Significant enhancement of the photoelectrochemical activity of TiO2 nanotubes

In the present work, we report on a facile and effective approach to significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ nanotubes. The TiO₂ nanotubes prepared by the electrochemical oxidation of titanium in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with 2% HF were treated in a methanol solution under UV light irradiation. In comparison with the untreated TiO₂ nanotubes, the treatment resulted in a dramatic increase in the donor density of the TiO₂ nanotubes by approximately 3 orders of magnitude. The treated TiO₂ nanotubes exhibited a 15-fold enhancement in photocurrent and a 6.8-fold increase in the photoelectrochemical degradation of 4-nitrophenol, significant for hydrogen generation and wastewater treatment.     

Spin squeezing and quantum correlations

We discuss the notion of spin squeezing considering two mutually exclusive classes of spin-s states, namely, oriented and non-oriented states. Our analysis shows that the oriented states are not squeezed while non-oriented states exhibit squeezing. We also present a new scheme for construction of spin-s states using 2s spinors oriented along different axes. Taking the case of s=1, we show that the ‘non-oriented’ nature and hence squeezing arise from the intrinsic quantum correlations that exist among the spinors in the coupled state.     

Loss of collectivity in 79Rb

High-spin states in ⁷⁹Rb were populated in the reaction at E(beam) = 60 MeV. The lifetimes of the excited states of the positive-parity yrast band and of the negative-parity band in ⁷⁹Rb were measured by the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The deduced transition quadrupole moments Q_t are found to have a decreasing trend with rotational frequency for both the bands, consistent with those found experimentally in neighbouring nuclei. An erratum to this article is available at .     

纳米多孔二氧化钛电极辅助光电化学降解乙酰氨基酚及伐昔洛韦

作为一类具有较高生物活性的物质,药物及个人护理品对环境的污染引起人们越来越多的关注.对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦是两种使用广泛的药物,由于其潜在的对人类健康和生态安全的威胁而逐渐成为研究热点.而电化学辅助光氧化技术因其具备能够高效处理难降解化学品的优点而得到广泛使用.本文合成了纳米多孔二氧化钛电极,研究了电化学还原处理对纳米多孔二氧化钛电极辅助光电化学降解对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的影响.使用扫描电镜和色散谱技术对合成的纳米多孔二氧化钛电极的形态和元素组成进行了表征.循环伏安法、莫特-肖特基曲线、紫外-可见分光光度计和总有机碳分析仪被用来研究对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的光电化学降解过程.结果显示,对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的光化学降解和电化学降解过程非常缓慢,在研究的时间范围内其浓度未见明显变化,因此可以忽略不计.但是对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的光电化学降解速度比较快,与未经处理的纳米多孔二氧化钛电极相比,经过电化学还原处理的电极可以使对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的光电化学降解分别提高86.96%和53.12%.这可能是由于在电化学还原处理过程中生成了Ti3+, Ti2+和氧空位以及导电性的提高.还研究了温度对对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦光电化学降解的影响,随着温度升高,对乙酰氨基酚和伐昔洛韦的光电化学降解速率增大.     

Theory of sheath in a collisional multi-component plasma

The aim of this brief report is to study the behaviour of sheath structure in a multi-component plasma with dust-neutral collisions. The plasma consists of electrons, ions, micron size negatively charged dust particles and neutrals. The sheath-edge potential and sheath width are calculated for collisionally dominated sheath. Comparison of collisionless and collisionally dominated sheath are made.     

Shape changes at high spin in 78Kr

High-spin states in ⁷⁸Kr have been studied via the ⁶³Cu (¹⁹F, 2p2n)⁷⁸Kr reaction at a beam energy of 60 MeV using the Indian National Gamma Array (INGA). In this nucleus, lifetimes have been measured upto the I^π=22⁺ level in the yrast positive-parity band and upto the I^π=15^- level in the negative-parity band using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method (DSAM). The deduced transition quadrupole moments Q_t's are found to decrease with rotational frequency for both the bands.     

Solvent-controlled formation of η-butadienyl or η-allyl group 6 transition metal complexes in water or alcohols

Preparation of acyl chloride, ester, amide or thioester-substituted η³-butadienyl complexes of the type [MCl(CO)₂(η³-CH₂C(COXR)CCH₂)(L₂)] (M=Mo,W; XR=Cl, OR, NHR, SR; L₂=1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline) from 1,4-dichloro-2-butyne and Ph₄P[MCl(CO)₃(L₂)] in water resulted in improved yields (M=Mo) and recycling of reagents. Whilst analogous reactions in anhydrous methanol to yield either substituted η³-butadienyl (XR=OR) or η³-allyl [MoCl(CO)₂(η³-CH₂C(CO₂R)C(OR)Me)(phen)] were dependent upon the presence of organic bases or ethers, reactions in propanol or butanol gave the η³-butadienyl complexes only. Possible mechanisms are discussed. Halide extraction from ester or amide butadienyl complexes in hydroxylic solvents gave highly reactive cations of the type [Mo(CO)₂(η³-butadienyl)(phen)(solvent]⁺, and carboxylate products were obtained by displacement of metal-bound solvent by glucuronate or hydroxybutyrate ions.     

Analysis of a shielded TE011 mode composite dielectric resonator for stable frequency reference

Analysis of a TE₀₁₁ mode composite sapphire-rutile dielectric resonator has been carried out to study the temperature variation of resonance frequency, close to the Cs atomic clock hyperfine frequency of 9.192 GHz. The complementary behavior of dielectric permittivity with temperature of the composite has been exploited to obtain the desired turning point in the resonant frequency. The frequency of the composite structure is found to be independent of the shield diameter beyond four times the puck diameter.