Effect of absorption on the diffraction efficiency in Fe : LiNbO3 crystal with 90 degrees recording geometry

In this paper the saturated diffraction efficiency has been optimized by considering the effect of the absorption of the recording light on a crossed-beam grating with 90 degrees recording geometry in Fe:LiNbO3 crystals. The dependence of saturated diffraction efficiency on the doping levels with a known oxidation-reduction state, as well as the dependence of saturated diffraction efficiency on oxidation-reduction state with known doping levels, has been investigated. Two competing effects on the saturated diffraction efficiency were discussed, and the intensity profile of the diffracted beam at the output boundary has also been investigated. The results show that the maximal saturated diffraction efficiency can be obtained in crystals with moderate doping levels and modest oxidation state. An experimental verification is performed and the results are consistent with those of the theoretical calculation.

Optimal recording wavelength for nonvolatile photorefractive holograms in Ce : Cu : LiNbO

Three wavelengths of red, green and blue of recording beams are systemically tested for the UV-assistant recording and optical fixing of holograms in a strongly oxidized Ce:Cu:LiNbO3 crystal. Three different photorefractive phenomena are observed. It is shown that the green beams will optimally generate a critical strong nonvolatile hologram with quick sensitivity and the optimal switching technique could be jointly used to obtain a nearly 100% high diffraction. Theoretical verification is given, and a prescription on the doping densities and on the oxidation/reduction states of the material to match a defined recording wavelength for high diffraction is suggested.

Reducing organic substances from anaerobic decomposition of hydrophytes

Oxidation-reduction properties of surface sediments are tightly associated with the geochemistry of substances, and reducing organic substances (ROS) from hydrophytes residues may play an important role in these processes. In this study, composition, dynamics, and properties of ROS from anaerobic decomposition of Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Potamogenton crispus Linn, Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara, Lemna trisulca Linn and Microcystis flos-aquae (Wittr) Kirch were investigated using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The type of hydrophytes determined both the reducibility and composition of ROS. At the peak time of ROS production, the anaerobic decomposition of M. flos-aquae produced 6 types of ROS, among which 3 belonged to strongly reducing organic substance (SROS), whereas there were only 3-4 types of ROS from the other hydrophytes, 2 of them exhibiting strong reducibility. The order of potential of hydrophytes to produce ROS was estimated to be: M. flos-aquae > E. crassipes > L. trisulca > P. crispus approximate to V. natans, based on the summation of SROS and weakly reducing organic substances (WROS). The dynamic pattern of SROS production was greatly different from WROS. The total SROS appeared periodic fluctuation with reducibility gradually weakening with incubation time, whereas the total WROS increased with incubation time. Reducibility of ROS from hydrophytes was readily affected by acid, base and ligands, suggesting that their properties were related to these aspects. In addition to the reducibility, we believe that more attention should be paid to the other behaviors of ROS in surface sediments.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes supported Pt-Fe cathodic catalyst for direct methanol fuel cell

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes supported Pt-Fe cathodic catalyst shows higher specific activity towards oxygen reduction reaction as compared to Pt/MWNTs when employed as cathodic catalyst in direct methanol fuel cell.

Electrocatalytic properties of Cu-Zr amorphous alloy towards the electrochemical hydrogenation of nitrobenzene

The Cu-Zr amorphous alloy was studied as an electrocatalyst towards the electrochemical hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. The electrocatalyst was activated by chemical etching in HF solution. Resulted changes in the morphology, chemical composition and crystalline structure of the electrocatalyst surface were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic properties of the Cu-Zr amorphous alloy were assessed by voltammetric measurements. Due to the formation and aggregation of Zr residue modified Cu nanocrystals on the surface caused by the selective dissolution of Zr components in the chemical etching, the activated amorphous alloy is an effective electrocatalyst for the electrochemical reduction reaction of nitrobenzene with aniline as the main product. The positive shift of the peak potential and accompanying increase in the value of peak current in voltammograms with increasing Cu content and decreasing Zr content of the alloy surface in the chemical etching are indicative of improved electrocatalytic activity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

C-60 trianion-mediated electrocatalysis and amperometric sensing of hydrogen peroxide

Heterogeneous electrocatalytic reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by C-60 is reported for the first time. C-60 is embedded in tetra octyl ammonium bromide (TOAB) film and is characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Electrocatalytic studies show that the trianion of C-60 mediates the electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2 in aqueous solution containing 0.1 M KCl. Application of such film modified electrode as an amperometric sensor for H2O2 determination is also examined.

