Extinct technetium in silicon carbide stardust grains: implications for stellar nucleosynthesis

The isotopic composition of ruthenium (Ru) in individual presolar silicon carbide (SiC) stardust grains bears the signature of s-process nucleosynthesis in asymptotic giant branch stars, plus an anomaly in 99Ru that is explained by the in situ decay of technetium isotope 99Tc in the grains. This finding, coupled with the observation of Tc spectral lines in certain stars, shows that the majority of presolar SiC grains come from low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars, and that the amount of 99Tc produced in such stars is insufficient to have left a detectable 99Ru anomaly in early solar system materials.     

Titanium carbide nanocrystals in circumstellar environments

Meteorites contain micrometer-sized graphite grains with embedded titanium carbide grains. Although isotopic analysis identifies asymptotic giant branch stars as the birth sites of these grains, there is no direct observational identification of these grains in astronomical sources. We report that infrared wavelength spectra of gas-phase titanium carbide nanocrystals derived in the laboratory show a prominent feature at a wavelength of 20.1 micrometers, which compares well to a similar feature in observed spectra of postasymptotic giant branch stars. It is concluded that titanium carbide forms during a short (approximately 100 years) phase of catastrophic mass loss (>0.001 solar masses per year) in dying, low-mass stars.     

Samples of stars beyond the solar system: silicate grains in interplanetary dust

We have identified six circumstellar silicate grains within interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Their extrasolar origins are demonstrated by their extremely anomalous oxygen isotopic compositions. Three 17O-rich grains appear to originate from red giant or asymptotic giant branch stars. One 16O-rich grain may be from a metal-poor star. Two 16O-poor grains have unknown stellar sources. One of the grains is forsterite, and two are amorphous silicate "GEMS" (glass with embedded metal and sulfides), which is consistent with astronomical identifications of crystalline and amorphous silicates in the outflows of evolved stars. These observations suggest cometary origins of these IDPs and underscore the perplexing absence of silicates among circumstellar dust grains from meteorites.     

Rubidium-rich asymptotic giant branch stars

A long-debated issue concerning the nucleosynthesis of neutron-rich elements in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars is the identification of the neutron source. We report intermediate-mass (4 to 8 solar masses) AGB stars in our Galaxy that are rubidium-rich as a result of overproduction of the long-lived radioactive isotope (87)Rb, as predicted theoretically 40 years ago. This finding represents direct observational evidence that the (22)Ne(alpha,n)(25)Mg reaction must be the dominant neutron source in these stars. These stars challenge our understanding of the late stages of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars and would have promoted a highly variable Rb/Sr environment in the early solar nebula.     

Deep mixing of 3He: reconciling Big Bang and stellar nucleosynthesis

Low-mass stars, approximately 1 to 2 solar masses, near the Main Sequence are efficient at producing the helium isotope 3He, which they mix into the convective envelope on the giant branch and should distribute into the Galaxy by way of envelope loss. This process is so efficient that it is difficult to reconcile the low observed cosmic abundance of 3He with the predictions of both stellar and Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Here we find, by modeling a red giant with a fully three-dimensional hydrodynamic code and a full nucleosynthetic network, that mixing arises in the supposedly stable and radiative zone between the hydrogen-burning shell and the base of the convective envelope. This mixing is due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability within a zone just above the hydrogen-burning shell, where a nuclear reaction lowers the mean molecular weight slightly. Thus, we are able to remove the threat that 3He production in low-mass stars poses to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis of 3He.     

Star dust

Infrared astronomy has shown that certain classes of stars are abundant producers of refractory grains, which condense in their atmospheres and are blown into interstellar space by the radiation pressure of these stars. Metallic silicates of the kind that produce terrestrial planets are injected by the oxygen-rich stars and carbon and its refractories by carbon stars. Much of the interstellar dust may be produced by this mechanism. A number of "infrared stars" are completely surrounded by their own dust, and a few of these exhibit a unique morphology that suggests the formation of a planetary system or a stage in the evolution of a planetary nebula. Certain novae also condense grains, which are blown out in their shells. In our own solar system, comets are found to contain the same silicates that are present elsewhere in the galaxy, suggesting that these constituents were present in the primeval solar nebula.     

