Fatty acids from Macoma sp. of bivalve mollusc

Fatty acids of the total lipids of flesh and hepatopancreas of Macoma sp. have been determined. The level of 20:5w3 (ca 17%), a biologically important fatty acid, was found to be considerably high. Other major component fatty acids were 16:0, 16:1, 18:1 and 22:4w6. High levels of 22:5w6 (8%), 22:5w3 (8%) and 22:6w3 (ca 15%) were found in flesh lipid. Nonsaponifiables were also high (28–30%). Alkyl ether acyl glycerols were found in flesh (1.3%) and hepatopancreas (3.8%).     

Optoelectronic charge coupled device (OECCD) using InP MIScapacitor array

An optoelectronic charge coupled device (OECCD) which is directly compatible with an incident optical signal is proposed. The nonlinear partial differential equation consisting of optical generation and recombination is solved in one dimension using the Crank-Nicolson finite-difference scheme. The charge transfer inefficiency is the main parameter considered for the calculation     

Growth,characterization and electrical anisotropy in GaTe—a natural semiconducting superlattice

GaTe is a III–VI semiconductor which has layered structure with large anisotropy in electrical properties. Growth of single crystals by the Bridgman technique permitted the measurement of thermoelectric power in orthogonal directions from which the anisotropy of hole effective masses were determined for the first time. From resistivity and Hall effect measurements the carrier activation energies and scattering mechanisms between 10–300°K were found. Study of the temperature dependence of conductivity revealed a variety of conduction mechanisms including weak localization below 20°K, hopping conduction between 20–50 K and band conduction in and across the layer planes atT>70 K. Weak localization was confirmed through observation of negative magnetoresistance. TheI–V characteristics showed quantized behaviour due to tunneling across potential barriers, which may be due to stacking faults between layer planes as observed by TEM studies.     

Exciton energies of wurtzite CdS nanoparticles

We have determined exciton energies for wurtzite CdS nanoparticles, both theoretically and experimentally. The empirical pseudopotential method has been used to calculate the bulk band structure. The discretization of reciprocal space was considered to get the energy gap and the corresponding exciton energy as a function of the nanoparticles size. The CdS nanoparticles were prepared by colloidal methods and the exciton energies were determined from optical absorption measurements. A good agreement between the calculated and the experimental exciton energies is obtained when an average over the experimental size distribution of the nanoparticles is included in the calculation.     

A lower carbon footprint process for production of metals from their oxide sources

This paper will describe the solid oxide membrane (SOM) process as it applies to the energy-efficient and environmentally sound production of magnesium from magnesium oxide. Also, it will describe the challenges encountered while using this process for the production of transition metals like titanium from its higher oxides. Finally, a novel magnesiothermic SOM process will be proposed that can enable production of transition metals from its higher oxides.     

Synthesis characterization and hydrogen absorption studies of the composite materials La2Mg17–x wt% LaNi5

The composite materials La2Mg17–x wt% LaNi5 have been synthesized with various values of x, and the hydrogenation behaviour of these materials has been extensively studied. The as-synthesized materials were activated by heating the materials at about 360±10°C temperature under a hydrogen pressure of 33 kg cm-2 for nearly 6 h. The maximum hydrogen storage capacity was found to be 5.3 wt% for the composite material La2Mg17–10 wt% LaNi5 at 400±10°C temperature. This is one of the very highest storage capacities known so far. The initial rate of hydrogen absorption of La2Mg17–10 wt% LaNi5 was found to be 20 cm3 g-1 min-1 (at 400±10°C temperature). In order to elucidate the influence of LaNi5 addition, which significantly accelerated the hydriding rate and hydrogen storage capacity of La2Mg17, structural–microstructural characterization and chemical analysis of the composite materials employing X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays techniques have been carried out.     

Studies on the electrical conductivity and galvanomagnetic characteristics of short carbon fibre filled thermoplastic elastomers

The electrical resistivity of short carbon fibre filled thermoplastic elastomers based on natural rubber-high density polyethylene (NR-HDPE) blend and styrene-isoprene-styrene (S-I-S) block copolymer has been studied by varying the concentration of fibre from the 0 to 40 phr level. A sharp drop in resistivity is observed in both cases after a critical concentration of fibre is reached, with the S-I-S system showing lower values of critical concentration. At higher concentrations, experimental values of the electrical conductivity agreed reasonably well with the calculated values from a theory based on the probability of formation of a conductive network. The effect of temperature on the resistivity of the composites has also been investigated in a temperature range of 27–120 °C and 27–90 °C for the NR-HDPE system and S-I-S system, respectively. The type of carrier in both the composites is found to be n-type, i.e. electrons, and the activation energy of hopping of the electrons for both the systems has been calculated. A Hall effect study has also been carried out to determine the carrier concentration and drift mobility of both the composites.