Gas sensing response analysis of p-type porous chromium oxide thin films

The ethanol sensing properties of porous Cr2O3 thin films deposited by the ultrasonic nebulized spray pyrolysis of an aqueous combustion mixture is reported. The impact of the precursor selection and various deposition parameters on the film crystallinity, surface morphology and stoichiometry are studied using thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The film morphology exhibits a highly porous nature, as a result of the exothermic combustion reaction during film deposition. The gas sensing properties of these films are investigated in the temperature range of 200-375 degrees C for ethanol. The films show two different regions of response for ethanol above and below 300 degrees C. A good relationship between the response and the ethanol concentration is observed, and is modeled using an empirical relation. The possible mechanism and the surface chemical reactions of ethanol over the chromium oxide surface are discussed.

Remarkable Regioisomer Control in the Hydrogel Formation from a Two-Component Mixture of Pyridine-End Oligo(p-phenylenevinylene)s and N-Decanoyl-L-alanine

N-Decanoyl-L-alanine (DA) was mixed with either colorless 4,4-bipyridine (BP) or various derivatives such as chromogenic oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV) functionalized with isomeric pyridine termini in specific molar ratios. This mixtures form salt-type gels in a water/ethanol (2:1, v/v) mixture. The gelation properties of these two-component mixtures could be modulated by variation of the position of the N atom of the end pyridyl groups in OPVs. The presence of acid-base interactions in the self-assembly of these two-component systems leading to gelation was probed in detail by using stoichiometry-dependent UV/Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. Furthermore, temperature-dependent UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy clearly demonstrated a J-type aggregation mode of these gelator molecules during the sol-to-gel transition process. Morphological features and the arrangement of the molecules in the gels were examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Calculation of the length of each molecular system by energy minimization in its extended conformation and comparison with the XRD patterns revealed that this class of gelator molecules adopts lamellar organizations. Rheological properties of these two-component systems provided clear evidence that the flow behavior could be modulated by varying the acid/amine ratio. Polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and XRD results revealed that the solid-phase behavior of such two-component mixtures (acid/base=2:1) varied significantly upon changing the proton-acceptor part from BP to OPV. Interestingly, the XRD pattern of these acid/base mixtures after annealing at their associated isotropic temperature was significantly different from that of their xerogels.

Transverse single spin asymmetry in e+p↑→e+J/ψ+X and transverse momentum dependent evolution of the Sivers function

We extend our analysis of transverse single spin asymmetry in electroproduction of J/ψ to include the effect of the scale evolution of the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions and gluon Sivers function. We estimate single spin asymmetry for JLab, HERMES, COMPASS, and eRHIC energies using the color evaporation model of charmonium production, using an analytically obtained approximate solution of TMD evolution equations discussed in the literature. We find that there is a reduction in the asymmetry compared with our predictions for the earlier case considered by us, wherein the Q2 dependence came only from DGLAP evolution of the unpolarized gluon densities and a different parametrization of the TMD Sivers function was used.

Autocatalytic duplex Ni-P/Ni-W-P coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Autocatalytic duplex Ni-P/Ni-W-P coatings were deposited on AZ31B magnesium alloy using stabilizer free nickel carbonate bath. Some of the coated specimens were passivated in chromate solution with and without heat treatment. Plain Ni-P coatings were also prepared for comparison. Coatings were characterized for their surface morphology, composition and corrosion resistance. Energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDX) showed that the phosphorous content in the Ni-P coating is 6 wt.% and for Ni-W-P it reduced to 3 wt.% due to the codeposition of tungsten in the Ni-P coating. Marginal increase in P and W contents was observed on passivated coupons along with Cr (0.18 wt.%) and O (2.8 wt.%) contents. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) examination of these coating surfaces exhibited the nodular morphology. Chromate passivated surfaces showed the presence of uniformly distributed bright Ni particles along with nodules. Potenfiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies were carried out in deaerated 0.15 M NaCI solution to find out the corrosion resistance of the coatings. Among the coatings developed, duplex-heat treated-passivated (duplex-HIP) coatings showed lower corrosion current density (i(corr)) and higher polarization resistance (R-p) indicating the improved corrosion resistance. The charge transfer resistance (R-ct) value obtained for the duplex-HIP was about 170 times higher compared to that for Ni P coating. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New luminescent 2-methoxy-6-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-4-p-tolyl-nicotinonitrile: Synthesis, crystal structure, DFT and photophysical studies

