Thermoluminescence of KMgF3(RE) crystals

Optical properties of pure and RE doped KMgF₃ crystals were studied. Thermoluminescence curves are independent of the introduced impurity for all dopant besides europium. Emission, radiation damage and TL are found to be significantly dependent on the types of Eu-dopant added to the melt: europium fluoride or oxide. An intensive high temperature TL peak at 390°C in KMgF₃(Eu₂O₃) may be used as a dosimetric one not only for ionizing but also for UV radiation.     

Energy storage in Ce-doped LiCaAlF6 and LiSrAlF6 crystals

Absorption, emission and thermoluminescence (TL) of as-grown and X-irradiated pure and Ce-doped LiCaAlF₆ (LiCAF) and LiSrAlF₆ (LiSAF) crystals have been analyzed. It is shown that the energy storage is defined by the dissimilarity of basic matrix properties, intrinsic defect structure, preferred Ce³⁺ ion disposition and charge compensation defect type. This is the reason of higher colorability and TL efficiency of as-grown Ce:LiSAF compared to Ce:LiCAF. Pre-filling of ultra-deep traps leads to enormous increases in the TL response. Due to these properties Ce:LiSAF and Ce:LiCAF are promising thermoluminescent dosimetric materials.     

Copolymerization of styrene. V. Copolymerization with α-cyanocinnamamide

Copolymers of styrene with α-cyanocinnamamide were prepared by free radical initiation in bulk and in DMF solution and also by thermal initiation in bulk. The copolymerization parameters were determined by the conventional scheme of copolymerization and by an improved scheme taking into account the penultimate unit. Different values of the copolymerization parameters were obtained at the above mentioned different polymerization conditions, indicating the existence of a solvent effect. The influence of the comonomer on some of the basic properties, like intrinsic viscosity, solubility, melting range, and glass transition temperature and on some mechanical and behavior properties of the copolymers was studied in comparison with homopolystyrene.     

Controlling the agglomeration of anisotropic Ru nanoparticles by the microwave-polyol process

A rapid polyol process for the synthesis of ruthenium nanoparticles was developed using microwave irradiation. A colloidal solution of monodispersed anisotropic Ru metal nanoparticles (mean particle size 2-6 nm) with different aspect ratios was obtained first. Particles with different degrees of agglomeration have also been synthesized using monodisperse particles as seeds and PVP (poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) as the stabilization reagent. The stabilization mechanisms of different protective reagents were studied by UV-vis spectra. The HRTEM images indicated that dendritic particles formed by controlling agglomeration consisted of single-crystal domains with a random crystalline orientation.     

Synthesis of alpha-MoTe2 nanorods via annealing Te-seeded amorphous MoTe2 particles

Semiconductor alpha-MoTe2 nanorods have been synthesized by annealing Te-seeded particles of an amorphous MoTe2 intermediate. This intermediate is prepared by a solution reaction between Mo(CO)6 and elemental Te in diphenylmethane. The as-synthesized products were characterized by structural, compositional, and morphological techniques of X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction, selected area energy dispersive spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results of the annealing process are MoTe2 nanorods with diameters of 50-200 nm and lengths ranging from 0.1 to 3.0 microm. Here, the rodlike structure of MoTe2 is reported for the first time, and added to the list as one kind of new morphology of MoTe2 nanomaterials. A mechanism for the formation of the nanorods is proposed. The sandwich-layered structure of Te-Mo-Te and the similarity in the structure between hexagonal alpha-MoTe2 and hexagonal Te are responsible for the formation of nanorods of MoTe2.     

Operators with resolvent of bounded characteristic

It is proved that if T is a bounded linear operator on a complex Banach space such that the sequence of norms {Tⁿ, n = 1,2, } is of power growth, then the resolvent of T is of bounded characteristic on the open unit disc D in the complex plane, if and only if T is annihilated by a nonzero holomorphic function on D with infinitely differentiable boundary values. This is analogous to the known result that an operator on a complex Banach space has rational resolvent, if and only if it is annihilated by a nonzero polynomial.     

Insights into the sonochemical decomposition of Fe(CO)5: theoretical and experimental understanding of the role of molar concentration and power density on the reaction yield

The present work analyses, in detail, the optimization of a sonochemical process with respect to concentration of precursor and power supplied in a system. This is due to that even a small change in power dramatically changes the high-energy conditions created with the bubble collapse. A model reaction that has been considered for this purpose involves the decomposition of Fe(CO)₅ in decalin solvent as this reaction is strongly influenced by the cavitation conditions. Sonochemical treatment of this carbonyl results in the formation of amorphous Fe₂O₃, which on heat treatment gives nanocrystalline Fe₂O₃. It has been observed that concentration and power density parameters play an important role to obtain higher decomposition of Fe(CO)₅ and hence higher yield of the amorphous Fe₂O₃ product. Also, using the experimentally observed results, a correlation (polynomial) has been developed.     

The sonochemical coating of cotton withstands 65 washing cycles at hospital washing standards and retains its antibacterial properties

Hospital-acquired nosocomial infections are a major health, and consequently financial issue, in the world healthcare system. The problem of bacterial infections in general, and in hospitals in particular, has led to extensive scientific and industrial efforts to fabricate antibacterial textiles. A sonochemical coating machine was developed and built and its ability to coat antibacterial nanoparticles (NPs) onto 40–50 meter length of materials on a roll to roll basis at a speed of 22 cm/min. Cotton coated sonochemically with copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) was found to maintain its antibacterial properties even after 65 cycles of washings according to hospital protocols of hygienic washing (75 °C). This demonstrates the good quality and high stability of this sonochemically produced NPs coating on textiles. Durable antibacterial textiles such as these may be suitable for wide spread use in future hospital environments where hygiene control is of paramount importance.     

A thermochemical analysis of inhalational anesthetics

The mechanism of the anesthetic process is of interest both to the clinician and to the pharmacologist. However, this is still an unsettled issue and a multitude of models have been proposed for the process. Noticing that most models propose either a molecular perturbation by the agents or an effect on some colligative property, we explore in this article the thermodynamical consequences of these postulations. Comparison of these with experimental findings is then made. The comparison shows the inconsistency of many of the models with the facts: (i) it refutes the long accepted conviction, culminated in the unitary hypothesis, that general anesthetics act not at a particular receptor site but invariably on all. Some consequences of this finding are demonstrated. (ii) it implies that a simple phospholipid medium is not feasible as an anesthetic site. (iii) it infers that proteins do have the properties required from anesthetic sites.Dedicated to Prof. Menachem Steinberg on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Sequencing of antisense DNA analogues by capillary gel electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

A method using capillary gel electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection is described which permits complete sequence determination of antisense DNA analogues of unknown sequence. This method, originally created as a tool to confirm the sequence of antisense oligonucleotides being developed as therapeutic drugs, utilizes data collected under a range of experimental conditions described by the Ogston model as applied to gel electrophoresis. A linear relationship independent of experimental conditions between the relative electrophoretic migration time and the oligonucleotide base number was observed and is shown to be consistent with a simplified version of this model and can be used to facilitate the sequence determination.