Effect of Heat Treatment in Air on the Surface of a Sintered Ba8Al16Si30-Based Clathrate

A polycrystalline silicon-based clathrate of nominal composition Ba₈Al₁₅Si₃₁ was prepared by a combination of arc melting and spark plasma sintering. Its thermal stability in air and the effect on the surface of heat treatment in air, which are of practical importance for use of the material at elevated temperatures, were examined for different temperatures (873 K, 973 K, and 1073 K) and heating times (0–480 h). Thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis in air in the range 300–1523 K indicated that Ba₈Al₁₅Si₃₁ in the bulk form had relatively good thermal stability in air at high temperatures. X-ray diffraction measurements, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that a thin layer of oxide (probably a barium aluminate, BaAl₂O₄) was formed on the surface by heat treatment in air. The thickness of the oxide layer increased with increasing temperature and heating time. Growth of the oxide layer can be explained well in terms of a diffusion mechanism. The activation energy for oxidation was estimated to be approximately 201 kJ/mol, which is comparable with that for thermal oxidation of silicon. The chemical composition of the interior of the Ba₈Al₁₅Si₃₁ was found to be stable to heat treatment in air.     

Determination of vedaprofen in livestock products and seafoods by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the trace residue determination of vedaprofen (VPF) in livestock products and seafoods. VPF was extracted from each sample with acidified acetone, and the crude extract was re-extracted with ethyl acetate and NaCl solution. Clean-up was performed using a weak anion exchange cartridge (Bond Elut DEA). The LC separation was performed on a C18 column using acetonitrile-0.0025 mol/L formic acid (3 : 2) as the mobile phase and MS was run in the negative ion electrospray ionization mode. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.001-0.1 μg/mL VPF. The mean recoveries from equine muscle, cattle muscle, cattle liver, cattle fat, salmon, eel, corbicula, milk, egg and buckwheat honey were 72-94%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 1.1-2.0%. Limits of quantitation (LOQs) ranged from 0.001 to 0.007 μg/g.     

Recent progress of Cat-CVD research in Japan—bridging between the first and second Cat-CVD conferences

We review the recent progress of Cat-CVD research in Japan since the 1st Cat-CVD conference in Kanazawa in 2000. Some groups, including ours, succeeded in realizing large-area deposition of amorphous silicon (a-Si) of approximately 1 m size, and thin film transistors (TFTs) with a mobility over several 10s of cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ are fabricated using Cat-CVD polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films. Extensive studies of in situ cleaning methods revealed that a high rate of chamber cleaning is possible in Cat-CVD systems. Solar cell research is now carried out within the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) project, and the study of Cat-CVD Si₃N₄ films prepared at lower than 100 °C is now a Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST) project to use them as coatings on organic devices. The feasibility of Cat-CVD for various applications has been widely demonstrated, along with further understanding of the fundamental mechanism of the Cat-CVD process.     

Effect of strain on “hardening by annealing and softening by deformation” phenomena in ultra-fine grained aluminum

Ultra-fine grained (UFG) metals fabricated by severe plastic deformation (SPD) sometimes exhibit peculiar mechanical properties. For example, the “hardening by annealing and softening by deformation” was reported in UFG aluminum, which was totally opposite to the behaviors of conventionally coarse-grained materials. In this study, the effect of SPD strain on the peculiar phenomena was investigated. The UFG aluminum was fabricated by various cycles of the accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) process with lubrication at ambient temperature. The specimen ARB-processed by ten cycles certainly showed the peculiar phenomena. On the other hand, the 6-cycle specimen did not show the phenomena but was softened by annealing and hardened by deformation normally. From the results of microstructural characterization, it was suggested that the difference in the change of the mechanical property during annealing and deformation between 6-cycle and 10-cycle specimens was caused by the difference in the grain size and/or the texture components, which depended on the SPD strain.     

A Novel α-Al2O3 Diesel Particulate Filter with Alkali Metal-Based Catalyst for Diesel Soot Oxidation

A diesel particulate filter (DPF) substrate was fabricated from alkali-resistant α-Al₂O₃ to make a practical use of alkali metal catalysts for diesel soot oxidation. The fundamental properties of the α-Al₂O₃-DPF, including its particle filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and thermal durability were comparable to those of the conventional DPFs. The diesel soot oxidation activity of the catalyzed α-Al₂O₃-DPF with a washcoat of alkali metal-based catalyst was, even after thermal aging, much higher than that of the conventional catalyzed-DPF with platinum group metal catalysts.     

Low dose exposure diagnosis with a transXend detector aiming for iodine-marked cancer detection

The energy resolved computed tomography (CT), which had advantage over conventional CT (twofold higher CT value for iodine contrast agent and being free from beam hardening effect), was shown practical by employing the transXend detector: it measured X-rays as electric current and gave energy distribution of incident X-rays after analysis. This article shows a new application of the transXend detector for estimating the thicknesses of acrylic, iodine, and aluminum in a phantom. For this purpose, the responses of the segment detectors in the transXend detector are changed intentionally with inserting filters. With previously obtained two-dimensional maps for acrylic–iodine and acrylic–aluminum thicknesses, which are shown by the ratios of electric currents measured by the segment detectors, the thickness of materials on the path of the X-rays are obtained by a transmission measurement.     

Tribo-Film Formation of Lubricant Additives on Cr-Plated Surface Sliding Against Nitrile–Butadiene Rubber

A Bowden and Leben type sliding tester was used with a base oil to evaluate four types of friction modifier additives—acid phosphate, hydrogen phosphite, acid phosphate amine salt, and amine—as a fundamental study on hydraulic fluid additives for sliding of nitrile–butadiene rubber on Cr-plated metal. Acid phosphate showed the lowest friction coefficient among the phosphorus acids. After the sliding test, the formation of tribo-films on the Cr-plated surface was investigated by Fourier transform infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy and a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer. The analytical results suggest that tribo-films formed by the phosphorus acids effectively reduced friction.