BaFeO3: a ferromagnetic iron oxide

Magnetic attraction: The cubic perovskite BaFeO(3) (see picture, Ba?blue, Fe?brown, O?white), which is obtained by a low-temperature reaction using ozone as an oxidant, exhibits ferromagnetism with a fairly large moment of 3.5?μ(B) per Fe ion above a small critical field of approximately 0.3?T. This specific ferromagnetism is attributed to the enhancement of O→Fe charge transfer that arises from deepening of the Fe(4+) d levels.     

Sol–gel and transfer technique for fabricating dual ceramic thin film patterns on plastics

A technique that realizes alternating, two kinds of ceramic ribbons on plastics is proposed. An Si(100) plate with periodic trenches coated with a polyimide (PI)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) mixture layer was used as the mother substrate. An indium–tin–oxide (ITO) thin film was deposited on the mother substrate by the sol–gel method with a firing process, followed by transferring it to a polycarbonate (PC) substrate by melting the PC surface in contact with the ITO thin film. This resulted in patterned ITO ribbons on the PC substrate where the ridges of PC were formed between the ribbons. A ZnO thin film was prepared on a flat Si(100) substrate coated with a PI-PVP mixture layer, followed by firing, and then was transferred on the PC ridges in the same manner, resulting in alternating ITO and ZnO ribbons on the PC substrate. The technique proposed here allows dense, alternating ceramic ribbons to be fabricated on plastics irrespective of the combinations of ceramics and plastics.     

Inter-laboratory trials for analysis of perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in water samples: Performance and recommendations

The ISO 25101 (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva) describes a new international standard method for the determination of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in unfiltered samples of drinking and surface waters. The method is based on the extraction of target analytes by solid phase extraction, solvent elution, and determination by high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). For the determination of the performance of this method, more than 20 laboratories from 9 different countries participated in an inter-laboratory trial in 2006. In addition, inter-laboratory trials were conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the analysis of perfluoroalkylsubstances (PFASs), including PFOS and PFOA, in water samples by following the protocols of Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS). Overall, the repeatability coefficients of variation (i.e., within-laboratory precision) for PFOS and PFOA in all water samples were between 3 and 11%, showing a adequate precision of the ISO and JIS methods. The reproducibility coefficients of variation (i.e., between-laboratory precision) were found to vary within a range of 7–31% for surface water and 20–40% for wastewater. The recoveries of PFOS and PFOA, as a measure of accuracy, varied from 84 to 100% for surface water and from 84 to 100% for wastewater among the samples with acceptable criteria for internal standards recovery. The determined concentrations of PFASs in samples compared well with the “true” values. The results of the inter-laboratory trial confirmed that the analytical methods are robust and reliable and can be used as a standard method for the analysis of target compounds in water samples.     

Molecular Shape Selectivity for Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds on a Core–Shell Octadecylsilica Stationary Phase at Subambient Column Temperatures

Molecular shape selectivity for polycyclic aromatic compounds on a core–shell-type octadecylsilica (ODS) phase at subambient column temperatures was studied in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The plate height on the core–shell ODS column was relatively stable at subambient column temperatures when compared with that of a conventional ODS column. In order to compare the sample diffusivities in the conventional and core–shell ODS columns, van Deemter plots were prepared. The plate height of the core–shell column was significantly lower than that of conventional column, suggesting an advantageous feature of the core–shell-type stationary phase especially at a high flowrate of the mobile phase. An enhanced molecular shape recognition capability of the core–shell ODS phase was also confirmed at subambient column temperature. The result could be consistent with an improved shape selectivity as normally observed on conventional ODS phases at low temperatures, however, the enhanced molecular shape recognition capability of the core–shell phase enables a good separation between benz[a]anthracene and chrysene at subambient column temperatures. Similar improved shape selectivities for terphenyl isomers were also confirmed on the core–shell phase.     

Heavy element stable isotope ratios : analytical approaches and applications

Continuous developments in inorganic mass spectrometry techniques, including a combination of an inductively coupled plasma ion source and a magnetic sector-based mass spectrometer equipped with a multiple-collector array, have revolutionized the precision of isotope ratio measurements, and applications of inorganic mass spectrometry for biochemistry, geochemistry, and marine chemistry are beginning to appear on the horizon. Series of pioneering studies have revealed that natural stable isotope fractionations of many elements heavier than S (e.g., Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ce, Nd, Mo, Cd, W, Tl, and U) are common on Earth, and it had been widely recognized that most physicochemical reactions or biochemical processes induce mass-dependent isotope fractionation. The variations in isotope ratios of the heavy elements can provide new insights into past and present biochemical and geochemical processes. To achieve this, the analytical community is actively solving problems such as spectral interference, mass discrimination drift, chemical separation and purification, and reduction of the contamination of analytes. This article describes data calibration and standardization protocols to allow interlaboratory comparisons or to maintain traceability of data, and basic principles of isotope fractionation in nature, together with high-selectivity and high-yield chemical separation and purification techniques for stable isotope studies.

Chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore consisting of thiophenecarboxylic acid derivatives

Solid-state chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore has been successfully prepared by using chiral (R)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethylamine and 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid. This chiral supramolecular thiophene fluorophore is formed by assembling chiral 2₁-helical columnar network structures composed of (R)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethylamine and 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid. This supramolecular organic fluorophore exhibits circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) even in the solid state.     

Investigation of experimental observables in search of the chiral magnetic effect in heavy-ion collisions in the STAR experiment

The chiral magnetic effect(CME)is a novel transport phenomenon,arising from the interplay between quantum anomalies and strong magnetic fields in chiral systems.In high-energy nuclear collisions,the CME may survive the expansion of the quark-gluon plasma fireball and be detected in experiments.Over the past two decades,experimental searches for the CME have attracted extensive interest at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider(RHIC)and the Large Hadron Collider(LHC).The main goal of this study is to investigate three pertinent experimental approaches:the$\gamma$correlator,the R correlator,and the signed balance functions.We exploit simple Monte Carlo simulations and a realistic event generator(EBE-AVFD)to verify the equivalence of the core components among these methods and to ascertain their sensitivities to the CME signal and the background contributions for the isobar collisions at the RHIC.