Solar energy conversion from water photolysis by biological and chemical systems

The production of chemicals and fuels, or energy-rich compounds, from water by sunlight is described as a particularly attractive means for the conversion of solar energy to a valuable renewable resource. The redox properties of photoexcited molecules and the operating mechanism of light-driven systems are first considered. The mechanism of water oxidation carried out by higher plants and green algae-which is actually one of the most important biochemical reactions—as well as that of artificial photosystems, up-to-now designed trying to simulate the natural process with higher efficiency and simplicity, are likewise discussed. A number of biological and chemical light-driven systems are presented as practical ways to solar energy conversion.     

Photochemical degradation of hyaluronic acid by singlet oxygen

Changes of the rheological properties of hyaluronic acid (sodium-magnesium salt) solutions after exposure to UV radiation indicate a vigorous decrease in their viscosity, but its still strong shear rate dependence. Whereas the presence of the singlet oxygen sensitizer (anthracene-1-sulphonic acid) brings about a loss of shear dependence; the studied solutions show newtonian behavior.     

Nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics simulations of shear thinning in concentrated colloidal suspensions

The effect of interparticle forces on shear thinning in concentrated aqueous and nonaqueous colloidal suspensions was studied using nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics. Hydrodynamic interactions among particles were neglected. Systems of 108 particles were studied at volume fractions of 0.2 and 0.4. For the nonaqueous systems, shear thinning could be correlated with the gradual breakup of small flocs present because of the weak, attractive secondary minimum in the interparticle potential. At the highest shear rate for=0.4, the particles were organized into a hexagonally packed array of strings. For the strongly repulsive aqueous systems, the viscosity appeared to be a discontinuous function of the shear rate. For=0.4, this discontinuity coincided with a transition from a disordered state to a lamellar structure for the suspension.     

Transport phenomena in a plane shock wave

With the use of the nonpolynomial closure 1/ _z in the Mott-Smith approximation of the solution of the Boltzmann equation, we obtain a value of the density gradient in the limit of a very weak shock wave that is close to the correct value. For the determination of the transverse temperature gradient we calculated the _x ² / _z moment of the Mott-Smith collision integral. The effective values of viscosity and thermal conductivity in the limit of a very weak shock wave were calculated for inverse-power potentials and found to agree almost exactly with the Chapman-Enskog values. Such a comparison can serve as a criterion for the evaluation of different bimodal theories. Various bimodal theories give different values of viscosity and thermal conductivity, but all of them give 33 % too high a value of the Eucken ratio.     

磺化丁基橡胶离聚体在混合溶剂中的聚集行为

用顺磁共振（ESR）谱和粘度法考察了磺化丁基橡胶离聚体在二甲苯／正己醇混合溶剂中的聚集行为．ESR谱表明离聚体的离子基团发生聚集，其聚集程度受极性共溶剂（正己醇）的影响．粘度考察表明，在不同的浓度时离子基团有不同的聚集形式，低浓度时以分子内聚集为主，高浓度时以分子间聚集为主．离聚体的聚集度（DA）与浓度（c）的关系可用经验式DA＝Aexp（kc2）表示，其中A、k为常数．k值反映聚集度受浓度影响的程度，醇含量增大时k值减小，这是因为醇对离子的溶剂化作用导致离子聚集的倾向减小．     

Heat capacities of concentrated multicomponent aqueous electrolyte solutions at various temperatures

The specific heat capacities of the aqueous multicomponent system NaCl +KCl+MgCl₂+CaCl₂ with ionic strength between 8.3 and 9.6 (resembling Dead Sea waters) were measured between 15°C and 45°C. The obtained data were fitted to an empirical equation as a function of concentration and temperature. The thermodynamic functions of the studied multicomponent system were found to be strongly influenced by changes in MgCl₂ concentrations. The application of Young's rule to such concentrated systems was checked at 25°C. The calculated (by Young's rule) specific heat capacitiesC _p and apparent molar heat capacities C_p, of these multicomponent electrolyte solutions were in reasonable agreement with the measured values (–0.008 J-g^–1-K^–1 and –2.6 J-mol^–1-K^–1, respectively).     

Effect of viscosity on stationary phase stability in capillary column gas chromatography

With recent advances in column technology it is now possible to prepare highly efficient, very inert, and thermally stable capillary columns coated with nonpolar polysiloxane stationary phases. Unfortunately, the same degree of success has not been achieved for some of the more polar polysiloxane phases. A parameter that has been studied little in the past in relation to stationary phase film stability is the viscosity of the stationary phase. In this paper the efficiency and stability of coated columns are correlated to the viscosity of the phase. Due to their structure, the viscosity of the phenyl-containing polysiloxanes change rapidly with temperature and hence, thin-film coatings are not stable at elevated temperatures. By using high viscosity phenyl-containing methylphenylpolysiloxanes which were recently synthesized, efficient and stable columns have been prepared.     

Analysis of the Temperature and Composition Dependence of Viscosimetric Properties of 2-Butanone <Emphasis Type="Bold">+</Emphasis> 2-Butanol Solvent Mixtures

Kinematic viscosities were measured for 2-butanone + 2-butanol binary liquid mixtures with a capillary Ubbelohde routine viscometer in the temperature range from 273.15 to 353.15 K at atmospheric pressure, and covering the whole miscibility field (0x_i1). Experimental data have been correlated by means of different empirical or semiempirical relationships, such as =(T), =(x_i), and =(T, x_i). Viscosity deviations, , from ideal behavior are negative at all experimental conditions, confirming that structure breaking effects prevail in the liquids. Furthermore, the thermodynamics of viscous flow and excess Gibbs energy of activation of viscous flow, G*^E, have been calculated. As an alternative and complementary approach to such investigations, the fluidity () of this binary system has been analyzed by the modified—Batschinski theory. The results are discussed in terms of the specific molecular interactions between the mixture components.     

裂纹悬臂方薄板的振动辐射声场

为研究含穿透裂纹悬臂方板的振动辐射声场，根据有限元模态分析理论，提取了含人工斜向和十字形穿透裂纹的悬臂方薄板各单元的相关物理参数，同时将瑞利积分离散化，进而计算出裂纹悬臂方薄板辐射声场的空间分布，并通过实验测定了含裂纹悬臂方薄板辐射声场的功率谱。结果表明，斜向裂纹越长，二、四、六阶模态的频率降低越多，而一、三、五阶模态频率随斜向裂纹长度的增大表现为先增大再减小的规律；十字裂纹越长，各阶模态的频率降低越多。穿透裂纹的出现不仅使悬臂板的模态频率有明显的变化，而且声场在空间的分布特征也有显著的变化。     

人工神经网络及其在气候预测中的应用

利用湛江地区近50年的月平均气温时间序列资料，采用人工神经网络模型建立了该地区的短期气候预测系统，试验结果表明，人工神经网络模型对湛江地区的短期气候具有较好的预测能力，在平均绝对误差（MAE）小于1C的条件下，年尺度上气温的实际预报准确率达到75％，充分显示出神经网络模型在气象业务中极高的应用价值。