Synergistic effects on iodine release in potassium iodide solution by combination of ultrasound and visible light irradiations

Iodine release in potassium iodide solution has been investigated under the irradiations of ultrasound and visible light respectively and simultaneously. We have observed that the amount of iodine liberated under the combined irradiation of ultrasound and visible light is larger than the sum of that under the respective irradiations of ultrasound and visible light, indicating a synergistic effect of ultrasound and visible light irradiations. Based on the investigation of the reaction kinetics of iodine liberated, we have ascribed the synergistic effect to the perfect stirring of the photochemical reactor induced by the applying simultaneous ultrasound. The ideal stirring can result in the homogenization of the primary light effect in the whole reaction medium, which induces the acceleration of the photochemical reaction. On behavior of our knowledge, there are few reports on the investigations of utilizing the combination of ultrasonic energy and light energy to accelerate the reaction yield and rate as well as the kinetics of the reaction.     

Carbide precipitates in solution-quenched PH13-8 Mo stainless steel: A small-angle neutron scattering investigation

This paper deals with the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigation on solution-quenched PH13-8 Mo stainless steel. From the nature of the variation of the functionality of the profiles for varying specimen thickness and also from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it has been established that the small-angle scattering signal predominantly originates from the block-like metallic carbide precipitates in the specimen. The contribution due to double Bragg reflection is not significant in the present case. The single scattering profile has been extracted from the experimental profiles corresponding to different values of specimen thickness. In order to avoid complexity and non-uniqueness of the multi-parameter minimization for randomly oriented polydisperse block-like precipitate model, the data have been analyzed assuming randomly oriented polydisperse cylindrical particle model with a locked aspect ratio.     

Porous Molybdenum Carbide Nanostructures Synthesized on Carbon Cloth by CVD for Efficient Hydrogen Production

Molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) is a promising noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), due to its structural and electronic merits, such as high conductivity, metallic band states and wide pH applicability. Here, a simple CVD process was developed for synthesis of a Mo₂C on carbon cloth (Mo₂C@CC) electrode with carbon cloth as carbon source and MoO₃ as the Mo precursor. XRD, Raman, XPS and SEM results of Mo₂C@CC with different amounts of MoO₃ and growth temperatures suggested a two-step synthetic mechanism, and porous Mo₂C nanostructures were obtained on carbon cloth with 50 mg MoO₃ at 850 °C (Mo₂C-850(50)). With the merits of unique porous nanostructures, a low overpotential of 72 mV at current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 52.8 mV dec⁻¹ was achieved for Mo₂C-850(50) in 1.0 m KOH. The dual role of carbon cloth as electrode and carbon source resulted into intimate adhesion of Mo₂C on carbon cloth, offering fast electron transfer at the interface. Cyclic voltammetry measurements for 5000 cycles revealed that Mo₂C@CC had excellent electrochemical stability. This work provides a novel strategy for synthesizing Mo₂C and other efficient carbide electrocatalysts for HER and other applications, such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.     

Effects of hydroxyl groups and hydrogen passivation on the structure,electrical and optical properties of silicon carbide nanowires

The effects of hydrogen and hydroxyl passivation on the structure, electrical and optical properties of SiCNWs were investigated. The passivation performance of different atoms (groups) were discussed by analyzing the distribution of electronic states and the polarity of chemical bonds. The results show that passivation can improve the stability of SiCNWs structure, and the effect of hydroxyl is better than hydrogen passivation. And hydrogen and hydroxyl passivation both increase the band gap of SiCNWs, and the changing trend of band gap is relevant to the polarity of the covalent bond formed by the passivation of surface atoms. Moreover, passivation enhances the stability of the optical properties of SiCNWs, resulting in narrowing of light absorption, photoconductivity and other spectra, and the response peak shifts to the deep ultraviolet region, which means that hydrogen or hydroxyl passivation of SiCNWs is likely to be a candidate material for deep ultraviolet micro-nano optoelectronic devices.     

Modeling of the elementary gas-phase reaction during chemical vapor deposition of silicon carbide from CH3SiCl3/H2

We established a gas-phase, elementary reaction model for chemical vapor deposition of silicon carbide from methyltrichlorosilane (MTS) and H₂, based on the model developed at Iowa State University (ISU). The ISU model did not reproduce our experimental results, decomposition behavior of MTS in the gas phase in an environment with H₂. Therefore, we made several modifications to the ISU model. Of the reactions included in existing models, 236 were lacking in the ISU model, and thus were added to the model. In addition, we modified the rate constants of the unimolecular reactions and the recombination reactions, which were treated as a high-pressure limit in the ISU model, into pressure-dependent rate expressions based on the previous reports (to yield the ISU+ model), for example, H₂(+M) → H + H(+M), but decomposition behavior remained poorly reproducible. To incorporate the pressure dependencies of unimolecular decomposition rate constants, and to increase the accuracies of these constants, we recalculated the rate constants of five unimolecular decomposition reactions of MTS using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus method at the CBS-QB3 level. These chemistries were added to the ISU+ model to yield the UT2014 model. The UT2014 model reproduced overall MTS decomposition. From the results of our model, we confirmed that MTS mainly decomposes into CH₃ and SiCl₃ at the temperature around 1000°C as reported in the several studies.     

