Solubility enhancement of Nd7+ in scandium-substituted rare earth-aluminum garnets

An increased solubility of Nd³⁺ in YAG has been achieved by means of expansion of its crystal lattice with Sc³⁺ ions substituting for Al³⁺ ions in the octahedral sites. A number of other scandium substituted rare earth aluminum garnets of general formula {R₃}[Sc₂](Al₃)O₁₂ have been prepared and results are compared with similar compounds in {R₃}[Sc₂](Fe₃)O₁₂ systems. It is shown that the expansion of the YAG lattice by octahedral substitution significantly increases the solubility of Nd³⁺ on dodecahedral sites. The results of substitution of Sc in other rare earth-aluminum systems appear to be consistent with results obtained in the yttrium-aluminum system and so ions bigger than Gd³⁺, such as Eu³⁺ and Sm³⁺, can form garnets {Eu₃}[Sc₂](Al₃)O₁₂ and {Sm₃}[Sc₂](Al₃)O₁₂.     

Effect of lignin content on thermal degradation of wood pulp

A series of pulps containing between 3.6 and 23% of lignin was prepared by a careful delignification of a high-yield bisulfite pulp. The pulps were subjected to isothermal pyrolysis in a Perkin-Elmer TGS-1 thermobalance. The measurements were carried out at 8 different temperatures from 325 to 360°C under nitrogen atmosphere. The results obtained indicate that the effect of lignin on degradation depends strongly on temperature. Below 330°C, the rate of degradation varied only little with lignin. This variation becomes more important at temperatures above 330°C in that the rate of degradation increases with decreasing lignin content. The apparent activation energy of degradation ranges from 41.4 kcal mol^?1 at 23% of lignin to 67.0 kcal mol^?1 at 3.7% of lignin.     

Garnets with dodecahedral rare earths and scandium,octahedral scandium,and tetrahedral iron. I. Compositional and structural studies

It has been found possible to prepare garnets with magnetic trivalent rare-earth ions filling all or most dodecahedral sites while nonmagnetic Sc³⁺ ions fill all octahedral sites and magnetic Fe³⁺ ions fill all or most tetrahedral sites. Phase-pure garnets found include {RE_3?ySc_y}[Sc₂](Fe₃)O₁₂, where RE is Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, or Dy, and y can be zero with Sm and Eu; {Nd₃}[Sc₂](Fe_zGa_3?z)O₁₂; and other NdScFe garnets with small amounts of Y, Gd, or Lu added in order to bring z up to 3. Results are interpreted in terms of “size factor” and “comfort factor.”     

Number of 59·5 keV-photons per decay of241Am

Number of 59·5 keV-photons per decay of²⁴¹Am equal to 0·355±0·003 was determined from activity and gamma-emission rate measurements.     

Electrical conductivity in magnesium-doped Al2O3 crystals at moderate temperatures

Abstract

AC and DC electrical measurements between 273 and 800 K were used to characterize the electrical conductivity of Al₂O₃: Mg single crystals containing [Mg]⁰ centers. At low fields contacts are blocking. At high fields, electrical current flows steadily through the sample and the I–V characteristic corresponds to a directly biased barrier with a series resistance (bulk resistance). AC measurements yield values for the junction capacitance as well as for the sample resistance, and provide reproducible conductivity values. The conductivity varies linearly with the [Mg]⁰ concentration and a thermal activation energy of 0.67 eV was obtained, which agrees very well with the activation energy previously reported for the motion of free holes.     

Internal conversion of the 84·23 keV transition in170Yb

The conversion coefficient _K=1·48±0·07 and the total conversion coefficient = =8·05±0·2 have been determined by means of the 4 scintillation counter.The authors are obliged to Mrs.Boukalov, Mrs.Vladykov and MissStíteská for the assistance in the elaboration of this paper.