Zinc disordered surface

The addition of aluminium to the liquid slowed down the reaction. An amorphous cement was formed and there was no crystallization in the bulk of the cement. However, after some time crystallites were formed at the surface. Thus, the presence of aluminium exerts a dedsive influence on the course of the cement-forming reaction. This effect is to be attributed to the formation of aluminophosphate complexes (see Sections 6.1.2 and 4.1.1). These complexes may delay the predpitation of zinc from solution and also introduce an element of disorder into the structure, thus inhibiting crystallization. It is significant that zinc, which does not form complexes, has little effect on the nature or speed of the reaction. 

It is interesting that this cement has been known for over 100 years and yet certain features of its chemistry remain obscure. The exact nature of the matrix is still a matter for conjecture. It is known that the principal phase is amorphous, as a result of the presence of aluminium in the liquid. It is also known that after a lapse of time, crystallites sometimes form on the surface of the cement. A cement gel may be likened to a glass and this process of crystallization could be likened to the devitrification of a glass. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that the gel matrix is a zinc aluminophosphate and that entry of aluminium into the zinc phosphate matrix causes disorder and prevents crystallization. It is not so easy to accept the alternative explanation that there are two amorphous phases, one of aluminium phosphate and the other of zinc phosphate. This is because it is difficult to see how aluminium could act in this case to prevent zinc phosphate from crystallizing. 

Because of the potential importance for industrial-scale catalysis, we decided to check (i) whether an influence of a semiconductor support on a metal catalyst was present also if the metal is not spread as a thin layer on the semiconductor surface but rather exists in form of small particles mixed intimately with a powder of the semiconductor, and (ii) whether a doping effect was present even then. To this end the nitrates of nickel, zinc (zinc oxide is a well-characterized n-type semiconductor) and of the doping element gallium (for increased n-type doping) or lithium (for decreased n-type character) were dissolved in water, mixed, heated to dryness, and decomposed at 250°-300°C. The oxide mixtures were then pelleted and sintered 4 hr at 800° in order to establish the disorder equilibrium of the doped zinc oxide. The ratio Ni/ZnO was 1 8 and the eventual doping amounted to 0.2 at % (75). 

Tapia and Eklund (1986) carried out a Monte Carlo simulation of the substrate channel of liver alcohol dehydrogenase, based on the X-ray diffraction structure for this enzyme. The addition of substrate and the associated conformation change induce an order—disorder transition for the solvent in the channel. A solvent network, connecting the active-site zinc ion and the protein surface, may provide the basis for a proton relay system. A molecular dynamics simulation of carbonic anhydrase showed two proton relay networks connecting the active-site zinc atom to the surrounding solvent (Vedani et ai, 1989). They remain intact when the substrate, HCOf, is bound. 

For the acute state of the disorder, if without strong exudation, hydrophilic suspensions are appropriate. They typically contain a relatively high amount of water and solid substances. Solid substances act as a drying agent on the skin because of their water absorbing property. The combination of a solid substance and water increases the evaporation surface area of water. This increases the cooling effect. Examples for such preparations are zinc oxide cutaneous suspensions. 

During the second step, which takes from 5 min to about 2 h of immersion time, the number of adsorbed molecules reaches saturation, and most likely, similarly to reduced zinc, accompanied by an increased number of disordered molecules. Also here, an increase in corrosion protection is observed. In contrast to reduced zinc, not much changes during longer immersion, most likely due to the higher protective properties of the passivated zinc surface in the ethanol solution. 

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