Temperature dependent structural and optical properties of nanocrystallineCdO thin films deposited by sol–gel process

Nanocrystallites of cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films were deposited by sol–gel dip coating technique on glass and Si substrates. XRD and TEM diffraction patterns confirmed the nanocrystalline cubic CdO phase formation. TEM micrograph of the film revealed the manifestation of nano CdO phase with average particle size lying in the range 1.6–9.3 nm. UV–Vis spectrophotometric measurement showed high transparency (nearly 75% in the wavelength range 500–800 nm) of the film with a direct allowed bandgap lying in the range 2.86–3.69 eV. Particle size has also been calculated from the shift of bandgap with that of bulk value for the films for which the particles sizes are comparable to Bohr exitonic radius. The particle size increases with the increase in annealing temperature and also the intensity of XRD peaks increases which implies that better crystallinity takes place at higher temperature.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected issue number.     

A modified rheometer for in-situ radial and tangential SAXS studies on shear-induced alignment

A tooth rheometer designed to investigate the influence of large amplitude oscillatory shear on the macroscopic orientation of complex fluids is described. The rheometer allows in-situ two-directional small-angle scattering measurements, making it possible to observe in particular the orientation process of hierarchically structured block copolymers in dynamics. Experiments performed with a linear poly(vinyl methyl ether) show that, despite a considerable gap/width ratio, the rheometer can be used for adequate rheological measurements. In addition we found an unexpected dependence of the dynamic parameters on the rheometer gap. The small amount of sample required favors the use of this rheometer for measuring the rheological characteristics of new compounds.     

Ionic liquids for the convenient synthesis of functional nanoparticles and other inorganic nanostructures

Ionic liquids are a new class of organic solvents with high polarity and a preorganized solvent structure. Very polar reactions can be carried out in these liquid in the absence of or with a controlled amount of water, and crystalline nanoparticles can be synthesized conveniently at ambient temperatures. The pronounced self-organization of the solvent is used in the synthesis of self-assembled, highly organized hybrid nanostructures with unparalleled quality. The extraordinary potential of ionic liquids in materials synthesis is described in this minireview and a physicochemical explanation is given.     

Microstructure–conductivity relationship in Gd- and Sm-doped ceria-based electrolytes prepared by the acrylamide sol–gel-related method

We have prepared pure electrolytes of Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_1.9 (CGO) and Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_1.9 (CSO), useful for SOFCs, by a sol–gel-related technique like the acrylamide method. This method consists of preparing a solution from the single oxides followed by gelation. Then, the combustion or decomposition of the organic molecules is initiated, producing nanometric calcined powders of the above-mentioned compounds. Thermal treatments were optimized in order to obtain good electrochemical properties of the electrolytes. We have observed that the synthesis temperature to obtain the pure phase is lower for the sol–gel samples than for the pellets prepared by solid-state reaction, and the final density is higher. The microstructure and composition of the powders were characterized by TEM, SEM, and EDX analysis. The electrical properties of the electrolytes were measured by impedance spectroscopy at different temperatures and oxygen partial pressures.Presented at the OSSEP Workshop Ionic and Mixed Conductors: Methods and Processes, Aveiro, Portugal, 10–12 April 2003     

Transparent Conducting Films in the Zn--Sn--O Tie Line

Two Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ monolithic silica-alumina xerogels doped with different Yb³⁺ concentrations were prepared by sol–gel route. The samples were thermally treated in air at 950°C for 120 h, and Raman and UV-visible-NIR spectroscopy were used to monitor the degree of densification of the glasses and the residual OH     

A systematic investigation into the recovery of radioactively labeled proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels

We report the results of a systematic investigation designed to optimize a method for quantifying radioactivity in proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The method involves dissolving appropriately sized pieces of gel in hydrogen peroxide and heating to 70 degrees C overnight followed by liquid scintillation counting. H(2)O(2) had no effect on the count rates of [(14)C]bovine serum albumin (BSA) when counted in a conventional liquid scintillation system, and the count rates remained stable for several days. Temperatures below 70 degrees C resulted in incomplete extraction of radioactivity from gels containing [(14)C]BSA, but there was also a significant reduction in count rates in samples incubated at 80 degrees C. At 70 degrees C recovery was not affected by the amount of sample loaded onto the gel or by the staining procedure (Coomassie Brilliant Blue or SYPRO Ruby). Recoveries were in the range of 89-94%, and the coefficient of variation for five replicate samples was 5-10%. This method offers a reliable way of measuring the amount of radioactivity in proteins that have been separated by electrophoresis. It may be useful, for example, in quantitative metabolic labeling experiments when it is necessary to know precisely how much tracer has been incorporated into a particular protein.     

High performance liquid chromatography of aromatic carboxylic acids on p-tert-butyl-calix[8]arene-bonded silica gel stationary phase

A new p-tert-butyl-calix[8]arene-bonded silica gel stationary phase (CABS) was used for the separation of some aromatic carboxylic acids by HPLC. The chromatographic behaviour of the solutes on CABS was studied in comparison with conventional ODS. The results show that the calix[8]arene-bonded phase exhibits a stronger retention and better selectivity than ODS for the aromatic carboxylic acids. The different elution order of the analytes was also observed on both packings, which show the existence of distinct retention mechanisms. According to chromatographic data, it can be concluded that the high selectivity of CABS for aromatic carboxylic acids ascribes to various interactions between CABS and the analytes, such as hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonding interaction, π-π interaction and inclusion interaction.     

Asymptotics of zeros of polynomials arising from rational integrals

We prove that the zeros of the polynomials Pm(a) of degree m, defined by Boros and Moll via

     

Schrödinger Operator Levels for a Crystal Film with a Nonlocal Potential

For a crystal film, we consider the Schrödinger operator defined on Bloch functions (with respect to two variables) in a cell. The potential is the sum of two small terms: a function decreasing with respect to the third variable and an operator of rank one. We prove the existence of two levels (eigenvalues or resonances) near the parameter value E=0 and obtain their asymptotic behavior.