Biradical character of linear π-conjugated oligomer dications composed of thiophene, pyrrole, and methylthio end-capping units

Combined DFT calculations and UV-vis-NIR, ESR, and SQUID measurements revealed that the ground-state electronic structure of a linear π-conjugated oligomer dication composed of two pyrrole and six or seven thiophene rings and methylthio end-capping units is dominated by a singlet biradical character.     

Characterization of certified reference material for quantification of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in fish

Fish certified reference material (CRM), NMIJ CRM 7404-a, for the analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) was developed by the National Metrology Institute of Japan, part of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Fish samples (Japanese seabass) used for the preparation of the CRM were collected from Tokyo Bay, and the edible part was freeze-dried, pulverized, sieved, homogenized, and sterilized by γ-irradiation. This sample is in the form of a powder comprising approximately 10 g stored in a brown glass bottle. The certification was carried out using multiple analytical methods such as pressurized liquid extraction, Soxhlet extraction, saponification, and homogenization to ensure the reliability of analytical results; the certified values of target PCBs (PCB 28, PCB 70, PCB 105, PCB 153, and PCB 170) and OCPs (trans-nonachlor, dieldrin, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDT, and p,p′-DDD) were 1.05–14.0 μg kg⁻¹ and 1.57–18.0 μg kg⁻¹ for PCBs and OCPs, respectively. This is the first fish powder CRM in which PCBs and OCPs were determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometry.     

Pure red electrophosphorescence from polymer light-emitting diodes doped with highly emissive bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes

In order to develop highly emissive red phosphorescent materials for OLED application, novel bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes were developed using the 1-(dibenzo[b,d]furan-4-yl)isoquinolinato-N,C^3′ (dbfiq) cyclometalating ligand. When 1,3-bis(3,4-dibutoxyphenyl)propane-1,3-dionate (bdbp) is employed as an ancillary ligand, Ir(dbfiq)₂(bdbp) 1 exhibits red photoluminescence (PL) at 640 nm with a quantum yield (Φ_PL) of 0.61 (in toluene, 298 K). Replacement of bdbp to dipivaloylmethanate (dpm) and acetylacetonate (acac) (Ir(dbfiq)₂(dpm) 2 and Ir(dbfiq)₂(acac) 3, respectively) does not affect the PL spectrum, but reduces Φ_PL to 0.55 and 0.49 for 2 and 3, respectively. Similar tendency is also found in the doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film, and 1 is more emissive (Φ_PL = 0.17) than 2 and 3 (Φ_PL = 0.08 and 0.06, respectively). Using 1 as a phosphorescent dopant, polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated, of which structure was ITO/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/PVCz:1:PBD (100 nm)/CsF (1 nm)/Al (250 nm). Pure red electroluminescence (EL) is obtained from the fabricated PLEDs, affording a CIE chromaticity coordinate of (0.68, 0.31). When 0.51 mol% of 1 is incorporated in the PVCz-based emitting layer, the PLED shows maximum luminance of 7270 cd m⁻² at 16.5 V, power efficiency of 1.4 lm W⁻¹ at 7.5 V, and external quantum efficiency of 6.4% at 9.0 V. PLEDs with the same structure and components were also fabricated using 2 and 3, and their device characteristics were investigated. In proportion to the PL quantum yields, 1 affords better device performance than 2 and 3. Owing to four butoxy groups introduced to the bdbp ligand, 1 exhibits high solubility in organic solvents such as chloroform and toluene, and thus, is an excellent red phosphorescent dopant for solution-processed OLEDs.     

A novel liquid plasma AOP device integrating microwaves and ultrasounds and its evaluation in defluorinating perfluorooctanoic acid in aqueous media

A simplified and energy-saving integrated device consisting of a microwave applicator and an ultrasonic homogenizer has been fabricated to generate liquid plasma in a medium possessing high dielectric factors, for example water. The microwave waveguide and the ultrasonic transducer were interconnected through a tungsten/titanium alloy stick acting both as the microwave antenna and as the horn of the ultrasonic homogenizer. Both microwaves and ultrasonic waves are simultaneously transmitted to the aqueous media through the tungsten tip of the antenna. The microwave discharge liquid plasma was easily generated in solution during ultrasonic cavitation. The simple device was evaluated by carrying out the degradation of the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a system highly recalcitrant to degradation by conventional advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). PFOA is 59% degraded in an aqueous medium after only 90 s of irradiation by the plasma. Intermediates were identified by electrospray mass spectral techniques in the negative ion mode.     

Dependence of photoluminescence of CdSe/ZnS on excitation wavelength

We have found that the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals placed on a thin film of insulator (GaAsOx/GaAs) depends on excitation wavelength through the interference effects of the excitation light. By employing the multi-reflection/interference calculation, the insulator thickness of the underlying non-uniform patterns can be evaluated by the simple observation of CdSe/ZnS PL with a couple of excitation wavelengths. Moreover, the differences observed for the temporal evolution of CdSe/ZnS PL (blue shifts and degradation) among the excitation wavelengths suggest that the photo-induced changes of chemical composition and surface ligands are responsible for blue shifts and degradation, respectively.     

丝光沸石复合膜的制备及其影响因素

采用在多孔氧化铝支撑体上预涂纳米丝光沸石晶种,再用水热晶化的方法制备丝光沸石复合膜.系统考察了反应母液陈化、碱度、盐以及反应温度等因素对丝光沸石晶体在预涂晶种支撑体上成膜化过程的影响.研究发现,膜表面晶体间空隙随反应母液陈化时间的增加而略有增大;高碱度的反应母液不利于连续丝光沸石复合膜的形成;反应母液中盐的浓度对丝光沸石晶体沿各个轴方向上的生长速率有不同程度的影响,膜表面晶体间空隙随盐浓度的增加而增大;晶化温度过高,容易形成细棒状晶体,导致晶体间空隙增大.     

Exceptional Laurent biorthogonal polynomials through spectral transformations of generalized eigenvalue problems

A formulation is given for the spectral transformation of the generalized eigenvalue problem through the decomposition of the second-order differential operators. This allows us to construct some Laurent biorthogonal polynomial systems with gaps in the degree of the polynomial sequence. These correspond to an exceptional-type extension of the orthogonal polynomials, as an extension of the Laurent biorthogonal polynomials. Specifically, we construct the exceptional extension of the Hendriksen–van Rossum polynomials, which are biorthogonal analogs of the classical orthogonal polynomials. Similar to the cases of exceptional extensions of classical orthogonal polynomials, both state-deletion and state-addition occur.