Eight common imidazolium based ionic liquids have been successfully evaporated in ultra-high vacuum, their vapours analysed by line of sight mass spectrometry and their heats (enthalpy) of vapourisation determined. They were found to evaporate as ion pairs, with heats of vapourisation which depend primarily on the coulombic interactions within the liquid phase and the gas phase ion pair. An electrostatic model is presented relating the heats of vapourisation to the molar volumes of the ionic liquids.

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Vaporisation and liquid phase thermal decomposition, TD, of two halide ion ionic liquids, 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [C8C1Im]Cl, and 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide, [C8C1Im]I, are investigated using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) line of sight mass spectrometry (LOSMS) at ultra-high vacuum (UHV). The ability to use MS to distinguish between vaporisation and TD allows the thermodynamics/kinetics of both vaporisation and TD to be investigated within the same experiments. Vaporisation of both halide ion ionic liquids is demonstrated. For both [C8C1Im]Cl and [C8C1Im]I the vapour is shown to be composed of neutral ion pairs (NIPs). The enthalpy of vaporisation at temperature T, ΔvapHT, was experimentally determined as ΔvapH455 = 151 ± 10 kJ mol(-1) for [C8C1Im]Cl and ΔvapH480 = 149 ± 8 kJ mol(-1) for [C8C1Im]I. Extrapolation of ΔvapHT to the reference temperature, 298 K, gave ΔvapH298 = 166 ± 10 kJ mol(-1) for [C8C1Im]Cl and ΔvapH298 = 167 ± 8 kJ mol(-1) for [C8C1Im]I, higher than most ΔvapH298 values measured to date for other [C8C1Im](+)-containing ionic liquids. In addition, predictions of ΔvapH298 for other halide ion ionic liquids are made. Liquid phase TD is shown to proceed via nucleophilic substitution to give two sets of products: 1-octylimidazole and methylhalide, and 1-methylimidazole and 1-octylhalide. The activation energy of TD at a temperature T, Ea,TD,T, is measured for the nucleophilic substitution of [C8C1Im]I to give methyliodide; Ea,TD,480 = 136 ± 15 kJ mol(-1). Ea,TD,T is measured for the nucleophilic substitution of [C8C1Im]Cl to give methylchloride; Ea,TD,455 = 132 ± 10 kJ mol(-1). The fact that ΔvapHT and Ea,TD,T are the same (within error) for both ionic liquids is commented upon, and conclusions are drawn as to the thermal stability of these ionic liquids.

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Two mail surveys of Appalachian hardwood product exporters and Chinese importers were conducted in 2008 to analyze the export practices for Appalachian hardwood products and the status of the current Chinese market. Results showed that approximately 11.4 million board feet (MMBF, Doyle scale) of hardwood logs and 145.3 MMBF hardwood lumber were exported to China by the US respondents in 2007. Approximately 37.14 percent of the respondents who exported hardwood products to China exported red oak logs, followed by white oak, black walnut, black cherry, and hard (sugar) maple. The top species of hardwood lumber exported to China were: red oak, white oak, yellow poplar, black walnut, hickory, cherry, hard maple, and soft maple. The Appalachian hardwood logs entered the markets largely in east and north central China, whereas the hardwood lumber importers were mainly distributed in east, south, and north central China. Respondents in the U.S. indicated that transportation freight costs and payments are the limiting factors when considering expanding business overseas. The continued decreasing hardwood price has put more pressure on hardwood products exporters to maintain profit margins. Due to the current economic downturn, hardwood production in the Appalachian hardwood region has declined by more than 40 percent. Exports of hardwood products to China will be affected to some extent. China, however, is still regarded as an important oversea market in the near future.

A rectangular-core (ribbon) fiber that guides and amplifies a single higher-order-mode (HOM) can potentially scale to much higher average powers than what is possible in traditional circular-core large-mode-area fibers. Such an amplifier would require mode-conversion at the input to enable interfacing with seed sources that typically output TEM(00) mode radiation and at the output to generate diffraction-limited radiation for end-user applications. We present the first simulation and experimental results of a mode conversion technique that uses two diffractive-optic-elements in conjugate Fourier planes to convert a diffraction limited TEM(00) mode to the HOM of a ribbon fiber. Mode-conversion-efficiency is approximately 84% and can theoretically approach 100%. We also demonstrate a mode-converter system that converts a single HOM of a ribbon fiber back to a diffraction-limited TEM(00) mode. Conversion efficiency is a record 80.5%.