Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

Shaping Solid-State Supramolecular Cavities: Chemically Induced Accordionlike Movement of gamma-Zirconium Phosphate Containing Polyethylenoxide Pillars

The hydrophilic oxygen atoms of polyethylenoxide chains inserted as pillars in gamma-zirconium phosphate form hydrogen bonds with the acid groups of the host. As a result the pillars are almost perpendicular to the gamma layers. Upon changing the pH level of the supernatant solution the hydrogen bonds are broken and the pillars become almost perpendicular to the layers (shown schematically). Thus there is a reversible enlargement-shortening of the interlayer space.     

Cosorption of Zn(II) and 2-, 3-, or 4-aminopyridine by montmorillonite

Data from acid-base titrations at 25 degrees C of Zn(NO(3))(2) and 2-, 3-, or 4-aminopyridine in 10 mM KNO(3) as background electrolyte suggested that soluble complexes ZnL(2+) and Zn(OH)L(+) form, where L represents aminopyridine. Zinc-hydroxyaminopyridine complexes have not been reported previously. The cosorption of Zn(II) with each of the aminopyridines to K-saturated Wyoming (SWy-K) and Texas (STx-K), and Ca-enriched Texas (STx-Ca) montmorillonites was measured at 25 degrees C, with 10 mM KNO(3) or 3.3 mM Ca(NO(3))(2) as background electrolyte. Comparison with previous data for sorption of Zn(II) and the aminopyridines separately and surface complexation modeling of the cosorption data showed that under acid conditions competition between Zn(2+) and aminopyridinium ions for the permanent negatively charged sites of montmorillonite results in suppression of the uptake of each sorbate by the other, but only when a large excess of the competing sorbate is present. Under alkaline conditions the sorption of Zn(II) was not affected by the presence of even a large excess of aminopyridine, but the sorption of 4-aminopyridine in particular was slightly enhanced when a large excess of Zn(II) was present. The enhancement was attributed to the formation of metal-bridged ternary surface complexes at the variable-charge sites on the edges of the montmorillonite crystals.     

Competitive adsorption behavior of heavy metals on kaolinite

Polluted and contaminated soils can often contain more than one heavy metal species. It is possible that the behavior of a particular metal species in a soil system will be affected by the presence of other metals. In this study we have investigated the adsorption of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) onto kaolinite in single- and multi-element systems as a function of pH and concentration, in a background solution of 0.01 M NaNO3. In adsorption edge experiments, the pH was varied from 3.5 to 10.0 with total metal concentration 133.3 microM in the single-element system and 33.3 microM each of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) in the multi-element system. The value of pH50 (the pH at which 50% adsorption occurs) was found to follow the sequence Cu相似文献   

Adsorption of aspartic acid on kaolinite

The interaction of aspartic acid with kaolinite was studied by potentiometric titrations and by adsorption measurements both at constant aspartate concentration (but varying pH) and at a constant pH of 5.5. The temperature was 25 degrees C, and the ionic medium 5 mM KNO3. Aspartic acid dissociation constants estimated from titrations agreed with those from the literature. The adsorption of aspartic acid to kaolinite was weak and varied only slightly with pH; 10-18% of 100 microM aspartic acid adsorbed to kaolinite at 100 m(2)L(-1) between pH 3 and 10. Data from the titrations and adsorption experiments were fitted closely by an extended constant-capacitance surface complexation model, in which monodentate outer-sphere complexes formed between deprotonated aspartic acid molecules and protonated sites on the variable-charge edges of the kaolinite crystals. There appeared to be no adsorption to the permanently charged crystal faces.     

Modeling the adsorption of Cd(II) onto goethite in the presence of citric acid

The adsorption of cadmium onto goethite in the presence of citric acid was measured as a function of pH and cadmium concentration at 25 degrees C. Potentiometric titrations were also performed on the system. Cadmium adsorption onto goethite was enhanced above pH 4 in the presence of 50 microM, 100 microM and 1 mM citric acid. While there was little difference between the enhancements caused by 50 and 100 microM citric acid below pH 6, above pH 6 further enhancement is seen in the presence of 100 microM citric acid. When 1 mM citric acid was present, the enhancement of cadmium adsorption was greater below pH 6, with increased Cd(II) adsorption down to pH 3.5. However, above pH 6, 1 mM of citric acid caused slightly less enhancement than the lower citric acid concentrations. ATR-FTIR spectra of soluble and adsorbed citrate-cadmium species were measured as a function of pH. At pH 4.6 there was very little difference between the ternary Cd(II)-citric acid-goethite spectrum and the binary citric acid-goethite spectrum. However, spectra of the ternary system at pH 7.0 and 8.7 indicated the presence of additional surface species. Further analysis of the spectra suggested that these were metal-ligand outer-sphere complexes. Data from the adsorption experiments and potentiometric titrations of the ternary Cd(II)-citric acid-goethite system were fitted by an extended constant-capacitance surface complexation model. The spectroscopic data were used to inform the choice of surface species. Three reactions in addition to those for the binary Cd(II)-goethite and citric acid-goethite systems were required to describe all of the data. They were [formula in text], [formula in text], and [formula in text]. Neither the spectroscopy nor the modeling suggested the formation of a ternary inner-sphere complex or a surface precipitate under the conditions used in this study.     

31P solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance study of the sorption of phosphate onto gibbsite and kaolinite

Sorption of phosphate onto gibbsite (gamma-Al(OH)3) and kaolinite has been studied by both macroscopic and 31P solid-state NMR measurements. Together these measurements indicate that phosphate is sorbed by a combination of surface complexation and surface precipitation with the relative amounts of these phases depending on pH and phosphate concentration. At low pH and high phosphate concentrations sorption is dominated by the presence of both amorphous and crystalline precipitate phases. The similarity between the single-pulse and CP/MAS NMR spectra suggests that the precipitate phases form a thin layer on the surface of the particles in close contact with protons from surface hydroxyl groups or coordinated water molecules. While the crystalline phase is only evident on samples below pH 7, amorphous AlPO4 was found at all pH and phosphate concentrations studied. As pH was increased the fraction of phosphate sorbed as an inner-sphere complex increased, becoming the dominant surface species by pH 8. Comparison of sorption and NMR results suggests that the inner-sphere complexes form by monodentate coordination to singly coordinated Al-OH sites on the edges of the gibbsite and kaolinite crystals. Outer-sphere phosphate complexes, which are readily desorbed, are also present at high pH.