Effect of doping with rare-earth elements (Eu,Tb, Dy) on the conductivity of Bi2Te3 layered single crystals

The temperature dependences of the resistivity in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the layer plane in the range of temperatures T = 5–300 K and the Hall and transverse magnetoresistance effects (magnetic fields <80 kOe, T = 5 K) are studied for doped and undoped Bi₂Te₃ layered single crystals. It is shown that, upon the doping of Bi₂Te₃ crystals with atoms of rare-earth elements (Eu, Tb, Dy), the resistivity in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the layer plane in Bi₂Te₃ increases. The increase in the resistivity is caused mainly by a decrease in the charge-carrier mobility because of an increased contribution of charge-carrier scattering at defects to scattering processes. The charge-carrier concentrations and mobilities as well as the Hall factor defined by the anisotropy of the effective masses and by the orientation of ellipsoids with respect to the crystallographic axes are estimated.

     

Solid solution limit of Fe2O3 in mullite crystals,produced from kaolin by solid state reactions

Porcelain, wall/floor tiles, and roofing tiles are classified as traditional ceramics and are produced from natural raw materials such as clay, quartz, and feldspar. The raw materials are selected by the oxide content which provides the desired properties of the final product. However, impurities such as Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂ may have a significant influence on both physical/mechanical properties and aesthetic appearance. Fe₂O₃, which is of particular importance, causes black maculation formation in tablewares, in which whiteness is essential. The only way to overcome the black maculation is to corrupt the Fe₂O₃ crystal structure and to employ Fe^2+/3+ cation, making a solid solution with a host crystal (i.e. mullite-3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂). The aim of this study is to identify the solubility limit of Fe₂O₃ in mullite crystals. With the scope of the study, an illite/kaolinite was utilized by adding an increasing amount of Fe₂O₃ (e.g. 1–2–4–6–8–10?wt%) into the recipes fired at 1300?°C for 3?h after homogenization. According to the mullite phase content, it is concluded that ~ 5?wt% of Fe₂O₃ could be dissolved in mullite crystal structure on the basis of the Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns.     

Aerobic Oxidation of a Naphtene–Paraffin Concentrate in the Presence of Reduced Graphene Oxide

The aerobic oxidation of a naphthene–paraffin concentrate extracted from a mixture of Azerbaijan oils is studied. The reduced graphene oxide (powdered, pelletized) is used as the reaction catalyst. It is shown that reduced graphene oxide exhibits a fairly high catalytic activity in the liquid-phase oxidation of the naphthene–paraffin concentrate to petroleum acids. It is assumed that the catalytic activity of reduced graphene oxide can be attributed to the structural defects and specific electronic structure of this material. The liquid naphthene–paraffin concentrate with graphene as a catalyst is a dispersion with microparticles, the “hydrodynamic diameter” of which varies in the range of 1–3 µm and significantly changes after oxidation.     

Optical Properties of Polyethylene Filled with Bi2Te3 Nanocrystallites

Semiconductors - Composite mixtures with various component concentrations are fabricated by the thermal pressing of low-density polyethylene and Bi2Te3 in the powder-like state with a nanocrystal...     

Modified UNet Model for Brain Stroke Lesion Segmentation on Computed Tomography Images

The task of segmentation of brain regions affected by ischemic stroke is help to tackle important challenges of modern stroke imaging analysis. Unfortunately, at the moment, the models for solving this problem using machine learning methods are far from ideal. In this paper, we consider a modified 3D UNet architecture to improve the quality of stroke segmentation based on 3D computed tomography images. We use the ISLES 2018 (Ischemic Stroke Lesion Segmentation Challenge 2018) open dataset to train and test the proposed model. Interpretation of the obtained results, as well as the ideas for further experiments are included in the paper. Our evaluation is performed using the Dice or f1 score coefficient and the Jaccard index. Our architecture may simply be extended to ischemia segmentation and computed tomography image identification by selecting relevant hyperparameters. The Dice/f1 score similarity coefficient of our model shown 58% and results close to ground truth which is higher than the standard 3D UNet model, demonstrating that our model can accurately segment ischemic stroke. The modified 3D UNet model proposed by us uses an efficient averaging method inside a neural network. Since this set of ISLES is limited in number, using the data augmentation method and neural network regularization methods to prevent overfitting gave the best result. In addition, one of the advantages is the use of the Intersection over Union loss function, which is based on the assessment of the coincidence of the shapes of the recognized zones.     

