Behaviour of239,240Pu and241Am in the Baltic Sea; Measurements and interpretation in 1980–1984

Concentrations of^239,240Pu and²⁴¹Am in filtered seawater, particulate fraction and sediment were measured. Methods for determination of these nuclides were critically chequed and a new rapid method for²⁴¹Am in sediment was developed. Due to seasonal variation a significant decrease of plutonium and americium concentrations in surface water takes place in summer. Americium is more efficiently associated with particulate matter than plutonium. From May 1980 to September 1984 soluble plutonium in the water was reduced to about half. The residence half-time of^239,240Pu in the water of Baltic Sea is of the order of 5 years. About similar concentrations of^239,240Pu and²⁴¹Am were found in particulates in water as in the surface layer of the sediment. The average K_d-values for plutonium and americium were 10⁵ and 10⁵–10⁶ ml/g, respectively.     

Graphene screen‐printed radio‐frequency identification devices on flexible substrates

Despite the great promise of printed flexible electronics from 2D crystals, and especially graphene, few scalable applications have been reported so far that can be termed roll‐to‐roll compatible. Here we combine screen printed graphene with photonic annealing to realize radio‐frequency identification devices with a reading range of up to 4 meters. Most notably our approach leads to fatigue resistant devices showing less than 1% deterioration of electrical properties after 1000 bending cycles. The bending fatigue resistance demonstrated on a variety of technologically relevant plastic and paper substrates renders the material highly suitable for various printable wearable devices, where repeatable dynamic bending stress is expected during usage. All applied printing and post‐processing methods are compatible with roll‐to‐roll manufacturing and temperature sensitive flexible substrates providing a platform for the scalable manufacturing of mechanically stable and environmentally friendly graphene printed electronics.

     

Physico-chemical forms of radiostrontium in simulated freshwaters

A method for the analysis of the physico-chemical forms of radiostrontium in waters is described and applied to the simulated lake and groundwaters to which were later added clay minerals and humus substances. The simulated water samples were fractionated using filtration and ultrafiltration: particulates, colloids and dissolved species. The dissolved species were further separated into three fractions using ion exchange: cations, anions and non-ionic species. The physico-chemical forms of radiostrontium do not appreciable change when humus substances or clay mineral or both are added to the water samples. Only about 1–6% of added radiostrontium was found in particulate and colloid fractions. The greatest amount of⁸⁵Sr was always found in the dissolved fraction, cations (>87%). Radiostrontium was never found in the dissolved fraction, anions or non-ionic species.     

A 57 Fe Mössbauer study on the FeSe and Fe(Se,Te) superconductors: discontinuities in the hyperfine parameters at T c

Polycrystalline samples of FeSe_0.82 and FeSe_0.5Te_0.5 were synthesized using a solid-state reaction route. Bulk superconductivity was confirmed using SQUID magnetometry. The onset of T _c was at 8.0 K for FeSe_0.82 and 12.5 K for FeSe_0.5Te_0.5. Paramagnetic ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra were recorded at temperatures between 5.4 and 320 K in transmission geometry. All spectra exhibited simple quadrupole splitting. For FeSe_0.5Te_0.5 a small drop in the quadrupole splitting was observed about T _c upon cooling. Additionally, for both samples the isomer shift and the total absorption started to drop around T _c , indicating a softening of the lattice. The drop is estimated to correspond to at least 60 K from the original Debye temperatures.     

Local Bose condensate: observations on two-dimensional atomic hydrogen

We report on new experiments at Turku where two-dimensional atomic hydrogen gas has been compressed magnetically to high degrees of quantum degeneracy on the surface of liquid ⁴He at about 200 mK. The results are in good agreement with our earlier observations: The probability of 3-body dipolar recombination is found to decrease gradually by an order of magnitude but to show no levelling yet, when the 2D phase-space density increases from 3 to 9. This effect is attributed mainly to a decrease in the local 3-particle correlator caused by the appearance and growth of a more or less local 2D condensate. The roles of interactions and out-of-plane delocalization of adsorbed H atoms are also discussed.     

Regional distribution of Chernobyl-derived plutonium deposition in Finland

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in April 1986 caused a widely spread plume of radionuclides containing, amongst other materials, plutonium isotopes. The regional deposition of these nuclides in Finland has been assessed, based on samples of lichen, peat, precipitation, surface soil and grass. Unlike the deposition of transuranium elements from the weapons tests in the 1950"s and the 1960"s, the deposition in Finland from the Chernobyl accident was very unevenly distributed. Even then, the Chernobyl-derived deposition of ^239,240Pu in the most contaminated regions of Finland was only around 10% of the global fallout from weapons tests. The total amount of ^239,240Pu deposited in Finland was 1^.10¹¹ Bq (»25 g), i.e., approximately half of a percent of the activity deposited in the 1950"s and the 1960"s. In addition to the alpha-emitting Pu isotopes, the Chernobyl plume also contained a significant amount of the beta-emitting ²⁴¹Pu, which is the precursor of the long-lived alpha-emitter ²⁴¹Am. The highest plutonium deposition values were found in a relatively narrow swath from the southwestern coast of Finland northeastwards across the country. This is related to the calculated route of the air parcel trajectory associated with the initial explosion of the Chernobyl reactor. The high deposition values found in the northeastern part of the plume route over Finland can be attributed to the simultaneous occurrence of precipitation. The relatively high plutonium deposition in the southwestern part of Finland occurred, however, without concurrent precipitation. This indicates that the plutonium was at least partly associated with relatively large particles having a substantial deposition velocity due to gravitational setting     

Pulsed laser deposition of NiMnGa thin films on silicon

Thin films of the magnetic shape-memory (MSM) material NiMnGa have been deposited on Si(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The -–200 300nm-thick films were prepared at substrate temperatures ranging from 450 °C to 650 °C and at different background Ar pressures. Large saturation magnetizations, up to 60% of the bulk value, were measured for the films. Only the films deposited in vacuum or at Ar pressures below 10^-3 mbar and at temperatures between 500 °C and 600 °C were ferromagnetic. The films are mainly crystallized in the austenitic phase and they have a smooth surface with a low droplet density (0.01 m^-2). The magnetization and surface quality are sufficient that the films could be utilized in the realization of thin-film MSM devices. PACS 75.70.Ak     

Electron-spin-resonance instability in two-dimensional atomic hydrogen gas

We study by electron-spin-resonance spin-polarized atomic hydrogen adsorbed on the surface of superfluid helium at temperatures T(S) from 50 to 110 mK. The average dipolar field in this 2D system shifts the electron-spin-resonance peak of the adsorbed atoms relative to that of bulk atoms. The shift is directly proportional to surface density. The role of longitudinal magnetization relaxation is played by particle exchange between the 2D and the 3D phases, which diminishes exponentially with decreasing T(S). Therefore at T(S) less, similar 80 mK an excitation field of 0.1 mG disturbs the equilibrium surface density and leads to a magnetization instability observed as sawtooth shaped resonance lines.