665 research outputs found
Effects of stoichiometry, purity, etching and distilling on resistance of MgB2 pellets and wire segments
We present a study of the effects of non-stoichiometry, boron purity, wire
diameter and post-synthesis treatment (etching and Mg distilling) on the
temperature dependent resistance and resistivity of sintered MgB2 pellets and
wire segments. Whereas the residual resistivity ratio (RRR) varies between RRR
\~ 4 to RRR > 20 for different boron purity, it is only moderately affected by
non-stoichiometry (from 20% Mg deficiency to 20% Mg excess) and is apparently
independent of wire diameter and presence of Mg metal traces on the wire
surface. The obtained set of data indicates that RRR values in excess of 20 and
residual resistivities as low as rho{0} ~ 0.4 mu Ohm cm are intrinsic material
properties of high purity MgB2
Homologation reactions of alkanes on transition-metal surfaces
A symposia; a combination of expts. using TAP, and isotopic labeling of hydrocarbons using 11C over metal catalysts has provided useful information about the formation of carbon surface species and their activity. The formation of non-reactive surface species following high temp. CO or CH4 adsorption was shown to be more likely at high temps., and that this was a fairly rapid process. The activation energy for C-C coupling reactions was found to be higher following promotion of a Ru catalyst with V. Differences in n-/iso-ratio between labeled and non-labeled products indicated that different reaction pathways led to the formation of n-hexane and iso-hexan
Imaging of n-hexane in zeolites by positron emission profiling (PEP)
Positron Emission Profiling (PEP) has been used for in-situ measurement of the surface coverage of H-mordenite by n-hexane, as a function of hexane partial pressure, at the elevated temperatures typically used for hydroisomerization by monitoring the retention time of an injected radio-labelled pulse of n-hexane. The labelled molecules ((CH3C5H11)-C-11) were produced via a two-step alkene homologation reaction in which C-11, produced using a cyclotron, was added to 1-pentene. The PEP method described is similar to the ''tracer pulse technique'' however it has the significant advantage of in-situ imaging of the puls
A BGO Detector for Positron Emission Profiling in catalysis
As part of a project to study the reaction kinetics in catalysts, a detector system has been designed and built. The detector will measure in one dimension the activity distribution of positron emitters in catalyst reactors under operational conditions as a function of time. The detector consists of two arrays of ten EGO crystals each and has the flexibility to measure with high sensitivity the activity profile in various reactor sizes; the position resolution that can be reached is 3 m
Models for Research in Art, Design, and the Creative Industries
Research in art and design involves the knowledge and understanding associated with creative works. Practice-led research is also an integral part of art and design. All these areas have been subject to ongoing discussion and debate. One of the current challenges is to produce models that facilitate and enable the development and advancement of research within art and design. However, these models must also synchronise with institutional, national and international frameworks for research development, evaluation, and assessment. The latter can have implications for faculty advancement and also formulaic allocations of research funding across the sector. Practice-led and practice-based research have also generated substantial discussion in terms of seeking a consensus on what is appropriate for developmental purposes and academic assessment. In addition, this area also needs evaluation methods which are fair and consistent across different types of practice. The current situation is that works in these areas are assessed, various types of metric are compared and evaluated, and a proposal is made for the inclusion of metrics alongside the development and use of research models for the development of research. It is argued that deeper analyses of, and more enlightened interdisciplinary approaches to, this are clearly needed
Profiles of emission lines generated by rings orbiting braneworld Kerr black holes
In the framework of the braneworld models, rotating black holes can be
described by the Kerr metric with a tidal charge representing the influence of
the non-local gravitational (tidal) effects of the bulk space Weyl tensor onto
the black hole spacetime. We study the influence of the tidal charge onto
profiled spectral lines generated by radiating tori orbiting in vicinity of a
rotating black hole. We show that with lowering the negative tidal charge of
the black hole, the profiled line becomes to be flatter and wider keeping their
standard character with flux stronger at the blue edge of the profiled line.
