Electron Beam Reduction Method for Preparing the Catalyst Layer in the Growth of Carbon Nanotubes

In this paper, electron beam (e-beam) reduction method is applied for the catalyst layer preparation in the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A hot cathodic electron beam facility was employed to electron bombarding of catalyst layer before stage of CNTs growth. This new method leads to reducing the diameter of particles via sputtering and evaporating the surface of catalyst. The growth of CNTs was performed on the Fe catalyst layer with SiO₂ substrate in an environment of different mixed gases (H₂, NH₃ and C₂H₂) by thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) system. The morphology of the electron beam reduced catalyst particles were probed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). All samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before and after growth of CNTs. SEM analyses clarified that the catalyst grains have been smaller under effect of electron beam bombardment.     

Rank annihilation factor analysis method for spectrophotometric study of second-order reaction kinetics

In this study several methods are described to determine the rate constant of a second-order reaction in the form of A+B→C. These approaches allow circumventing a rank deficiency inherent of a second-order reaction when the spectroscopic data is influenced by additional source of variance. Classically, to determine the unknown rate constant in this kind of systems, one needs to have extra knowledge about the system, including the spectra of the reactants or product and the exact kinetics. In the case of the presence of an unknown phenomenon in the data set that cannot be explained by the model, such as baseline drift, the estimated rate constant might be erroneous. Present work is a modification of the rank annihilation factor analysis (RAFA) algorithm by inclusion of I) pure spectra of reactants, or IIA) mean centering step, or IIB) mean spectrum. The proposed methods can interestingly be applied on a single kinetic run. The performances of the new methods have been evaluated by applying them to analysis of simulated and experimental data.     

Ab‐Initio calculations of the CO adsorption and dissociation on substitutional Fe–Cu surface alloys relevant to Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: bcc‐(Cu)Fe(100) and fcc‐(Fe)Cu(100)

Direct CO dissociation is seen the main path of the first step in the Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) on the reactive iron surfaces. Cu/Fe alloy film is addressed with various applications over face‐centered‐cubic (fcc)‐Cu and body‐centered‐cubic (bcc)‐Fe in the FTS, i.e. preventing iron carbide formation (through direct CO dissociation) by moderating the surface reactivity and facilitating the reduction of iron surfaces, respectively. In this study by density functional theory, the stable configurations of CO molecule on various Cu/Fe alloys over fcc‐Cu(100) and bcc‐Fe(100) surfaces with different CO coverage (25% and 50%) have been evaluated. Our results showed that the ensemble effect plays a fundamental role to CO adsorption energy on the surface alloys over bcc‐Fe(100); on the other hand, the ligand effect determines the CO stability on the fcc‐Cu(100) surface alloys. CO dissociation barrier was also calculated on the surface alloys that showed although the CO dissociation process is thermodynamically possible on the more reactive surface alloys, but according to their high barrier, CO dissociation does not occur directly on these surfaces. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ab initio and DFT studies on 1-(thionitrosomethylene) hydrazine: conformers, energies, and intramolecular hydrogen-bond strength

In the current study, we present an intramolecular HB, molecular structure, π-electrons delocalization and vibrational frequencies analysis of 25 possible conformers of 1-(thionitrosomethylene) hydrazine by means of DFT (B3LYP), MP2 methods in conjunction with the 6-311++G** and augmented correlation-consistent polarized-valence triple-zeta basis sets and G2MP2 theoretical level. The influence of the solvent on the stability order of conformers and the strength of intramolecular hydrogen-bonding was considered using the Tomasi’s polarized continuum model. Statistical analyses of quantitative definitions of aromaticity, nucleus independent chemical shift, harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity, aromatic fluctuation index, and the π-electron delocalization parameter (Q) as a geometrical indicator of a local aromaticity, evaluated for this conformers. Further verification of the obtained transition state structures were implemented via intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) analysis. Calculations of the ¹H NMR chemical shift at GIAO/B3LYP/6-311++G** levels of theory are also presented. The calculated highest occupied molecular orbital (MO) and lowest unoccupied MO energies show that charge transfer occur within the molecule. Hydrogen-bond energies for H-bonded conformers were obtained from Espinosa method and the natural bond orbital theory and the atoms in molecules theory were also applied to get a more precise insight into the nature of such H-bond interactions.     

Comparison of the performance of different modified graphene oxide nanosheets for the extraction of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from natural samples

Graphene nanosheets were modified with amino groups and the resulting material was used as a sorbent for the extraction of cadmium and lead ions. The nanosheets were characterized by IR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis and elemental analysis. The effects of sample pH, eluent parameters (type, concentration and volume of eluent), flow rates (of both sample and eluent), and of a variety of other ions on the efficiency of the extraction of Cd(II) and Pb(II) were optimized. Following solid phase extraction, the elements were determined by FAAS. The limits of detection are <0.9 μg L^?1 for Pb(II) and <5 ng L^?1 for Cd(II). The relative standard deviations are <2.2 %. The method was validated by analyzing several certified reference materials and was then used for Pb(II) and Cd(II) determination in natural waters and vegetables.

