Lattice mechanical properties of some fcc f-shell metals

A pseudopotential depending on an effective core radius is proposed to study the binding energy, equation of state, ion-ion interaction, phonon dispersion curves (q-space and r-space analysis), mode Grüneisen parameters and dynamical elastic constants of some fcc f-shell metals La, Yb, Ce and Th. The contribution of the s-like electrons is calculated in the second-order perturbation theory for the potential while d and f-like electron is taken into account by introducing repulsive short-range Born-Mayer term. The parameter of the potential is evaluated by zero pressure condition. An excellent agreement between theoretical investigations and experimental findings is achieved which confirms the present formalism     

The elliptical gaussian wave transformation due to diffraction by an elliptical hologram

Realized as an interferogram of a spherical and a cylindrical wave, the elliptical hologram is treated as a plane diffracting grating which produces Fresnel diffraction of a simple astigmatic gaussian incident wave. It is shown that if the principal axes of the incident beam coincide with the principal axes of the hologram, the diffracted wave field is composed of three different astigmatic gaussian waves, with their waists situated in parallel but distinct planes. The diffraction pattern, observed on a transverse screen, is the result of the interference of the three diffracted wave components. It consists of three systems of overlapped second-order curves, whose shape depends on the distance of the observation screen from the hologram, as well as on the parameters of the incident wave beam and the hologram. The results are specialized for gratings in the form of circular and linear holograms and for the case of a stigmatic gaussian incident wave, as well as for the normal plane-wave incidence on the three mentioned types of hologram.     

Impact of orientation and water depth on productivity of single-basin dual-slope solar still with Al2O3 and CuO nanoparticles

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The thermal performance of solar still can be enhanced by means of nanoparticles. The core aim of the present work is to identify the influence of...     

Gold nanoparticle-decorated keggin ions/TiO2 photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis

We demonstrate a facile localized reduction approach to synthesizing a Au nanoparticle-decorated Keggin ion/TiO(2) photococatalyst for improved solar light photocatalysis application. This has been achieved by exploiting the ability of TiO(2)-bound Keggin ions to act as a UV-switchable, highly localized reducing agent. Notably, the approach proposed here does not lead to contamination of the resultant cocatalyst with free metal nanoparticles during aqueous solution-based synthesis. The study shows that for Keggin ions (phosphotungstic acid, PTA), being photoactive molecules, the presence of both Au nanoparticles and PTA on the TiO(2) surface in a cocatalytic system can have a dramatic effect on increasing the photocatalytic performance of the composite system, as opposed to a TiO(2) surface directly decorated with metal nanoparticles without a sandwiched PTA layer. The remarkable increase in the photocatalytic performance of these materials toward the degradation of a model organic Congo red dye correlates to an increase of 2.7-fold over that of anatase TiO(2) after adding Au to it and 4.3-fold after introducing PTA along with Au to it. The generalized localized reduction approach to preparing TiO(2)-PTA-Au cocatalysts reported here can be further extended to other similar systems, wherein a range of metal nanoparticles in the presence of different Keggin ions can be utilized. The composites reported here may have wide potential implications toward the degradation of organic species and solar cell applications.     

Structural,magnetic, and morphological study of cosputtered FeAl thin film grown in nonreactive environment

Fe-Al alloying is a matter of interest because of its technological importance and many applications. Different growth conditions may lead to different results, ie, formation of various phases. These phases may be magnetic or nonmagnetic in nature. Cosputtering of Fe and Al with magnetron-sputtering setup provides us with a good option of alloying and to study the various phase formations. As, yet now researchers studied the alloying through cosputtering process only in oxygen environment, so a study in nonreactive environment was inevitable and interesting. Therefore, the authors went for Fe-Al thin-film synthesis using the magnetron sputtering in argon environment. Hence, this paper discusses the Fe and Al alloy formation in argon environment and annealed the samples at different temperatures for different time durations so as to allow various phase formations. The samples were characterized with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity (GIXRR), magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques so as to study structural, morphological, and magnetic properties. The results confirm that cosputtering provides better chances of alloying and also supports formation of various stable phases in comparison with other available techniques.     

Novel Copolymers of Styrene and Alkoxy Ring‐Substituted 2‐Cyano‐N,N‐Dimethyl‐3‐Phenyl‐2‐Propenamides

Electrophilic trisubstituted ethylene monomers, alkoxy ring‐substituted 2‐cyano‐N,N‐dimethyl‐3‐phenyl‐2‐propenamides, RC₆H₄CH?C(CN)CON(CH₃)₂ (where R is 2‐OCH₃, 3‐OCH₃, 4‐OCH₃, 2‐OCH₂CH₃, 3‐OCH₂CH₃, 4‐OCH₂CH₂CH₃, 4‐OCH₂CH₂CH₂CH₃), were synthesized by potassium hydroxide catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring‐substituted benzaldehydes and N,N‐dimethyl cyanoacetamide, and characterized by CHN elemental analysis, IR, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR. Novel copolymers of the ethylenes and styrene were prepared at equimolar monomer feed composition by solution copolymerization in the presence of a radical initiator, ACBN at 70°C. The composition of the copolymers was calculated from nitrogen analysis, and the structures were analyzed by IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, GPC, DSC, and TGA. High T_g of the copolymers in comparison with that of polystyrene indicates a substantial decrease in chain mobility of the copolymer due to the high dipolar character of the trisubstituted ethylene monomer unit. The gravimetric analysis indicated that the copolymers decompose in the 300–450°C range.     

Mechanistic investigation and DFT calculation of the new reaction between S-methylisothiosemicarbazide and methyl acetoacetate

A study on the synthesis and mechanistical aspects of formation of 3-methyl-5-oxo-3-pyrazolin-1-carboxamide (MOPC) starting from S-methylisothiosemicarbazide hydrogen iodide and methyl acetoacetate was performed. In the alkaline aqueous solution, the intermediate methyl acetoacetate S-methylisothiosemicarbazone undergoes substitution of CH₃S^? anion by hydroxide anion, cyclization, carbanion formation, and elimination of methanol, thus yielding corresponding Na-enolate salt of pyrazol-5-one derivative. The structure of the compound obtained after protonation of the formed enolate salt was determined by means of spectroscopic techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The mechanism of conversion of methyl acetoacetate S-methylisothiosemicarbazone into MOPC was investigated by means of the B3LYP functional, and it was found that the reaction is thermodynamically controlled.