Some studies on thallium oxalates. II. Thermal decomposition of potassium bisoxalato diaquothallate(III) dihydrate

Potassium bisoxalato diaquothallate(III) dihydrate is obtained by precipitating thallium(III) with oxalic acid from slightly acidic (HNO₃ or H₂SO₄) solutions in the presence of potassium ions. The thermal decomposition behaviour of the complex is studied using the techniques of TG, DTA and DTG. The solid complex salt and the intermediate products of its thermal decomposition are characterised using IR absorption spectra, microscopic observations, electrical conductivity measurements and X-ray diffraction data.     

A Bragg grating embedded in a slab waveguide fabricated by the implantation of high-energy light ions in KLTN substrate

Electro-optically tunable transmission grating was imprinted in potassium lithium tantalate niobate by irreversible spatial patterning of the dielectric constant. While embedded into waveguided architecture, it provides a reliable and versatile building block for opto-electronic circuitry, capable of both active switching and multiplexing. Realization of such a block is critical for the fabrication of integrated photonic circuits in electro-optic substrates by means of Refractive Index Engineering by fast ion implantation.     

Characterization of molecular disorder in vapor-deposited thin films of aluminum tris(quinoline-8-olate) by one-dimensional 27Al NMR under magic angle spinning

Aluminum tris (quinoline-8-olate) (Alq3) is used as an electron-transport layer in organic light-emitting diodes. The material can be obtained in a wide range of different solid phases, both crystalline and amorphous, by deposition from the vapor phase or from solution under controlled conditions. While the structure of the crystalline polymorphs of Alq3 has been investigated thoroughly by x-ray diffraction as well as solid-state NMR, very little information is currently available on the amount of structural disorder in the amorphous forms of Alq3. In the present contribution, we report the use of 27Al NMR spectroscopy in the solid state under magic angle spinning to extract such information from amorphous vapor deposits of Alq3. The NMR spectra obtained from these samples exhibit different degrees of broadening, reflecting distributions of the electric-field gradient tensor at the site of the aluminum ion. These distributions can be obtained from the NMR spectra by solving the corresponding inverse problem. From these results, the magnitude of structural disorder in terms of molecular geometry has been estimated by density-functional theory calculations. It was found that the electric-field gradient anisotropy delta follows a bimodal distribution. Its majority component is centered around delta values comparable to the meridianal alpha crystal polymorph and has a width of about 10%, corresponding to distortions of the molecular geometry of a few degrees in the orientation of the ligands. Alq3 samples obtained at higher deposition rates exhibit higher degrees of disorder. The minor component, present at about 7%, has a much smaller anisotropy, suggesting that it may be due to the facial isomer of Alq3.     

On the homotopy invariance of torsion for covering spaces

We prove the homotopy invariance of torsion for covering spaces, whenever the covering transformation group is either residually finite or amenable. In the case when the covering transformation group is residually finite and when the cohomology of the covering space vanishes, the homotopy invariance was established by Lück. We also give some applications of our results.

     

Some studies on thallium oxalates. I. Thermal decomposition of ammonium bisoxalatothallate(III)

Trivalent thallium is precipitated in the presence of 0.1 M HNO₃ (or 0.05 M H₂SO₄) and O.1 M NH₄NO₃ (or 0.05 M (NH₄)₂SO₄) with oxalic acid. The chemical analysis of the salt obtained correspondens to the formula, NH₄[Tl(C₂O₄)₂]·3H₂O. The thermal decomposition studies of the complex indicate the formation of the intermediates ammonium thallous oxalate (stable from 150° to 160°C) and thallous oxalate (stable up to 290°C) and the final product to be a mixture of 25% of thallous oxide and 75% of thallic oxide (stable from 450° to 650°C). The infrared absorption spectra, X-ray diffraction patterns, microscopic observations and the electrical resistance measurements are used to characterise the complex and the intermediates of its thermal decomposition.     

Pearling instabilities of membrane tubes with anchored polymers

We have studied the pearling instability induced on hollow tubular lipid vesicles by hydrophilic polymers with hydrophobic side groups along the backbone. The results show that the polymer concentration is coupled to local membrane curvature. The relaxation of a pearled tube is characterized by two different well-separated time scales, indicating two physical mechanisms. We present a model, which explains the observed phenomena and predicts polymer segregation according to local membrane curvature at late stages.