Raman spectroscopic study of the metatellurate mineral: xocomecatlite Cu3TeO4(OH)4

The mineral xocomecatlite is a hydroxy metatellurate mineral with Te⁶⁺ O₄ units. Tellurates may be subdivided according to their formula into three types of tellurate minerals: type (a) (AB)_m (TeO₄)_pZ_q, type (b) (AB)_m(TeO₆)^·xH₂O and (c) compound tellurates in which a second anion including the tellurite anion, is involved. The mineral xocomecatlite is an example of the first type. Raman bands for xocomecatlite at 710, 763 and 796 cm⁻¹, and 600 and 680 cm⁻¹ are attributed to the ν₁(TeO₄)²⁻ symmetric and ν₃ antisymmetric stretching mode. Raman bands observed at 2867 and 2926 cm⁻¹ are assigned to TeOH stretching vibrations and enable estimation of the hydrogen bond distances of 2.622 Å (2867 cm⁻¹), 2.634 Å (2926 cm⁻¹) involving these OH units. The hydrogen bond distances are very short implying that they are necessary for the stability of the mineral. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and Raman spectroscopic study of Mg/Al,Fe hydrotalcites with variable cationic ratios

Hydrotalcites of formula Mg₆(Al,Fe)₂(OH)₁₆(CO₃)·4H₂O formed by intercalation with the carbonate anion as a function of divalent/trivalent cationic ratio have been successfully synthesised. The XRD patterns show variation in the d‐spacing attributed to the size of the cation. Raman and infrared bands in the OH stretching region are assigned to (1) brucite layer OH stretching vibrations, (2) water stretching bands and (3) water strongly hydrogen bonded to the carbonate anion. Multiple (CO₃)²⁻ symmetric stretching bands suggest that different types of (CO₃)²⁻ exist in the hydrotalcite interlayer. Increasing the cation ratio (Mg/Al,Fe) resulted in an increase in the combined intensity of the two Raman bands at around 3600 cm⁻¹, attributed to Mg OH stretching modes, and a shift of the overall band profile to higher wavenumbers. These observations are believed to be a result of the increase in magnesium in the structure. Raman spectroscopy shows a reduction in the symmetry of the carbonate, leading to the conclusion that the anions are bonded to the brucite‐like hydroxyl surface and to the water in the interlayer. Water bending modes are identified in the infrared spectra at positions greater than 1630 cm⁻¹, indicating that water is strongly hydrogen bonded to both interlayer anions and the brucite‐like surface. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nanomaterials based upon silylated layered double hydroxides

A class of nanomaterials based upon the surface modification of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been synthesized by grafting silanes onto the surfaces of the LDH. By in situ coprecipitation, the surfaces of a LDH have been modified through grafting of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) using the anionic surfactant Na-dodecylsulfonate (SDS). The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FTIR), thermogravimetry (TG) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The grafted LDH (LDH-G) displays distinct XRD patterns proving the obtained materials are a new and different phase. The FTIR spectra of the silylated hydrotalcite show bands attributed to Si-O-M (M = Mg and Al) vibration at 996 cm⁻¹, suggesting that APTS has successfully been grafted onto the LDH layers. The TG curves prove the grafted sample has less M-OH concentration and less interlayer water molecules, as indicated by the M-OH consumption during the condensation reaction between Si-OH and M-OH on the LDH surface. The grafted sample displays a ribbon-like thin sheet in the TEM images, with the lateral thickness estimated as 2.5 nm.     

Simple and efficient relaxation methods for interfaces separating compressible fluids,cavitating flows and shocks in multiphase mixtures

