Simple Method of Preparing Graphene Flakes by an Arc-Discharge Method

Arc discharge between graphite electrodes under a relatively high pressure of hydrogen yields graphene flakes generally containing 2-4 layers in the inner wall region of the arc chamber. The graphene flakes so obtained have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The method is eminently suited to dope graphene with boron and nitrogen by carrying out arc discharge in the presence of diborane and pyridine respectively.

Prop-2-ynyl as a protective group for carboxylic acids: A mild method for the highly selective deprotection of prop-2-ynyl esters using tetrathiomolybdate

It is shown that prop-2-ynyl esters are useful protecting groups for carboxylic acids and that they are selectively deprotected in the presence of other esters on treatment with tetrathiomolybdate under mild conditions.

Spatial Variability of the Depth of Weathered and Engineering Bedrock using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave Method

In this paper an attempt has been made to evaluate the spatial variability of the depth of weathered and engineering bedrock in Bangalore, south India using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) survey. One-dimensional MASW survey has been carried out at 58 locations and shear-wave velocities are measured. Using velocity profiles, the depth of weathered rock and engineering rock surface levels has been determined. Based on the literature, shear-wave velocity of 330 ± 30 m/s for weathered rock or soft rock and 760 ± 60 m/s for engineering rock or hard rock has been considered. Depths corresponding to these velocity ranges are evaluated with respect to ground contour levels and top surface levels have been mapped with an interpolation technique using natural neighborhood. The depth of weathered rock varies from 1 m to about 21 m. In 58 testing locations, only 42 locations reached the depths which have a shear-wave velocity of more than 760 ± 60 m/s. The depth of engineering rock is evaluated from these data and it varies from 1 m to about 50 m. Further, these rock depths have been compared with a subsurface profile obtained from a two-dimensional (2-D) MASW survey at 20 locations and a few selected available bore logs from the deep geotechnical boreholes.

Denoising neural data with state-space smoothing: Method and application

Neural data are inevitably contaminated by noise. When such noisy data are subjected to statistical analysis, misleading conclusions can be reached. Here we attempt to address this problem by applying a state-space smoothing method, based on the combined use of the Kalman filter theory and the Expectation–Maximization algorithm, to denoise two datasets of local field potentials recorded from monkeys performing a visuomotor task. For the first dataset, it was found that the analysis of the high gamma band (60–90 Hz) neural activity in the prefrontal cortex is highly susceptible to the effect of noise, and denoising leads to markedly improved results that were physiologically interpretable. For the second dataset, Granger causality between primary motor and primary somatosensory cortices was not consistent across two monkeys and the effect of noise was suspected. After denoising, the discrepancy between the two subjects was significantly reduced.

Direct precipitation of lead zirconate titanate by the hydrothermal method

Direct precipitation of fine powders of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) in the complete range of solid solution, is investigated under hydrothermal conditions, starting from lead oxide and titania/zirconia mixed gels. The perovskite phase is formed in the temperature range of 165 – 340°C. Sequence of the hydrothermal reactions is studied by identifying the intermediate phases. The initial formation of PbO: TiO2 solid solution is followed by the reaction of the same with the remaining mixed gels giving rise to X-ray amorphous PZT phase. Further, through crystallite growth, the X-ray crystalline PZT is formed. This method can be extended for the preparation of PLZT powder as well. The resulting powders are sinterable to high density ceramics.

A Method for the Deposition of Transparent Conducting Thin-Films of Tin Oxide

A modified method has been developed for the deposition of transparent semiconducting thin films of tin oxide, involving the chemical vapour phase oxidation of tin iodide. These films show sheet resistances greater than 100 Ω/□ and an average optical transmission in the visible range exceeding 80%. The method avoids uncontrolled contamination, resulting in better reproducibility of the films. The films showed direct and indirect transitions and the possibility of an indirect forbidden transition. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the films are polycrystalline. The low mobility values of the films have been attributed to the grain boundary scattering effect.

Instability of laminated composite thin-walled open-section beams

Instability of thin-walled open-section laminated composite beams is studied using the finite element method. A two-noded, 8 df per node thin-walled open-section laminated composite beam finite element has been used. The displacements of the element reference axis are expressed in terms of one-dimensional first order Hermite interpolation polynomials, and line member assumptions are invoked in formulation of the elastic stiffness matrix and geometric stiffness matrix. The nonlinear expressions for the strains occurring in thin-walled open-section beams, when subjected to axial, flexural and torsional loads, are incorporated in a general instability analysis. Several problems for which continuum solutions (exact/approximate) are possible have been solved in order to evaluate the performance of finite element. Next its applicability is demonstrated by predicting the buckling loads for the following problems of laminated composites: (i) two layer (45°/−45°) composite Z section cantilever beam and (ii) three layer (0°/45°/0°) composite Z section cantilever beam.

