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At least 505 records · Page 28

Ice in the lunar polar regions

The idea that ice and other trapped volatiles exist in permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles was proposed by Watson, Murray, and Brown (1961). It is reexamined in the present paper, in the light of the vast increase of lunar knowledge. The stability of the traps and the trapping mechanism are verified. Four potential sources of lunar H2O, namely (1) solar wind reduction of Fe in the regolith, (2) H2O-containing meteoroids, (3) cometary impact, and (4) (the least certain) degassing of the interior, can supply amounts of trapped H2O estimated in the range of 10 to the 16th to 10 to the 17th g. Two important destructive mechanisms have been identified: photodissociation of H2O molecules adsorbed on the sunlit surface and sputtering or decomposition of trapped H2O by solar wind particles. The effect of impact gardening is mainly protective. The question of the presence of H2O in the traps remains open; it can be settled by experiment.

Arnold, J. R.↗

Equivalent Dipole Vector Analysis for Detecting Pulmonary Hypertension

Various 12-lead ECG criteria have been established to detect right ventricular hypertrophy as a marker of pulmonary hypertension (PH). While some criteria offer good specificity they lack sensitivity because of a low prevalence of positive findings in the PH population. We hypothesized that three-dimensional equivalent dipole (ED) model could serve as a better detection tool of PH. We enrolled: 1) 17 patients (12 female, 5 male, mean age 57 years, range 19-79 years) with echocardiographically detected PH (systolic pulmonary arterial pressure greater than 35 mmHg) and no significant left ventricular disease; and 2) 19 healthy controls (7 female, 12 male, mean age 44, range 31-53 years) with no known heart disease. In each subject we recorded a 5-minute high-resolution 12-lead conventional ECG and constructed principal signals using singular value decomposition. Assuming a standard thorax dimension of an adult person with homogenous and isotropic distribution of thorax conductance, we determined moving equivalent dipoles (ED), characterized by the 3D location in the thorax, dipolar strength and the spatial orientation, in time intervals of 5 ms. We used the sum of all ED vectors in the second half of the QRS complex to derive the amplitude of the right-sided ED vector (RV), if the orientation of ED was to the right side of the thorax, and in the first half the QRS to derive the amplitude of the left-sided vector (LV), if the orientation was leftward. Finally, the parameter RV/LV ratio was determined over an average of 256 complexes. The groups differed in age and gender to some extent. There was a non-significant trend toward higher RV in patients with PH (438 units 284) than in controls (280 plus or minus 140) (p = 0.066) but the overlap was such that RV alone was not a good predictor of PH. On the other hand, the RV/LV ratio was a better predictor of PH, with 11/17 (64.7%) of PH patients but only in 1/19 (5.3%) control subjects having RV/LV ratio greater than or equal to 0.70 (p less than 0.001). The use of ED for evaluating PH shows good specificity at a reasonable sensitivity. The results are limited due to the small study groups and differences in age and gender, but further investigations are warranted, including of ED's diagnostic accuracy for PH versus that of other proposed ECG and VCG criteria.

Harlander, Matevz↗

Ionic Liquids to Replace Hydrazine

A method for developing safe, easy-to-handle propellants has been developed based upon ionic liquids (ILs) or their eutectic mixtures. An IL is a binary combination of a typically organic cation and anion, which generally produces an ionic salt with a melting point below 100 deg C. Many ILs have melting points near, or even below, room temperature (room temperature ionic liquids, RTILs). More importantly, a number of ILs have a positive enthalpy of formation. This means the thermal energy released during decomposition reactions makes energetic ILs ideal for use as propellants. In this specific work, to date, a baseline set of energetic ILs has been identified, synthesized, and characterized. Many of the ILs in this set have excellent performance potential in their own right. In all, ten ILs were characterized for their enthalpy of formation, density, melting point, glass transition point (if applicable), and decomposition temperature. Enthalpy of formation was measured using a microcalorimeter designed specifically to test milligram amounts of energetic materials. Of the ten ILs characterized, five offer higher Isp performance than hydrazine, ranging between 10 and 113 seconds higher than the state-of-the-art propellant. To achieve this level of performance, the energetic cations 4- amino-l,2,4-triazolium and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazolium were paired with various anions in the nitrate, dicyanamide, chloride, and 3-nitro-l,2,4-triazole families. Protonation, alkylation, and butylation synthesis routes were used for creation of the different salts.

