Chemical fundamental research

The same chemical separation research was done on thorium ores, leading to the discovery of a completely different set of radioactivities. Although the chemists made fundamental distinctions among the radioactivities based on chemical properties, it was often simpler to distinguish the radiation by the rate at which the radioactivity decayed. For uranium and thorium the level of radioactivity was independent of time. For most of the radioactivities separated from these elements, however, the activity showed an observable decrease with time and it was found that the rate of decrease was characteristic of each radioactive species. Each species had a unique half-life, ie, the time during which the activity was reduced to half of its initial value. 

It is clear that the density matrix formalism renders a considerable simplification of the basis for the quantum theory of many-particle systems. It emphasizes points of essential physical and chemical interests, and it avoids more artificial or conventional ideas, as for instance different types of basic orbitals. The question is, however, whether this formalism can be separated from the wave function idea itself as a fundament. Research on this point is in progress, and one can expect some interesting results within the next few years. 

Fundamental research in pyrotechnics is published in the US in Combustion and Flame by the Combustion Institute, and in the UK in Combustion Science and Technology and in Fuel . Germany has the new, journal, Propellants and Explosives (German Chemical Society), which is the successor to the discontinued Explosivstoffe . A necessary caveat is that these journals are strongly oriented toward combustion or propulsion so that only rarely do they yield pyrotechnic information. Likewise, the various publications of the learned societies contain much data on thermodynamics, spectroscopy, and instrumental analysis which are useful in the study of pyrotechnics. In the USSR the situation is somewhat better as Physics of Combustion and Explosion (Fizika Gorenia i Vzryva) of the Siberian Branch Academy of Sciences USSR is exclusively oriented toward subjects of interest, as several scientific institutes are primarily devoted to research in pyrotechnics. The same authors do publish also, however, in the journals of the Academy of Science USSR (of which there are several) as well as in the corresponding journals of the academies of the various republics, so that the impression is created of a high level of activity... 

In the electronics industry, a large number of relatively small firms play a key role in generating new process concepts and equipment. These firms face important research problems in fundamental science and engineering that would benefit markedly from the insights of academic chemical engineering researchers. Academic researchers should seek out and forge links to these small firms that stand at the crucial step between laboratory research and production processes. Potential mechanisms for accomplishing this are described in Chapter 10. 

Models of chemical reactions of trace pollutants in groundwater must be based on experimental analysis of the kinetics of possible pollutant interactions with earth materials, much the same as smog chamber studies considered atmospheric photochemistry. Fundamental research could determine the surface chemistry of soil components and processes such as adsorption and desorption, pore diffusion, and biodegradation of contaminants. Hydrodynamic pollutant transport models should be upgraded to take into account chemical reactions at surfaces. 

This is just one example of several such DOD initiatives that might be built around scenarios that assume that basic chemical problems in materials could be solved by concentration of resources on fundamental research. One can just as easily imagine other initiatives, such as the following ... 

Hopefully the reader will benefit from this manifold approach, which casts light on the topic from a range of perspectives. Many of the contributors were originally physicists or chemists who became curious about particular applications, while an increasing minority of workers are contributing expertise from a Chemical Engineering aspect and introducing questions that are completely new to the fundamental researcher. 

This field is therefore at an exciting stage. Ion-selective electrodes have a proven track record in terms of clinical and biomedical analysis, with a well-developed theory and a solid history of fundamental research and practical applications. With novel directions in achieving extremely low detection limits and instrumental control of the ion extraction process this field has the opportunity to give rise to many new bioana-lytical measurement tools that may be truly useful in practical chemical analysis. 

A new kind of relationship is emerging between universities and industry in the chemical sciences, influenced in part by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which allowed universities to retain intellectual property rights from federally funded research.2 As large industrial organizations have fewer and smaller departments doing long-range or basic research, they look to universities both for fundamental research and for students. In contrast to previous decades, in which many compa-... 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides support to all the basic sciences and engineering in universities. NSF support of chemistry is very important, both the support directed to fundamental research initiated by individual investigators and the research done in research centers such as those aimed at developing new materials or at understanding and improving the environment. The support is critical, but more is needed for the chemistry division of NSF to achieve its objectives.10 Considering the importance of basic and applied chemistry and chemical engineering to the economic future of the United States, it seems that an increase in the ability of NSF to support fundamental and applied chemical science is warranted. 

The Beating of Chemical Pulps - the Action and the Effects , D.H. Page in Transactions of the 9th Fundamental Research Symposium , ed. C.F. Baker and V. Punton, Volume 1, pp. 1-38, Mechanical Engineering Publications Ltd, London, 1989, ISBN 0-85298-706-4. 

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