A Spectrophotometric Study of Fe(III) Chelates of Some Hydroxy Coumarin Derivatives

Chelates formation of Fe(III) with 7–hydroxy–4–methyl coumarin–6–carboxylic acid (HMCCH)₂ and 8–amino–7–hydroxy–4–methyl coumarin (AHMCH) have been studied. It has been observed that Fe(III) forms 1:2 (metal:ligand) chelates with HMCCH₂ and AHMCH. The stability constants of these chelates at different ionic strengths and the effect of temperature on the stability constants of these chelates have been studied. The thermodynamic parameters such as entropy change (ΔS), free energy of formation (ΔG) and enthalpy change (ΔH) have also been calculated. The effect of dielectric constant oh the stability constants of these chelates have been studied. Estimation of nanogram quantities of Fe(III) with these ligands and the effect of diverse ions have also been studied and the results have been compared with other methods used for estimation of Fe(III).     

Synthesis and characterization of stoichiometric NiCo nano particles dispersible in both aqueous and non aqueous media

Oleic acid (OA) coated stoichiometric NiCo (50:50) nanoparticles, with and without polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coating, dispersible in aqueous and non aqueous media have been synthesized by a polyol process for the first time. Structural studies by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the formation of an impurity free face centred cubic phase NiCo alloy. EDS analysis confirmed nearly 50:50 alloy composition. The magnetization, as a function of field and temperature, of these samples showed a soft ferromagnetic nature. The novelty of our method is that the particles are dispersible in non aqueous and aqueous media, which will facilitate preparation of films of these particles.     

Nano-graphitic clustering and break down of phonon selection rule in diamond-like carbon films

Diamond-like carbon films are deposited on silicon substrates at different substrate bias using ECR-CVD technique. Raman spectroscopic studies show the presence of broad G and D peaks. In contrast to the position of D peak, the G peak shows a systematic red-shift with increase in the bias voltage. From the analysis it is found that an increase in bias voltage decreases the sp² cluster diameter. Furthermore, two additional Raman peaks at around 690 and 880 cm^?1 are also observed. These peaks, forbidden in the first order Raman scattering, arise due to the breakdown of phonon selection rule in graphitic nanoclusters.     

Bianchi Type-V Magnetized String Cosmological Model with Variable Magnetic Permeability for Viscous Fluid distribution

We investigate the Bianchi type-V magnetized string cosmological model with variable magnetic permeability for viscous fluid distribution. The magnetic field is due to an electric current produced along the x-axis. Thus the magnetic field is in yz-plane and F23 is the only non-vanishing component of electromagnetic field tensor Fij. To obtain the deterministic model in terms of cosmic time t, we assume the condition ξθ const where ξ is the coefficient of bulk viscosity and θ the expansion in the model.     

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Perovskite-Structured Alkali Metal Fluorides Containing Nickel and Copper Ions

ABSTRACT

The mixed metal fluorides containing alkali metals have a range of important applications in optical and electronic devices. Raman spectrums of two such fluorides were examined. Raman spectrum of KCuF₃ at 300 K exhibited bands at 261, 295, 363, 468, 519, and 549 cm^?1, indicating site symmetry (orthorhombic) lower than the tetragonal symmetry as observed from the powder X-ray diffraction pattern. Cubic KNiF₃ showed bands at 410, 468, and 657 cm^?1. The first two bands were attributed to the second-order phonon scattering, and the band at 657 cm^?1 was assigned to two-magnon peak.     

Wavelet-modified fringe-adjusted joint transform correlator

In this paper, we implement a wavelet-modified fringe-adjusted joint transform correlator (JTC) for real-time target recognition applications. In real-time situation the input scene is captured using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The obtained joint power spectrum is multiplied by a pre-synthesized fringe-adjusted filter and the resultant function is processed with an appropriately scaled wavelet filter. Three performance measure parameters: correlation peak intensity, peak-to-sidelobe ratio, and signal-to-clutter ratio have been calculated for fringe-adjusted joint transform correlator (FJTC) and wavelet-modified fringe-adjusted joint transform correlator (WFJTC). The WFJTC has been found to yield better results in comparison to conventional FJTC. To suppress the undesired strong dc, the resultant function is differentiated. Differential processing wavelet-modified fringe-adjusted joint power spectrum removes the zero-order spectra and hence improves the detection efficiency. To focus the correlation terms in different planes in order to capture one of the desired autocorrelation peaks and discard the strong dc and another autocorrelation peak, chirp-encoding technique has also been applied. Targets with Gaussian and speckle noise have also been used to check the correlation outputs. Computer simulation and experimental results are presented.     

