Why Are Alkali Halide Solid Surfaces Not Wetted By Their Own Melt?

Alkali halide (100) crystal surfaces are anomalous, being very poorly wetted by their own melt at the triple point. We present extensive simulations for NaCl, followed by calculations of the solid-vapor, solid-liquid, and liquid-vapor free energies showing that solid NaCl(100) is a nonmelting surface, and that its full behavior can quantitatively be accounted for within a simple Born-Meyer-Huggins-Fumi-Tosi model potential. The incomplete wetting is traced to the conspiracy of three factors: surface anharmonicities stabilizing the solid surface; a large density jump causing bad liquid-solid adhesion; incipient NaCl molecular correlations destabilizing the liquid surface. The latter is pursued in detail, and it is shown that surface short-range charge order acts to raise the surface tension because incipient NaCl molecular formation anomalously reduces the surface entropy of liquid NaCl much below that of solid NaCl(100).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Cr2O3/Al-Al2O3 composite catalysts for hydrocarbons dehydrogenation prepared from aluminum nanopowder

Aluminum nanopowder (10–150 nm) was treated hydrothermally in mild conditions (60–95 °C, at atmospheric pressure), and an aluminum-alumina composite with high porosity and specific surface area was obtained. Cr2O3/Al-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared using the aluminum-alumina composite by impregnation techniques and tested in dehydrogenation of C4-hydrocarbons. It was shown that aluminum-alumina composites had high chemical and phase purity, specific surface area of 150–350 m2/g and the average pore size of 8–13 nm, that is favorable for application as support for catalysts. Cr2O3/Al-Al2O3 catalysts had high activity and selectivity in dehydrogenation of n- and i-butane (conversion of 44–80 mol.% and selectivity >85% at temperatures of 540–610 °C), that is comparable ones for commercial catalysts for CATOFIN, STAR processes

Influence of ultrafine particles on structure, mechanical properties, and strengthening of ductile cast iron

Integrated assessment of the influence of an ultrafine mixture TiO2 + ZrO2 + Na3AlF6 on the formation of the structure, mechanical properties, and strengthening of ductile cast iron was made in the paper. The structural-phase composition of ductile cast iron was studied by means of scanning electron microscopy and a transmission electron microscope. Plastic deformation was determined during testing of uniaxial compression. The change in the structural state of the alloy and in its mechanical properties was observed. Quantitative assessment of contributions of separate physical mechanisms to strengthening characteristics of unmodified and modified ductile cast iron was made

Charging Induced Emission of Neutral Atoms from NaCl Nanocube Corners

Detachment of neutral cations/anions from solid alkali halides can in principle be provoked by donating/subtracting electrons to the surface of alkali halide crystals, but generally constitutes a very endothermic process. However, the amount of energy required for emission is smaller for atoms located in less favorable positions, such as surface steps and kinks. For a corner ion in an alkali halide cube the binding is the weakest, so it should be easier to remove that atom, once it is neutralized. We carried out first principles density functional calculations and simulations of neutral and charged NaCl nanocubes, to establish the energetics of extraction of neutralized corner ions. Following hole donation (electron removal) we find that detachment of neutral Cl corner atoms will require a limited energy of about 0.8 eV. Conversely, following the donation of an excess electron to the cube, a neutral Na atom is extractable from the corner at the lower cost of about 0.6 eV. Since the cube electron affinity level (close to that a NaCl(100) surface state, which we also determine) is estimated to lie about 1.8 eV below vacuum, the overall energy balance upon donation to the nanocube of a zero energy electron from vacuum will be exothermic. The atomic and electronic structure of the NaCl(100) surface, and of the nanocube Na and Cl corner vacancies are obtained and analyzed as a byproduct.Comment: 16 pages, 2 table, 7 figure

The influence of modification by superdispersed powders on the lead-tin-base bronze structure

The paper presents data on the influence of additives of the pre-treated aluminium oxide powder on the structure of cast lead-tin-based bronzes. Different quantities of the modifier, based on the superdispersed aluminum oxide powder, were added to the bronze melt. The studies have shown that addition of a small amount of aluminum oxide powder (0.07... 0.25 %) allows modifying the micro structure of the obtained castings. This modification includes grain refinement, reduction of the matrix dendrites size of tin solid solution in copper, as well as formation of spherical inclusions of the low-melting phase - lead. In this case, the addition of such modifier influences weakly the morphology and the quantity of solid eutectoid inclusions based on electron compound Cu[31] Sn[8]

Influence of CSP 310 and CSP 310-like proteins from cereals on mitochondrial energetic activity and lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The development of chilling and freezing injury symptoms in plants is known to frequently coincide with peroxidation of free fatty acids. Mitochondria are one of the major sources of reactive oxygen species during cold stress. Recently it has been suggested that uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in mitochondria during oxidative stress can decrease ROS formation by mitochondrial respiratory chain generation. At the same time, it is known that plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein (PUMP) and other UCP-like proteins are not the only uncoupling system in plant mitochondria. All plants have cyanide-resistant oxidase (AOX) whose activation causes an uncoupling of respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. Recently it has been found that in cereals, cold stress protein CSP 310 exists, and that this causes uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in mitochondria. RESULTS: We studied the effects of CSP 310-like native cytoplasmic proteins from a number of cereal species (winter rye, winter wheat, Elymus and maize) on the energetic activity of winter wheat mitochondria. This showed that only CSP 310 (cold shock protein with molecular weight 310 kD) caused a significant increase of non-phosphorylative respiration. CSP 310-like proteins of other cereals studied did not have any significant influence on mitochondrial energetic activity. It was found that among CSP 310-like proteins only CSP 310 had prooxidant activity. At the same time, Elymus CSP 310-like proteins have antioxidant activity. The study of an influence of infiltration by different plant uncoupling system activators (pyruvate, which activates AOX, and linoleic acid which is a substrate and activator for PUMP and CSP 310) showed that all of these decreased lipid peroxidation during cold stress. CONCLUSIONS: Different influence of CSP 310-like proteins on mitochondrial energetic activity and lipid peroxidation presumably depend on the various subunit combinations in their composition. All the plant cell systems that caused an uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in plant mitochondria can participate in plant defence from oxidative damage during cold stress

Gadolinium-based hybrid ultra-low-background material for protecting the darkside20k dark matter detector from background neutrons

A laboratory technique was developed for obtaining an ultra-low-background hybrid material based on organic glass - polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). 157Gd nuclei are used as an efficient absorber of thermal neutrons in the hybrid material. A uniform distribution of gadolinium in the PMMAmatrix is achieved by introducing he gadolinium in the form of a coordination compound -gadolinium acetylacetonate- into the hybrid materia

Influence of post-post processing technology and laser radiation parameters on the optical breakdown threshold of a ZnGeP2 single crystal

The aim of this work is to determine the influence of the parameters of post-growth technological operations and experimental conditions on the threshold of optical breakdown of the surface of ZGP crystals under the action of laser radiation at a wavelength of 2091 nm