Self-assembly and characterization of Ca-Al-LDH nanohybrids containing casein proteins as guest anions

Casein, a natural biopolymer contained in milk, has been successfully intercalated into a Ca-Al-LDH host structure. Synthesis was performed by rehydration of tricalcium aluminate in the presence of casein. The resulting nanohybrids were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further experiments revealed that the single protein strains intercalate instead of the entire casein sub micelles, which are present in milk. Additionally, the pure phospho protein fractions α- and β-casein, which make up ∼80 wt% of total casein were isolated and intercalated into the Ca-Al-LDH host structure, yielding a biopolymer-inorganic hybrid material.     

The effect of aminoalcohols (MEA, DEA and TEA) on morphological control of nanocrystalline ZnO powders and its optical properties

The potential of using encapsulation by MEA, DEA and TEA to control the morphology of ZnO powders was investigated. The crystallite and particle size decreased as a function of aminoalcohol concentration. We found that aminoalcohols can inhibit the crystal growth of ZnO along the c-axis. A steric effect by TEA more strongly influenced the formation of different ZnO shapes than did MEA and DEA. The value of the band gap was dependent on the crystallite size, particle size and particle shape.     

X-ray diffraction in AT-cut quartz single crystal at acoustic excitation at the fundamental frequency

X-ray diffraction on different atomic planes of an AT-cut quartz crystal is studied experimentally in the Laue geometry in case of excitation by acoustic waves at the first resonant (fundamental) frequency. Acoustic waves lead to an increase in the integral intensity of the reflection-diffracted beam. The amplification coefficients in reflection are measured in dependence on the amplitude of a.c. voltage applied to the crystal at the resonant frequency. The frontal distributions of the intensity of the beam diffracted in the reflection direction are obtained for different atomic planes.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In situ</Emphasis> X-ray diffraction study of structural evaluation in Fe<Subscript>73</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>1.5</Subscript>Nd<Subscript>3</Subscript>Si<Subscript>13.5</Subscript>B<Subscript>9</Subscript> amorphous alloy at high temperature

The thermodynamics structural relaxation of Fe₇₃Cu_1.5Nd₃Si_13.5B₉ amorphous alloy from room temperature to 400°C has been investigated by measuring the structure factor with in situ X-ray diffraction. The structural information of the atomic configuration such as radial distribution function (RDF) and neighbor atomic distance was gained by Fourier transformation. The research result shows that the amorphous structure remains stable in the temperature range of 30 to 400°C but exhibits distinct changes in local atomic configuration with the increase of temperature. The quantitative determination of the neighbor atomic distance suggests that the degree of short-range order changes by the temperature altering the second nearest neighbor local atomic configuration of the amorphous when structural relaxation occurs. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province of China (Grant No. A2007000296), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50731005), SKPBRC (Grant Nos. 2007CB616915 and 2006CB605201), and PCSIRT (Grant No. IRT0650)     

The growth temperatures dependence of optical and electrical properties of InN films

InN films grown on sapphire at different substrate temperatures from 550°C to 700°C by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were investigated. The low-temperature GaN nucleation layer with high-temperature annealing (1100°C) was used as a buffer for main InN layer growth. X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements reveal that the quality of InN films can be improved by increasing the growth temperature to 600°C. Further high substrate temperatures may promote the thermal decomposition of InN films and result in poor crystallinity and surface morphology. The photoluminescence and Hall measurements were employed to characterize the optical and electrical properties of InN films, which also indicates strong growth temperature dependence. The InN films grown at temperature of 600°C show not only a high mobility with low carrier concentration, but also a strong infrared emission band located around 0.7 eV. For a 600 nm thick InN film grown at 600°C, the Hall mobility achieves up to 938 cm²/Vs with electron concentration of 3.9 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB6049), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 6039072, 60476030 and 60421003), the Great Fund of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 10416), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20050284004), and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant Nos. BK2005210 and BK2006126)     