Koelfgen, Syri↗

Three-dimensional indium distribution in electron-beam irradiated multiple quantum wells of blue-emitting InGaN/GaN devices

The compositional distribution of In atoms in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells is considered as one of the candidates for carrier localization center, which enhances the efficiency of the light-emitting diodes. However, two challenging issues exist in this research area. First, an inhomogeneous In distribution is initially formed by spinodal decomposition during device fabrication as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Second, electron-beam irradiation during microscopy causes the compositional inhomogeneity of In to appear as a damage contrast. Here, a systematic approach was proposed in this study: Electron-beam with current density ranging from 0 to 20.9 A/cm{sup 2} was initially exposed to the surface regions during microscopy. Then, the electron-beam irradiated regions at the tip surface were further removed, and finally, atom probe tomography was performed to run the samples without beam-induced damage and to evaluate the existence of local inhomegenity of In atoms. We proved that after eliminating the electron-beam induced damage regions, no evidence of In clustering was observed in the blue-emitting InGaN/GaN devices. In addition, it is concluded that the electron-beam induced localization of In atoms is a surface-related phenomenon, and hence spinodal decomposition, which is typically responsible for such In clustering, is negligible for biaxially strained blue-emitting InGaN/GaN devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effect of internal noise on the oscillation of N{sub 2}O decomposition over Cu-ZSM-5 zeolites using a stochastic description

When considering stochastic oscillations of heterogeneous catalyst systems, most researches have focused on the surface of a metal or its oxide catalysts, but there have been few studies on porous catalysts. In this work, the effects of internal noise on oscillations of N{sub 2}O decomposition over Cu-ZSM-5 zeolites are investigated, using the chemical Langevin equation and a mesoscopic stochastic model. Considering that Cu-ZSM-5 particles are finely divided particles, the number of Cu ions (N{sub s}) is proportional to the particle size at a certain Cu/Al, and the internal noise is inversely proportional to N{sub s}. Stochastic oscillations can be observed outside the deterministic oscillatory region. Furthermore, the performance of the oscillation characterized by the signal-to-noise ratio has a maximum within the optimal size range of 4–8 nm. This suggests that a nanometer-sized zeolite may be best for oscillations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The effects of filamentary Ni, graphene and lithium amide (LiNH2) additives on the dehydrogenation behavior of mechano-chemically synthesized crystalline manganese borohydride (Mn(BH4)2) and its solvent filtration/extraction

Highlights: • Effect of graphene, filamentary Ni and LiNH{sub 2} on the synthesis of Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} investigated. • Mechanical dehydrogenation observed for filamentary Ni and LiNH{sub 2} but not for graphene. • All additives suppressed the release of B{sub 2}H{sub 6} during thermal decomposition of Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} with filamentary Ni being the strongest suppressor. • The LiNH{sub 2} additive reduced the apparent activation energy for dehydrogenation to 44.9 ± 4.3 kJ/mol. • After solvent filtration and extraction of the (Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2}/LiCl) sample, a dimetallic hydride [{Li(Et_2O)_2}Mn{sub 2}(BH{sub 4}){sub 5}] was found. - Abstract: Dehydrogenation properties of mechano-chemically synthesized crystalline Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} hydride without and with ultrafine filamentary carbonyl nickel (Ni), graphene and LiNH{sub 2} were investigated. It is reported for the first time that all additives suppressed the release of B{sub 2}H{sub 6} with the filamentary Ni additive being the most effective suppressor of B{sub 2}H{sub 6}. In DSC, the decomposition peak of Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} was endothermic. The estimated apparent activation energy for isothermal dehydrogenation was dramatically reduced to 44.9 ± 4.3 kJ/mol for the 5 wt.% LiNH{sub 2} additive from about 76–81 kJ/mol range for the additive-free sample and 5 wt.% filamentary Ni and graphene additives. The most striking finding, that has never been reported in the literature, is that the process of solvent filtration and extraction of the mechano-chemically synthesized (Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2}/LiCl) sample, resulted in the crystallization of a dimetallic borohydride solvate [{Li(Et_2O)_2}Mn{sub 2}(BH{sub 4}){sub 5}] instead of crystalline Mn(BH{sub 4}){sub 2}. Its dehydrogenation behavior was investigated isothermally and by TGA/DSC.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Objective identification of informative wavelength regions in galaxy spectra

Understanding the diversity in spectra is the key to determining the physical parameters of galaxies. The optical spectra of galaxies are highly convoluted with continuum and lines that are potentially sensitive to different physical parameters. Defining the wavelength regions of interest is therefore an important question. In this work, we identify informative wavelength regions in a single-burst stellar population model using the CUR Matrix Decomposition. Simulating the Lick/IDS spectrograph configuration, we recover the widely used D {sub n}(4000), Hβ, and Hδ {sub A} to be most informative. Simulating the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectrograph configuration with a wavelength range 3450-8350 Å and a model-limited spectral resolution of 3 Å, the most informative regions are: first region—the 4000 Å break and the Hδ line; second region—the Fe-like indices; third region—the Hβ line; and fourth region—the G band and the Hγ line. A principal component analysis on the first region shows that the first eigenspectrum tells primarily the stellar age, the second eigenspectrum is related to the age-metallicity degeneracy, and the third eigenspectrum shows an anti-correlation between the strengths of the Balmer and the Ca K and H absorptions. The regions can be used to determine the stellar age and metallicity in early-type galaxies that have solar abundance ratios, no dust, and a single-burst star formation history. The region identification method can be applied to any set of spectra of the user's interest, so that we eliminate the need for a common, fixed-resolution index system. We discuss future directions in extending the current analysis to late-type galaxies. ASCII formatted tables of the regional eigenspectra are available.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Analysis of nucleon electromagnetic form factors from light-front holographic QCD: The spacelike region

We present a comprehensive analysis of the space-like nucleon electromagnetic form factors and their flavor decomposition within the framework of light-front holographic QCD. We show that the inclusion of the higher Fock components $|{qqqq\bar{q}}$ has a significant effect on the spin-flip elastic Pauli form factor and almost zero effect on the spin-conserving Dirac form factor. We present light-front holographic QCD results for the proton and neutron form factors at any momentum transfer range, including asymptotic predictions, and show that our results agree with the available experimental data with high accuracy. In order to correctly describe the Pauli form factor we need an admixture of a five quark state of about 30$\%$ in the proton and about 40$\%$ in the neutron. We also extract the nucleon charge and magnetic radii and perform a flavor decomposition of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. The free parameters needed to describe the experimental nucleon form factors are very few: two parameters for the probabilities of higher Fock states for the spin-flip form factor and a phenomenological parameter $r$, required to account for possible SU(6) spin-flavor symmetry breaking effects in the neutron, whereas the Pauli form factors are normalized to the experimental values of the anomalous magnetic moments. As a result, the covariant spin structure for the Dirac and Pauli nucleon form factors prescribed by AdS$_5$ semiclassical gravity incorporates the correct twist scaling behavior from hard scattering and also leads to vector dominance at low energy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Novel Experimental Approach to Obtain the Oxygen-Deficient LaBaCaCu{sub 3}O{sub y} Superconductor Compound

This work presents a novel approach based on the nitrate decomposition method for the preparation the oxygen-deficient LaBaCaCu{sub 3}O{sub y} (La1113) compound. The XRD results reveal the presence of the triple perovskite structure LaBaCaCu{sub 3}O{sub y} as a dominant phase crystallizing in the tetragonal system with the space group P4/mmm. The SEM observation shows a low porosity and EDAX data indicates the presence of the basic elements of the phase. The superconducting character of the compound is confirmed by AC susceptibility measurements with T{sub c} = 63 K even if the samples are not treated under oxygen atmosphere.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Thermal stability and protective properties of phenylphosphonic acid on Cu(111)

