Dielectric relaxation analysis of starch oligomers and polymers with respect to their chain length

Starch belongs to the polyglucan group. This type of polysaccharide shows a broad β-relaxation process in dielectric spectra at low temperatures, which has its molecular origin in orientational motions of sugar rings via glucosidic linkages. This chain dynamic was investigated for α(1,4)-linked starch oligomers with well-defined chain lengths of 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 anhydroglucose units (AGUs) and for α(1,4)-polyglucans with average degrees of polymerization of 5, 10, 56, 70, and so forth (up to 3000; calculated from the mean molecular weight). The activation energy (E_a) of the segmental chain motion was lowest for dimeric maltose (E_a = 49.4 ± 1.3 kJ/mol), and this was followed by passage through a maximum at a degree of polymerization of 6 (E_a = 60.8 ± 1.8 kJ/mol). Subsequently, E_a leveled off at a value of about 52 ± 1.5 kJ/mol for chains containing more than 100 repeating units. The results were compared with the values of cellulose-like oligomers and polymers bearing a β(1,4)-linkage. Interestingly, the shape of the E_a dependency on the chain length of the molecules was qualitatively the same for both systems, whereas quantitatively the starch-like substances generally showed higher E_a values. Additionally, and for comparison, three cyclodextrins were measured by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. The ringlike molecules, with 6, 7, and 8 α(1,4)-linked AGUs, showed moderately different types of dielectric spectra. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 188–197, 2004     

Homogeneity and Canonical Connections of Isoparametric Manifolds

On every isoparametric submanifold M a connection with parallel second fundamental form is constructed geometrically such that M is an orbit of an s-representation if and only if the connection is a canonical one. If the rank of M is greater than one this connection is in case of homogeneity the canonical connection of the reductive decomposition given by the orbit of s-representation. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Characterisation of adsorbed layers on sulphide minerals by photoelectron spectroscopy

The systems galena/2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) and pyrite/MBT have been studied using synchrotron radiation excited photoelectron spectroscopy (SRXPS). The chemisorption of MBT and the multilayer formation of 2,2′-dithiobis(benzothiazole) (BBTD) are evidenced by additional structures, observed beside the substrate signals, in the S2p-spectra of cleaved mineral surfaces after adsorption of MBT. The amount of the complex remains constant at concentrations as high as 10^–5 mol/L whereas the amount of BBTD increases. From the dependence of the adsorbate intensities on the excitation energy the conclusion can be drawn that an overlayer of BBTD on a chemisorbed layer of MBT is formed. The very weak adsorption of MBT on pyrite in alkaline solutions may explain the selective flotation of galena from pyrite in alkaline media.     

InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays for high-resolution thermal imaging

The first fully operational mid-IR (3–5 μm) 256×256 IR-FPA camera system based on a type-II InAs/GaSb short-period superlattice showing an excellent noise equivalent temperature difference below 10 mK and a very uniform performance has been realized. We report on the development and fabrication of the detecor chip, i.e., epitaxy, processing technology and electro-optical characterization of fully integrated InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays. While the superlattice design employed for the first demonstrator camera yielded a quantum efficiency around 30%, a superlattice structure grown with a thicker active layer and an optimized V/III BEP ratio during growth of the InAs layers exhibits a significant increase in quantum efficiency. Quantitative responsivity measurements reveal a quantum efficiency of about 60% for InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays after implementing this design improvement. The paper presented there appears in Infrared Photoelectronics, edited by Antoni Rogalski, Eustace L. Dereniak, Fiodor F. Sizov, Proc. SPIE Vol. 5957, 595707 (2005).     

Semi-insulating electrical properties of undoped inp after heat treatment in a phosphorus atmosphere

Nominally undoped InP wafers have been annealed in a phosphorus atmosphere under a pressure of about 5 bar at temperatures of 900 °C for about 80 h. It was found that the electrical properties of the samples changed considerably after this treatment. A room temperature resistivity of up to 2×10⁷cm (semi-insulating behaviour) was obtained in the bulk of the samples. The resistivity finally obtained depends on the starting carrier concentration of the untreated samples. The Hall coefficient and Hall mobility have been measured up to 600 °C. The results can be interpreted in terms of a deep electronic level (E _A=0.63 ... 0.65 eV below the conduction band). The Hall coefficient was always found to be negative resulting in a Hall mobility of 1.4 to 4.9×10³ cm²/Vs. The highest resistivity in nominally undoped bulk InP so far reported in the literature [1] was =3.6 × 10⁵cm. Therefore, this paper demonstrates for the first time that a really semi-insulating behaviour of >10⁷ cm can be achieved for bulk InP with the purity of nominally undoped material (10¹⁵ to 10¹⁶cm^–3).     

Reibungsdämpfung durch Scheuerleisten: Ein praxisgerechtes Auslegungskonzept

Übersicht Die Fugen zusammengesetzter Bauteile sind einerseits für eine nachteilige Steifigkeitsminderung verantwortlich, tragen aber andererseits durch Reibungsvorgänge wesentlich zum Dämpfungsvermögen einer Konstruktion bei. Merkliche Reibungsdämpfung ohne gleichzeitigen Steifigkeitsverlust bewirken zusätzliche Fugen, die durch Anbringen sogenannter Scheuerleisten entstehen. Der Autor stellt ein Näherungsverfahren zur dämpfungsoptimalen Auslegung von Scheuerleisten vor. Ausgehend von der zu dämpfenden Schwingungsform liefert dieses Verfahren Kriterien für eine günstige Scheuerleistenanordnung, geeignete Leistenabmessungen und als wichtigstes Ergebnis eine dämpfungsoptimale Fugenpressung, die zu maximaler Energiedissipation führt. Schließlich kann das zu erwartende Dämpfungsmaß berechnet und damit das Ergebnis einer vorgesehenen Dämpfungsmaßnahme abgeschätzt werden.

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Damping by friction ledges: a practical design concept

Summary On the one hand, mating surfaces of structures are responsible for a reduction of stiffness, on the other hand relative motion produces friction, which contributes considerably to the damping. Noticeable friction damping without simultaneous stiffness reduction can be achieved by adding further mating surfaces. Such interfaces are realized by fastening additional elements (e.g. beamlike) onto the structure. An analytic approximation method for these so-called friction ledges is described in this paper. Initiating from the mode shape to be damped the procedure yields criteria for the suitable positioning and design of the ledges. Most important of all is the damping optimized interface pressure, that leads to maximum energy dissipation. Finally, the expected damping rate can be computed, and therefore the result of the proposed measure assessed.