48,866 research outputs found
Photocatalytic performance of mesoporous TiO2 films doped with gold clusters
No full textWe report on the single-pot fabrication of ordered mesoporous crystallized titania films doped with gold. Au is incorporated in TiO2 films by adding to the coating solution precursors such as AuCl3 or monodisperse Au113+ nanoclusters, and Au nanoparticles are formed by calcination. A systematic study is performed to correlate structure, Au doping and photocatalytic activity of such films. Two-dimensional small angle X-ray scattering (2D-SAXS), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and porosimetry–ellipsometry show that the films retain their mesoporous order even for doping levels as high as 1% Au : Ti atomic ratio. Wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), and cyclovoltammetry (CV) show that Au113+ nanoclusters promote the formation of the TiO2 (B) phase in competition with the anatase phase. AuCl3 stabilizes instead only the anatase phase. The highest photocatalytic activity is exhibited by films where Au113+ is employed as a precursor, which we attribute to the combination of the mixed anatase/TiO2 (B) phase, of Au nanoparticle doping and of a well-ordered mesoporous TiO2 matrix
Ordered mesoporous thin films of rutile TiO2 nanocrystals mixed with amorphous Ta2O5
No full textOrdered mesoporous thin films of composites of rutile TiO2 nanocrystals with amorphous Ta2O5 are fabricated by evaporation-induced self-assembly followed by subsequent heat treatment beyond 780 °C. Incorporation of selected amounts of Ta2O5 (20 mol %) in the mesoporous TiO2 film, together with the unique mesoporous structure itself, increased the onset of crystallization temperature which is high enough to ensure the crystallization of amorphous titania to rutile. The ordered mesoporous structure benefits from a block-copolymer template, which stabilizes the mesostructure of the amorphous mixed oxides before crystallization. The surface and in-depth composition analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests a homogeneous intermixing of the two oxides in the thin film. A detailed X-ray absorption fine structure measurement on the composite film containing 20 mol % Ta2O5 and heated to 800 °C confirms the amorphous nature of the Ta2O5 phase. Photocatalytic activity evaluation suggests that the rutile nanocrystals in the synthesized ordered mesoporous thin film possess good ability to assist the photodegradation of rhodamine B in water under illumination by UV light
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions B(B0→K∗0γ )/B(B0s→φγ ) and the directCP asymmetry inB 0→K∗0γ
No full textThe ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0→K⁎0γ and B0s→ϕγ has been measured using an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 of pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=7TeV. The value obtained is
B(B0→K⁎0γ)B(B0s→ϕγ)=1.23±0.06(stat.)±0.04(syst.)±0.10(fs/fd),
where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic uncertainty and the third is associated with the ratio of fragmentation fractions fs/fd. Using the world average value for B(B0→K⁎0γ), the branching fraction B(B0s→ϕγ) is measured to be (3.5±0.4)×10−5.
The direct CP asymmetry in B0→K⁎0γ decays has also been measured with the same data and found to be
ACP(B0→K⁎0γ)=(0.8±1.7(stat.)±0.9(syst.))%.
Both measurements are the most precise to date and are in agreement with the previous experimental results and theoretical expectations
IL-assisted synthesis of V2O5 nanocomposites and VO2 nanosheets
No full textLamellar structures of alternating sheets of crystalline V2O5 (shcherbinaite) and cations from certain imidazolium-based ionic liquids (IL) (e.g. 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate) were obtained starting from VOCl3. Surprisingly, growth along the [100] direction of shcherbinaite is suppressed due to the intercalation of the IL cations, which can be attributed to the higher charge density perpendicular to this plane compared to other crystallographic planes. In the lamellar nanostructure, V2O5 consists of sheets with just one single unit cell in the [100] direction (i.e. perpendicular to the sheets). Owing to the strong interaction with the imidazolium rings, crystallization of vanadium oxide occurs at relatively moderate temperature of ca. 100 °C. Depending on the heat treatment, diverse vanadium oxide nanostructures can be obtained from the lamellar IL-V2O5 nanocomposite, namely V2O5, V2O3 and VO2. The structure of the materials was characterized by X-ray scattering, scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
Engineering of oxoclusters-reinforced polymeric materials with application as heterogeneous oxydesulfurization catalysts