In the current communication, we report the synthesis, spectroscopic, crystal structure, DFT and photophysical studies of a new nicotinonitrile derivative, viz. 2-methoxy-6-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-4-p-tolyl-nicotinonitrile (2) as a potential blue light emitting material. The compound 2 was synthesized in good yield via a simple route. The acquired spectral and elemental analysis data were in consistent with the chemical structure of 2. The single crystal study further confirms its three dimensional structure, molecular shape, and nature of short contacts. Its DFT calculations reveal that compound 2 possesses a non-planar structure and its theoretical IR spectral data are found to be in accordance with experimental values. In addition, its UV visible and fluorescence spectral measurements prove that the compound exhibits good absorption and fluorescence properties. Also, it shows positive solvatochromic effect when the solvent polarity was varied from non-polar to polar. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance evaluation of typical approximation algorithms for nonconvex l(p)-minimization in diffuse optical tomography

The sparse estimation methods that utilize the l(p)-norm, with p being between 0 and 1, have shown better utility in providing optimal solutions to the inverse problem in diffuse optical tomography. These l(p)-norm-based regularizations make the optimization function nonconvex, and algorithms that implement l(p)-norm minimization utilize approximations to the original l(p)-norm function. In this work, three such typical methods for implementing the l(p)-norm were considered, namely, iteratively reweighted l(1)-minimization (IRL1), iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS), and the iteratively thresholding method (ITM). These methods were deployed for performing diffuse optical tomographic image reconstruction, and a systematic comparison with the help of three numerical and gelatin phantom cases was executed. The results indicate that these three methods in the implementation of l(p)-minimization yields similar results, with IRL1 fairing marginally in cases considered here in terms of shape recovery and quantitative accuracy of the reconstructed diffuse optical tomographic images. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

L-p-Integrability, Dimensions of Supports of Fourier Transforms and Applications

It is proved that there does not exist any non zero function in with if its Fourier transform is supported by a set of finite packing -measure where . It is shown that the assertion fails for . The result is applied to prove L-p Wiener Tauberian theorems for R-n and M(2).

Nanostructuring of p- and n-type skutterudites reaching figures of merit of approximately 1.3 and 1.6, respectively

Thermoelectric (TE) conversion of waste heat into useful electricity demands optimized thermal and electrical transport in the leg material over a wide temperature range. In order to gain a reasonably high figure of merit (ZT) as well as high thermal electric conversion efficiency, various conditions of the starting material were studied: industrially produced skutterudite powders of p-type DDy(Fe1-xCox)(4)Sb-12 (DD: didymium) and n-type (Mm, Sm)(y)Co4Sb12 (Mm: mischmetal) were used. After a rather fast reaction-melting technique, the bulk was crushed and sieved with various strainers in order to obtain particles below the respective mesh sizes, followed by ball-milling under three different conditions. The dependence of the TE properties (after hot pressing) on the micro/nanosized particles, grains and crystallites was investigated. Optimized conditions resulted in an increase of ZT for bulk material to current record-high values: from ZT similar to 1.1 to ZT similar to 1.3 at 775 K for p-type and from ZT similar to 1.0 to ZT similar to 1.6 at 800 K for n-type, resulting in respective efficiencies (300-850 K) of eta > 13% and eta similar to 16%. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the stability of the L-p-norm of the Riemannian curvature tensor

We consider the Riemannian functional defined on the space of Riemannian metrics with unit volume on a closed smooth manifold M where R(g) and dv (g) denote the corresponding Riemannian curvature tensor and volume form and p a (0, a). First we prove that the Riemannian metrics with non-zero constant sectional curvature are strictly stable for for certain values of p. Then we conclude that they are strict local minimizers for for those values of p. Finally generalizing this result we prove that product of space forms of same type and dimension are strict local minimizer for for certain values of p.

