Nonresonant Microwave Absorption in Bi2212 Single Crystal: Second Peak and Microwave Power Dependence

Nonresonant microwave absorption (NMA) measurements were carried out at liquid-nitrogen temperature on a high quality Bi2212 single crystal, as a function of microwave power in three mutual orientations of crystal ab plane, dc field (H_dc), and microwave magnetic field (H_w). NMA line shapes in Bi2212 crystal are complicated with a narrow peak (P₁ peak) located near zero field, followed by a much broader second peak (P₂ peak) in the particular orientations. More excitingly, we show that the P₂ peak qualitatively evolves as a function of microwave power in the orientation of H_dc ab plane, plane, and H_dc H_w. In this configuration, as the microwave power is progressively increased, the broad P₂ peak first gets smeared off and then a multiple peak structure appears, which develops into another narrower second peak (P_s-peak) at high enough microwave powers. In the orientation of plane, H_w ab plane, and H_dc H_w, we report for the first time the appearance and disappearance of a new second peak (P₂-like peak) as a function of microwave power.     

Abrasive waterjet cutting of polycrystalline diamond: A preliminary investigation

Although abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining has been employed in different setups (e.g. through cutting, milling, turning, cleaning) to generate surfaces in various workpiece materials (e.g. metallic alloys, ceramics, composites), up to now there is scarce information on the use of this technology in cutting super-hard materials such as diamond-based materials. The paper reports for the first time on a preliminary study of the capability of AWJ cutting of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) using abrasive media with different hardness, i.e. aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), silicon carbide (SiC) and diamond. While keeping some operating parameters constant (pump pressure, stand-off distance and size of abrasives) the feed speed has been adjusted to enable full jet penetration for each type of abrasives. It was found that not only the material removal rates vary significantly with the employment of different types of abrasives but also the nozzle wear ratios, with further implications on the kerf quality (width, taper angle) of diamond cut surfaces. Furthermore in-depth studies of the cut surfaces helped to reveal the material removal mechanism when different types of abrasives are employed: Al₂O₃—low intensity erosion; SiC—medium erosion with undesired cracking; diamond—high intensity erosion. The experimental results showed that while Al₂O₃ and SiC abrasive media yield modest material removal rates (comparable with those obtained by electro discharge machining-EDM) the use of diamond abrasives can greatly increase (>200 times) the productivity of AWJ through cutting of PCD test pieces at acceptable roughness (Ra<1.6 μm) and integrity (i.e. crack-free) of the cut surfaces. Despite some limitations (e.g. cost of diamond abrasives, extensive nozzle wear rates) that can be overcome through further developments, it is believed that this preliminary research gives an indication of the capability of the AWJ to profile diamond-based structures for high-value engineering applications where conventional methods (e.g. EDM, laser) cannot be applied or are not productive enough.     

Pharmacokinetics of a single dose of phenylpropanolamine following oral administration at two different times of the day

Pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of phenylpropanolamine (CAS 154-41-6) was investigated by administering 50 mg of the drug at 10.00 and 22.00 h to 8 healthy male volunteers in a crossover design with a wash-out period of 10 days. Serum samples were analysed for phenylpropanolamine using high performance liquid chromatography. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using model independent method. A significant (p < 0.05) elevation in Cmax (227.45 versus 181.98 micrograms/l) was observed following the drug administration at 22.00 h as compared to 10.00 h. These variations may be due to circadian changes in gastric pH contributing to the time dependent changes in the absorption of the drug.     

Stochastic analysis of a two unit cold standby system with preparation time for repair

This paper deals with the cost-benefit analysis of a two unit cold standby system in which the cold standby unit replaces the failed operative unit after a random amount of time. Inspection is required to decide whether it needs type I or type II repair. Failure, repair, replacement and inspection time distributions are arbitrarily distributed. A repair man is not always available with the system, but is called for repair whenever the operative unit fails.     

Controlling the textural parameters of mesoporous carbon materials

The mesoporous carbon materials prepared by inorganic templating technique using mesoporous silica, SBA-15 as a template and sucrose as a carbon source, have been systematically investigated as a function of sucrose to mesoporous silica composition, with a special focus on controlling the mesoporous structure, surface morphology and the textural parameters such as specific surface area, specific pore volume and pore size distribution. All the materials have been unambiguously characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. It has been found that the porous structure, morphology and the textural parameters of the mesoporous carbons materials, CMK-3-x where x represent the sucrose to silica weight ratio, can be easily controlled by the simple adjustment of concentration of sucrose molecules. It has also been found that the specific surface area of the mesoporous carbon materials systematically increases with decreasing the sucrose to silica weight ratio. Moreover, the specific pore volume of the materials increases from 0.57 to 1.31 cm³/g with decreasing the sucrose to silica weight ratio from 5 to 1.25 and then decreases to 1.23 cm³/g for CMK-3-0.8. HRTEM and HR-FESEM also show a highly ordered pore structure and better surface morphology for CMK-3-1.25 as compared to other materials prepared in this study. Thus, it can be concluded that the sucrose to silica weight ratio of 1.25 is the best condition to prepare well ordered mesoporous carbon materials with good textural parameters, pore structure and narrow pore size distribution.     