Phenylphosphonic acid (PPA) adsorbed on Cu(111) has been studied by synchrotron radiation-based techniques in combination with density functional theory calculations. Here, the dehydrogenated phenylphosphonic acid molecule (PP) strongly bound in a tridentate geometry through oxygen atoms to Cu(111) is shown to be the dominant surface species in the temperature range 150–300 °C. The stable PP adlayer substantially protects the Cu(111) surface from oxidation during exposure to ambient conditions. Thermal treatment of the PPA adlayer at 375 °C initiates molecular decomposition through several channels: P–O bond scission forming C 6 H 5 PO 2 ; C–P bond scission forming phenyl and PO 3 ; and C–H bond scission forming C 6 H 4 PO 3 . All three reaction steps have activation barriers of 1.7–1.8 eV. Small products such as O, H, and phenyl can immediately react further and desorb, while the remaining phosphonate species undergo condensation. After annealing at a higher temperature, the phosphonate group is further reduced from oxygen-rich to phosphorus-rich species, which form the majority of remaining adsorbates after 500 °C treatment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Thermal decomposition of europium sulfates Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3}·8H{sub 2}O and EuSO{sub 4}

Reactions of europium sulfates Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3}·8H{sub 2}O and EuSO{sub 4} complete decomposition were studied by Simultaneous Thermal Analysis. It was revealed that one-step dehydratation of Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3}·8H{sub 2}O crystallohydrate is accompanied by the formation of amorphous anhydrous europium sulfate Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3}. Crystallization of amorphous europium (III) sulfate occurs at 381.1 °C (in argon) and 391.3 °C (in air). The average enthalpy values for dehydratation reaction of Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3}·8H{sub 2}O (ΔH° = 141.1 kJ/mol), decomposition reactions of Eu{sub 2}(SO{sub 4}){sub 3} (ΔH = 463.1 kJ/mol), Eu{sub 2}O{sub 2}SO{sub 4} (ΔH = 378.4 kJ/mol) and EuSO{sub 4} (ΔH = 124.1 kJ/mol) were determined. The step process mechanisms of thermal decomposition of europium (III) sulfate in air and europium (II) sulfate in inert atmosphere were established and justified. The kinetic parameters of complete thermal decomposition of europium (III) sulfate octahydrate were calculated by Kissinger model. The standard enthalpies of compound formation were calculated using thermal effects and formation enthalpy data for binary compounds. - Highlights: • The temperature ranges of thermal stability of europium sulfates in different atmospheres were defined. • The causes of appearance of exothermic effects in DSC-analysis processes were determined. • The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of sulfates thermal destruction were defined. • The standard formation enthalpies of europium sulfates were calculated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Novel Low-Temperature Electrolyte Using Isoxazole as the Main Solvent for Lithium-Ion Batteries

A novel electrolyte system with an excellent low temperature performance for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been developed and studied. It was discovered for the first time, in this work, that when isoxazole (IZ) was used as the main solvent, the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte for LIBs is more than doubled in a temperature range between -20 and 20 °C compared to the baseline electrolyte using ethylene carbonate–ethyl methyl carbonate as solvents. To solve the problem of solvent cointercalation into the graphite anode and/or electrolyte decomposition, the lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB) salt and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) additive were used to form a stable solid electrolyte interphase on the surface of the graphite anode. Benefitting from the high ionic conductivity at low temperature, cells using a new electrolyte with 1 M LiDFOB in FEC/IZ (1:10, vol %) solvents demonstrated a very high reversible capacity of 187.5 mAh g -1 at -20 °C, while the baseline electrolyte only delivered a reversible capacity of 23.1 mAh g -1 .

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Classification of gaseous UF 6 assay by femtosecond LIBS in the 424.4 nm spectral region using numerical HOGSVD-DTW features

This technical note presents experimental results using numerical features of fs-LIBS data to classify the assay value of a gaseous UF 6 material. Here, the data-driven feature vectors are computed by Higher Order Generalized Singular Value Decomposition (HOGSVD) and Dynamic Time Warp (DTW). The method achieves 96.97% accuracy in spectral classification testing with fs-LIBS samples obtained from a UF 6 material with five known assay values ranging from 0.287% to 61.740%, with 100% accuracy for the four largest assay values ranging from 4.615% to 61.740%.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Structural and magnetic analysis of Cu, Co substituted NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} thin films

