Double layer structure of ionic liquids at the Au(111) electrode interface : an atomic force microscopy investigation

The double layer structure of two ionic liquids (ILs), 1-butyl-1- methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate ([Py ₁,₄]FAP) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate ([EMIm]FAP) at the polarized Au(111) electrode interface is probed using Atomic Force Microscopy force measurements. The force-separation profiles suggest a multilayered morphology is present at the electrified Au(111)-IL interface, with more near surface layers detected at higher potentials. At the (slightly negative) open circuit potential, multiple ion layers are present, and the innermost layer, in contact with the Au(111) surface, is enriched in the cation due to electrostatic adsorption. Upon applying negative electrode potentials (-1.0 V, -2.0 V), stronger IL near surface structure is detected: both the number of ion layers and the force required to rupture these layers increases. Positive electrode potentials (+1.0 V, +2.0 V) also enhance IL near surface structure, but not as much as negative potentials, because surface-adsorbed anions are less effective at templating structure in subsequent layers than cations. This interfacial structure is not consistent with a double layer in the Stern-Gouy-Chapman sense, as there is no diffuse layer. The structure is consistent with a capicitative double-layer model, with a very small separation distance between the planes of charge.

Mark Oliphant’s adventures in atomic wonderland

Australian physicist Mark Oliphant came to hold two oppositional views, both pro and anti nuclear weapons research. This, together with the dimensions of his ‘larger than life’ personality, impacted on his scientific reputation in the fall-out of Australia’s ‘McCarthyism’. Despite his bullying the Americans into funding the A-Bomb project, the atomic juggernaut unleashed on the world caused Oliphant to rethink his role as a scientist. Oliphant clashed with American hegemony and the Menzies Government’s duplication of the ‘Reds under the Bed’ paranoia in Australia in the 1950s. His outspokenness on the danger of nuclear proliferation found him out of step with the changed political climate of the Cold War. Drawing on neglected archival material and using a Brechtian theatrical mode, my play Ion Man’s Adventures in Atomic Wonderland investigates the tragic dimensions of a man who never fully understood, as Thomas Kuhn explained (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions), that scientific research is determined as much by politics and ideology as by the desire to understand the world.

Atomic scale investigation of solutes and precipitates in high strength steels

Two steels, ferritic, high strength with interphase precipitation and nano-bainitic, were used to show the advances in and application of atom probe. The coexistence of the nano-scale, interphase Nb-Mo-C clusters and stoichiometric MC nano particles was found in the high strength steel after thermomechanical processing. Moreover, the segregation of carbon at different heterogeneous sites such as grain boundary that reduces the solute element available for fine precipitation was observed. The APT study of the solutes redistribution between the retained austenite and bainitic ferrite in the nano-bainitic steel revealed: (i) the presence of two types of the retained austenite with higher and lower carbon content and (ii) segregation of carbon at the local defects such as dislocations in the bainitic ferrite during the isothermal hold.

'Satan finds some mischief'?: Drinkers' responses to the six o'clock closing of pubs in Australia, 1910s-1930s

Historians have typically focused on the ‘six o'clock swill’ as the pub drinker's principal response to the introduction of the early closing of pubs in most Australian states during World War I. While this focus has enhanced our understanding of gendered pub drinking practices during trading hours it has circumscribed our knowledge of the range of responses to six o'clock closing. Less frequently analysed is what the pub drinker did after the hour of six o'clock. In this article I explore how ‘habit memory’, especially people's everyday drinking habits persisted despite the best efforts to regulate them. I consider how factors such as class, leisure and gender were implicated in drinking habits, and why there was an increase in what were defined as illegal drinking practices such as sly-grogging and after-hours trading. This article suggests that the pub drinker resented the violation of familiar customs and was prepared to engage in illegal activities in order to obtain alcohol.

Pigs, hogs and Aussie blokes: the emergence of the term 'six o'clock swill'

‘Six o’clock swill’ is one of the best known terms in Australian history, popularly associated with the drinking practices of a fifty-year period when pubs closed at six o’clock in most Australian states. Historians have tended to link the emergence of the’six o’clock swill’ to the introduction of early or six o’clock closing during the Great War. A closer analysis suggests it was not licensing law alone which impelled its emergence but historically specific conditions during World War II. Moreover, the term ‘six o’clock swill’ was no mere description of drinking practices; importantly it generated cultural politics particular to time and place.

Clock it

Taken from the festival program : Clock It is a series of 20 short dance solos presented by 20 performers. The entire event runs like clockwork with selected soloists showcasing their choreographic ingenuity in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Dancers are accompanied by musician/sound artist Michael Havir. Curated by David Wells