A novel urchinlike gold/platinum hybrid nanocatalyst with controlled size

In this paper, we have explored a simple and new strategy to obtain quasimonodisperse Au/Pt hybrid nanoparticles (NPS) with urchinlike morphology and controlled size and Pt shell thickness. Through changing the molar ratios of Au to Pt, the Pt shell thickness of urchinlike Au/Pt hybrid NPs could be easily controlled; through changing the size of Au NPs (the size was easily controlled from similar to 3 to similar to 70 nm via simple heating of HAuCl4-citrate aqueous solution), the size of urchinlike Au/Pt hybrid NPs could be facilely dominated. It should be noted that heating the solution (100 degrees C) was very necessary for obtaining three-dimensional (3D) urchinlike nanostructures while H2PtCl6 was added to gold NPs aqueous solution in the presence of reductant (ascorbic acid). The electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR, a reaction greatly pursued by scientists in view of its important application in fuel cells) and the electron-transfer reaction between hexacyanoferrate(III) ions and thiosulfate ions of urchinlike Au/Pt hybrid NPs were investigated. It is found that the as-prepared urchinlike Au/Pt hybrid NPs exhibited higher catalytic activities than that of similar to Pt NPs with similar size.

Electrochemical chlorine sensor with multi-walled carbon nanotubes as electrocatalysts

It has been reported for the first time that an electrochemical gas sensor mdified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) film as elctrocatalyst was fabricated for the determination of chlorine (Cl-2).Here, MWNTs and graphite were compared with each other in terms of their electrochemical properties using cyclic voltammetry. Cl-2 gas was allowed through the cathode surface of the sensor and the resulting galvanic effects were monitored. Results indicated that both of the MWNTs and graphite have the electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of Cl-2 while the MWNTs-modified electrode exhibited a higher accessible surface area in electrochemical reactions, excellent sensitivity, stable response, reproducibility and recovery for the determination of Cl-2.

Effect of borohydride as reducing agent on the structures and electrochemical properties of Pt/C catalyst

In this paper, we found that boron deposited on the surface of support when sodium borohydride used as reducing agent during the preparation of Pt/C catalyst. The deposition of boron markedly reduces particle size of Pt, raises electrochemical active surface (EAS) area of catalyst and electrochemical activity for hydrogen evolution or oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared with which prepared using other reducing agents (hydrogen and formaldehyde).

Preparation of divalent rare earth ions in air by aliovalent substitution and spectroscopic properties of Ln(2+)

When alkaline earth ions in borates, phosphates or borophosphates [SrB4O7, SrB6O10, BaB8O13, MBPO5 (M=Ca,Sr)] are substituted partially and aliovalently by trivalent rare earth ions such as Sm3+, Eu3+, these rare earth ions can be reduced to divalent state by the produced negative charge vacancy V-M". The matrices must have appropriate structure containing a rigid three-dimensional network of tetragonal AO(4) groups (A=B,P). These groups can surround and isolate the produced divalent RE2+ ions from the reaction with oxygen. Therefore, this reduction reaction can be carried out even in air at high temperature. The produced divalent rare earth ions can be detected by luminescence and XANES methods and their spectroscopic properties are discussed.

Chemiluminescence determination of trace ascorbic acid with chromium (VI)-H2O2-luminol system

A new chemiluminescence(CL) system for the determination of ascorbic acid has been established. By the fast reduction reaction between chromium(VI) and ascorbic acid, chromium(M was generated to react with luminol and hydrogen peroxide in alkaline aqueous solution and hydrogen peroxide to produce CL. The CL emission intensity was correlated with ascorbic acid concentration in the range 8.0 x 10(-9) to 1.6 x 10(-4) mol/L, and the detection limit was 8.0 x 10(-9) mol/L ascorbic acid. The relative standard deviation (n = 11) for 1.0 x 10(-6) mol/L ascorbic acid is 0.9%. The method has been applied to the determination of ascorbic acid in vitamin C tablets with satisfactory results.

