Deconvolution of very low primary energy SIMS depth profiles

In this paper, the deconvolution of SIMS profiles analysed at very low primary energy (0.5 keV/O₂⁺) is addressed. The depth resolution function (DRF) of the SIMS analysis in presence of roughness is established and a deconvolution procedure is implemented without or in presence of roughness on samples containing delta-doped layers of boron in silicon. It is shown that the deconvolution procedure can lead to a great improvement of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the measured peaks in the case where no roughness in detected in the crater bottom. In the case where it is present, the conditions required to use a deconvolution procedure are discussed, and the deconvolution is implemented using precise and restrictive assumptions.     

Thermal and thermoxidative degradations of starch and thermosensitive starch-g-BAM copolymers

Summary Thermal degradation under N₂atmosphere and thermoxidative degradation under air atmosphere of increasingly grafting efficiency values (i.e. GE%=0.0 to 35.5) for starch and starch grafted with N-tert-butylacrylamide thermosensitive copolymers (starch-g-BAM) by Ozawa and Kissinger methods using thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry techniques (DSC) at 10, 30 and 50% mass losses respectively have been studied. Influence of physical inter and intra molecular interactions on grafting and consequently on activation energy of degradation (E_a,d) was investigated using Ozawa's method, whereas linear dependence of E_a,don GE% by scaling relations using Kissinger's method was determined. Furthermore, the thermoxidative degradation induces the possibility of molecular rearrangement, cyclization and partial crosslinking that is deduced from the activation energy of degradation (E_a,d) and residual mass of TG profile. Thermal stability of starch does not alter as a result of different grafting efficiency percentages.     

Mathematical Model and Numerical Simulation of Conductometric Biosensor of Urea

In this article, a mathematical model was developed to describe and optimize the configuration of the urea biosensor. The biosensor is based on interdigitated gold microelectrodes modified with a urease enzyme membrane. The model presented here focuses on the enzymatic reaction and/or diffusion phenomena that occur in the enzyme membrane and in the diffusion layer. Numerical resolution of differential equations was performed using the finite difference technique. The mathematical model was validated using experimental biosensor data. The responses of the biosensor to various conditions were simulated to guide experiments, improve analytical performance, and reduce development costs.     

Mathematical Modelling of Glyphosate Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Microsensor with Multiple Phenomena

The massive and careless use of glyphosate (GLY) in agricultural production raises many questions regarding environmental pollution and health risks, it is then important to develop simple methods to detect it. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is an effective analytical tool for characterizing properties at the electrode/electrolyte interface. It is useful as an analytical procedure, but it can also help in the interpretation of the involved fundamental electrochemical and electronic processes. In this study, the impedance data obtained experimentally for a microsensor based on molecularly imprinted chitosan graft on 4-aminophenylacetic acid for the detection of glyphosate was analyzed using an exact mathematical model based on physical theories. The procedure for modeling experimental responses is well explained. The analysis of the observed impedance response leads to estimations of the microscopic parameters linked to the faradic and capacitive current. The interaction of glyphosate molecules with the imprinted sites of the CS-MIPs film is observed in the high frequency range. The relative variation of the charge transfer resistance is proportional to the log of the concentration of glyphosate. The capacitance decreases as the concentration of glyphosate increases, which is explained by the discharging of the charged imprinted sites when the glyphosate molecule interacts with the imprinted sites through electrostatic interactions. The phenomenon of adsorption of the ions in the CMA film is observed in the low frequency range, this phenomenon being balanced by the electrostatic interaction of glyphosate with the imprinted sites in the CS-MIPs film.     

Structural and short-range order analysis of glassy system

To understand the effects of structural features and to locate their signatures in the As-Ag-Te glassy system, various properties were studied as a function of average coordination number, 〈r〉. The structure of the sample is analyzed by X-ray diffraction technique and is found to be crystalline. The d-spacing and the lattice parameters of the samples were calculated. The structural parameters were discussed on the basis of Ag (silver) effect on As-Ag-Te glassy system. Structural investigations on these compositions revealed the polycrystalline nature of compositions with the presence of hexagonal As-Ag-Te phases. Grain size increased with the Ag content and parameters of unit cell are determined. The variations in the mean atomic volume, V, and the glass transition temperature, T_g, for glass transition, with composition have been reported. The change in thermal parameters was measured using differential thermal analysis (DTA). The results of the program are in agreement with those of analytical method and realized by binding energy represented by the cohesive energy values. The generalized ‘8-n’ rule was used to estimate the average coordination number. Obtained results were treated in the frame of chemical bond approach. We estimated some of physical parameters viz. mean bond energy, glass transition temperature, cohesive energy, average single bond energy, density, compactness and molar volume of all bulk samples. Our experimental and theoretical results were discussed in light of the topological bonding structure, which involves a hierarchy of correlation ranges in short-range order.     

On the stability behaviour of the rotational motion in a circular orbit for an elastic — rigid body

In this paper the stability of motion of a symmetric satellite-gyrostat, with Visco-elastic square plate attached to it, around the center of mass in a circular orbit under a central gravitational field is studied. The gyrostat has a rotor oriented inside it such that the rotor becomes dynamically as well as statically stable with respect to the whole system. A study of the stability of this system has been done by using the method of separation of motion and averaging. Furthermore, we have solved the problem where there is no rotor.     

Organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

We describe the organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), using a commercially available guanidine catalyst, 1,5,7‐triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec‐5‐ene (TBD). Postconsumer PET beverage bottles were used and processed with 1.0 mol % (0.7 wt %) of TBD and excess amount of ethylene glycol (EG) at 190 °C for 3.5 hours under atmospheric pressure to give bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) in 78% isolated yield. The catalyst efficiency was comparable to other metal acetate/alkoxide catalysts that are commonly used for depolymerization of PET. The BHET content in the glycolysis product was subject to the reagent loading. This catalyst influenced the rate of the depolymerization as well as the effective process temperature. We also demonstrated the recycling of the catalyst and the excess EG for more than 5 cycles. Computational and experimental studies showed that both TBD and EG activate PET through hydrogen bond formation/activation to facilitate this reaction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Fast regularized linear sampling for inverse scattering problems

A new numerical procedure is proposed for the reconstruction of the shape and volume of unknown objects from measurements of their radiation in the far field. This procedure is a variant and the linear sampling method has a very acceptable computational load and is fully automated. It is based on exploiting an iteratively computed truncated singular‐value decomposition and heuristics to extract the desired signal from the background noise. Its performance on a battery of examples of different types is shown to be promising. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sol-gel preparation and properties of interpenetrating, encapsulating and blend silica-based urea-formaldehyde hybrid composite materials

Four different silica-based urea-formaldehyde (UF/SiO₂) composite materials were prepared by various sol-gel synthetic procedures to yield an interpenetrating (IPN-UF/SiO₂), a micro-size UF resin encapsulated inside silica shell (Encap-UF/SiO₂), a micro-size silica encapsulated inside UF shell (Encap-SiO₂/UF), and a blend mixture (Blend-UF/SiO₂) hybrid systems. The thermal properties of the obtained organic-inorganic hybrid composite materials were examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The structure and morphology of the obtained systems were investigated by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Their surface porosity and acidity were evaluated from the nitrogen adsorption isotherm and the pH of the corresponding 10% aqueous suspension, respectively. All the results provided evidence for the formation of different hybrid systems with different surface, structural and morphological characteristics.