Intersections: proceedings of the youth work and music education symposium

The ‘Intersections: Youth Work and Music Education’ Symposium took place on Friday, 27th June 2014 in University College Cork. This event, held in association with the Institute of Social Sciences in the 21st Century (ISS21), was made possible thanks to funding from UCC’s Strategic Research Fund. The principle aim of this seed funding is to generate new research interests and this presented the ideal opportunity for developing collaborative relationships between youth work and music education lecturers, researchers and practitioners across the island of Ireland. This led to the formation of a new ‘Intersections’ research cluster, comprising representatives from four third-level institutions, each of which offers both youth work and music education undergraduate and/or postgraduate programmes, namely: University College Cork; National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Dundalk Institute of Technology; and, University of Ulster. This document presents some preliminary findings from primary research conducted through each of the participating institutions in their local areas. Data was also collected during the symposium, through engaging in small group discussions populated by the event’s participants. The publication and dissemination of this document was included in the original Strategic Research Fund proposal. Its intended audience includes youth workers, music educators, community-based practitioners, policy-makers and academics who are motivated and enthused by the possibilities of music-oriented youth work in Ireland and beyond.

The formation of nanotubes and nanocoils of molybdenum disulphide

This work reports the successful realization of MoS2 nanotubes by a novel intercalation chemistry and hydrothermal treatment. An inorganic-organic precursor of hexadecylamine (HDA) and molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) were used in synthesizing the nanocomposite comprising laminar MoS2 with HDA intercalated in the interlaminar spacing. The formation of MoS2 nanotubes occurred during hydrothermal treatment (HT) by a self-organized rolling mechanism. The nanotubes were observed to have dimensions 2-12 µm in length and inner diameters typically in the range of 25-100 nm. We also report the formation of amorphous nanocoils of MoS2 obtained during similar procedures.

A mechanistic study of anodic formation of porous InP

When porous InP is anodically formed in KOH electrolytes, a thin layer ~40 nm in thickness, close to the surface, appears to be unmodified. We have investigated the earlier stages of the anodic formation of porous InP in 5 mol dm-3 KOH. TEM clearly shows individual porous domains which appear triangular in cross-section and square in plan view. The crosssections also show that the domains are separated from the surface by a ~40 nm thick, dense InP layer. It is concluded that the porous domains have a square-based pyramidal shape and that each one develops from an individual surface pit which forms a channel through this near-surface layer. We suggest that the pyramidal structure arises as a result of preferential pore propagation along the <100> directions. AFM measurements show that the density of surface pits increases with time. Each of these pits acts as a source for a pyramidal porous domain, and these domains eventually form a continuous porous layer. This implies that the development of porous domains beneath the surface is also progressive in nature. Evidence for this was seen in plan view TEM images. Merging of domains continues to occur at potentials more anodic than the peak potential, where the current is observed to decrease. When the domains grow, the current density increases correspondingly. Eventually, domains meet, the interface between the porous and bulk InP becomes relatively flat and its total effective surface area decreases resulting in a decrease in the current density. Quantitative models of this process are being developed.