This study reports on the bio-synthesis and the main physical properties of p-type Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles for the first time by a completely green chemistry process using Aspalathus linearis's natural extract as an effective chelating agent. Their surface/interface and optical properties are reported. In addition to the X-ray diffraction investigations, the Raman, and infrared as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies confirmed the single phase of the Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles. As their average size can be as low as 〈fparticle〉 ∼3.6 nm, the reticular atomic plans are under a slight compressive state. ARTICLE HISTORY

Perturbation reductive procedures, as used to analyse various weakly nonlinear plasma waves (solitons and periodic waves), normally lead to the dynamical system being described by KdV, Burgers' or a nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation, with properties that can be deduced from an array of mathematical techniques. Here we develop a fully nonlinear theory of one-dimensional stationary plasma waves, which elucidates the common nature of various diverse wave phenomena. This is accomplished by adopting an essentially fluid dynamic viewpoint. In this unified treatment the constants of the motion (for mass, momentum and energy) lead naturally to the construction of the wave structure equations. It is shown, for example, that electrostatic, Hall–magnetohydrodynamic and ion–cyclotron–acoustic nonlinear waves all obey first-order differential equations of the same generic type for the longitudinal flow field of the wave. The equilibrium points, which define the soliton amplitude, are given by the compressive and/or rarefactive roots of a total plasma ‘energy’ or ‘momentum’ function characterizing the wave type. This energy function, which is an algebraic combination of the Bernoulli momentum and energy functions for the longitudinal flow field, is the fluid dynamic counterpart of the pseudo-potentials, which are characteristic of system structure equations formulated in other than fluid variables. Another general feature of the structure equation is the phenomenon of choked flow, which occurs when the flow speed becomes sonic. It is this trans-sonic property that limits the soliton amplitudes and defines the critical collective Mach numbers of the waves. These features are also obtained in multi-component plasmas where, for example, in a bi-ion plasma, momentum exchanges between protons and heavier ions are mediated by the Maxwell magnetic stresses. With a suitable generalization of the concept of a sonic point in a bi-ion system and the corresponding choked flow feature, the wave structures, although now more complicated, can also be understood within this overall fluid framework. Particularly useful tools in this context are the momentum hodograph (an algebraic relation between the bi-ion speeds and the electron speed, or magnetic field, which follows from the conservation of mass, momentum and charge-neutrality) and a generalized Bernoulli energy density for each species. Analysis shows that the bi-ion solitons are essentially compressive, but contain the remarkable feature of the presence of a proton rarefactive core. A new type of soliton, called an ‘oscilliton’ because embedded spatial oscillations are superimposed on the classical soliton, is also described and discussed. A necessary condition for the existence of this type of wave is that the linear phase velocity must exhibit an extremum where the phase speed matches the group speed. The remarkable properties of this wave are illustrated for the case of both whistler waves and bi-ion waves where, for the latter, the requisite condition is met near the cross-over frequencies. In the case of the whistler oscilliton, which propagates at speeds in excess of one half of the Alfvén speed (based on the electrons), an analytic solution has been constructed through a phase-portrait integral of the system in which the proton and electron dynamics must be placed on the same footing. The relevance of the different wave structures to diverse space environments is briefly discussed in relation to recently available high-time and spatial resolution data from satellite observations.

This work builds on a recent treatment by McKenzie and Doyle [Phys. Plasmas 8, 4367 (2001)], on oblique solitons in a cold magnetized plasma, to include the effects of plasma thermal pressure. Conservation of total momentum in the direction of wave propagation immediately shows that if the flow is supersonic, compressive (rarefactive) changes in the magnetic pressure induce decelerations (accelerations) in the flow speed, whereas if the flow is subsonic, compressive (rarefactive) changes in the magnetic pressure induce accelerations (decelerations) in the flow speed. Such behavior is characteristic of a Bernoulli-type plasma momentum flux which exhibits a minimum at the plasma sonic point. The plasma energy flux (kinetic plus enthalpy) also shows similar Bernoulli-type behavior. This transonic effect is manifest in the spatial structure equation for the flow speed (in the direction of propagation) which shows that soliton structures may exist if the wave speed lies either (i) in the range between the fast and Alfven speeds or (ii) between the sound and slow mode speed. These conditions follow from the requirement that a defined, characteristic “soliton parameter” m exceeds unity. It is in this latter slow soliton regime that the effects of plasma pressure are most keenly felt. The equilibrium points of the structure equation define the center of the wave. The structure of both fast and slow solitons is elucidated through the properties of the energy integral function of the structure equation. In particular, the slow soliton, which owes its existence to plasma pressure, may have either a compressive or rarefactive nature, and exhibits a rich structure, which is revealed through the spatial structure of the longitudinal speed and its corresponding transverse velocity hodograph.

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The suitability of a selection of amorphous alloys as electrocatalysts or as inhibitors for hydrogen evolution (HE) was investigated in 1 M KOH at 25°C. Mild basic conditions were chosen so as to make direct comparison with other data, where available. The alloys studied were the known glassy alloys Fe 67 Co 18 B 14 Si 1 , Co 66 Fe 4 Si 16 B 12 Mo 2 , Fe 40 Ni 40 B 20 and Fe 40 Ni 40 P 14 B 6 and an entirely new glassy alloy Zr 73.22 Ti 19.71 Cu 1.24 Fe 5.83 . The electrochemical techniques of slow sweep anodic and cathodic polarisation were used, in conjunction with the surface analysis techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray analysis, to characterise the alloys and new data has been obtained for all alloys. The glassy alloys were tested in their as-polished state, as well as after surface activation, by ex situ chemical (acid etching) and in situ electrochemical (anodic oxidation in base) pre-treatment. The least corrosion resistant composition, Fe 67 Co 18 B 14 Si 1 , displayed the highest activity for HE in the as-polished state and only a minor improvement resulted from surface pre-treatment. Corrosion resistance was partly characterised by the degree to which the passive region increased and the passive region current decreased as a function of pre-treatment. The most corrosion resistant alloy, Zr 73.22 Ti 19.71 Cu 1.24 Fe 5.83 , displayed the poorest activity for HE in the as-polished state, but a significant improvement resulted from surface activation by in situ anodic oxidation in basic media. Surface activation by acid pre-treatment reduced the corrosion resistance of the Zr 73.22 Ti 19.71 Cu 1.24 Fe 5.83 alloy and was, therefore, a non-viable and destructive procedure. However, acid pre-treatment was effective in substantially activating the glassy Co 66 Fe 4 Si 16 B 12 Mo 2 and Fe 40 Ni 40 P 14 B 6 alloys towards HE and did not alter the corrosion properties of these compositions. A novel technique for mounting thin alloy specimens has been developed, using an insulating photo-resist coating, resulting in sharply defined electrode edges.

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