Tailoring the electrical properties of tellurium nanowires via surface charge transfer doping

Recent evidence suggests that some nanomaterials, which are widely used in many fields, have health effects. In order to investigate the cytotoxicity induced by nanosized copper particles (nano-Cu), PC12 cells, which were widely used as an in vitro model for the neuron research, were treated with different concentrations (0, 1, 10, 30, and 100???g/mL) of nano-Cu. The cell viability was determined by measurement of the reduction product of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). The oxidative stress induced by nano-Cu and its possible mechanism were studied in relation to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the cellular activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results showed that incubation of PC12 cells with increasing concentrations of nano-Cu induced a decrease of cell viability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In addition, flow cytometry assay using Annexin V-FITC/PI staining was used to investigate the mode of nano-Cu-induced cell death and quantified the percentage of apoptotic cells. Results showed that nano-Cu induced the significant apoptosis in PC12 cells. Meanwhile, intracellular accumulation of ROS was increased with the increased concentrations of nano-Cu and it was associated with decreased SOD activity, which was probably due to protect effects against the oxidative stress in PC12 cells. Results suggested that both excessive intracellular ROS and decreased SOD contributed to nano-Cu-induced cytotoxicity. In other words, the increasing of oxidative stress was a key mechanism in PC12 apoptosis induced by nano-Cu.     

XRF spectrometer calibration for copper determination in wood

Method of X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer calibration for copper analysis in wood was elaborated. Copper salt standard solutions for XRF measurements of liquid samples were prepared, and calibration curve of copper content dependence on impulse counts was determined. Specimens of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) were treated with different solutions of copper‐based preservative (alkaline copper quarternary ammonium compound type) applying model low‐pressure preservation process. After treatment, wood specimens were sliced into six pieces, and exposed surfaces were analyzed using mapping option of XRF spectrometer. Then, wood from each analyzed surface was peeled with abrasive paper and dissolved in 65% nitric (V) acid. Copper content in solutions was determined using obtained calibration curve, and calibration dependence of copper content in wood on the average impulse counts on particular surfaces was calculated. Obtained results of copper content were consistent with values calculated on the basis of differences of samples weight before and after treatment. It confirms that proposed procedure is correct, and obtained equation may be used for unknown samples examination. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavior of Ultrafine Particles generated from organic vapors by corona ionizers

This paper reports an experimental study on the stability, coagulation and diffusion of molecular clusters and ultrafine particles generated from organic vapors by corona ionizers. Upon leaving the ionizer, particles are made to flow within several types of vessels: depending on the specific geometry of the flow system, clusters either coagulate into large particles or are deposited on the walls. Particles larger than 4nm and molecular clusters penetrate through a wire-screen type diffusion battery, but particles in the size range between 2 and 4nm are collected. Among the organic compounds tested (aromatics, alcohols, ketones and others), only aromatic compounds appear to yield unstable clusters which grow into detectable particles (>2nm) through Brownian coagulation. The other compounds either do not undergo the gas-to-particle conversion process or are too small to be detected. Furthermore, the presence of moisture seems to be of fundamental importance in the particle generation phenomenon. The addition of alcohols to the vapor mixture inhibits particle formation.     

Visualising impregnated chitosan in Pinus radiata early wood cells using light and scanning electron microscopy

Chitosan, a deacetylated product of an abundant naturally occurring biopolymer chitin, has been used in a range of applications, particularly in food and health areas, as an antimicrobial agent. In the work reported here Pinus radiata wood was impregnated with chitosan as an environmentally compatible organic biocide (Eikenes et al., 2005a, Eikenes et al., 2005b) to protect wood against wood deteriorating microorganisms and to thus prolong the service life of wooden products. We developed sample preparation techniques targeted to visualise impregnated chitosan within wood tissues using light microscope and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Sections were viewed with the light microscope without staining with a dye as well as after staining with the dye toluidine blue. Light microscopy was also undertaken on sections that had been stained with 1% aqueous osmium tetroxide (OsO₄). For SEM observations, the sections were treated with OsO₄ and then examined with the FE-SEM, first in the secondary electron imaging mode (SEI) and then in the backscattered electron imaging (BEI) mode, imaging the same areas of a section in both SEI and BEI modes. The preparation techniques employed and the combined use of light and scanning electron microscopy provided valuable complementary information, revealing that chitosan had penetrated into the cavities (cell lumens, intercellular spaces) of all sizes present within wood tissues and had also impregnated early wood cell walls. The information obtained is discussed in relation to its importance in further development of chitosan formulations and refinement of impregnation technologies to optimise chitosan impregnation into and distribution within wood tissues as well as in assessing chitosan efficacy.     

