same doping concentration, it was found that this disorder is higher in Eu-doped SnO₂ than in Er-doped SnO₂, which is in agreement with a higher energy for the lattice relaxation in the trapping process by Eu³⁺ centers.     

Monocarbonyl cationic rhodium(I) complexes

Summary The preparations and characterisation of cationic complexes of the type [Rh(CO)(MeCN)(PR₃)₂]ClO₄, [Rh(CO)L(PR₃)₂]ClO₄ (L=py or 2-MeOpy), [Rh(CO)(L-L)(PR₃)₂]ClO₄ (L-L = bipy or phen) and [Rh(CO)(PR₃)₃]ClO₄ with PR₃ = P(p-YC₆H₄)₃ (Y=Cl, F, Me or MeO) are described.     

Topology optimization of composite hyperelastic material using SPIMFO-method

Meccanica - Fiber reinforced materials are used in assorted engineering application and for this reason, new additive manufacturing technologies have been developed for this type of materials. With...     

Shallow and deep dynamic stall for flapping low Reynolds number airfoils

We consider a combined experimental (based on flow visualization, direct force measurement and phase-averaged 2D particle image velocimetry in a water tunnel), computational (2D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes) and theoretical (Theodorsen’s formula) approach to study the fluid physics of rigid-airfoil pitch–plunge in nominally two-dimensional conditions. Shallow-stall (combined pitch–plunge) and deep-stall (pure-plunge) are compared at a reduced frequency commensurate with flapping-flight in cruise in nature. Objectives include assessment of how well attached-flow theory can predict lift coefficient even in the presence of significant separation, and how well 2D velocimetry and 2D computation can mutually validate one another. The shallow-stall case shows promising agreement between computation and experiment, while in the deep-stall case, the computation’s prediction of flow separation lags that of the experiment, but eventually evinces qualitatively similar leading edge vortex size. Dye injection was found to give good qualitative match with particle image velocimetry in describing leading edge vortex formation and return to flow reattachment, and also gave evidence of strong spanwise growth of flow separation after leading-edge vortex formation. Reynolds number effects, in the range of 10,000–60,000, were found to influence the size of laminar separation in those phases of motion where instantaneous angle of attack was well below stall, but have limited effect on post-stall flowfield behavior. Discrepancy in lift coefficient time history between experiment, theory and computation was mutually comparable, with no clear failure of Theodorsen’s formula. This is surprising and encouraging, especially for the deep-stall case, because the theory’s assumptions are clearly violated, while its prediction of lift coefficient remains useful for capturing general trends.     

Experimental study on a non-dilute two-phase coflowing jet: Dynamics of particles in the near flow field

The dynamics of particles in multi-phase jets has been widely studied due to its importance for a broad range of practical applications. The present work describes an experimental investigation on an initially non-dilute two-phase jet, aimed at improving the understanding in this field. A two-color PDPA has been employed to measure simultaneously the velocity and size of particles. The measurements are post-processed to check the reliability of the results and to derive information on particle volume flux as an indication of their concentration. Acoustic forcing is applied in order to control coherent structures, which are responsible for mixing and transport phenomena, and also to get phase-locked measurements. Phase-averaged statistics enabled to freeze the jet structure, not visible in the time-averaged data. The results along the jet centerline confirm that drag forces and the spread angle of the jet initially control particle dispersion, very near the nozzle exit (x/D < 4). However, as the vortical structures evolve forming tongue-shaped structures, the total particle volume flux is augmented when these structures connect with the main stream (x/D > 5). This is due to an increase of the number of smaller size particles, even when a decrease of the number of larger size particle is observed. Further analysis at five cross-stream sections across two consecutive vortices confirm that small particles are convected around the coherent structure and then incorporated to the main stream, increasing the particle concentration at the jet core. On the other hand, the number of larger particles (as well as their contribution to axial volume flux) starts to decay in regions of high azymuthal vorticity. This behaviour is partly ascribed to the transversal lift force, associated to the large spatial gradients observed in these regions. Saffman and Magnus forces have been estimated to be comparable or even greater than radial drag forces. The results suggest that the Saffman force might accelerate particles in radial direction, inducing a high radial volumetric flow rate from high to low axial velocity regions.     

Rheological behavior in the transient state of PP/EPDM blends with carbon nanofillers

The rheological properties in the transient state of PP/EPDM blends with carbon nanofillers had been studied. The carbon nanofillers were incorporated into molten EPDM in an internal mixer at 150 °C. The rheological variables were determined in rotational rheometry at constant temperature of 200 °C. The results suggest that the magnitude of the difference of the normal stress differences (N₁-N₂) of PP/EPDM blends through the time, with and without nanofillers, and has a transition cycle from positive to negative values and vice versa, at constant and at zero shear rate in previously sheared samples. At constant shear rate, the transition cycle is random; meanwhile, it is constant at zero shear rate. This behavior is attributed to the polymeric chain movement, considering that the sheared samples have two molecular reorder processes: an immediate mechanism and another one slower. The fastest reorder process is attributed to the polymeric chains entanglement forming non-stable and stressed molecular structures. In the other hand, the second process is referred to the molecular mobility that takes place inside the stressed entangled polymer, in such a way that its structure tends to molecular stability as the rest time increases.     

Theory of Extended Solutions¶for Fast-Diffusion Equations¶in Optimal Classes of Data.¶Radiation from Singularities

This paper is devoted to constructing a general theory of nonnegative solutions for the equation called “the fast-diffusion equation” in the literature. We consider the Cauchy problem taking initial data in the set ?⁺ of all nonnegative Borel measures, which forces us to work with singular solutions which are not locally bounded, not even locally integrable. A satisfactory theory can be formulated in this generality in the range 1 > m > m _c = max {(N? 2)/N,0}, in which the limits of classical solutions are also continuous in ? ^N as extended functions with values in ?₊∪{∞}. We introduce a precise class of extended continuous solutions ? _c and prove (i) that the initial-value problem is well posed in this class, (ii) that every solution u(x,t) in ? _c has an initial trace in ?⁺, and (iii) that the solutions in ? _c are limits of classical solutions. Our results settle the well-posedness of two other related problems. On the one hand, they solve the initial-and-boundary-value problem in ?× (0,∞) in the class of large solutions which take the value u=∞ on the lateral boundary x∈??, t>0. Well-posedness is established for this problem for m _c < m > 1 when ? is any open subset of ? ^N and the restriction of the initial data to ? is any locally finite nonnegative measure in ?. On the other hand, by using the special solutions which have the separate-variables form, our results apply to the elliptic problem Δf=f ^q posed in any open set ?. For 1 > q > N/(N? 2)₊ this problem is well posed in the class of large solutions which tend to infinity on the boundary in a strong sense. As is well known, initial data with such a generality are not allowed for m≧ 1. On the other hand, the present theory fails in several aspects in the subcritical range 0> m≦m _c , where the limits of smooth solutions need not be extended-continuously.     

Photochemical reactivity of α,β-unsaturated δ-lactams: Synthesis of seco-steroids. Photochemical reactions. XIII [1]

The UV. irradiation of 17 β-hydroxy-2-aza-4-androsten-3-one (1) , N-methyl-17 β-hydroxy-2-aza-4-androsten-3-one (3) , 17 β-hydroxy-4-aza-5 β-androst-1-en-3-one (2) and N-methyl-17 β-hydroxy-4-aza-5 β-androst-1-en-3-one (4) , gives rise to 1,10-seco (from 1 and 3 ) and 5, 10-seco (from 2 and 4 ) steroids.