4,149 research outputs found
Determining phase transitions of layered oxides via electrochemical and crystallographic analysis
The chemical diffusion coefficient in LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 was determined via the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique in the voltage range 3 to 4.2 V. Calculated diffusion coefficients in these layered oxide cathodes during charging and discharging reach a minimum at the open-circuit voltage of 3.8 V and 3.7 V vs. Li/Li+, respectively. The observed minima of the chemical diffusion coefficients indicate a phase transition in this voltage range. The unit cell parameters of LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 cathodes were determined at different lithiation states using ex situ crystallographic analysis. It was shown that the unit cell parameter variation correlates well with the observed values for chemical diffusion in NMC cathodes; with a notable change in absolute values in the same voltage range. We relate the observed variation in unit cell parameters to the nickel conversion into the trivalent state, which is Jahn-Teller active, and to the re-arrangement of lithium ions and vacancies
The Polyakov Loop and its Relation to Static Quark Potentials and Free Energies
It appears well accepted in the literature that the correlator of Polyakov
loops in a finite temperature system decays with the "average" free energy of
the static quark-antiquark system, and can be decomposed into singlet and
adjoint (or octet for QCD) contributions. By fixing a gauge respecting the
transfer matrix, attempts have been made to extract those contributions
separately. In this paper we point out that the "average" and "adjoint"
channels of Polyakov loop correlators are misconceptions. We show analytically
that all channels receive contributions from singlet states only, and give a
corrected definition of the singlet free energy. We verify this finding by
simulations of the 3d SU(2) pure gauge theory in the zero temperature limit,
which allows to cleanly extract the ground state exponents and the non-trivial
matrix elements. The latter account for the difference between the channels
observed in previous simulations.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; note and reference adde
Quantification of p38/synaptophysin in highly purified adrenal medullary chromaffin vesicles
p38/synaptophysin is a membrane protein present
in clear (synaptic) vesicles of neurons and endocrine
ceHs [1-4]. From the amino acid sequence
deduced from cDNAs encoding p38/synaptophysin,
a model with several membrane spanning
polypeptide segments and a carboxy-terminal
protein domain exposed to the cytoplasmic surface
has been constructed [5-7].
The function of p38/synaptophysin is not
known. It has been suggested to form a transmembrane
channel for ions, or to interact with
cytoplasmic factors via its cytoplasmic domain [7].
Since synaptophysin binds Ca2
+, it may also play
a role in the release of neurotransmitters stored in
clear (synaptic) vesicles [3].
Recently it has been reported [8] that p38/synaptophysin
also occurs in hormone containing large
dense core vesicles. This would imply that
p38/synaptophysin could fulfill similar functions
as described above in chromaffin and other
secretory ceHs containing large dense core vesicles.
In dear (synaptic) vesicles p38/synaptophysin constitutes
7.51Jfo of the vesicle membrane proteins [I].
The amount of p38/synaptophysin in large dense
core vesides is not known. Here we report on the
quantification of p38/synaptophysin in highly
purified chromaffin secretory veside
Static and dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in the alkali metal fulleride salts A4C60 (A = K, Rb, Cs)
We report the temperature dependent mid- and near-infrared spectra of K4C60,
Rb4C60 and Cs4C60. The splitting of the vibrational and electronic transitions
indicates a molecular symmetry change of C604- which brings the fulleride anion
from D2h to either a D3d or a D5d distortion. In contrast to Cs4C60, low
temperature neutron diffraction measurements did not reveal a structural phase
transition in either K4C60 and Rb4C60. This proves that the molecular
transition is driven by the molecular Jahn-Teller effect, which overrides the
distorting potential field of the surrounding cations at high temperature. In
K4C60 and Rb4C60 we suggest a transition from a static to a dynamic Jahn-Teller
state without changing the average structure. We studied the librations of
these two fullerides by temperature dependent inelastic neutron scattering and
conclude that both pseudorotation and jump reorientation are present in the
dynamic Jahn-Teller state.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Element Abundance Determination in Hot Evolved Stars
The hydrogen-deficiency in extremely hot post-AGB stars of spectral class
PG1159 is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final
thermal pulse that consumes the hydrogen envelope, exposing the usually-hidden
intershell region. Thus, the photospheric element abundances of these stars
allow us to draw conclusions about details of nuclear burning and mixing
processes in the precursor AGB stars. We compare predicted element abundances
to those determined by quantitative spectral analyses performed with advanced
non-LTE model atmospheres. A good qualitative and quantitative agreement is
found for many species (He, C, N, O, Ne, F, Si, Ar) but discrepancies for
others (P, S, Fe) point at shortcomings in stellar evolution models for AGB
stars. Almost all of the chemical trace elements in these hot stars can only be
identified in the UV spectral range. The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
and the Hubble Space Telescope played a crucial role for this research.Comment: To appear in: Recent Advances in Spectroscopy: Theoretical,
Astrophysical, and Experimental Perspectives, Proceedings, Jan 28 - 31, 2009,
Kodaikanal, India (Springer
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