The extension of the line grows with radius falling and inclination angle
growing. With growing inclination angle a small hump appears in the profiled
lines due to the strong lensing effect of photons coming from regions behind
the black hole. For positive tidal charge () and high inclination angles
two small humps appear in the profiled lines close to the red and blue edge of
the lines due to the strong lensing effect. We can conclude that for all values
of , the strongest effect on the profiled lines shape (extension) is caused
by the changes of the inclination angle.Comment: Accepted by General Relativity and Gravitatio
Insights into the function of silver as an oxidation catalyst by ab initio, atomistic thermodynamics
To help understand the high activity of silver as an oxidation catalyst,
e.g., for the oxidation of ethylene to epoxide and the dehydrogenation of
methanol to formaldehyde, the interaction and stability of oxygen species at
the Ag(111) surface has been studied for a wide range of coverages. Through
calculation of the free energy, as obtained from density-functional theory and
taking into account the temperature and pressure via the oxygen chemical
potential, we obtain the phase diagram of O/Ag(111). Our results reveal that a
thin surface-oxide structure is most stable for the temperature and pressure
range of ethylene epoxidation and we propose it (and possibly other similar
structures) contains the species actuating the catalysis. For higher
temperatures, low coverages of chemisorbed oxygen are most stable, which could
also play a role in oxidation reactions. For temperatures greater than about
775 K there are no stable oxygen species, except for the possibility of O atoms
adsorbed at under-coordinated surface sites Our calculations rule out thicker
oxide-like structures, as well as bulk dissolved oxygen and molecular
ozone-like species, as playing a role in the oxidation reactions.Comment: 15 pages including 9 figures, Related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Sub-surface Oxygen and Surface Oxide Formation at Ag(111): A Density-functional Theory Investigation
To help provide insight into the remarkable catalytic behavior of the
oxygen/silver system for heterogeneous oxidation reactions, purely sub-surface
oxygen, and structures involving both on-surface and sub-surface oxygen, as
well as oxide-like structures at the Ag(111) surface have been studied for a
wide range of coverages and adsorption sites using density-functional theory.
Adsorption on the surface in fcc sites is energetically favorable for low
coverages, while for higher coverage a thin surface-oxide structure is
energetically favorable. This structure has been proposed to correspond to the
experimentally observed (4x4) phase. With increasing O concentrations, thicker
oxide-like structures resembling compressed Ag2O(111) surfaces are
energetically favored. Due to the relatively low thermal stability of these
structures, and the very low sticking probability of O2 at Ag(111), their
formation and observation may require the use of atomic oxygen (or ozone, O3)
and low temperatures. We also investigate diffusion of O into the sub-surface
region at low coverage (0.11 ML), and the effect of surface Ag vacancies in the
adsorption of atomic oxygen and ozone-like species. The present studies,
together with our earlier investigations of on-surface and
surface-substitutional adsorption, provide a comprehensive picture of the
behavior and chemical nature of the interaction of oxygen and Ag(111), as well
as of the initial stages of oxide formation.Comment: 17 pages including 14 figures, Related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Gravitational Lensing by Black Holes
We review the theoretical aspects of gravitational lensing by black holes,
and discuss the perspectives for realistic observations. We will first treat
lensing by spherically symmetric black holes, in which the formation of
infinite sequences of higher order images emerges in the clearest way. We will
then consider the effects of the spin of the black hole, with the formation of
giant higher order caustics and multiple images. Finally, we will consider the
perspectives for observations of black hole lensing, from the detection of
secondary images of stellar sources and spots on the accretion disk to the
interpretation of iron K-lines and direct imaging of the shadow of the black
hole.Comment: Invited article for the GRG special issue on lensing (P. Jetzer, Y.
Mellier and V. Perlick Eds.). 31 pages, 12 figure
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