Pre- and post-breakdown electrical studies in ultrathin Al2O3 films by conductive atomic force microscopy

The loss of local dielectric integrity in ultrathin Al₂O₃ films grown by atomic layer deposition is investigated using conducting atomic force microscopy. I–V spectra acquired at different regions of the samples by constant and ramping voltage stress are analyzed for their pre- and post-breakdown signatures. Based on these observations, the thickness dependent dielectric reliability and failure mechanism are discussed. Our results show that remarkable enhancement in breakdown electric field as high as 130 MV/cm is observed for ultrathin films of thickness less than 1 nm.     

Influence of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation pre-treatment on rheological characteristics of wastewater sludge

The effect of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation as physico-chemical pre-treatment processes on the change of rheology of wastewater sludge was investigated in this study. Pre-treated and raw sludges displayed non-Newtonian rheological behaviour with shear thinning as well as thixotropic properties for total solids ranging from 10 g/L to 40 g/L. The rheological models, namely, Bingham plastic, Casson law, NCA/CMA Casson, IPC Paste, and power law were also studied to characterize flow of raw and pre-treated sludges. Among all rheological models, the power law was more prominent in describing the rheology of the sludges. Pre-treatment processes resulted in a decrease in pseudoplasticity of sludge due to the decrease in consistency index K varying from 42.4 to 1188, 25.6 to 620.4 and 52.5 to 317.9; and increase in flow behaviour index n changing from 0.5 to 0.35, 0.62 to 0.55 and 0.63 to 0.58, for RS, UlS and FS, respectively at solids concentration 10–40 g/L. The correlation between improvement of biodegradability and dewaterability, decrease in viscosity, and change in particle size as a function of sludge pre-treatment process was also investigated. Fenton oxidation facilitated sludge filterability resulting in capillary suction time values which were approximately 50% of the raw sludges, whereas ultrasonication with high input energy deteriorated the filterability. Biodegradability was also enhanced by the pre-treatment processes and the maximum value was obtained (64%, 77% and 73% for raw, ultrasonicated and Fenton oxidized sludges, respectively) at total solids concentration of 25 g/L. Hence, pre-treatment of wastewater sludge modified the rheological properties so that: (1) the flowability of sludge was improved for transport through the treatment train (via pipes and pumps); (2) the dewaterability of wastewater sludge was enhanced for eventual disposal and; (3) the assimilation of nutrients by microorganisms for further value-addition was increased.     

Pollen from Glycine species survive cryogenic exposure

Pollen of 12 genotypes of the annual soybean and its wild perennial relatives were stored without pre-desiccation at low temperatures (-20 C and -196 C) and tested for their viability in vitro. The influence of cryopreserved pollen on pod set and seed production was also investigated. Cryopreserved pollen of all the genotypes showed germination in vitro. Pollen of annual soybean stored at -20 C retained their viability for 4 months, however, pollen of its wild perennial relatives at same storage conditions failed to germinate in vitro. Flowers pollinated with cryopreserved pollen had similar pod set and number of seeds/pod as those pollinated with fresh pollen. Results of this study suggest that cryopreservation of pollen can be used successfully for soybean breeding, and also offers the possibility of conserving the haploid gene pool of soybean and wild perennial species in a cryobank facility.     

Cation disorder and structural studies on Bi4−x Nd x Ti3O12 (0.0≤x≤2.0)

Here we report the results of combined powder X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of Bi_4?x Nd _x Ti₃O₁₂ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 2.0) compositions. The parent Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ has an orthorhombic lattice (space group: B2cb) with unit cell parameters a = 5.4432(5) Å, b = 5.4099(5) Å and c = 32.821(2) Å, and V = 966.5(1) ų. This orthorhombic lattice is retained in all the studied compositions. The unit cell parameters gradually decrease with Nd³⁺ ion concentration with a discontinuity at x = 0.75. Orthorhombicity of the lattice decreases with increase in Nd³⁺ content in the lattice. The orthorhombic unit cell parameters for a representative Bi₂Nd₂Ti₃O₁₂ composition are: a = 5.3834(9), b = 5.3846(9) and c = 32.784(1) Å. The observed orthorhombic distortion at x = 2.0 is very small and thus the crystal structure apparently has a pseudo-tetragonal lattice. In addition, Nd³⁺ preferentially substitutes in the perovskite slab of the Aurivillius structure. The fraction of Nd³⁺ in the fluorite slab increases with increase in Nd³⁺ contents.