Determination of Membrane Protein Fouling by UV Spectroscopy and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

UV spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to investigate the properties and performances of ultrafiltration membranes fabricated with different polymers. Membrane performances were studied by means of permeability and bovine serum albumin filtration. UV spectroscopy results showed that bovine serum albumin rejection was lowest in polyvinylidene fluoride membranes, whereas it was highest in polysulfone membranes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data revealed that after bovine serum albumin filtration, resistance of the membranes was increased though double layer capacitances were decreased. Performance data of UV spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were in correlation with each other. This study demonstrated that electrochemical impedance spectroscopy can be successfully used in filtration membrane studies.     

The use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as a new biosorbent in trace metal determination

The present work proposes the use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as new biosorbent in trace metal determination. The procedure is based on the biosorption of Cu and Cd ions on a column of Amberlite XAD-4 resin loaded with dried, dead bacterial components prior to their determination by flame AAS. Various parameters such as pH, amount of adsorbent, eluent type and volume, flow rate of solution and matrix interference effect on the retention of the metal ions have been studied. The optimum pH values of quantitative sorption for Cu and Cd were found to be 7.0 and 7.5, respectively. These metal ions can be desorbed with 1M HCl (recovery, 96-100%). The sorption capacity of the resin was 0.0297 and 0.035 mmol g(-1) for Cu(2+) and Cd(2+), respectively. The tolerance limit of some electrolytes were also studied. This procedure was applied to Cu(2+) and Cd(2+) determination in aqueous solutions, including river and well water systems. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed procedure, the certified reference materials, NRCC-SLRS-4 Riverine water and LGC7162 Strawberry leaves were analyzed.     

New monomers and polymers derived from α‐hydroxymethyl methyl vinyl ketone

2‐Hydroxymethyl‐but‐1‐ene‐3‐one [α‐hydroxymethyl methyl vinyl ketone (HMVK)] was synthesized from methyl vinyl ketone using paraformaldehyde and a tertiary amine catalyst. Free‐radical polymerization of this monomer created transparent, tough polymers that were insoluble in organic solvents. HMVK was converted to trimethylsilyl, acetate, and chloride derivatives. When the hydroxyl group was thus protected or removed, all these monomers could be free radically polymerized in bulk to make soluble polymers. The chlorination reaction is complicated by the formation of 1,1‐bischloromethylacetone, which dehydrohalogenated unexpectedly to the desired α‐chloromethyl methyl vinyl ketone. HMVK will self‐condense to an ether dimer in the presence of a catalytic acid. This reagent is capable of crosslinking many alkene monomers through hydrolytically stable ether bonds. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 509–516, 2000     

Synthesis,structure, and thermo‐physical properties of Fe2O3.Al2O3 and polyethylene nanocomposites

In this study, Fe₂O₃.Al₂O₃/polyethylene composites were prepared using a two‐step process. In the first step, PE is synthesized using titanium based metallocene catalyst system. While the synthesized PE was subsequently purified, hydrated alumina filled PE (MHFP) composites was formed by the hydrolysis of methylaluminoxane (MAO). In the second step, Fe₂O₃.Al₂O₃/PE was prepared via thermal decomposition of ferric formate in a high temperature solution of MHFP composite. The structure, morphology, and thermal properties of the composites were characterized using the XRD, FTIR, SEM‐EDX, TGA, and DSC analytical techniques. Results showed that the incorporation of a suitable amount of Fe₂O₃.Al₂O₃ into the composites enhances the thermal stability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011