溶胶凝胶法铁基载氧体的制备与反应性能研究

采用以金属醇盐和无机盐为前驱物的两种溶胶凝胶法,以Al2O3为惰性载体,制备了Fe2O3质量分数为70%的载氧体Fe2O3/Al2O3。X射线衍射分析(XRD)表明,载氧体主要成分为Fe2O3和Al2O3。X射线荧光光谱(XRF)证明,样品中Fe2O3/Al2O3含量与设计值接近;利用不同升温速率的程序升温还原(TPR-H2)测试发现,与商业氧化铁相比,溶胶凝胶法制备的载氧体反应峰向高温区移动,说明惰性载体Al2O3对反应活性的提高作用有限。利用同步热重分析仪(TGA)对载氧体进行循环周期测试,合成的载氧体较商业载氧体具有较高的传氧能力和还原反应速率,并且在循环周期内保持了良好的反应性能。说明惰性组分Al2O3通过优化载氧体物理结构,提高了反应过程热效应的稳定性,进一步加强了Fe2O3晶格氧持续、高效的反应活性。     

Kinetic evidence for five-coordination in AlOH(aq)2+ ion

Trivalent aluminum ions are important in natural bodies of water, but the structure of their coordination shell is a complex unsolved problem. In strong acid (pH < 3.0), Al(III) exists almost entirely as the octahedral Al(H2O)6(3+) ion, whereas in basic conditions (pH > 7), a tetrahedral Al(OH)(4- structure prevails. In the biochemically and geochemically critical pH range of 4.3 to 7.0, the ion structures are less clear. Other hydrolytic species, such as AlOH(aq)2+, exist and are traditionally assumed to be hexacoordinate. We show, however, that the kinetics of proton and water exchange on aqueous Al(III), coupled with Car-Parrinello simulations, support a five-coordinate Al(H2O)4OH2+ ion as the predominant form of AlOH(aq)2+ under ambient conditions. This result contrasts Al(III) with other trivalent metal aqua ions, for which there is no evidence for stable pentacoordinate hydrolysis products.     

Antarctic Ozone Depletion Chemistry: Reactions of N2O5 with H2O and HCl on Ice Surfaces

The reactions of dinitrogen pentoxide (N(2)O(5)) with H(2)O and hydrochloric acid (HCl) were studied on ice surfaces in a Knudsen cell flow reactor. The N(2)O(5) reacted on ice at 185 K to form condensed-phase nitric acid (HNO(3)). This reaction may provide a sink for odd nitrogen (NO(x)) during the polar winter, a requirement in nearly all models of Antarctic ozone depletion. A lower limit to the sticking coefficient, gamma, for N(2)O(5) on ice is 1 x 10(-3). Moreover, N(2)O(5) reacted on HCl-ice surfaces at 185 K, with gamma greater than 3 x 10(-3). This reaction, which produced gaseous nitryl chloride (ClNO(2)) and condensed-phase HNO(3), proceeded until all of the HCl within the ice was depleted. The ClNO(2), which did not react or condense on ice at 185 K, can be readily photolyzed in the Antarctic spring to form atomic chlorine for catalytic ozone destruction cycles. The other photolysis product, gaseous nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), may be important in the partitioning of NO(x) between gaseous and condensed phases in the Antarctic winter.     

Atmospheric CO2: principal control knob governing Earth's temperature

Ample physical evidence shows that carbon dioxide (CO(2)) is the single most important climate-relevant greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere. This is because CO(2), like ozone, N(2)O, CH(4), and chlorofluorocarbons, does not condense and precipitate from the atmosphere at current climate temperatures, whereas water vapor can and does. Noncondensing greenhouse gases, which account for 25% of the total terrestrial greenhouse effect, thus serve to provide the stable temperature structure that sustains the current levels of atmospheric water vapor and clouds via feedback processes that account for the remaining 75% of the greenhouse effect. Without the radiative forcing supplied by CO(2) and the other noncondensing greenhouse gases, the terrestrial greenhouse would collapse, plunging the global climate into an icebound Earth state.     

