ABSTRACTeXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) -a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of ∼0.9 m 2 and 0.6 m 2 at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering <180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) -a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of ∼3.4 m 2 , between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) -a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm 2 at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) -a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP international consortium includes major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has significantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP. The planned launch date of the mission is earlier than 2025.

No abstract

Konjac glucomannan (KGM)/Silver nanocomposites have been prepared directly in the dilute hydrosol of KGM using photochemical reduction of Ag ϩ . The KGM/Ag nanocomposites have been characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermalgravimetry (TG). The results of FTIR showed that the wavenumbers and the strengths of some characteristic peaks of KGM treated by silver nanoparticles were changed obviously, the characteristic peaks of the OOH stretching and the COOO (H) stretching became wider with increasing concentrations of the reactants, and the characteristic peaks of the OOH stretching and the COOO (H) stretching shifted to high wavenumbers with increasing time of photochemical reduction. The images of TEM indicated that Ag nanoparticles were finely dispersed inside the KGM films with different shapes, such as sphere-like (average diameters of 9 Ϯ 4 nm) and star-like (edge lengths of about 20 nm), respectively. These suggested that the morphology and the agglomerated state of Ag nanoparticles in the composites changed with the conditions of the preparation, especially with the concentrations of Ag ϩ and KGM as well as the time of photochemical reduction. The KGM and KGM/Ag films had remarkably different thermal properties from the TG curves. The mechanism of interaction between the polysaccharide and the silver nanoparticles has also been generally discussed.

No abstract

No abstract