Nanoindentation mapping of a wood-adhesive bond

A mapping experiment of a wood phenol–resorcinol–formaldehyde adhesive bond was performed by means of grid nanoindentation. The variability of the modulus of elasticity and the hardness was evaluated for an area of 17 μm by 90 μm. Overall, the modulus of elasticity of the adhesive was clearly lower than the modulus of wood cell walls, whereas the hardness of the adhesive was slightly higher compared to cell walls. A very slight trend of decreasing modulus of elasticity was found with increasing distance from the immediate bond line. However, the trend was superimposed by a high variability of the modulus of elasticity in dependence on the position in the wood cell wall. The unexpectedly high variation of the modulus between 12 and 24 GPa may be explained by the interaction between the helical orientation of the cellulose microfibrils in the S2 layer of the wood cell wall and the geometry of the three-sided Berkovich type indenter pyramid used. Corresponding to the very slight decrease in modulus with increasing distance from the bond line, a similar but clearer trend was found for hardness. Both trends of changing mechanical properties of wood cell walls with varying distance from the bond line are attributed to effects of adhesive penetration into the wood cell wall. PACS 81.70.-q     

Characterization of the structural and dynamic changes of cell wall obtained by ultrasound-water and ultrasound-alkali treatments

It is well-known that ultrasound has been studied for its cavitation, mechanical and thermal effects. As a pretreatment technology, ultrasonic alkali treatment has attracted much attention in the field of biomass biochemical transformation. In this study, the structural and dynamic changes of wood cell walls during ultrasound-water, alkali, and ultrasound-alkali treatments were investigated by stereoscopic microscopy, confocal Raman microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that the ultrasound-water, alkali, and ultrasound-alkali treatments had the effect of removing extractives from conduits. The uniform self-shrinking samples with shrinkage conduits were obtained by the alkali and ultrasound-alkali treatments. All of the treatments affected the relative content, structure and distribution of the chemical components in the wood cell walls. Compared with water-immersion samples, the relative content of hemicellulose of the treated samples reduced from 32.31% to 7.02% for ultrasound-8% NaOH treated samples. For the signal intensity of lignin, ultrasound-water treated and ultrasound-alkali treated samples displayed a more significant reductions than the alkali treated samples in the cell wall region. The crystal zone and amorphous zone of cellulose coexisted before and after the treatment, for all of the treated samples, and particularly for the ultrasound-assisted treated samples, the crystallinity increased from 38.15% for water-immersion samples to 57.42% for ultrasound-8% NaOH treated samples.     

紫外显微分光光度法测定杉木枝条木质素微区分布

在采用光学显微镜及共聚焦激光显微镜对杉木春季枝条的显微结构及其细胞壁木质素定性测量的基础上,首次在国内应用紫外显微分光光度计对其细胞壁木质素微区含量分布进行了原位测定。结果表明:杉木枝条木材管胞细胞壁木质素在不同微区部位含量分布呈不均一性,其浓度大小依次为细胞角隅胞间层、复合胞间层和次生壁,吸光度均值分别为0.489,0.307和0.278。杉木枝条其木质素定量测定与其定性观察结果是相一致的。为国内测量木材细胞壁木质素微区含量分布提供了新的测量方法。     

Microscopic characterization of tension wood cell walls of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) treated with ionic liquids

Tension wood that is an abnormal part formed in angiosperms has been barely used for wood industry. In this study, to utilize the tension wood effectively by means of liquefaction using ionic liquid, we performed morphological and topochemical determination of the changes in tension wood of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) during ionic liquid treatment at the cellular level using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and confocal Raman microscopy. Ionic liquid treatment induced cell wall swelling in tension wood. Changes in the tissue morphology treated with ionic liquids were different between normal wood and tension wood, moreover the types of ionic liquids. The ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride liquefied gelatinous layers rapidly, whereas 1-ethylpyridinium bromide liquefied slowly but delignified selectively. These novel insights into the deconstruction behavior of tension wood cell walls during ionic liquid treatment provide better understanding of the liquefaction mechanism. The obtained knowledge will contribute to development of an effective chemical processing of tension wood using ionic liquids and lead to efficient use of wood resources.     

Relaxation of ideal classical particles in a one‐dimensional box

We study the deterministic dynamics of non‐interacting classical gas particles confined to a one‐dimensional box as a pedagogical toy model for the relaxation of the Boltzmann distribution towards equilibrium. Hard container walls alone induce a uniform distribution of the gas particles at large times. For the relaxation of the velocity distribution we model the dynamical walls by independent scatterers. The Markov property guarantees a stationary but not necessarily thermal velocity distribution for the gas particles at large times. We identify the conditions for physical walls where the stationary velocity distribution is the Maxwell distribution. For our numerical simulation we represent the wall particles by independent harmonic oscillators. The corresponding dynamical map for oscillators with a fixed phase (Fermi–Ulam accelerator) is chaotic for mesoscopic box dimensions.     

Cobalt redistribution over the surface of inhomogeneous cobalt-copper alloy films

The surfaces of electrodeposited 1-μm-thick Co_xCu_100−x (x=8, 11, and 20 at. %) films and also of 0.2-μm-thick films obtained by sputtering targets made of the electrodeposited films with an argon ion beam are analyzed by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS data indicate that cobalt is absent on the surface of the electrodeposited films but is present in the bulk and on the surface of the sputtered films. The difference in the XPS spectra of copper in the electrodeposited and sputtered films of the same composition is less significant. The data obtained are explained within the framework of a qualitative model according to which subgrains of the basic (copper) component coalesce into large clusters, which subsequently take on a regular oval shape on the free surface. This process favors cobalt atom migration from the free surface to near-surface voids. High-energy particles existing in the flux of the target sputtering products bombard the growth front of the ion-sputtered films, causing the fastest sputtered cobalt atoms to penetrate into the copper matrix as point defects.