Basic Needs and Much More With One Kilowatt Per Capita

Conventional thinkin g holds that increased energy consumption is a prerequisite for economic and social development. This belief, together With the prospect of dwindling global petroleum supplies and the high costs of expanding energy supply generally, lead many to believe that it is not feasible to improve living standards substantially in the developing countries. But by shifting to high-quality energy carriers and by exploiting cost-effective opportunities for more efficient energy use, it would be possible to satisfy basic human needs and to provide considerable further improvements in living standards without significantly increasing per-capita energy use above the present level.

An E-Convergence Method For The Evaluation Of Critical Parameters

A simple cconversence technique is applied to obtain accurate estimates of critical temperatures and critical it\ponmts of a few two- and threpdiniensional king models. When applied to the virial series for hard spheres and hard discs, this method predicts a divergence of the equation-of-state at the density of closest packing.

Mesh-free approximations via the error reproducing kernel method and applications to nonlinear systems developing shocks

Error estimates for the error reproducing kernel method (ERKM) are provided. The ERKM is a mesh-free functional approximation scheme [A. Shaw, D. Roy, A NURBS-based error reproducing kernel method with applications in solid mechanics, Computational Mechanics (2006), to appear (available online)], wherein a targeted function and its derivatives are first approximated via non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) basis function. Errors in the NURBS approximation are then reproduced via a family of non-NURBS basis functions, constructed using a polynomial reproduction condition, and added to the NURBS approximation of the function obtained in the first step. In addition to the derivation of error estimates, convergence studies are undertaken for a couple of test boundary value problems with known exact solutions. The ERKM is next applied to a one-dimensional Burgers equation where, time evolution leads to a breakdown of the continuous solution and the appearance of a shock. Many available mesh-free schemes appear to be unable to capture this shock without numerical instability. However, given that any desired order of continuity is achievable through NURBS approximations, the ERKM can even accurately approximate functions with discontinuous derivatives. Moreover, due to the variation diminishing property of NURBS, it has advantages in representing sharp changes in gradients. This paper is focused on demonstrating this ability of ERKM via some numerical examples. Comparisons of some of the results with those via the standard form of the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) demonstrate the relative numerical advantages and accuracy of the ERKM.

Buckling in polymer monolayers: Molecular-weight dependence

We present systematic investigations of buckling in Langmuir monolayers of polyvinyl acetate formed at the air-water interface. On compression the polymer monolayers are converted to a continuous membrane with a thickness of ~2–3 nm of well-defined periodicity, lambdab. Above a certain surface concentration the membrane undergoes a morphological transition buckling, leading to the formation of striped patterns. The periodicity seems to depend on molecular weight as per the predictions of the gravity-bending buckling formalism of Milner et al. for fluidlike films on water. However anomalously low values of bending rigidity and Young's modulus are obtained using this formalism. Hence we have considered an alternative model of buckling-based solidlike films on viscoelastic substrates. The values of bending rigidity and Young's modulus obtained by this method, although lower than expected, are closer to the bulk values. Remarkably, no buckling is found to occur above a certain molecular weight. We have tried to explain the observed molecular-weight dependence in terms of the variation in isothermal compressive modulus of the monolayers with surface concentration as well as provided possible explanations for the obtained low values of mechanical properties similar to that observed for ultrathin polymer films.

Fast Iterative Division of p-adic Numbers

A fast iterative scheme based on the Newton method is described for finding the reciprocal of a finite segment p-adic numbers (Hensel code). The rate of generation of the reciprocal digits per step can be made quadratic or higher order by a proper choice of the starting value and the iterating function. The extension of this method to find the inverse transform of the Hensel code of a rational polynomial over a finite field is also indicated.

Approximate closed-form solutions of realistic true proportional navigation guidance using the Adomian decomposition method

Approximate closed-form solutions of the non-linear relative equations of motion of an interceptor pursuing a target under the realistic true proportional navigation (RTPN) guidance law are derived using the Adomian decomposition method in this article. In the literature, no study has been reported on derivation of explicit time-series solutions in closed form of the nonlinear dynamic engagement equations under the RTPN guidance. The Adomian method provides an analytical approximation, requiring no linearization or direct integration of the non-linear terms. The complete derivation of the Adomian polynomials for the analysis of the dynamics of engagement under RTPN guidance is presented for deterministic ideal case, and non-ideal dynamics in the loop that comprises autopilot and actuator dynamics and target manoeuvre, as well as, for a stochastic case. Numerical results illustrate the applicability of the method.