Synthesis of anatase TiO_2 with exposed {001} and {101} facets and photocatalytic activity

Anatase titanium(Ⅳ) oxide(TiO_2) particles with exposed {001} and {101} facets were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of amorphous TiO_2 with H_2O_2-NH_3 solution. Crystal phase, shape, and size of TiO_2 particles are found to be greatly dependent on the ratio of H_2O_2-NH_3 solution. The prepared TiO_2 particles with specific exposed crystal faces show higher photocatalytic activity for acetaldehyde decomposition than commercial spherical TiO_2 particles. This result implies that recombination is prevented by spatial separation of redox sites in the particles because of selective migration of electrons and positive holes to specific exposed crystal faces and/or different reactivity of electrons and positive holes on the specific exposed crystal face.     

Relationship between electron sensitivity and chemical structures of polymers as electron beam resists. VI: Electron sensitivity of various acetalized poly(vinyl alcohol)s

Acetalized poly(vinyl alcohol)s which were synthesized from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and aldehyde or ketone were evaluated as electron beam (EB) resists, in order to investigate the relationship between EB sensitivity and chemical structures of the polymers. It was found that the acetalized PVAs were easily crosslinked by EB exposure. The main mechanism of crosslinking may be radical reaction at acetal group. The sensitivity of the acetalized PVA depended on the structure of the acetal group. Acetalized PVAs synthesized from benzaldehyde, in which the electron attracting group was substituted on the benzene ring and from linear aliphatic aldehyde having a long alkyl chain, had high sensitivity. A high sensitivity of 7.2 × 10⁻⁷ C/cm² was attained when the acetalized PVA synthesized from p-chloro-benzaldehyde was used. Acetalized PVAs synthesized from PVA and aldehyde having a cyclic structure had an excellent dry etching durability and were suitable as negative EB resists.     

Sintering Kinetics at Constant Rates of Heating: Effect of Al2O3 on the Initial Sintering Stage of Fine Zirconia Powder

The sinterabilities of fine zirconia powders including 5 mass% Y₂O₃ were investigated, with emphasis on the effect of Al₂O₃ at the initial sintering stage. The shrinkage of powder compact was measured under constant rates of heating (CRH). The powder compact including a small amount of Al₂O₃ increased the densification rate with elevating temperature. The activation energies at the initial stage of sintering were determined by analyzing the densification curves. The activation energy of powder compact including Al₂O₃ was lower than that of a powder compact without Al₂O₃. The diffusion mechanisms at the initial sintering stage were determined using the new analytical equation applied for CRH techniques. This analysis exhibited that Al₂O₃ included in a powder compact changed the diffusion mechanism from grain boundary to volume diffusions (VD). Therefore, it is concluded that the effect of Al₂O₃ enhanced the densification rate because of decrease in the activation energy of VD at the initial sintering stage.     

Formation of Sm2+ lons in Sol-Gel-Derived Glasses of the System Na2 O-Al2O3-SiO2

Samarium ions (Sm²⁺) incorporated into aluminosilicate glasses by a sol-gel process showed persistent spectral hole burning at room temperature. Gels of the system Na₂O-Al₂O₃SiO₂ synthesized by the hydrolysis of Si(OC₂H₅)₄, Al(OC₄H₉)₃, CH₃ COONa, and SmCl₃·6H₂O were heated in air at 500°C, then reacted with H₂ gas to form Sm²⁺ ions. Whereas Al³⁺ ions effectively dispersed the Sm³⁺ ions in the glass structure, Na⁺ ions were not effective. The Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glasses proved appropriate for reacting the Sm³⁺ ions with H₂ gas and exhibited the intense photoluminescence of Sm²⁺ ions. The reaction of Sm³⁺ ions with H₂ in the Al₂O₂-SiO₂ glasses was determined by first-order kinetics, and the activation energy equaled 95 kJ/mol. At 800°C, the maximum photoluminescence of the Sm²⁺ ions was achieved within 20 min.     

Photoelectronic displacement sensor with nanometre resolution

The design of an ultraprecision displacement sensor with sub-nanometre resolution is proposed for the use of ultraprecision technologies. The sensor is based on the highly sensitive detection of power change at a specific point in light reflected from an object surface when the surface is subject to a small displacement. The sensor consists of a single light source, the reflective object and reference surfaces, optical fibre bundles for tranmission of the illuminating and the reflected light, and the photodiode set-up. In operation, the object and the reference surfaces are illuminated by light transmitted through the optical fibre bundle from the single light source. The reflected light from both surfaces is then transmitted through the optical fibre bundle to two individual but equivalent photodiodes. By using a differential amplifier, the diodes give a highly sensitive displacement signal which is included in the total signal of the reflected light. The sensor proposed has some distinctive features in its performance, such as non-contact measurement, a high resolution of 0.5 nm, a wide working range of about 30 μm within 5% linearity, and the sufficient stability of 1 nm in 20 s for specific research purposes.     

