Complementary spectroscopic techniques to model the association of contaminant uranium with structural surfaces

Contaminant uranium poses unique problems for decontamination of former weapons processing and nuclear power facilities, as well as chemical plants, waste storage sites and former mining facilities. In addition, dealing with the possibility of intentional (i.e., a terrorist act) or accidental release of radioactive material in a populated area requires an accurate understanding of the nature of the association of such material with structural surfaces. These surfaces must also be considered in the context of repeated contamination, and the importance of atmospheric exposure, interaction with other possible contaminants, and corrosion or surface degradation due to such exposure must be taken into account. Complementary spectroscopic techniques, especially surface spectroscopies, are essential in developing models for the interaction of contaminants with surfaces and interfaces. In this review (which also presents new data on uranium association with corroding steel surfaces), we collect models of this association as determined by spectroscopic techniques, assess the important considerations in the development of more accurate models, and address some of the questions which remain.     

Effect of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) films

Influences of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of Co/Ge(1 1 1) ultrathin films have been investigated by surface magneto-optic Kerr effect technique. As the oxygen exposure increases on Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, their magnetic properties could be modified. As an example for 15 ML Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, the coercivity increases from 730 to 920 Oe and the remanence Kerr intensity is reduced for 500 Langmuir (L) of oxygen exposure. Corresponding compositions analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy measurement shows that the amount of oxygen on the surface layers increases with increasing the oxygen exposure time. Oxygen distributes on the topmost layers of the film. The adsorbed oxygen influences the electronic density of states of Co and results in the changes of the magnetic properties. Besides, the appearance of O/Co/Ge interface could modify the stress anisotropy, and as a result the coercivity of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) film is enhanced.     

凸体的曲率映象与仿射表面积

本文研究了一些特殊凸体与其极体的曲率仿射表面积乘积的下界.对任意两个凸体,建立了它们的投影体的混合体积与其仿射表面积的一个不等式（见文[1-15]）.     

Surface and interfacial properties of PVDF/acrylic copolymer blends before and after UV exposure

Morphological and chemical properties of both the surface and interface of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-co-poly(ethyl acrylate) (PVDF/PMMA-co-PEA) blend films have been investigated before and after the samples were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation using a xenon arc lamp at 50 °C and 9% relative humidity (RH) for 7 months. Surface and interfacial morphologies were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Chemical composition information was obtained by confocal Raman microscopy, attenuated total reflection-FTIR spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and contact angle measurements. Results show an enrichment of the PVDF material at the air surface, while the acrylic copolymer enriches the interface. Blends having greater than 50% mass fraction of PVDF show little change in the surface morphology after UV exposure for 7 months. However, for a lower PVDF content, blends exhibit significant degradation of PMMA-co-PEA copolymer and a much rougher surface after UV exposure. Microstructural changes in the PVDF spherulites are also observed after UV degradation. It is found that the surface and interfacial morphologies are correlated with the chemical properties.     

Vibrational Dynamics Studies by Nuclear Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering of synchrotron radiation is being applied to ever widening areas ranging from geophysics to biophysics and materials science. Since its first demonstration in 1995 using the ⁵⁷Fe resonance, the technique has now been applied to materials containing ⁸³Kr, ¹⁵¹Eu, ¹¹⁹Sn, and ¹⁶¹Dy isotopes. The energy resolution has been reduced to under a millielectronvolt. This, in turn, has enabled new types of measurements like Debye velocity of sound, as well as the study of origins of non-Debye behavior in presence of other low-energy excitations. The effect of atomic disorder on phonon density of states has been studied in detail. The flux increase due to the improved X-ray sources, crystal monochromators, and time-resolved detectors has been exploited for reducing sample sizes to nano-gram levels, or using samples with dilute resonant nuclei like myoglobin, or even monolayers. Incorporation of micro-focusing optics to the existing experimental setup enables experiments under high pressure using diamond-anvil cells. In this article, we will review these developments. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

抽运激光在光靶中的局域及其对X射线激光特性的影响

新型X射线靶设计为:由SiO2和TiO2组成具有12个周期的一维光子晶体,在它的中间嵌入光靶材料层作为缺陷层,SiO2,TiO2和光靶层的光学厚度分别为λ4、λ4和λ2,λ为抽运激光波长.与普通平板光靶相比,当抽运光垂直照射到这种光靶时,靶层内部的光强将提高2个数量级,所以抽运激光的阈值强度将降低2个数量级,这有利于X射线激光的小型化.在同样的抽运激光照射下,X射线激光的强度将提高4个数量级,转换效率也将提高约4个数量级.由于平均电离度随抽运激光强度的提高而提高,所以采用这种光靶有利于使X射线激光向短波长推进. 关键词： X射线激光 光子晶体 光波局域     

Acoustic characterization and prediction for fan-duct-plenum-room integrations

This paper investigates mutual influence of duct and room acoustics in the whole fan-duct-plenum-room integrations. Applying the parametric design language of finite element software ANSYS (APDL), dimensional and positional influence on system acoustics has been studied. Models with different room dimensions, duct lengths, duct cross-sections, duct locations, duct discharges and duct elbow were constructed, and their characteristics were compared qualitatively. Results show that small rooms, short ducts, large duct cross-sections and bell mouth duct discharges help to increase room sound pressure levels (SPLs); SPLs in ducts and plenums are sensitive to duct dimensions and duct discharge types but insensitive to duct locations and room dimensions; duct elbows have relatively indistinct acoustic influence in each component. Based on the calculation results, a semi-experimental method was proposed for simply and approximately evaluating indoor acoustic spectra of fan-duct-plenum-room integrations, then an example was used to demonstrate the prediction process. Finally, by adopting several ideal models, sound field constitutions, duct and room wall admittances and duct end reflection were explored quantitatively. This study may give a detailed understanding of fan-duct-plenum-room acoustics for researchers, also it might provide a new, simple and approximate prediction method for professionals to evaluate and improve fan-ducted acoustics.     

C-Fe chains due to segregated carbon impurities on Fe(1 0 0)

Bulk carbon impurities segregate at the Fe(1 0 0) surface and, upon thermal annealing, can form metastable surface phases with local and long range order and peculiar electronic properties. We present a surface science study of C-segregated Fe(1 0 0) with scanning tunneling microscopy, angle resolved photoemission, and ab initio calculations of the surface structure and electron states. In particular the c(3√2 × √2) structure, observed for 0.67 atomic layers of C segregated at the iron surface, is found to be due to self-organized carbon stripes made of zig-zag chains. The strong hybridization between C and Fe was observed in ARPES spectra.     

Synthesis and structures of nitroxyalkyl methylphosphonates

The reactions of ethylene glycol mononitrate and glycerol 1,3-dinitrate with methylphosphonic dichloride afforded new nitroxyalkyl methylphosphonates.     

Novel methods and universal software for HRXRD, XRR and GISAXS data interpretation

Several novel methods for evaluation and interpretation of X-ray data from modern nanostructures are presented along with their applications. The background of methods and their relations to fundamental problems of X-ray analysis is shortly described. The key features of LEPTOS software, which is designed for the analysis of X-ray data measured with various geometries and setups and implements all discussed techniques, are discussed.