Transport properties of textured Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+y,thin films

Superconducting films of the high-T _c compound Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y , have been grown on (111)-oriented gadolinium gallium garnet substrates by a liquid-phase technique. The films show a very high degree of preferential orientation with thec-axis perpendicular to the substrates. The onset of the resistive transition was 85 K while zero resistance was obtained at 78 K. Results concerning the critical current properties of the films are described. Measurements of the paraconductivity effects on the electrical resistivity above the superconducting transition due to thermodynamic fluctuations are also reported.     

Electrochemical study of platinum deposited by electron beam evaporation for application as fuel cell electrodes

Platinum is the most used catalyst in electrodes for fuel cells due to its high catalytic activity. Polymer electrolyte and direct methanol fuel cells usually include Pt as catalyst in their electrodes. In order to diminish the cost of such electrodes, different Pt deposition methods that permit lowering the metal load whilst maintaining their electroactivity, are being investigated. In this work, the behaviour of electron beam Pt (e-beam Pt) deposited electrodes for fuel cells is studied. Three different Pt loadings have been investigated. The electrochemical behaviour by cyclic voltammetry in H₂SO₄, HClO₄ and in HClO₄ + MeOH before and after the Pt deposition on carbon cloth has been analysed. The Pt improves the electrochemical properties of the carbon support used. The electrochemical performance of e-beam Pt deposited electrodes was finally studied in a single direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) and the obtained results indicate that this is a promising and adequate method to prepare fuel cell electrodes.     

Hydrogen uptake of reduced graphene oxide and graphene sheets decorated with Fe nanoclusters

Graphene oxide (GO) has been prepared by employing modified Staudenmaier's method through thermal exfoliation of graphite oxide. High pressure hydrogen sorption isotherms up to 50 bar of GO, reduced by thermal reduction (TR-GO), chemical reduction (CR-GO) and graphene sheets decorated with Fe nanoclusters (Fe-GS) have been investigated. Thermal reduction of GO at 623 K under high vacuum yields TR-GO. Chemical reduction of GO using hydrazine forms CR-GO. Fe-GS was synthesized through arc-discharge between the ends of two graphite rods with one rod carrying Fe nanoparticles. The surface areas of these graphene samples were determined from the nitrogen adsorption isotherm employing Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) method. Kelvin's equation was used to determine the pore size distribution of all graphene based samples. Hydrogen pressure-composition isotherms (PCI) were determined at 300 K and at 77 K, between 0.1 and 50 bar. Further, in this paper, we present a comparative adsorption isotherm analysis of hydrogen and helium on TR-GO. This reveals that the volume of hydrogen and helium adsorbed by TR-GO is nearly equal. The similar uptake volume determined for both hydrogen and helium indicates the possibility of monolayer adsorption of hydrogen and also nearly similar binding energy between TR-GO and H₂/He.     

Detection of environmentally persistent free radicals at a superfund wood treating site

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have previously been observed in association with combustion-generated particles and airborne PM(2.5) (particulate matter, d < 2.5um). The purpose of this study was to determine if similar radicals were present in soils and sediments at Superfund sites. The site was a former wood treating facility containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a major contaminant. Both contaminated and noncontaminated (just outside the contaminated area) soil samples were collected. The samples were subjected to the conventional humic substances (HS) extraction procedure. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to measure the EPFR concentrations and determine their structure for each sample fraction. Analyses revealed a ～30× higher EPFR concentration in the PCP contaminated soils (20.2 × 10(17) spins/g) than in the noncontaminated soil (0.7 × 10(17) spins/g). Almost 90% of the EPFR signal originated from the minerals/clays/humins fraction. GC-MS analyses revealed ～6500 ppm of PCP in the contaminated soil samples and none detected in the background samples. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) analyses revealed ～7× higher concentrations of redox-active transition metals, in the contaminated soils than the noncontaminated soil. Vapor phase and liquid phase dosing of the clays/minerals/humins fraction of the soil with PCP resulted in an EPR signal identical to that observed in the contaminated soil, strongly suggesting the observed EPFR is pentachlorophenoxyl radical. Chemisorption and electron transfer from PCP to transition metals and other electron sinks in the soil are proposed to be responsible for EPFR formation.     