Layer-by-layer assembly of multilayer films consisting of silicotungstate and a cationic redox polymer on 4-aminobenzoic acid modified glassy carbon electrode and their electrocatalytic effects

A novel 4-aminobenzoic acid (4-ABA) monolayer film is formed on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by amino cation radical method. Silicotungstic heteropolyanion (SiW12O404-, denoted as SiW12)-containing multilayer films have been fabricated on the 4-ABA modified GCE surface by alternate deposition with a quaternized poly(4-vinylpyridine) partially complexed with [Os(bpy)(2)Cl](2+/+) (denoted as QPVP-Os). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray reflectivity (XR) have been used to characterise the as-prepared multilayer films. It is proved that the multilayer films are uniform and stable. The average thickness for a bilayer of QPVP-Os/SiW12 in the multilayer film is 30.2 Angstrom. The electrocatalytic activities of the multilayer films have been investigated on the reduction of three substrates of important analytical interests, HNO2, BrO3- and H2O2. Especially, the influence of layer number of the multilayer films on the electrocatalytic reduction of HNO2 has been investigated in detail. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Study of cupric hexacyanoferrate-modified platinum electrodes using probe beam deflection and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance techniques

The ion exchange mechanism accompanying the oxidation/reduction processes of cupric hexacyanoferrate-modified platinum electrodes in different aqueous electrolyte solutions has been studied by means of in situ probe beam deflection and the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance technique. The results demonstrate that the charge neutrality of the film during the reoxidation/reduction process is accomplished predominantly by the movement of cations, but anions and/or solvent are also participator(s). Moreover, in KHC8H4O4 (potassium biphthalate) solution, the EQCM data obtained from chronoamperometry experiment are more complicated than those in KCl and K2SO4 solutions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Novel polyaryletherketones containing various pendant groups .1. Synthesis and characterization

Novel high glass transition temperature polyaryletherketones, containing pendant amido, alkyl, and carboxyl groups with reduced viscosity above 0.54 dL/g, were synthesized via solution nucleophilic polycondensation reaction of phenolphthalin, 2',2 ''-diisopropyl-5',5 ''-dimethylphenolphthalin, and 3,3'-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)isobenzopyrrolidone with bis(4-nitrophenyl)ketone in the presence of potassium carbonate. By ion exchange with Na+ and K+, four ionomers were also prepared. A new monomer simultaneously containing carboxyl and algyl substituents was synthesized by reduction reaction of 2',2 ''-diisopropyl-5',5 ''-dimethyl-phenolphthalein. The resulting polymers were soluble in a few polar aprotic solvents; transparent, colorless, and tough films could easily be cast from DMF or DMSO solution. The mechanical properties of the films were excellent; and their tensile strength, elongation at break, and tensile moduli were in the range of 67.1-97.1 MPa, 7.8-165%, and 1.47-2.27 GPa, respectively. The prepared polymers showed fairly good thermal stability and resonably high glass transition temperatures above 210 degrees C. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Probe beam deflection combined with cyclic voltammetry studies of C-60-modified electrode film

C-60 films, prepared by solution casting, were studied by means of in situ probe beam deflection (PBD) combined with cyclic voltammetry (CV). PBD is a powerful technique for investigation of phenomena at the electrode/electrolyte interface in acetonitrile with quaternary ammonium and alkali metal salts as supporting electrolytes. In tetra-n-butylammonium (TBA(+)) salt solution, a stable CV can be obtained during the first two reduction/reoxidation waves. On reduction, injection of cations to maintain charge balance and dissolution of small amount of C-60(-) (TEA(+)) and/or C-60(2-) (TBA(+))(2) are detected. During the reoxidation process ejection of cations and injection of anions occur simultaneously, especially for the second reoxidation wave. In the case where TBABr is the supporting electrolyte, the accompanied behavior is more complicated than in TBABF(4), TBAClO(4), and TBAPF(6) solutions. A small pair of prewaves in CV are proposed due to oxidation/reduction of C-60 domains but not dissolution/redeposition of C-60 film. Extending the potential scan range to the third reduction wave, no apparent corresponding reoxidation wave is related to the third reduction wave, the electroactivity of the film disappears rapidly and dissolution of C-60 film is observed. In tetraethylammonium (TEA(+)) and NAClO(4) solutions, the electrochemistry of the C-60 films is unstable, and potential scans lead to dissolution of flaking of the film.