Spin-dependent transport characteristics of Fe met-cars

Using non-equilibrium Green’s function and first-principles calculations we study structural, electronic, and transport properties of Fe₈C₁₂ met-car cluster sandwiched between two Au (1 0 0) electrodes. Several orientations were considered for the cluster attached to the gold surface and full structural optimization has been performed for the whole two-probe system. It was found a large current value for the present device and the molecular orientation plays an important role in the conducting behavior of the system. In energetically favorable case the I–V characteristic remains almost linear at low bias voltage (up to 1.5 V). This finding can be attributed to this fact that the transmission coefficient is almost flat around the gold Fermi level since the transmission is dominated by several broad molecular orbitals. We show that the electronic transmission is significantly spin-polarized while its size is large for the C atoms linkage. We also observe and discuss the NDR behavior of this novel molecular device in the range of 1.0–1.5 V for the energetically favorable configuration. The results are rationalized by analyzing the device transmission coefficient and density of states spectra.     

A molecular modeling study on full-length insulin: insight into initial events of amyloid formation

Studies on the structure and physico-chemical properties of amyloid fibrils are important with regard to a better understanding of amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Insulin is used as a protein model which is easily driven toward amyloid formation. In the present study, five sets of 15 ns molecular dynamics simulations were performed on insulin in order to observe the initial structural changes that occur in the process of amyloid formation. Potential energy, RMSD, and secondary structure percentage of sampled structures were analyzed in all experiments. Common residues that undergo the first conformational changes were detected to be S9 and V10 of the A chain, as well as G8 and S9 of the B chain. The RMSD of truncated insulin increased much more than full-length insulin to about 18 Å. However, the beta-sheet structures percentage of full-length insulin, which is an indicative of amyloid formation, was higher than the truncated form in the presence of salt. This is indicative of the importance of the five residues of the B chain C-terminal in the insulin misfolding process. Overall, simulating full-length insulin under high temperature and in the presence of KCl could be used to assess amyloid formation and potential amyloid inhibitors of this protein.     

Molecular structure and bonding character of mono and divalent metal cations (Li+, Na+, K+, Be2+, Mg2+, and Ca2+) with substituted benzene derivatives: AIM,NBO, and NMR analyses

Cation–π complexes between several cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Be²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺) and different π-systems such as para-substituted (F, Cl, OH, SH, CH₃, and NH₂) benzene derivatives have been investigated by UB3LYP method using 6-311++G** basis set in the gas phase and the water solution. The ions have shown cation–π interaction with the aromatic motifs. Vibrational frequencies and physical properties such as dipole moment, chemical potential, and chemical hardness of these compounds have been systematically explored. The natural bond orbital analysis and the Bader’s quantum theory of atoms in molecules are also used to elucidate the interaction characteristics of the investigated complexes. The aromaticity is measured using several well-established indices of aromaticity such as NICS, HOMA, PDI, FLU, and FLUπ. The MEP is given the visual representation of the chemically active sites and comparative reactivity of atoms. Furthermore, the effects of interactions on NMR data have been used to more investigation of the studied compounds.     

Synthesis,structure, and electrochemistry of pyridinecarboxamide cobalt(III) complexes; the effect of bridge substituents on the redox properties

Two series of complexes of the types trans-[Co^III(Mebpb)(amine)₂]ClO₄ {Mebpb²⁻ = N,N-bis(pyridine-2-carboxamido)-4-methylbenzene dianion, and amine = pyrrolidine (prldn) (1a), piperidine (pprdn) (2a), morpholine (mrpln) (3a), benzylamine (bzlan) (4a)}, and trans-[Co^III(cbpb)(amine)₂]X {cbpb²⁻ = N,N-bis(pyridine-2-carboxamido)-4-chlorobenzene dianion, and amine = pyrrolidine (prldn), X = PF₆ (1b), piperidine (pprdn), X = PF₆ (2b), morpholine (mrpln), X = ClO₄ (3b), benzylamine (bzlan), X = PF₆ (4b)} have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR, UV–Vis, and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure of 1a has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical behavior of these complexes, with the goal of evaluating the effect of axial ligation and equatorial substitution on the redox properties, is also reported. The reduction potential of Co^III, ranging from −0.53 V for (1a) to −0.31 V for (3a) and from −0.48 V for (1b) to −0.22 V for (3b) show a relatively good correlation with the σ-donor ability of the axial ligands. The methyl and chloro substituents of the equatorial ligand have a considerable effect on the redox potentials of the central cobalt ion and the ligand-centered redox processes.     

Identifying the Interfacial Polarization in Non-stoichiometric Lead-Free Perovskites by Defect Engineering

Recent advances in perovskite ferroelectrics have fostered a host of exciting sensors and actuators. Defect engineering provides critical control of the performance of ferroelectric materials, especially lead-free ones. However, it remains a challenge to quantitatively study the concentration of defects due to the complexity of measurement techniques. Here, a feasible approach to analyzing the A-site defect and electron in alkali metal niobate is demonstrated. The theoretical relationships among defect concentration, conductivity, and oxygen partial pressure can be established based on the defect chemistry equilibria. The type and concentration of defects are reflected through the conductivity variation with oxygen partial pressure. As a result, the variation of defect concentration gives rise to defect-driven interfacial polarization, which further leads to distinct properties of the ceramics. e.g., abnormal dielectric behavior. Furthermore, this study also suggests a strategy to manipulate defects and charges in perovskite oxides for performance optimization.