Detection and grading for esophageal varices in patients with chronic liver damage: comparison of gadolinium-enhanced and unenhanced steady-state coherent MR images

The purpose of this study was to compare observer interpreted steady-state coherent coronal images and gadolinium-enhanced axial images in terms of the detection and grading of esophageal varices. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and gastrointestinal endoscopy were performed within 2 weeks in 90 patients with chronic liver damage, including 55 with untreated esophageal varices, for periodic screening purposes. Two blinded readers retrospectively reviewed T1- and T2-weighted images with gadolinium-enhanced (gadolinium image set) and steady-state coherent (coherent image set) images. Sensitivity for the detection of esophageal varices was higher (P<.001) in the gadolinium image set (76%) than in the coherent image set (35%); on the other hand, specificity was higher (P<.001) in the coherent image set (91%) than in the gadolinium image set (66%). Furthermore, area under the ROC curve was higher for the gadolinium image set (Az=0.823) than the coherent image set (Az=0.761) (P=.48). Moderate and weak positive correlations with endoscopic grades were found for the gadolinium image (r=0.48, P<.01) and coherent image sets (r=0.34, P=.018). The addition of steady-state coherent imaging to the current routine liver imaging protocol did not improve the detection or grading of esophageal varices, whereas gadolinium-enhanced imaging was found to be potentially valuable. Nevertheless, endoscopy was confirmed to be mandatory in patients with esophageal varices suspected by MRI of the liver.     

Time-resolved optical spectroscopy of CsI(Tl) crystals by pulsed electron beam irradiation

Properties of the color and emission centers induced with an electron pulse beam at temperature within 80-300 K have been studied in CsI(Tl) crystals. It has been established by optical spectrometry with time resolution that initial color centers in this crystal are only Tl⁰ and V_k centers, which spontaneously recombine emitting visible light at 2.25 and 2.55 eV. It has been shown that the emission decay kinetics at 80 K include two fast exponential components with decay constants 3 and 14 μs as well as slow hyperbolic component with the power index depending on the wavelength of the emitting light. The temperature effect on the emission kinetics has been studied and it has been directly proved that the emission rise stage at the temperature above 170 K is caused by the recombination of electrons, which are thermally released from single Tl⁰ centers, with V_kA centers. The origin of scintillations in CsI(Tl) crystal is discussed in terms of the tunnel electron transitions from ground state of Tl⁰ centers to ground state of V_k centers at different distances from each other.     

Theoretical investigation of incomplete ionization of dopants in uniform and ion-implanted 4H-SiC MESFETs

The effects of incomplete ionization of nitrogen in 4H-SiC have been investigated. Poisson's equation is numerically analysed by considering the effects of Poole--Frenkel, and the effects of the potential on $N^+_\dd$ (the concentration of ionized donors) and $n$ (the concentration of electrons). The pinch-off voltages of the uniform and the ion-implanted channels of 4H-SiC metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) and the capacitance of the gate are given at different temperatures. Both the Poole--Frenkel effect and the potential have influence on the pinch-off voltage $V_{\rm p}$ of 4H-SiC MESFETs. Although the $C$-$V$ characteristics of the ion-implanted and the uniform channel of 4H-SiC MESFETs have a clear distinction, the effects of incomplete ionization on the $C$-$V$ characteristics are not significant.     

Auger electron spectroscopy investigation of sputter induced altered layers in SiC by low energy sputter depth profiling and factor analysis

The thickness of the altered layer created by ion bombardment of the 6H–SiC single crystal was determined by means of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling in conjunction with factor analysis. After pre-bombardment of the surface by argon ions with energies 1, 2 and 4 keV until the steady state, the depth profiles of the induced altered layers were recorded by sputtering with low energy argon ions of 300 eV. Since the position and shape of the carbon Auger peak depend on the perfection of the crystalline structure, they were used for depth profile evaluation by factor analysis. In this way the depth profiles of the damaged surface region could be estimated in dependence on the ion energy. As a result, the thickness of the altered layer of SiC bombarded with 1, 2 and 4 keV Ar ions using an incident angle of 80° as well as the corresponding argon implantation profile could be measured.     

Growth process of TiC clusters from Ti nanoparticles with evaporated carbon layer

Titanium carbide formation by the solid–solid reaction on the surface of Ti nanoparticles was studied in situ using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope with a heating stage. The cross-sectional image of the Ti surface was clearly observed. Vacuum-deposited carbon covered the whole the surface of Ti nanoparticles in spite of the partly evaporation on the nanoparticle surface. The diffusion of the carbon atoms inside the Ti nanoparticles depended on the size of the nanoparticles. When the Ti nanoparticle diameter was less than 30 nm, carbon atoms diffused into the Ti nanoparticle and formed TiC. The superstructure of the Ti nanoparticles was observed, which revealed the growth process of TiC to be the diffusion of carbon atoms. For Ti nanoparticles with diameter larger than 30 nm it was observed that diffusion of Ti atoms into the carbon layer was dominant, which resulted in formation of TiC in the carbon layer at the surface of Ti nanoparticles.