Temperature and loading speed sensitivity of glass/carbon inter-ply hybrid polymer composites on tensile loading

This study is focused on the evaluation of the tensile performance of glass/carbon inter-ply hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer composites at different combinations of temperatures and loading speeds. With an increase in the number of carbon/epoxy (CE) ply in glass/epoxy (GE) composites, some of the tensile properties as tensile modulus, strain at failure, and difference of strain at failure of different fibers are enhanced. Further, the change in the stacking sequence of the CE ply at a particular hybrid ratio alters the tensile properties as well as the nature of failure. Placing a CE ply in place of GE ply at the center in the GE composite resulted in hybrid composite (G₂C₁G₂) that imparts pseudo-ductility as well as hybrid effect in the composite. On the other hand, replacing a GE ply with CE at one end (C₁G₄) and both ends (C₁G₃C₁) imparted improved strain at failure and positive hybrid effect in the composites. The tensile modulus of G₂C₁G₂ outstrips the modulus of CE and GE by 12.05% and 65.95% at a loading speed of 0.1 mm/min and a temperature of 110°C. Fractography analysis of neat as well as hybrid composites was done to analyze the fracture mechanism.     

Structural and functional medical image fusion using an adaptive Fourier analysis

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Medical image fusion helps in meaningfully combining, the information provided by various imaging sensors, targeting the clinical details of human organs. It is...     

Removal of fluoride from aqueous solution by polypyrrole/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocomposite

Highly efficient visible light TiO₂ photocatalyst was prepared by the sol-gel method at lower temperature (≤300 °C), and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TGA). The effects of the heat treatment temperature and time of the as-prepared TiO₂ on its visible light photocatalytic activity were investigated by monitoring the degradation of methyl orange solution under visible light irradiation (wavelength ≥ 400 nm). Results show that the as-prepared TiO₂ nanoparticles possess an anatase phase and mesoporous structure with carbon self-doping and visible photosensitive organic groups. The visible light photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared TiO₂ is greatly higher than those of the commercial TiO₂ (P-25) and other visible photocatalysts reported in literature (such as PPy/TiO₂, P3HT/TiO₂, PANI/TiO₂, N-TiO₂ and Fe³⁺-TiO₂) and its photocatalytic stability is excellent. The reasons for improving the visible light photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared TiO₂ can be explained by carbon self-doping and a large amount of visible photosensitive groups existing in the as-prepared TiO₂. The apparent optical thickness (τ_app), local volumetric rate of photo absorption (LVRPA) and kinetic constant (k_T) of the photodegradation system were calculated.     

Novel Three Dimensional Cubic Fm3m Mesoporous Aluminosilicates with Tailored Cage Type Pore Structure and High Aluminum Content

Novel three dimensional cubic Fm3m mesoporous aluminosilicates (AlKIT‐5) with very high structural order and unprecedented loadings of Al in the silica framework have been successfully prepared for the first time by using non ionic surfactant as a template in a highly acidic medium. The obtained materials have been unambiguously characterized in detail by several sophisticated techniques such as XRD, N₂ adsorption, HRTEM, HRSEM, EDS, elemental mapping, ²⁷Al MAS NMR, and NH₃‐TPD. We also demonstrate that the nature, and the amount of Al incorporation in the silica framework can easily be controlled by simply varying the n_H2O/n_HCl and the n_Si/n_Al ratios, and the Al sources in the synthesis gel. Among the Al sources examined, the Al isopropoxide (AiPr) is superior over other Al sources. ²⁷Al MAS NMR results reveal that the amount of tetrahedral Al in the framework can be controlled by simply adjusting the n_Si/n_Al ratio in the synthesis gel, which increases with increasing the Al incorporation. One of the interesting findings in the work is the increase of the specific surface area, specific pore volume and the pore diameter of AlKIT‐5 with increasing the Al incorporation in the silica framework (up to n_Si/n_Al ratio of 10) while retaining the well‐ordered three dimensional cage type porous structure, and the mechanism for the unusual behavior has been discussed in detail. Finally, the acidity and the catalytic activity in the acetylation of veratrole of the AlKIT‐5 catalysts have been studied and the results have been compared with the several zeolites catalysts. Among the catalysts examined, AlKIT‐5(10) is found to be superior over the zeolites catalysts such as mordenite, zeolite H‐Y, zeolite H‐β, and ZSM‐5.     

Highly active three-dimensional cage type mesoporous ferrosilicate catalysts for the Friedel–Crafts alkylation

Three-dimensional cage type ferrosilicate catalysts with different n_Si/n_Fe ratios (FeSBA-1(x) where x denotes the n_Si/n_Fe molar ratio) have been prepared at a molar hydrochloric acid to silicon ratio of 10 using cetyltriethylammonium bromide as the template. The obtained materials have been unambiguously characterized by XRD, N₂ adsorption, and ESR spectroscopy, and their catalytic activity in the benzylation of benzene and the substituted benzene has also been investigated. The catalytic results of the FeSBA-1 catalysts with different n_Si/n_Fe ratios have been compared with the uni-dimensional FeSBA-15, AlSBA-15 and FeHMS catalysts. It has been found that the activity of the FeSBA-1 catalysts is much higher as compared to that of the FeSBA-15, FeHMS and AlSBA-15 catalysts. The activity of the catalysts declines in the following order: FeSBA-1(36) > FeSBA-1(90) > FeSBA-1(120) > FeSBA-1(344) > FeSBA-15(152) > FeHMS(50) > AlSBA-15(45). The effect of various reaction parameters such as reaction time, reaction temperature, reactant feed ratio and the various electron donating groups on the benzene ring affecting the activity and selectivity of FeSBA-1(344) have also been studied. The catalysts are highly active and show a complete conversion of benzyl chloride and a clean selectivity to diphenylmethane (DPM) within a short period of time under the optimized reaction conditions. The reaction kinetics of the catalysts has been extensively investigated and the results are presented. The apparent rate constant of the FeSBA-1(344) and the BC conversion sharply increase with increasing the reaction temperature. The activity of the FeSBA-1(344) catalyst for the benzylation of different aromatic compounds is in the following order: benzene > anisole > mesitylene > p-xylene > toluene.