In the present work we prepared NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}, Ni{sub 0.95}Cu{sub 0.05}Fe{sub 2}O{sub 4} and Ni{sub 0.94}Cu{sub 0.05}Co{sub 0.01} Fe{sub 2}O{sub 4} thin films by metallo-organic decomposition method (MOD) using spin coating technique. The thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Atomic force microscope (AFM) for structural studies. The XRD patterns confirmed the ferrite phase of thin films. From AFM, we analyzed surface morphology, calculated grain size (GS) and root mean square roughness (RMSR). Room temperature magnetic properties were investigated by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Synthesis of graphene by cobalt-catalyzed decomposition of methane in plasma-enhanced CVD: Optimization of experimental parameters with Taguchi method

This article describes the significant roles of process parameters in the deposition of graphene films via cobalt-catalyzed decomposition of methane diluted in hydrogen using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The influence of growth temperature (700–850 °C), molar concentration of methane (2%–20%), growth time (30–90 s), and microwave power (300–400 W) on graphene thickness and defect density is investigated using Taguchi method which enables reaching the optimal parameter settings by performing reduced number of experiments. Growth temperature is found to be the most influential parameter in minimizing the number of graphene layers, whereas microwave power has the second largest effect on crystalline quality and minor role on thickness of graphene films. The structural properties of PECVD graphene obtained with optimized synthesis conditions are investigated with Raman spectroscopy and corroborated with atomic-scale characterization performed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy, which reveals formation of continuous film consisting of 2–7 high quality graphene layers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Understanding the U 3 Si 2 crystal structure evolution as a function of temperature by neutron diffraction and simulation

U 3 Si 2 is actively researched as an accident tolerant fuel. Detailed knowledge of the crystal structure evolution, including knowledge of the anisotropic tetragonal lattice parameters, as a function of temperature and chemical composition is of paramount importance for predictions ranging from thermo-mechanical stresses to phase transformations to crystal lattice sites of fission products. Knowledge of the stability range of U 3 Si 2 is of great importance to understand whether changes of the stoichiometry, either from burn-up or due to synthesis variations, will lead to undesirable phase decomposition. To investigate these topics, stoichiometric U3Si2.00 and hyper-stoichiometric U 3 Si 2.01 were synthesized and characterized at ambient conditions and up to 1150°C using time-of-flight neutron diffraction on the HIPPO instrument at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) at LANL.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Hints on the Gradual Resizing of the Torus in AGNs through Decomposition of Spitzer/IRS Spectra

Several authors have claimed that less luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are not capable of sustaining a dusty torus structure. Thus, a gradual resizing of the torus is expected when the AGN luminosity decreases. Our aim is to examine mid-infrared observations of local AGNs of different luminosities for the gradual resizing and disappearance of the torus. We applied the decomposition method described by Hernán-Caballero et al. to a sample of ∼100 Spitzer/IRS spectra of low-luminosity AGNs and powerful Seyferts in order to decontaminate the torus component from other contributors. We have also included Starburst objects to ensure secure decomposition of the Spitzer/IRS spectra. We have used the affinity propagation (AP) method to cluster the data into five groups within the sample according to torus contribution to the 5–15 μm range (C{sub torus}) and bolometric luminosity (L{sub bol}). The AP groups show a progressively higher torus contribution and an increase of the bolometric luminosity from Group 1 (C{sub torus}∼0% and log(L{sub bol})∼41) up to Group 5 (C{sub torus}∼80% and log(L{sub bol})∼44). We have fitted the average spectra of each of the AP groups to clumpy models. The torus is no longer present in Group 1, supporting its disappearance at low luminosities. We were able to fit the average spectra for the torus component in Groups 3 (C{sub torus}∼40% and log(L{sub bol})∼42.6), 4 (C{sub torus}∼60% and log(L{sub bol})∼43.7), and 5 to Clumpy torus models. We did not find a good fitting to Clumpy torus models for Group 2 (C{sub torus}∼18% and log(L{sub bol})∼42). This might suggest a different configuration and/or composition of the clouds for Group 2, which is consistent with the different gas content seen in Groups 1, 2, and 3, according to detections of H{sub 2} molecular lines. Groups 3, 4, and 5 show a trend of decreasing torus width (which leads to a likely decrease of the geometrical covering factor), although we cannot confirm it with the present data. Finally, Groups 3, 4, and 5 show an increase of the outer radius of the torus for higher luminosities, consistent with a resizing of the torus according to AGN luminosity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