Graded IR Filters: Distinguishing Between Single and Multipoint NO2 center dot center dot center dot I Halogen Bonded Supramolecular Synthons (P, Q, and R Synthons)

The NO2 center dot center dot center dot I supramolecular synthon is a halogen bonded recognition pattern that is present in the crystal structures of many compounds that contain these functional groups. These synthons have been previously distinguished as P, Q, and R types using topological and geometrical criteria. A five step IR spectroscopic sequence is proposed here to distinguish between these synthon types in solid samples. Sets of known compounds that contain the P, Q, and R synthons are first taken to develop IR spectroscopic identifiers for them. The identifiers are then used to create graded IR filters that sieve the synthons. These filters contain signatures of the individual NO2 center dot center dot center dot I synthons and may be applied to distinguish between P, Q, and R synthon varieties. They are also useful to identify synthons that are of a borderline character, synthons in disordered structures wherein the crystal structure in itself is not sufficient to distinguish synthon types, and in the identification of the NO2 center dot center dot center dot I synthons in compounds with unknown crystal structures. This study establishes clear differences for the three different geometries P, Q, and Rand in the chemical differences in the intermolecular interactions contained in the synthons. Our IR method can be conveniently employed when single crystals are not readily available also in high throughput analysis. It is possible that such identification may also be adopted as an input for crystal structure prediction analysis of compounds with unknown crystal structures.

Transverse single spin asymmetry in e plus p up arrow -> e plus J/psi plus X and Q(2) evolution of Sivers function-II

We present estimates of single spin asymmetry in the electroproduction of J/psi taking into account the transverse momentum-dependent (TMD) evolution of the gluon Sivers function. We estimate single spin asymmetry for JLab, HERMES, COMPASS and eRHIC energies using the color evaporation model of J/psi. We have calculated the asymmetry using recent parameters extracted by Echevarria et al. using the Collins-Soper-Sterman approach to TMD evolution. These recent TMD evolution fits are based on the evolution kernel in which the perturbative part is resummed up to next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We have also estimated the asymmetry by using parameters which had been obtained by a fit by Anselmino et al., using both an exact numerical and an approximate analytical solution of the TMD evolution equations. We find that the variation among the different estimates obtained using TMD evolution is much smaller than between these on one hand and the estimates obtained using DGLAP evolution on the other. Even though the use of TMD evolution causes an overall reduction in asymmetries compared to the ones obtained without it, they remain sizable. Overall, upon use of TMD evolution, predictions for asymmetries stabilize.

L-p estimates for the wave equation associated to the Grushin operator

We prove that the solution of the wave equation associated to the Grushin operator G = -Delta -vertical bar x vertical bar(2)partial derivative(2)(t) is bounded on L-P (Rn+1), with 1 < p < infinity, when vertical bar 1/p - 1/2 vertical bar < 1/n+2.

Structural, thermal and quantum chemical studies of p-coumaric and caffeic acids

Two hydroxycinnamic acids viz., p-coumaric, and caffeic acids have been extracted and purified from Parthenium hysterophorus, subsequently characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, NMR, single crystal X-ray crystallography. The optimized structures of these acids were calculated in terms of density functional theory by Gaussian 09. The validation of experimental and theoretically obtained data for structural parameters such as bond lengths and bond angles has have been carried out to analyze the statistical significance by curve fitting analysis and the values of correlation coefficient found to be 0.985, 0.992, and 0.984, 0.975 in p-coumaric, and caffeic acids, respectively. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies show the eventual charge transfer interaction within the molecule. Thermal studies were also carried out by thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTA), and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.