Teaching the Chemistry of Platinum

Following colonisation of South America by the Spanish, many new naturally occurring substances were sent to Europe. One of these was the silvery, unreactive metal, platinum, discovered in New Grenada in the mid-eighteenth century. It was often found in granular form, associated with gold, and the challenge to chemists was to refine it, produce it as wire or sheet, and determine its chemical properties. This interested the professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black, who was able to obtain samples from London-based Spanish contacts, particularly Ignacio Luzuriaga. This paper examines how Black transmitted his knowledge of the metal to large numbers of students attending his annual course.     

Formation of low-temperature deformation-induced segregations of nickel in Fe–Ni-based austenitic alloys

ABSTRACT

The authors present the results of an investigation in Fe–Ni-Cr austenitic alloys of the low-temperature deformation-induced segregations of nickel that form in the micro regions being (i) located close to grain- and subgrain boundaries and (ii) characteristic of the concentration and magnetic inhomogeneities indicated by the appearance of a dark diffraction contrast at the electron diffraction patterns taken from these regions typical (at the same time) of an enhanced value of Curie temperature. The observed effects were connected with the micro distortions caused by the local change of lattice parameter because of an increase in nickel concentration, as well as in the result of a magnetostriction dilatation. Using methods of the X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) and atomic-probe body-section radiography (tomography – APT) has made it possible to determine the borders of those regions of austenite that were characteristic of an enhanced concentration of nickel in the fields of the localisation of a deformation-induced segregation of nickel in the vicinity of grain (subgrain) boundaries of austenitic alloys of the types Fe–13Cr–30Ni and Fe–37Ni–3Ti.     

On the Order of Magnitude of the Double Fourier Transform

Mathematical Notes -     

Mesoscopic Strain Fields Measurement During the Allotropic α − γ Transformation in High Purity Iron

The allotropic phase change from ferrite to austenite represents a moment of massive interplay between the microstructural and mechanical states of iron. The difference of compacity between the two phases induces a microplastic accommodation in the material at grain scale. However, mechanical heterogeneities resulting from the transformation process remain challenging to characterise due to the high temperature conditions it is associated with. We developed experimental equipment for in situ observation of α ? γ and γ ? α transformations. Images of the surface of an iron sample taken by an optical camera were used as input for a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) routine. Special care was taken to maximize image resolution to capture sub-grain phenomena. Observations show that, at the mesoscopic scale, shear strain fields exhibit strong localisations that are evidence of transformations that are occurring.

     

A New Radar-Signal Parameter for Recognition of Wind-Related Weather Hazards

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - Wind-related weather hazards remain difficult to recognize targets for weather radars. Methods that use estimates of the width of the reflected-signal...     

Function of the Non-Crystalline X-Ray Amorphous Phase of Highly Dispersed Powder of CaO in Adsorption of CO2 and H2O

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - Highly dispersed CaO has been synthesized by heating an aqueous solution of calcium nitrate and D-glucose up to 800°C. Calcium oxide is formed with an...