Structure and Properties of Dysprosium Titanate Powder Produced by the Mechanochemical Method

The structure and main physicochemical properties of dysprosium titanate powders prepared by mechanochemical synthesis from the low-temperature modification of titanium oxide and modification of dysprosium oxide are investigated applying X-ray phase analysis (XPA), scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy (Raman spectra), transmission electron microscopy, and chemical analysis. It is established based on XPA that the initial oxides completely transform into X-ray amorphous dysprosium titanate (Dy₂TiO₅) during the mechanochemical treatment of a mixture for 30–60 min. A microelectron diffraction pattern of Dy₂TiO₅ powders prepared by mechanosynthesis has a ring structure characteristic of the X-ray amorphous phase with a certain amount of inclusions of a crystalline phase. The dysprosium titanate powder fabricated by induction melting possesses the regular cubic crystalline lattice with a parameter of 3.4 Å.     

Separation of silicon isotopes by chemical exchange between silicon tetrafluoride and its complex compounds with aliphatic alcohols

Silicon tetrafluoride SiF₄ reacted with aliphatic alcohols ROH to form liquid complex compounds SiF₄ · 2ROH. The gas-liquid SiF_4(g) -SiF₄ · 2ROH_(l) systems can be used for separating silicon isotopes. The hydrodynamics and mass transfer of the separation of silicon isotopes in a countercurrent column were studied using SiF₄-SiF₄ · 2ROH systems based on butanol-1, pentanol-1, and hexanol-1 at 293 K. Corrections were applied to the empirical coefficients in the equations of the dependence of the total holdup of a helical prismatic packing (HPP) and its specific pressure drop on a load in an isotope exchange column. The height equivalent to the theoretical plate (HETP) increased more than twofold in the butanol-1-hexanol-1 homologous series (the flow rate in the column was (3.4 ± 0.2) mmol SiF₄/(cm² min) for the working gas). It was shown using pentanol-1 as a complex-forming agent that the limiting stage of mass transfer during the separation of silicon isotopes was the isotope exchange between SiF₄ and the SiF₄ · 2ROH complex.     

Note: Multi-point measurement of |B| in the gas-dynamic trap with a spectral motional Stark effect diagnostic

An upgraded spectral motional Stark effect diagnostic has been installed on the gas-dynamic trap (GDT) experiment to enable spatially resolved measurement of |B|. A new low-noise charge-coupled device detector, combined with enhancements of the diagnostic neutral beam, allows single-shot profile measurements. Previously only single-point motional Stark effect measurements were possible, and detector noise severely limited measurement precision, requiring multi-shot averaging. The plasma pressure profile in GDT is derived from the measured diamagnetic modification of |B| and used to examine the conditions of stable plasma confinement at high plasma pressure.