Exploring Pd adsorption, diffusion, permeation, and nucleation on bilayer SiO₂/Ru as a function of hydroxylation and precursor environment: From UHV to catalyst preparation

The hydroxylation-dependent permeability of bilayer SiO2 supported on Ru(0001) was investigated by XPS and TDS studies in a temperature range of 100K to 600K. For this, the thermal behavior of Pd evaporated at 100K, which results in surface and sub-surface (Ru-supported) binding arrangements, was examined relative to the extent of pre-hydroxylation. Samples containing only defect-mediated hydroxyls showed no effect on Pd diffusion through the film at low temperature. If, instead, the concentration of strongly bound hydroxyl groups and associated weakly bound water molecules was enriched by an electron-assisted hydroxylation procedure, the probability for Pd diffusion through the film is decreased via a pore-blocking mechanism. Above room temperature, all samples showed similar behavior, reflective of particle nucleation above the film and eventual agglomeration with any metal atoms initially binding beneath the film. When depositing Pd onto the same SiO2/Ru model support via adsorption of [Pd(NH3)4]C2 from alkaline (pH12) precursor solution, we observe notably different adsorption and nucleation mechanisms. The resultant Pd adsorption complexes follow established decomposition pathways to produce model catalyst systems compatible with those created exclusively within UHV despite lacking the ability to penetrate the film due to the increased size of the initial Pd precursor groups

Ion counting efficiencies at the IGISOL facility

At the IGISOL-JYFLTRAP facility, fission mass yields can be studied at high precision. Fission fragments from a U target are passing through a Ni foil and entering a gas filled chamber. The collected fragments are guided through a mass separator to a Penning trap where their masses are identified. This simulation work focuses on how different fission fragment properties (mass, charge and energy) affect the stopping efficiency in the gas cell. In addition, different experimental parameters are varied (e. g. U and Ni thickness and He gas pressure) to study their impact on the stopping efficiency. The simulations were performed using the Geant4 package and the SRIM code. The main results suggest a small variation in the stopping efficiency as a function of mass, charge and kinetic energy. It is predicted that heavy fragments are stopped about 9% less efficiently than the light fragments. However it was found that the properties of the U, Ni and the He gas influences this behavior. Hence it could be possible to optimize the efficiency.Comment: 52 pages, 44 figure

Light-ion production in the interaction of 96 MeV neutrons with oxygen

Double-differential cross sections for light-ion (p, d, t, He-3 and alpha) production in oxygen, induced by 96 MeV neutrons are reported. Energy spectra are measured at eight laboratory angles from 20 degrees to 160 degrees in steps of 20 degrees. Procedures for data taking and data reduction are presented. Deduced energy-differential and production cross sections are reported. Experimental cross sections are compared to theoretical reaction model calculations and experimental data at lower neutron energies in the literature. The measured proton data agree reasonably well with the results of the model calculations, whereas the agreement for the other particles is less convincing. The measured production cross sections for protons, deuterons, tritons and alpha particles support the trends suggested by data at lower energies.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Elaboration of a computer system for determining the energy of laser pulse

This work investigates the neutron-induced fission of U-234 and the fission-fragment properties for neutron energies between E-n = 0.2 and 5.0 MeV with a special highlight on the prominent vibrational resonance at E-n = 0.77 MeV. Angular, energy, and mass distributions were determined based on the double-energy technique by means of a twin Frisch-grid ionization chamber. The experimental data are parametrized in terms of fission modes based on the multimodal random neck-rupture model. The main results are a verified strong angular anisotropy and fluctuations in the energy release as a function of incident-neutron energy