The phase composition of tin-nickel electrodeposited alloys

It was studied the tin phase composition of the electrodeposited alloys produced at different temperatures and current densities from an acid chloride/fluoride electrolyte and an acid chloride bath. Mössbauer spectra were consistent with a Ni₃Sn₄ intermetallic compound, dissolved tin, and a Cu?Sn intermetallic compound formed at the interface of the copper substrate.     

Intrinsically flame retardant epoxy resin - Fire performance and background - Part I

The flame retardant effect of newly synthesized phosphorus-containing reactive amine, which can be used both as crosslinking agent in epoxy resins and as a flame retardant, was investigated. The effect of montmorillonite and sepiolite additives on the fire induced degradation was compared to pristine epoxy resin. The effect of combining the organophosphorous amine with clay minerals was also studied. It could be concluded that the synthesized phosphorus-containing amine, TEDAP can substitute the traditional epoxy resin curing agents providing additionally excellent flame retardancy: the epoxy resins flame retarded this way reach 960 °C GWFI value, 33 LOI value and V-0 UL-94 rating - compared to the 550 °C GWFI value, 21 LOI value and “no rate” UL-94 classification of the reference epoxy resin. The peak of heat release was reduced to 1/10 compared to non-flame retarded resin, furthermore a shift in time was observed, which increases the time to escape in case of fire. The flame retardant performance can be further improved by incorporating clay additives: the LOI and the HRR results showed that the optimum of flame retardant effect of clay additives is around 1 mass% filler level in AH-16-TEDAP system. Applying a complex method for mechanical and structural characterization of the intumescent char it was determined that the flame retarded system forms significantly more and stronger char of better uniformity with smaller average bubble size. Incorporation of clay additives (owing to their bubble nucleating activity) results in further decrease in average bubble diameter.     

Magnetic scattering of spin polarized carriers in (In, Mn)Sb dilute magnetic semiconductor

Magnetoresistance measurements on the magnetic semiconductor (In, Mn)Sb suggest that magnetic scattering in this material is dominated by isolated Mn2+ ions located outside the ferromagnetically ordered regions when the system is below T(c). A model is proposed, based on the p-d exchange between spin-polarized charge carriers and localized Mn2+ ions, which accounts for the observed behavior both below and above the ferromagnetic phase transition. The suggested picture is further verified by high-pressure experiments, in which the degree of magnetic interaction can be varied in a controlled way.     

High-accuracy theoretical study on the thermochemistry of several formaldehyde derivatives

In the case of several formaldehyde derivatives, with importance in atmospheric and combustion chemistry, the currently available thermochemical values suffer from considerably large uncertainties. In this study a high-accuracy theoretical model chemistry has been used to provide accurate thermochemical data including heats of formation at 0 and 298 K and standard molar entropies at 298 K for CF(2)O, FCO, HFCO, HClCO, FClCO, HOCO, and NH(2)CO. For most of the thermochemical quantities studied here, this investigation delivers the best available estimate.     

Enhanced granular magnetoresistance due to ferromagnetic layers

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of sequentially evaporated Fe-Ag structures has been investigated. Direct experimental evidence is given, showing that inserting ferromagnetic layers into a granular structure significantly enhances the magnetoresistance. The increase in the GMR effect is attributed to spin polarization effects. The large enhancement (up to more than a fourfold value) and the linear variation of the GMR in low magnetic fields are explained by scattering of the spin polarized conduction electrons on paramagnetic grains.     

Reply to “Comment on Aromatic‐Backbone Interactions in Model α‐Helical Peptides”

In response to Van Mourik's comments on our paper (J Comput Chem 2007, 28, 1208.) we present an extended version of our rotation method. We also prove that intramolecular interaction energies as well the basis set superposition errors calculated with our rotation method are comparable with those obtained by the counterpoise method of Boys and Bernardi (Mol Phys 1970, 19, 533). In intramolecular interaction energy calculations, if the interacting groups are in proximity, our rotation method is recommended to avoid artificial interactions, which can be induced by fragmentation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.J Comput Chem, 2008     

The effect of electron correlation on the conformational space of melatonin

The pineal gland hormone melatonin regulates several physiological processes including circadian rhythm and also alleviates oxidative stress‐induced degenerative diseases. In spite of its important biological roles, no high level ab initio conformational study has been conducted to reveal its structural features. In this work, the conformational flexibility of melatonin was investigated using correlated ab initio calculations. Conformers, obtained previously at the Hartree‐Fock level (HF/6‐31G*), were fully optimized using second order Møller‐Plesset perturbation theory applying the frozen core approximation (MP2(FC)/6‐31G*). Furthermore, single‐point MP4(SDQ,FC)/6‐31G*//MP2(FC)/6‐31G* computations were performed to investigate the effect of higher order perturbation terms. The HF and MP2 conformational spaces are considerably different: the initial 128 structures converged into 102 different local minima as confirmed by frequency calculations; 28 new minima appeared and 26 previous HF local minima disappeared; no “all‐trans” C3 side chain conformations are seen at the MP2(FC) level. The MP2 global minimum conformation is stabilized by an aromatic‐side chain interaction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008     

New reactive additives for interface modification in multicomponent polyolefin systems

New reactive additives were synthesised and used as interface modifiers in different multicomponent polyolefine systems. The synthesis was carried out in computer‐controlled reactor by means of Diels‐Alder reaction and condensation. These additives are capable of combining the benefits of dispersing and coupling agents. A part of the synthesised reactive surfactants have also synergistic effect in flame retardant systems. Their surface‐active character facilitates the reactive compounding. The undesirable transport processes of stabilisers and components of flame‐retardants in polyolefine systems could be effectively controlled by interface modification.     

Fire Retarded Insulating Sheets from Recycled Materials

In this work we aimed at forming partially recycled polymer composites of appropriate mechanical properties and flame retardancy. Multilayer composite structures proved to be suitable to fulfill all of these requirements. Core-shell structures presented here contain two-component thermosets, i.e. epoxy, recycled polyurethane and polyisocyanurate, as matrices reinforced with waste fillers such as short basalt fibers and wood chips. Flame retardancy and mechanical properties of the core-shell structures were investigated by the conventional methods of characterization. The developed cost-effective multilayer composites can be applied as heat and sound insulating panels e.g. multifunctional sheets for construction or automotive industry.