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Abstract The present work reports facile synthesis of CuFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles via co-precipitation method and formulation of its nanohybrids with polythiophene (PTh). The structural and morphological properties were investigated using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectra (SEM-EDS) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The band gap was found to decrease with increase in the loading of PTh and was found to be 2.52 eV for 1-PTh/CuFe 2 O 4 , 2.15 eV for 3-PTh/CuFe 2 O 4 and 1.89 eV for 5-PTh/CuFe 2 O 4 . The nanohybrids were utilized as photocatalysts for visible light induced degradation of diphenyl urea. Diphenyl urea showed 65% degradation using 150 mg catalyst within 120 min. Polyethylene (PE) was also degraded using these nanohybrids under visible light as well as microwave irradiation to compare its catalytic efficiency under both conditions. Almost 50% of PE was degraded under microwave and 22% under visible light irradiation using 5-PTh/CuFe 2 O 4 . The degraded diphenyl urea fragments were analyzed using LCMS and a tentative mechanism of degradation was proposed.

The present work reports the synthesis of water-dispersible polypyrrole (WD-PPy) and polythiophene (WD-PTh) copolymers in different weight ratios and their characterization using experimental and theoretical techniques. The copolymers were spectroscopically characterized using experimental 13 C-NMR, FTIR, and UV-visible studies, and theoretical FTIR and UV-visible studies. The theoretical frequency and UV-visible data were computed using Gaussian 09 software with the functional DFT/B3LYP method and 6-31G(d) basis set. For the first time, biophysical interaction studies were carried out using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) for these polymers which are not yet reported in the literature. The results showed strong binding of the co-oligomers with BSA/HSA which could be utilized in designing potent inhibitors and biosensors.

Abstract Observations indicate that turbulent motions are present on most massive star surfaces. Starting from the observed phenomena of spectral lines with widths that are much larger than their thermal broadening (e.g., micro- and macroturbulence), and considering the detection of stochastic low-frequency variability (SLFV) in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry, these stars clearly have large-scale turbulent motions on their surfaces. The cause of this turbulence is debated, with near-surface convection zones, core internal gravity waves, and wind variability being proposed. Our 3D gray radiation hydrodynamic (RHD) models previously characterized the convective dynamics of the surfaces, driven by near-surface convection zones, and provided reasonable matches to the observed SLFV of the most luminous massive stars. We now explore the complex emitting surfaces of these 3D RHD models, which strongly violate the 1D assumption of a plane-parallel atmosphere. By post-processing the gray RHD models with the Monte Carlo radiation transport code Sedona , we synthesize stellar spectra and extract information from the broadening of individual photospheric lines. The use of Sedona enables the calculation of the viewing angle and temporal dependence of spectral absorption line profiles. By combining uncorrelated temporal snapshots together, we compare the turbulent broadening from the 3D RHD models tomore »the thermal broadening of the extended emitting region, showing that our synthesized spectral lines closely resemble the observed macroturbulent broadening from similarly luminous stars. More generally, the new techniques that we have developed will allow for systematic studies of the origins of turbulent velocity broadening from any future 3D simulations.« less

We perform 2D axisymmetric radiative relativistic MHD simulations of radiation pressure supported neutron star accretion columns in split-monopole magnetic fields. The accretion columns exhibit quasi-periodic oscillations, which manifest in the luminosity power spectrum as 2–10 kHz peaks, together with broader extensions to somewhat higher frequencies. The peak frequency decreases for wider columns or higher mass accretion rates. In contrast to the case of shorter columns in uniform magnetic fields, pdV work contributes substantially to maintaining the radiation pressure inside the column against sideways radiative cooling. This is in part due to the compression associated with accretion along the converging magnetic field lines towards the stellar surface. Propagating entropy waves which are associated with the slow-diffusion photon bubble instability form in all our simulations. Radial advection of radiation from the oscillation itself as well as the entropy waves is also important in maintaining radiation pressure inside the column. The time-averaged profile of our fiducial simulation accretion is approximately consistent with the classical 1D stationary model provided one incorporates the correct column shape. We also quantify the porosity in all our accretion column simulations so that this may also in principle be used to improve 1D models.

We present a formulation and numerical algorithm to extend the scheme for gray radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) developed by Jiang to include the frequency dependence via the multigroup approach. The entire frequency space can be divided into an arbitrary number of groups in the lab frame, and we follow the time-dependent evolution of frequency-integrated specific intensities along discrete rays inside each group. Spatial transport of photons is done in the lab frame while all the coupling terms are solved in the fluid rest frame. Lorentz transformation is used to connect different frames. The radiation transport equation is solved fully implicitly in time while the MHD equations are evolved explicitly so that time step is not limited by the speed of light. A finite volume approach is used for transport in both spatial and frequency spaces to conserve the radiation energy density and momentum. The algorithm includes photon absorption, electron scattering, as well as Compton scattering, which is calculated by solving the Kompaneets equation. The algorithm is accurate for a wide range of optical depth conditions and can handle both radiation-pressure- and gas-pressure-dominated flows. It works for both Cartesian and curvilinear coordinate systems with adaptive mesh refinement. We provide a varietymore »of test problems including a radiating sphere, shadow test, absorption of a moving gas, Bondi-type flows, as well as a collection of test problems for thermal and bulk Compton scattering. We also discuss examples where frequency dependence can make a big difference compared with the gray approach.

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High luminosity accretion on to a strongly magnetized neutron star results in a radiation pressure dominated, magnetically confined accretion column. We investigate the dynamics of these columns using 2D radiative relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations, restricting consideration to modest accretion rates where the height of the column is low enough that Cartesian geometry can be employed. The column structure is dynamically maintained through high-frequency oscillations of the accretion shock at ≃ 10–25 kHz. These oscillations arise because it is necessary to redistribute the power released at the accretion shock through bulk vertical motions, both to balance the cooling and to provide vertical pressure support against gravity. Sideways cooling always dominates the loss of internal energy. In addition to the vertical oscillations, photon bubbles form in our simulations and add additional spatial complexity to the column structure. They are not themselves responsible for the oscillations, and they do not appear to affect the oscillation period. However, they enhance the vertical transport of radiation and increase the oscillation amplitude in luminosity. The time-averaged column structure in our simulations resembles the trends in standard 1D stationary models, the main difference being that the time-averaged height of the shock front is lower because of the highermore »cooling efficiency of the 2D column shape.

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UsingAthena++, we perform 3D radiation-hydrodynamic calculations of the radiative breakout of the shock wave in the outer envelope of a red supergiant (RSG) that has suffered core collapse and will become a Type IIP supernova. The intrinsically 3D structure of the fully convective RSG envelope yields key differences in the brightness and duration of the shock breakout (SBO) from that predicted in a 1D stellar model. First, the lower-density “halo” of material outside of the traditional photosphere in 3D models leads to a shock breakout at lower densities than 1D models. This would prolong the duration of the shock breakout flash at any given location on the surface to ≈1–2 hr. However, we find that the even larger impact is the intrinsically 3D effect associated with large-scale fluctuations in density that cause the shock to break out at different radii at different times. This substantially prolongs the SBO duration to ≈3–6 hr and implies a diversity of radiative temperatures, as different patches across the stellar surface are at different stages of their radiative breakout and cooling at any given time. These predicted durations are in better agreement with existing observations of SBO. The longer durations lower the predicted luminositiesmore »by a factor of 3–10 (L_bol∼ 10⁴⁴erg s⁻¹), and we derive the new scalings of brightness and duration with explosion energies and stellar properties. These intrinsically 3D properties eliminate the possibility of using observed rise times to measure the stellar radius via light-travel time effects.

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