Yeast vectors for the integration/expression of any sequence at the TYR1 locus

We have constructed new yeast vectors for targeted integration and conditional expression of any sequence at the Saccharomyces cerevisiae TYR1 locus which becomes disrupted. We show that vector integration is not neutral, causing prototrophy for tyrosine and auxotrophy for the vector's selectable marker (uracil or leucine, depending on the vector used). This feature allows a double screening of transformed yeast cells, improving the identification of colonies with the desired chromosomal structure. The GAL10 gene promoter has been added to drive conditional expression of cloned sequences. Using these vectors, chromosomal structure verification of recombinant clones is no longer necessary, since the noise of non-homologous recombination, as well as spontaneous reversion of the selected phenotype, can easily be identified. The ability of the vector to conditionally control gene expression has been confirmed using the gene for the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter.     

Hydrogen energy in changing environmental scenario: Indian context

This paper deals with how the Hydrogen Energy may play a crucial role in taking care of the environmental scenario/climate change. The R&D efforts, at the Hydrogen Energy Center, Banaras Hindu University have been described and discussed to elucidate that hydrogen is the best option for taking care of the environmental/climate changes. All three important ingredients for hydrogen economy, i.e., production, storage and application of hydrogen have been dealt with. As regards hydrogen production, solar routes consisting of photoelectrochemical electrolysis of water have been described and discussed. Nanostructured TiO₂ films used as photoanodes have been synthesized through hydrolysis of Ti[OCH(CH₃)₂]₄. Modular designs of TiO₂ photoelectrode-based PEC cells have been fabricated to get high hydrogen production rate (10.35 lh⁻¹ m⁻²). However, hydrogen storage is a key issue in the success and realization of hydrogen technology and economy. Metal hydrides are the promising candidates due to their safety advantage with high volume efficient storage capacity for on-board applications. As regards storage, we have discussed the storage of hydrogen in intermetallics as well as lightweight complex hydride systems. For intermetallic systems, we have dealt with material tailoring of LaNi₅ through Fe substitution. The La(Ni_l − xFe_x)₅ (x = 0.16) has been found to yield a high storage capacity of 2.40 wt%. We have also discussed how CNT admixing helps to improve the hydrogen desorption rate of NaAlH₄. CNT (8 mol%) admixed NaAlH₄ is found to be optimum for faster desorption (3.3 wt% H₂ within 2 h). From an applications point of view, we have focused on the use of hydrogen (stored in intermetallic La–Ni–Fe system) as fuel for Internal Combustion (IC) engine-based vehicular transport, particularly two and three-wheelers. It is shown that hydrogen used as a fuel is the most effective alternative fuel for circumventing climate change.     

New ‘rural lifestyle estates’ in The Netherlands

Recent studies tend to indicate that no longer all presently agricultural land in The Netherlands is required for sustainable agricultural production. Apart from various urban uses and some projects turning agricultural land into nature reserves or giving it a secondary function, like national landscape parks or drinking water supply area, it is not easy to find alternative users for the land presently managed by farmers. At the same time, many urban companies or families are vainly looking for building lots away from our ‘compact urban areas’. This paper explores a way to bring this supply and demand together in a landscape-wise more than acceptable manner: the planning concept and experiment of ‘new rural lifestyle estates’.     

Estimation of accordance and concordance in inter-laboratory trials of analytical methods with qualitative results

In this short communication, we discuss alternative ways to estimate accordance and concordance, which are, for qualitative methods, the analogues of the well-known concepts repeatability and reproducibility. We argue that estimators in a random framework appear to be more appropriate than the estimators in a fixed framework as they were originally introduced by Langton et al. [International Journal of Food Microbiology 79 (2002) 171]. A simple example of their application is given.     

An in-vitro method for prediction of the digestible crude protein content in pig feeds

An in-vitro method using commercially available enzymes for the prediction of the in-vivo digestible crude protein content was developed and tested on seven feedstuffs and 16 diets for pigs. Fat-extracted feed samples were consecutively incubated with pepsin at pH 1 and pancreatin at pH 6.8. From the nitrogen content of the feed sample and of the residue after incubation the in-vitro digestibility of the crude protein was calculated. Using the linear regression of in-vitro on in-vivo digestible crude protein of samples obtained in feeding trials, the in-vivo digestible crude protein content (DXP_p) in g kg^?1 dry matter could be predicted. For feedstuffs and diets the correlation was 0.99 and 0.95 and the residual standard deviation 17 and 6 g kg^?1 dry matter, respectively. In a similar procedure the nitrogen solubilised during incubation with enzymes was analysed. The regression value was similar to that of the original procedure. However, this procedure was abandoned because it was more laborious.