X-ray spectra induced by slow highly charged Ar q + ions in collision with Nb surface

The X-ray spectra of Nb surface induced by Ar ^q+ (q = 16,17) ions with the energy range from 10 to 20 keV/q were studied by the optical spectrum technology. The experimental results indicate that the multi-electron excitation occurred as a highly charged Ar¹⁶⁺ ion was neutralized below the metal surface. The K shell electron of Ar¹⁶⁺ was excited and then de-excited cascadly to emit K X-ray. The intensity of the X-ray emitted from K shell of the hollow Ar atom decreased with the increase of projectile kinetic energy. The intensity of the X-ray emitted from L shell of the target atom Nb increased with the increase of projectile kinetic energy. The X-ray yield of Ar¹⁷⁺ is three magnitude orders larger than that of Ar¹⁶⁺. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.10774149 and 10405025)     

Monte-Carlo simulation of a compact gamma-ray detector using wavelength-shifting fibers coupled to a YAP scintillation crystal

The production and transportation of fluorescent light produced in wavelength-shifting fibers (WSFs) coupled to YAP scintillation crystal is simulated using the GEANT4 codes.An advantage of the wavelength-shifting fiber readout technique over a direct readout with a position-sensitive photo-sensor is the reduced requirement for position sensitive photomultiplier tube photocathode area.With this gamma-ray detector,the gamma camera is small and flexible and has larger effective field of view and low cost.Simulation results show that a) a mean 12 of photons per 59.5 keV gamma ray interaction is produced in the WSF located nearest to the incident gamma ray,and a spatial resolution of 3.6 mm FWHM is obtained,b)a mean 27 of photons per 140 keV gamma ray interaction is produced and a spatial resolution of 3.1 mm FWHM is obtained.Results demonstrate the feasibility of this concept of a compact gamma-ray detector based on wavelength-shifting fibers readout.However,since the very low photoelectron levels,it is very important to use a photon counting device with good single photo-electron response to readout the WSFs.     

ZnSe films deposited on crystalline GaAs and amorphous quartz substrates by means of pulsed laser ablation technique

ZnSe films were deposited by pulsed laser ablation on a crystalline GaAs substrate and on an amorphous quartz substrate. The deposition process was performed with the same growth parameters. The films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, reflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction spectra have demonstrated that the films grow in a highly oriented way but having different orientations, i.e. the films deposited on GaAs grow (100)-oriented and the films deposited on quartz grow (111)-oriented. Reflectance spectra as a function of the temperature have been analysed by means of the classical oscillator model, in order to obtain the temperature dependence of the band gap energy. This gives results comparable to those of ZnSe single crystals for ZnSe on GaAs, but it is red-shifted for ZnSe on quartz, because of lattice and thermal strains. The photoluminescence measurements at T = 10 K confirm the better quality of ZnSe deposited on GaAs and show that pulsed laser ablation is a promising technique to grow films having intrinsic luminescence even on an amorphous substrate. Received 29 May 2002 Published online 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: giuseppe.perna@ba.infn.it     

强脉冲超硬Ｘ射线产生技术研究

 分析了利用强流脉冲电子束轫致辐射产生强脉冲超硬X射线的几种主要技术途径的特点，以及提高超硬X射线产额的方法；利用MCNP软件计算了电子能量在0.4～1.4 MeV范围内，超硬X射线产生效率与钽辐射转换靶厚度的关系曲线；介绍了在“强光一号”加速器上开展产生强脉冲超硬X射线实验方法与实验结果，获得了3种强脉冲超硬X射线：脉冲宽度约35 ns，输出窗面积约50 cm²，能量密度为5～7 J/cm²；脉冲宽度约35 ns，输出窗面积约50 cm²，能量密度为12 J/cm²；脉冲宽度约35 ns，输出窗面积约500 cm²，能量密度为1 J/cm²。