Study of the effect of laser treatment on the initial oxidation behaviour of Al‐coated NiCrAlY bond‐coat

In this study, the initial oxidation behaviour of laser‐treated Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat is investigated. Two approaches, (i) Al film sputtering on the surface of bond‐coat and (ii) laser treatment, have been taken to enhance the oxidation resistance of NiCrAlY bond‐coat. Experimental results showed that after laser treatment, the Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat exhibited a columnar dendritic microstructure without cracks and voids. A dense and continuous α‐Al₂O₃/Cr₂O₃ multilayer was found to form on the bond‐coat surface. Results on the cyclic oxidation at 1200 °C (for time ≤ 204 h) revealed that the laser‐treated Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat exhibited better oxidation resistance compared to as‐sprayed NiCrAlY, Al/NiCrAlY and laser‐remelted NiCrAlY bond‐coat. The formation of θ‐Al₂O₃, NiO, Cr₂O₃ and NiCr₂O₄ spinel oxides was observed to be suppressed due to the preformed α‐Al₂O₃ scale during initial oxidation on the surface of laser pre‐oxidized Al/NiCrAlY bond‐coat. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Error analysis of idealized nanopore sequencing

This numerical study provides an error analysis of an idealized nanopore sequencing method in which ionic current measurements are used to sequence intact single‐stranded DNA in the pore, while an enzyme controls DNA motion. Examples of systematic channel errors when more than one nucleotide affects the current amplitude are detailed, which if present will persist regardless of coverage. Absent such errors, random errors associated with tracking through homopolymer regions are shown to necessitate reading known sequences (Escherichia coli K‐12) at least 140 times to achieve 99.99% accuracy (Q40). By exploiting the ability to reread each strand at each pore in an array, arbitrary positioning on an error rate versus throughput tradeoff curve is possible if systematic errors are absent, with throughput governed by the number of pores in the array and the enzyme turnover rate.     

Comment on “Extending Hirshfeld‐I to bulk and periodic materials”

In recent years, several methods have been developed that partition the electron density among atoms using spherically symmetric atomic weights. D. E. P. Vanpoucke, P. Bultinck, and I. Van Driessche (J. Comput. Chem. 2012, doi: 10.1002/jcc.23088) recently reported a periodic implementation of the Hirshfeld‐I method that uses a combination of Becke‐style and uniform integration grids and modified atomic reference densities to compute net atomic charges in periodic materials. Herein, this method is discussed in the context of earlier periodic implementations of the Hirshfeld‐I method, the Iterated Stockholder Atoms method, and the density derived electrostatic and chemical method.     

MICELLE FORMATION BY ANIONIC AND CATIONIC SURFACTANTS IN AQUEOUS 18-CROWN-6 ETHER,P-CYCLODEXTRIN,AND 1,10-PHENANTHROLINE SOLUTIONS AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

The conductances of sodium perfluorooctanoate (SPFO), sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS), dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) in 18-crown-6 ether + water (CR+W), p-cyclodextrin + water (CY+W), and 1,10-phenanthroIine + water (Phen+W) mixtures with fixed 4 mM of each additive were determined over the temperature range of 5-55 °C. The conductivity plots for all the surfactants showed single break from which the critical micellization concentration (cmc) and degree of micelle ionization (x) were computed. From the pre and the post micellar slopes of the conductivity curves, the equivalent conductivities of the monomeric (Aass) and the micellar states (Amjc), respectively, were calculated and discussed with respect to the surfactant-additive complexation. It was observed that the micelle formation of all the ionic surfactants irrespective of the nature of their head groups were delayed in CYC+W in comparison to that in CR+W and Phen+W systems over the temperature range studied. The micelle formation of SPFO and SDS in CR+W and Phen+W systems showed stabilization of the respective micelles due to the adsorption of Na⁺-CR and Na+-Phen complexes at the micelle solution interface in comparison to that of DTAB and TTAB.     

Spectrophotometric Studies of Entrapped Thymol Phtalein pH Indicator into Sol‐Gel Matrix

This research involves the behavior of thymol phtalein pH indicator entrapped into the sol‐gel derived inorganic matrix. The method is based on the physical entrapment of the reagent molecules in the sol‐gel matrix. The immobilized thymol phthalein pH indicator shows behavior similar to its solution counterpart. The UV/vis spectra indicate that the thymol phthalein retains its structure during the sol‐gel reactions in terms of response to pH. Thymol phthalein can be regarded as uniformly distributed in the sol‐gel matrix. This observation has been confirmed using polarized microscopy. This research shows that thymol phtalein can be immobilized in sol‐gel glasses and used as a solid pH sensor.