Numerical approximation of the five-equation two-phase flow of Kapila et al. [A.K. Kapila, R. Menikoff, J.B. Bdzil, S.F. Son, D.S. Stewart, Two-phase modeling of deflagration-to-detonation transition in granular materials: reduced equations, Physics of Fluids 13(10) (2001) 3002–3024] is examined. This model has shown excellent capabilities for the numerical resolution of interfaces separating compressible fluids as well as wave propagation in compressible mixtures [A. Murrone, H. Guillard, A five equation reduced model for compressible two phase flow problems, Journal of Computational Physics 202(2) (2005) 664–698; R. Abgrall, V. Perrier, Asymptotic expansion of a multiscale numerical scheme for compressible multiphase flows, SIAM Journal of Multiscale and Modeling and Simulation (5) (2006) 84–115; F. Petitpas, E. Franquet, R. Saurel, O. Le Metayer, A relaxation-projection method for compressible flows. Part II. The artificial heat exchange for multiphase shocks, Journal of Computational Physics 225(2) (2007) 2214–2248]. However, its numerical approximation poses some serious difficulties. Among them, the non-monotonic behavior of the sound speed causes inaccuracies in wave’s transmission across interfaces. Moreover, volume fraction variation across acoustic waves results in difficulties for the Riemann problem resolution, and in particular for the derivation of approximate solvers. Volume fraction positivity in the presence of shocks or strong expansion waves is another issue resulting in lack of robustness. To circumvent these difficulties, the pressure equilibrium assumption is relaxed and a pressure non-equilibrium model is developed. It results in a single velocity, non-conservative hyperbolic model with two energy equations involving relaxation terms. It fulfills the equation of state and energy conservation on both sides of interfaces and guarantees correct transmission of shocks across them. This formulation considerably simplifies numerical resolution. Following a strategy developed previously for another flow model [R. Saurel, R. Abgrall, A multiphase Godunov method for multifluid and multiphase flows, Journal of Computational Physics 150 (1999) 425–467], the hyperbolic part is first solved without relaxation terms with a simple, fast and robust algorithm, valid for unstructured meshes. Second, stiff relaxation terms are solved with a Newton method that also guarantees positivity and robustness. The algorithm and model are compared to exact solutions of the Euler equations as well as solutions of the five-equation model under extreme flow conditions, for interface computation and cavitating flows involving dynamics appearance of interfaces. In order to deal with correct dynamic of shock waves propagating through multiphase mixtures, the artificial heat exchange method of Petitpas et al. [F. Petitpas, E. Franquet, R. Saurel, O. Le Metayer, A relaxation-projection method for compressible flows. Part II. The artificial heat exchange for multiphase shocks, Journal of Computational Physics 225(2) (2007) 2214–2248] is adapted to the present formulation.     

Thermally tuned optical fiber for true time delay generation

A new technique for generating a continuous range of true time delay values is introduced. Heating optical fiber in order to change the effective index of the guided mode produces time delays. A 45-m section of single-mode silica fiber is demonstrated to produce a continuous range of time delay values from 0 to 211 ps over a temperature tuning range of 50°C (30–80°C). A thermal time delay factor is introduced and found to be 0.096 ps/m°C for Corning LEAF fiber. A 7.66-m section of multimode Lucina polymer fiber is demonstrated to produce a range of time delay values from 0 to 32 ps over a temperature tuning range of 30°C (30–60°C). The thermal time delay factor for this fiber is −0.1427 ps/m°C.     

Working group report: Neutrino and astroparticle physics

This is the report of neutrino and astroparticle physics working group at WHEPP-7. Discussions and work on CP violation in long baseline neutrino experiments, ultra high energy neutrinos, supernova neutrinos and water Cerenkov detectors are discussed.     

Littrow-type discretely tunable, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser around 1.3 μm

An all-solid-state, side diode array pulse pumped Nd:YAG laser tunable for six wavelengths ranging from 1318.8 nm to 1356.0 nm is developed. The tunability is obtained by using a grating in Littrow mode that also serves as an output coupler. The configuration ensures a line width as low as 0.04 nm. Thermal effects limit the maximum average power to 250 mW for an average absorbed pump power of 8.0 W in the free-running condition. An acousto-optic Q-switching of the laser provides pulses of width 251 ns with peak power of 733 W for an average pump power of 11.5 W. The laser may find application in microsurgery and dermatology. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.-v; 42.60.Fc; 42.60.Gd; 42.62.Be     

Carbon- and silicon-capped silicon carbide nanotubes: An ab initio study

A systematic study of fullerene hemisphere capped finite SiC nanotubes is presented. The tubes are spin optimized using the hybrid functional B3LYP (Becke?s three-parameter exchange and the Lee-Yang-Parr correlation functionals) and an all electron 3-21G^? basis. Capping of a SiC nanotube changes cohesive energy, HOMO-LUMO gap and other electronic and geometric properties of a SiC nanotube. Also, the carbon-capped SiC nanotubes are energetically preferable compared to silicon-capped tubes. For example, the binding energy per atom for hydrogen-terminated “infinite” SiC nanotube (5,5) having five unit cells is 4.993 eV, the corresponding numbers being 5.989 eV and 4.812 eV for C-capped and Si-capped nanotubes, respectively.     

Raman spectroscopic study of the uranyl tellurite mineral moctezumite PbUO2(TeO3)2

The uranyl tellurite mineral moctezumite, Pb(UO₂)(TeO₃)₂, was studied by Raman spectroscopy and complemented with infrared spectroscopy. The presence of the stretching and bending vibrations of uranyl (UO₂)²⁺ and tellurite (TeO₃)²⁻ ions was inferred, and the observed bands were assigned to uranyl and tellurite units vibrations. U O bond lengths calculated from the spectra with two empirical relations are close to those inferred from the X‐ray single‐crystal structure of moctezumite. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.