Structure of the ultrathin aluminum oxide film on NiAl(110)

The well-ordered aluminum oxide film formed by oxidation of the NiAl(110) surface is the most intensely studied metal surface oxide, but its structure was previously unknown. We determined the structure by extensive ab initio modeling and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. Because the topmost aluminum atoms are pyramidally and tetrahedrally coordinated, the surface is different from all Al2O3 bulk phases. The film is a wide-gap insulator, although the overall stoichiometry of the film is not Al2O3 but Al10O13. We propose that the same building blocks can be found on the surfaces of bulk oxides, such as the reduced corundum (0001) surface.     

Structure of the hydrated alpha-Al(2)O(3) (0001) surface

The physical and chemical properties of the hydrated alpha-Al(2)O(3) (0001) surface are important for understanding the reactivity of natural and synthetic aluminum-containing oxides. The structure of this surface was determined in the presence of water vapor at 300 kelvin by crystal truncation rod diffraction at a third-generation synchrotron x-ray source. The fully hydrated surface is oxygen terminated, with a 53% contracted double Al layer directly below. The structure is an intermediate between alpha-Al(2)O(3) and gamma-Al(OH)(3), a fully hydroxylated form of alumina. A semiordered oxygen layer about 2.3 angstroms above the terminal oxygen layer is interpreted as adsorbed water. The clean alpha-Al(2)O(3) (0001) surface, in contrast, is Al terminated and significantly relaxed relative to the bulk structure. These differences explain the different reactivities of the clean and hydroxylated surfaces.     

X-ray diffraction study of the ultrathin Al2O3 layer on NiAl110

Ultrathin Al2O3 layers on alloys are used as templates for model catalysts, tunneling barriers in electronic devices, or corrosion-resistant layers. The complex atomic structure of well-ordered alumina overlayers on NiAl110 was solved by surface x-ray diffraction. The oxide layer is composed of a double layer of strongly distorted hexagonal oxygen ions that hosts aluminum ions on both octahedral and tetrahedral sites with equal probability. The alumina overlayer exhibits a domain structure that can be related to characteristic growth defects and is generated during the growth of a hexagonally ordered overlayer (Al2O3) on a body-centered cubic (110) substrate (NiAl).     

Polymorphs of Alumina Predicted by First Principles: Putting Pressure on the Ruby Pressure Scale

Fully optimized quantum mechanical calculations indicate that Al2O3 transforms from the corundum structure to the as yet unobserved Rh2O3 (II) structure at about 78 gigapascals, and it further transforms to Pbnm-perovskite structure at 223 gigapascals. The predicted x-ray spectrum of the Rh2O3 (II) structure is similar to that of the corundum structure, suggesting that the Rh2O3 (II) structure could go undetected in high-pressure x-ray measurements. It is therefore possible that the ruby (Cr3+-doped corundum) fluorescence pressure scale is sensitive to the thermal history of the ruby chips in a given experiment.     

Al_2O_3－SiCp新型陶瓷刀具加工奥氏体不锈钢的性能研究

本文利用山东工业大学新研制的Ａｌ２Ｏ３－ＳｉＣｐ陶瓷刀具对难加工材料奥氏体不锈钢１Ｃｒ１８Ｎｉ９Ｔｉ进行了干式和湿式切削试验，并与厂家推荐的常用刀具材料ＹＧＳ进行了对比实验．结果表明，Ａ１２Ｏ３一ＳｉＣｐ陶瓷刀具的切削性能较ＹＧ８有明显提高，特别是在高速切削时．刀具磨损速度显著降低。另外，本文还对该刀具材料在不同切削条件下的切削性能进行了分析。     