No full textIn this paper we report the first example of hybrid materials based on poly(methlymethacrylate) (PMMA) matrices covalently reinforced by MyOx(OH)w(O(O)CR)z oxoclusters (M = Zr or Hf), used as heterogeneous catalytic systems for hydrogen peroxide activation. The resulting hybrids were used to catalyze the oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) to the corresponding sulfoxide (DBTO) and sulfone (DBTO2), in order to demonstrate their potential application for the oxydesulfurization (ODS) of a fuel. Thanks to catalyst confinement and to the higher affinity of the polymeric matrix towards polar substrates, the heterogeneous set-up displays improved performances with respect to the corresponding homogeneous systems. At 65 °C, a DBT conversion higher than 84% was obtained in 24 h, with a >94% selectivity for DBTO2. The stability of the hybrid materials under catalytic conditions was successfully assessed by a combined spectroscopic approach, based on FT-IR, resonance Raman, Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, X-ray Absorption and Small Angle X-ray scattering measurements
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
In-depth mesocrystal formation analysis of microwave-assisted synthesis of LiMnPO4nanostructures in organic solution
No full textIn the present work, we report on the preparation of LiMnPO4 (lithiophilite) nanorods and mesocrystals composed of self-assembled rod subunits employing microwave-assisted precipitation with processing times on the time scale of minutes. Starting from metal salt precursors and H3PO4 as phosphate source, single-phase LiMnPO4 powders with grain sizes of approx. 35 and 65 nm with varying morphologies were obtained by tailoring the synthesis conditions using rac-1-phenylethanol as solvent. The mesocrystal formation, microstructure and phase composition were determined by electron microscopy, nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction (including Rietveld refinement), dynamic light scattering, X-ray absorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and other techniques. In addition, we investigated the formed organic matter by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in order to gain a deeper understanding of the dissolution–precipitation process. Also, we demonstrate that the obtained LiMnPO4 nanocrystals can be redispersed in polar solvents such as ethanol and dimethylformamide and are suitable as building blocks for the fabrication of nanofibers via electrospinning
Evidence for the decay B0→J/ψω and measurement of the relative branching fractions of meson decays to J/ψη and J/ψη′
No full textFirst evidence of the B 0 → J / ψ ω decay is found and the B s 0 → J / ψ η and B s 0 → J / ψ η ′ decays are studied using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb -1 collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The branching fractions of these decays are measured relative to that of the B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0 decay:frac(B (B 0 → J / ψ ω), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 0.89 ± 0.19 (stat) - 0.13 + 0.07 (syst),frac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 14.0 ± 1.2 (stat) - 1.5 + 1.1 (syst) - 1.0 + 1.1 (frac(f d, f s)),frac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η ′), B (B 0 → J / ψ ρ 0)) = 12.7 ± 1.1 (stat) - 1.3 + 0.5 (syst) - 0.9 + 1.0 (frac(f d, f s)), where the last uncertainty is due to the knowledge of f d / f s, the ratio of b-quark hadronization factors that accounts for the different production rate of B 0 and B s 0 mesons. The ratio of the branching fractions of B s 0 → J / ψ η ′ and B s 0 → J / ψ η decays is measured to befrac(B (B s 0 → J / ψ η ′), B (B s 0 → J / ψ η)) = 0.90 ± 0.09 (stat) - 0.02 + 0.06 (syst)
H2S Dosimetry by CuO: Towards Stable Sensors by Unravelling the Underlying Solid-State Chemistry
No full textThe precise detection of the toxic gas H2S requires reliable sensitivity and specificity of sensors even at minute concentrations of as low as 10 ppm, the value corresponding to typical exposure limits. CuO can be used for H2S dosimetry, based on the formation of conductive CuS and the concomitant significant increase in conductance. In theory, at elevated temperature the reaction is reversed and CuO is formed, ideally enabling repeated and long-term use of one sensor. Yet, the performance of CuO tends to drop upon cycling. Utilizing defined CuO nanorods we thoroughly elucidated the associated detrimental chemical changes directly on the sensors, by Raman and electron microscopy analysis of each step during sensing (CuO→CuS) and regeneration (CuS→CuO) cycles. We find the decrease in the sensing performance is mainly caused by the irreversible formation of CuSO4 during regeneration. The findings allowed us to develop strategies to reduce CuSO4 formation and thus to substantially maintain the sensing stability even for repeated cycles. We achieved CuO-based dosimeters possessing a response time of a few minutes only, even for 10 ppm H2S, and prolonged life-time
Measurement of b-hadron masses
No full textMeasurements of b-hadron masses are performed with the exclusive decay modes B +→J/ψK +, B 0→J/ψK +, B0→J/ψKS0, Bs0→J/ψφ and Λb0→J/ψΛ using an integrated luminosity of 35pb -1 collected in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV by the LHCb experiment. The momentum scale is calibrated with J/ψ→μ +μ - decays and verified to be known to a relative precision of 2 ×10 -4 using other two-body decays. The results are more precise than previous measurements, particularly in the case of the Bs0 and Λb0 masses
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