X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies on oxidation behavior of nickel and iron aluminides under oxygen atmosphere at low pressures

Oxidation behaviors of NiAl, Ni₃Al, and FeAl under oxygen atmosphere at low pressures were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Clean surfaces of these aluminides were prepared by fracturing in an ultra high vacuum, and then the fractured surfaces were oxidized by exposing to high-purity oxygen at pressures up to 1.3 Pa without exposing to air. The oxides formed on NiAl and FeAl surfaces were Al₂O₃, whereas the oxide on Ni₃Al was NiAl₂O₄. Aluminum, nickel, and iron on clean surfaces were oxidized even at a pressure of 1.3 × 10⁻⁶ Pa. The oxidation evolves with an increase in the pressure of oxygen, and further oxidation of aluminum occurs prior to that of nickel or iron. The oxidation behaviors under such oxygen atmosphere were similar to those of the aluminides oxidized in air, and these behaviors could be predicted from thermodynamic consideration.     

Flash generation of a highly reactive pd catalyst for suzuki-miyaura coupling by using a flow microreactor

Superflash! Flash chemistry enables the use of highly reactive unstable species as catalysts for chemical synthesis. Fast micromixing of a solution of [Pd(OAc)(2) ] and that of tBu(3) P in 1:1 mole ratio gave a solution of a highly reactive unstable species, which was immediately transferred to a vessel by using a flow microreactor, in which Suzuki-Miyaura coupling was conducted.     

Echoic memory of a single pure tone indexed by change-related brain activity

Background  

The rapid detection of sensory change is important to survival. The process should relate closely to memory since it requires that the brain separate a new stimulus from an ongoing background or past event. Given that sensory memory monitors current sensory status and works to pick-up changes in real-time, any change detected by this system should evoke a change-related cortical response. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether the single presentation of a sound is enough to elicit a change-related cortical response, and therefore, shape a memory trace enough to separate a subsequent stimulus.     

Copolymerization of styrene and conjugated dienes with half‐sandwich titanium(IV) catalysts: The effect of the ligand structure on the monomer reactivity,monomer sequence distribution,and insertion mode of dienes

The copolymerization of styrene and 1,3‐butadiene (Bd) or isoprene (Ip) was carried out with half‐sandwich titanium(IV) Cp′TiCl₃ catalysts (where Cp′ is cyclopentadienyl 1 , indenyl 2 , or pentamethylcyclopentadienyl 3 ) with methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst. For the copolymerization with Bd, catalyst 3 gave the copolymers containing the highest amount of Bd among the catalysts used. The resulting copolymers were composed of a styrene–Bd multiblock sequence. High melting points were observed in the copolymers prepared with catalyst 1 . The structures of hydrogenated poly(styrene‐co‐Bd) were studied by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and the long styrene sequence length was detected in the copolymers prepared with catalyst 1 . For styrene/Ip copolymerization, random copolymers were obtained. Among the used catalysts, catalyst 1 gave the copolymers containing the highest amount of Ip. The copolymers prepared with catalyst 1 showed a steep melting point depression with increasing Ip content because of the high ratio of 1,4‐inserted Ip units and/or the low molecular weights of the copolymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 939–946, 2003     

Geometrical structure of benzene and naphthalene: ultrahigh-resolution laser spectroscopy and ab initio calculation

Geometrical structures of the isolated benzene and naphthalene molecules have been accurately determined by using ultrahigh-resolution laser spectroscopy and ab initio calculation in a complementary manner. The benzene molecule has been identified to be planar and hexagonal (D(6h)) and the structure has been determined with accuracies of 2 × 10(-14) m (0.2 mA?; 1 A? = 1 × 10(-10) m) for the C-C bond length and 1.0 × 10(-13) m (1.0 mA?) for the C-H bond length. The naphthalene molecule has been identified to be symmetric with respect to three coordinate axes (D(2h)) and the structure has been determined with comparable accuracies. We discuss the effect of vibrational averaging that is a consequence of zero-point motions on the uncertainty in determining the bond lengths.     

Magnetic properties and magnetic structures of Sr3−xCaxRu2O7

We have measured magnetization curves and powder neutron diffraction of double-layered Ruddlesden-Popper type ruthenate Sr_3−xCa_xRu₂O₇ (x=1.5, 2.0 and 3.0). The field dependence of the magnetization revealed that the transition field of metamagnetic transition along the b-axis shifted to lower fields and that the transition became broad with increasing Sr content. The slope of the magnetization curve also increased with increasing Sr content below the metamagnetic transition. These results indicate that an itinerant component is partly introduced by the Sr substitution. From the magnetic reflection, on cooling below T_N, an additional reflection was observed at (0 0 1) for each x, and the amplitude increased with decreasing temperature. The observed diffraction patterns are very similar to those of Ca₃Ru₂O₇. We conclude that the magnetic structure of the antiferromagnetic ordered phase is basically the same structure with that of Ca₃Ru₂O₇.     

Feasibility study of the standing accretion shock instability experiment at the National Ignition Facility

The primary hydrodynamic flow feature of early explosion phases of a core-collapse supernova is a spherical shock. This shock is born deep in the central regions of the collapsing stellar core, stalls shortly afterward, and in case of a successful explosion is revived and becomes the supernova shock. The revival process involves a standing accretion shock instability, SASI. This shock instability is considered the key processes aiding the core-collapse supernova (ccSN) explosion.The aim of our study is to identify feasible conditions and parameters for an experimental system that is able to capture the essential characteristics of SASI. We use semi-analytic methods and high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations in multidimensions to investigate a possible experimental design on the National Ignition Facility. The experimental configuration involves a steady, spherical shock. We explore a viable region of parameters and obtain limits on the shocked flow geometry. We study the stability properties of the shock and its post-shock region.We compare properties of the experimental design and the ccSN environment. The obtained model experimental flow field closely resembles converging nozzle flow. The post-shock region, in contrast to the supernova setting, is found to be stably stratified and stable against to perturbations upstream of the shock. We conclude that it is not possible to capture the characteristics of the ccSN SASI for the converging shocked flow configuration considered here. However, such configuration offers a very stable setting for precision studies of dense, high-temperature plasmas requiring finely-controlled conditions and long lifetimes.     

Suppression of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability due to self-radiation in a multiablation target

A scheme to suppress the Rayleigh-Taylor instability has been investigated for a direct-drive inertial fusion target. In a high-Z doped-plastic target, two ablation surfaces are formed separately-one driven by thermal radiation and the other driven by electron conduction. The growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is significantly suppressed on the radiation-driven ablation surface inside the target due to the large ablation velocity and long density scale length. A significant reduction of the growth rate was observed in simulations and experiments using a brominated plastic target. A new direct-drive pellet was designed using this scheme.