Central object of the 30 doradus nebula, a supermassive star

R136 (HD 38268) is the central object of the 30 Doradus Nebula, a giant region of ionized hydrogen in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Observations of R136 at low and high spectral resolution with the International Ultraviolet Explorer reveal a peculiar hot object with a massive stellar wind. An outflow speed of 3500 kilometers per second and a temperature of approximately 60,000 K are indicated by the spectra. The bulk of the observed ultraviolet radiation must come from R136a, the brightest and bluest component of R136. Its absolute visual magnitude and observed temperature imply a luminosity about 10(8) times that of the sun. Most of the ionizations produced in 30 Doradus are provided by this peculiar object. If RI36a is a dense cluster of very hot stars, about 30 stars of classes O3 and WN3 exist in a region estimated to have a diameter of less than 0.1 parsec. This is inconsistent with the ultraviolet line spectrum and the evidence for optical variability. An alternative interpretation of the observations is that the radiation from R136a is dominated by a single superluminous object with the following approximate properties: luminosity and temperature as given above, a radius 100 times that of the sun, a mass 2500 times that of the sun, and a loss rate of 10(-3.5) solar masses per year. Model interior calculations for hydrogen-burning stars are consistent with these parameters. Such stars, however, are expected to be unstable, and this may account for the massive stellar wind.     

Million-degree plasma pervading the extended Orion Nebula

Most stars form as members of large associations within dense, very cold (10 to 100 kelvin) molecular clouds. The nearby giant molecular cloud in Orion hosts several thousand stars of ages less than a few million years, many of which are located in or around the famous Orion Nebula, a prominent gas structure illuminated and ionized by a small group of massive stars (the Trapezium). We present x-ray observations obtained with the X-ray Multi-Mirror satellite XMM-Newton, revealing that a hot plasma with a temperature of 1.7 to 2.1 million kelvin pervades the southwest extension of the nebula. The plasma flows into the adjacent interstellar medium. This x-ray outflow phenomenon must be widespread throughout our Galaxy.     

Eight-membered cyclosilicate rings in muirite

The determination of the crystal structure of muirite, Ba(10)(Ca,Mn,Ti)(4)Si(8)O(24)(Cl,OH,O)(12) . 4H(2)O, revealed the presence of discrete cyclic silicate anions, (Si(8)O(24))(16-), formed by the condensation of eight silicate tetrahedra. This first reported occurrence of eight-membered rings is of particular interest, because rings with eight tetrahedra are reported to be energetically less stable than rings with six tetrahedra, which have been found in many minerals.     

小麦叶片中H_2O_2的3种测定方法比较

比较研究了目前正在应用的植物叶片中H2 O2 含量定量测定的 3种方法 ,结果表明 ,Ti (IV) H2 O2 比色法有严重背景干扰 ,测定结果偏高 ;而 5 %TCA (三氯乙酸 )提取 ,活性炭脱色 ,Ti (IV) PAR H2 O2 比色法中 ,活性炭吸附了部分H2 O2 ,测定结果偏低 ;改用萃取脱色时 ,有高回收率 (95 %以上 ) ,干扰小的特点 ,适宜植物叶片中微量H2 O2 的定量测定     

First occurrence of the garnet-ilmenite transition in silicates

Pyrope garnet (Mg(3)Al(2)Si(3)O(12)) has been found to transform to an ilmenite-type phase at a loading pressure between 240 and 250 kilobars and at about 1000 degrees to 1400 degrees C in a diamond-anvil press coupled with laser heating. The lattice parameters for the ilmenite-type phase of (Mg(.75) Al(.25))(Si(.75) Al(.25))O(3) are a(0) = 4.755 +/- 0.002 and c(0) = 13.360 +/- 0.005 angstroms. The zero-pressure volume change associated with the garnet-ilmenite transition is calculated to be -7.1 percent. This result verifies the prediction that pyrope garnet would transform to the ilmenite structure at high pressure first suggested in 1962 by Clark et al. and Ringwood.