Chemical reaction kinetics dataset of Cs-I-B-Mo-O-H system for evaluation of fission product chemistry under LWR severe accident conditions

In order to improve LWR source term under severe accident conditions, the first version of a fission product chemistry database named ‘ECUME’ was developed. The ECUME is intended to include several datasets of major chemical reactions and their effective kinetic constants for representative severe accident sequences. It is expected that the ECUME can serve as a fundamental basis from which fission product chemical models can be elaborated for use in the severe accident analysis codes. The implemented chemical reactions in the first version were those for representative gas species in Cs-I-B-Mo-O-H system from 300 to 3000 K. The chemical reaction kinetic constants were evaluated from either literature data or calculated values using ab-initio calculations. The sample chemical reaction calculation using the presently constructed dataset showed meaningful kinetics effects at 1000 K. Comparison of the chemical equilibrium compositions by using the dataset with those by chemical equilibrium calculations has shown rather good consistency for the representative Cs-I-B-Mo-O-H species. From these results, it was concluded that the present dataset should be useful to evaluate fission product chemistry in Cs-I-B-Mo-O-H system under LWR severe accident conditions, where kinetics effects should be considered.     

Flame-spread probability and local interactive effects in randomly arranged fuel-droplet arrays in microgravity

We investigated the flame-spread characteristics of randomly arranged fuel-droplet arrays in microgravity. Flame-spread probability was calculated based on a percolation model with the flame-spread-limit distance of evenly-spaced n-decane droplet arrays in microgravity. Flame-spread probability depends on the occupation fraction of droplets in a lattice and rapidly increases with the occupation fraction. The local flame-spread-limit distance of unevenly-spaced n-decane droplet arrays was experimentally investigated in microgravity. The droplets were arranged in a straight line at uneven intervals. The local flame-spread-limit distance of the unevenly-spaced droplet arrays depended on the droplet arrangement and increased from the flame-spread-limit distance of the evenly-spaced droplet arrays due to interactive effects. The flame-spread probability considering the increase in local flame-spread-limit distance is larger than that without it.     

40 Gbit/s packet bit error ratio and loss real-time measurement for ultrahigh-speed packet switched network

A novel packet bit error rate (BER) and loss measurement method and system is proposed. A proposed 40 Gbit/s packet BER and loss measurement system is expressed in detail. A 40 Gbit/s BER and loss measurement with various conditions is demonstrated experimentally. In real time, only the payload part of a packet and burst stream with fluctuated guard time is evaluated. The BER and packet loss of a randomly received packet sequence due to routing and buffering can be also evaluated by the measurement system. A 10 Gbit/s packet BER and loss measurement with optical label switching, buffering, and preamble-free optical packet 3R are demonstrated experimentally.     

On multiple portmanteau tests*

Abstract. The portmanteau statistic based on the first m residual autocorrelations is used for diagnostic checks on the adequacy of fitting a model with varying m. In this article, we propose an approximation of the joint probability of multiple portmanteau tests with different degrees of freedom (DF). This distribution is easy to compute when all DF are even integers; its empirical behaviour is clarified in terms of asymptotic theory.     

Photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous HCHO over a titanium dioxide film formed on a hydrophobic PET sheet

BACKGROUND: The authors (Chem Eng J 148, 234 (2009)) previously demonstrated the excellent performance of a photocatalytic reactor with a parallel array of nine light sources. To enhance the possibility of practical application of this reactor, the present work explores the use of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) sheet as a new cheap material to support TiO₂, as an alternative to glass tubes. A method of coating the hydrophobic PET sheet with a TiO₂ film using an aqueous coating solution is investigated and the performance of the TiO₂‐PET sheet prepared evaluated. RESULTS: The affinity of the coating solution for the PET sheet is greatly enhanced by addition of 0.01% (w/w) nonionic surfactant (polyoxyethylene lauryl ether). A relatively uniform thin TiO₂ film is formed on the entire surface of the PET sheet by applying the coating solution to the PET sheet and drying it at 100 °C. Decomposition experiments of gaseous HCHO indicate that the photocatalytic activity, although initially low, is increased with repeated use. This is because surfactant molecules added interfere initially with the decomposition of HCHO. After their decomposition, the TiO₂–PET sheet decomposes HCHO at almost the same rate as does the TiO₂–glass tube. CONCLUSION: The photocatalytic reactor with a parallel array of nine light sources can utilize a PET sheet as TiO₂ support with a reduction in material cost. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry