Reconstruction and thermal stability of the cubic SiC(001) surfaces

The (001) surfaces of cubic SiC were investigated with ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations. We show that C-terminated surfaces can have different c(2x2) and p(2x1) reconstructions, depending on preparation conditions and thermal treatment, and we suggest experimental probes to identify the various reconstructed geometries. Furthermore we show that Si-terminated surfaces exhibit a p(2x1) reconstruction at T=0, whereas above room temperature they oscillate between a dimer row and an ideal geometry below 500 K, and sample several patterns including a c(4x2) above 500 K.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, figures 1 and 2 available in gif form at http://irrmawww.epfl.ch/fg/sic/fig1.gif and http://irrmawww.epfl.ch/fg/sic/fig2.gi

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

The synthesis, structure, and photocatalytic water splitting performance of two new titania (TiO2)/gold(Au)/Bombyx mori silk hybrid materials are reported. All materials are monoliths with diameters of up to ca. 4.5 cm. The materials are macroscopically homogeneous and porous with surface areas between 170 and 210 m2/g. The diameter of the TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) – mainly anatase with a minor fraction of brookite – and the Au NPs are on the order of 5 and 7–18 nm, respectively. Addition of poly(ethylene oxide) to the reaction mixture enables pore size tuning, thus providing access to different materials with different photocatalytic activities. Water splitting experiments using a sunlight simulator and a Xe lamp show that the new hybrid materials are effective water splitting catalysts and produce up to 30 mmol of hydrogen per 24 h. Overall the article demonstrates that the combination of a renewable and robust scaffold such as B. mori silk with a photoactive material provides a promising approach to new monolithic photocatalysts that can easily be recycled and show great potential for application in lightweight devices for green fuel production

Seleção genômica ampla para os componentes da eficiência no uso de fósforo em milho.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a eficácia do método da seleção genomica ampla (GWS) no melhoramentode milho para os componentes da eficiência no uso de fósforo (EUP). Para isto, foram avaliadas 41 combinações híbridas de milho, em alta e baixa disponibilidade de P, em casa de vegetação pertencente ao Departamento de Fitotecnia da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, em outubro de 2010. As plantas foram coletadas no estádio V6. Foram estimados os dois componentes da EUP, que são as eficiências de absorção e de utilização de N. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos a análises estatísticas via metodologia REML/BLUP. Na genotipagem da população de estimação, foram utilizados 80 marcadores microssatélites (SSR). A predição dos valores genéticos genômicos dos híbridos foi obtida via RR-BLUP/GWS. Para os caracteres em que a GWS apresentou altos valores de acurácia seletiva, ela foi comparada com a seleção recorrente intrapopulacional. Com o uso da GWS houve um aumento significativo na acurácia seletiva, nos ganhos estimados por unidade de tempo

Chitosan membranes containing micro or nano-size bioactive glass particles : evolution of biomineralization followed by in-situ dynamic mechanical analysis

A newfamilyofbiodegradablepolymer/bioactiveglass(BG)compositematerialshas emergedbasedontheavailabilityofnano-sizedbioactiveparticles.Suchnovelbiocompo- sites canhaveenhancedperformance,intermsofmechanicalpropertiesandbioactivity, and theycanbedesignedtobeusedinboneregenerationapproaches. In thiswork,membranesofchitosan(CTS)andchitosanwithbioactiveglass(BG)both micron andnanosizedparticles(CTS/mBG,CTS/nBG,respectively)werepreparedby solvent casting.Microstructuralandmechanicalpropertieswereevaluatedinorderto compare theeffectsoftheincorporationofmicro(mBG) andnano(nBG)particlesinthe chitosan matrix. In vitro bioactivity testswereperformedtocharacterizetheapatitelayer that isformedonthesurfaceofthematerialafterbeingimmersedinsimulatedbodyfluid (SBF). Thebiomineralizationprocessonthebiomaterialswasalsofollowedusingnon- conventionaldynamicmechanicalanalysis(DMA),bothonlineandoffline.InsuchDMA experiments,thechangeinthestoragemodulus, E0, andthelossfactor,tan d, were measured asafunctionoftheimmersiontimeinSBF.TheresultsdemonstratedthatCTS/ nBG membranespossessenhancedmechanicalpropertiesandhigherbioactivityin comparisonwiththeCTS/mBG membranes.SuchresultssuggestthepotentialofnBGfor the developmentofbioactivecompositesforboneregenerationapplications.This work was financially supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) by the projects PTDC/QUI/69263/2006, PTDC/CTM-BPC/112774/2009 and, through the scholarship SFRH/BD/64601/2009 granted to Sofia G. Caridade. The authors acknowledge Dr D. Mohn and Prof. W. Stark (Em Zurich) for providing the nBG particles used

Evidence of random magnetic anisotropy in ferrihydrite nanoparticles based on analysis of statistical distributions

We show that the magnetic anisotropy energy of antiferromagnetic ferrihydrite depends on the square root of the nanoparticles volume, using a method based on the analysis of statistical distributions. The size distribution was obtained by transmission electron microscopy, and the anisotropy energy distributions were obtained from ac magnetic susceptibility and magnetic relaxation. The square root dependence corresponds to random local anisotropy, whose average is given by its variance, and can be understood in terms of the recently proposed single phase homogeneous structure of ferrihydrite.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Statistics of Resonances and Delay Times in Random Media: Beyond Random Matrix Theory

We review recent developments on quantum scattering from mesoscopic systems. Various spatial geometries whose closed analogs shows diffusive, localized or critical behavior are considered. These are features that cannot be described by the universal Random Matrix Theory results. Instead one has to go beyond this approximation and incorporate them in a non-perturbative way. Here, we pay particular emphasis to the traces of these non-universal characteristics, in the distribution of the Wigner delay times and resonance widths. The former quantity captures time dependent aspects of quantum scattering while the latter is associated with the poles of the scattering matrix.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures (submitted to Journal of Phys. A: Math. and General, special issue on "Aspects of Quantum Chaotic Scattering"

Seleção genômica ampla para os componentes da eficiência no uso de nitrogênio em milho.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a eficácia do método da seleção genômica ampla (GWS) no melhoramento demilho para os componentes da eficiência no uso de nitrogênio (EUN). Para isto, foram avaliadas 41 combinações híbridas de milho, em alta e baixa disponibilidade de N, em casa de vegetação pertencente ao Departamento de Fitotecnia da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, em outubro de 2010. As plantas foram coletadasno estádio V6. Foram estimados os dois componentes da EUN, que são as eficiências na absorção e na utilização de N. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos a análises estatísticas via metodologia REML/BLUP. Na genotipagem da população de estimação, foram utilizados 80 marcadores microssatélites (SSR). A predição dos valores genéticos genômicos dos híbridos foi obtida via RR-BLUP/GWS. Para os caracteres em que a GWS apresentou altos valores de acurácia seletiva, ela foi comparada com a seleção recorrente intrapopulacional. Com o uso daGWS houve um aumento significativo na acurácia seletiva e nos ganhos estimados por unidade de tempo para os componentes da eficiência no uso de nitrogênio em milho em alto e baixo nitrogênio

Mg2+-doped poly(ε-caprolactone)/siloxane biohybrids

Electrolytes based on a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/siloxane organic/inorganic host framework doped with magnesium triflate (Mg(CF3SO3)2) were synthesized by the sol-gel process. In the biohybrid matrix short PCL chains are covalently bonded via urethane linkages to the siliceous network. In this study the salt content of samples was identified using the conventional n notation, where n indicates the number of (C(=O)(CH2)5O) PCL repeat units per Mg2+ ion. Materials with compositions ranging from n=∞ to 2 were prepared. The only composition prepared that is not entirely amorphous is that with n = 1. Xerogels with n ≥ 7 are thermally stable up to up to at least 200 ºC. The most conducting ormolyte of the series is that with n = 26 (5.9x10-9 and 9.8x10-7 Scm-1 at 24 and 104 ºC, respectively).Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Di-ureasil hybrids doped with LiBF4: attractive candidates as electrolytes for "Smart Windows"

The sol-gel process has been used to prepare hybrid electrolytes composed of a poly(oxyethylene) (POE)/siloxane hybrid network doped with lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4) with compositions of n between ∞ and 2.5. In this context the lithium salt concentration is expressed in terms of the number of oxyethylene units in the organic component of the network per Li+ ion. Electrolyte samples with n ≥ 20 are thermally stable up to approximately 250 ºC. All the materials synthesized are semi-crystalline: in the composition range n ≥ 15 free crystalline POE exists and at 60 ≥ n ≥ 2.5 evidence of the presence of a crystalline POE/LiBF4 compound has been found. At n = 2.5 this latter crystalline phase coexists with free salt. The room temperature conductivity maximum of this electrolyte system is located at n = 10 (1.5x10-5 S cm-1 at 22 ºC). The electrochemical stability domain of the sample with n = 15 spans about 5.5 V versus Li/Li+. This new series of materials represents a promising alternative to the LiTFSI- and LiClO4-doped POE and POE/siloxane analogues. Preliminary tests performed with a prototype electrochromic device (ECD) comprising the sample with n = 8 as electrolyte and WO3 as cathodically coloring layer are extremely encouraging. The device exhibits switching time around 50 s, an optical density change of 0.13, open circuit memory of about 4 months and high coloration efficiency (106 cm2C-1 in the 3rd cycle).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Structure, thermal properties, conductivity and electrochemical stability of di-urethanesil hybrids doped with LiCF3SO3

Variable chain length di-urethane cross-linked poly(oxyethylene) (POE)/siloxane hybrid networks were prepared by application of a sol-gel strategy. These materials, designated as di-urethanesils (represented as d-Ut(Y’), where Y’ indicates the average molecular weight of the polymer segment), were doped with lithium triflate (LiCF3SO3). The two host hybrid matrices used, d-Ut(300) and d-Ut(600), incorporate POE chains with approximately 6 and 13 (OCH2CH2) repeat units, respectively. All the samples studied, with compositions ∞ > n ≥ 1 (where n is the molar ratio of (OCH2CH2) repeat units per Li+),, are entirely amorphous. The di-urethanesils are thermally stable up to at least 200 ºC. At room temperature the conductivity maxima of the d-Ut(300)- and d-Ut(600)-based di-urethanesil families are located at n = 1 (approximately 2.0x10-6 and 7.4x10-5 Scm-1, respectively). At about 100 ºC, both these samples also exhibit the highest conductivity of the two electrolyte systems (approximately 1.6x10-4 and 1.0x10-3 Scm-1, respectively). The d-Ut(600)-based xerogel with n = 1 displays excellent redox stability.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT