Titanate nanofunnel brushes: toward functional interfacial applications

Titanate nanofunnel brushes were grown on sol-gel derived amorphous TiO(2) thin films, whose shape can be tuned from nanosheets to nanofunnels by changing hydrothermal conditions. A superhydrophobic adhesive surface was achieved by a chemical modification of the brushes.     

Magnetic-state tuning of the rhombohedral graphite film by interlayer spacing and thickness

Based on first-principles total-energy calculations, we systematically investigate how the electronic and magnetic properties of rhombohedral graphite thin films depend on the interlayer spacing and number of layers. Our calculations show that the magnetic ordering of the thin films depends on the interlayer spacing. Thin films under compression normal to the layers possess finite magnetic moments, indicating parallel spin coupling between the two surfaces. We also find that thin graphite films with seven or more atomic layers exhibit magnetic ordering while films with six or less atomic layers are metallic with no magnetic ordering.     

A biosorption isotherm model for the removal of reactive azo dyes by inactivated mycelia of Cunninghamella elegans UCP542

The biosorption of three reactive azo dyes (red, black and orange II) found in textile effluents by inactive mycelium of Cunninghamella elegans has been investigated. It was found that after 120 hours of contact the adsorption led to 70%, 85%, 93% and 88% removal of reactive orange II, reactive black, reactive red and a mixture of them, respectively. The mycelium surface was found to be selective towards the azo dyes in the following order: reactive red > reactive black > orange II. Dye removal from a mixture solution resulted in 48.4 mg/g retention by mycelium and indicated a competition amongst the dyes for the cellular surface. A Freundlich adsorption isotherm model exhibited a better fit, thus suggesting the presence of heterogeneous binding sites. Electrondense deposits observed on the mycelium ultrastructure suggest that the dyes are mainly retained under the cellular surface of the inactive biomass of C. elegans.     

Current status for light-emitting diode with Eu-doped GaN active layer grown by MBE

Recent progress on light-emitting diode having a Eu-doped GaN active layer is reported. Although the first success on LED using GaN:Eu has been achieved by OMVPE, the factors to be controlled during the crystal growth are not well understood. We found that GaN:Eu co-doped with Mg in NH₃-MBE shows a Eu site which is excited only by the above band-gap excitation. The luminescence intensity is enhanced at least 10 times than that without Mg co-doping. The LED operation fabricated using Mg co-doping technique is successfully demonstrated.     

Studies of the {\boldsymbol{\bar{K}}}\boldsymbol{N} interaction at DAΦNE

AMADEUS is an experiment planned to be performed at the DAΦNE e⁺e^? collider of the Frascati National Laboratories (Italy) of INFN, to investigate the antikaon-nuclei interaction at low energies. AMADEUS will perform, for the first time, full-acceptance studies of antikaon interaction in light nuclei, including a complete experimental program for the case of the kaonic nuclear clusters. The study of the absorption of antikaon by the nucleus will provide information concerning the $\bar{K}N$ interaction and the modification of the kaon mass in the nuclear medium. The experiment is being preceded by the study of the hadronic interactions of K^? in the ⁴He of the drift chamber from the KLOE experiment data.     

Melting point depression of ionic liquids confined in nanospaces

A new physical method was proposed to control the liquid properties of room temperature ionic liquids (RT-ILs) in combination with nanoporous materials; the melting point of ILs confined in nanopores remarkably decreases in proportion to the inverse of the pore size.     

Photoinduced surface dynamics of CO adsorbed on a platinum electrode

The surface dynamics of adsorbed CO molecules formed by dissociative adsorption of HCHO at a polycrystalline Pt electrode/electrolyte solution interface was studied by picosecond time-resolved sum-frequency generation (TR-SFG) spectroscopy. A SFG peak at 2050-2060 cm(-1) was observed at the Pt electrode in HClO(4) solution containing HCHO at 0-300 mV (vs Ag/AgCl), indicating the formation of adsorbed CO at an atop site of the Pt surface as a result of dissociative adsorption of HCHO. The peak position varied with potential by approximately 33 cm(-1)/V, as previously found in an infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) study. Irradiation of an intense picosecond visible pulse (25 ps, 532 nm) caused an instant intensity decrease and broadening of the CO peak accompanied by the emergence of a new broad peak at approximately 1980 cm(-1) within the time resolution of the system. These results suggest a decrease and increase in the populations of CO adsorbed on atop and bridge sites, respectively, upon visible pump pulse irradiation.     

Room-temperature isolation of V(benzene)2 sandwich clusters via soft-landing into n-alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers

The adsorption state and thermal stability of V(benzene)2 sandwich clusters soft-landed onto a self-assembled monolayer of different chain-length n-alkanethiols (Cn-SAM, n = 8, 12, 16, 18, and 22) were studied by means of infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). The IRAS measurement confirmed that V(benzene)2 clusters are molecularly adsorbed and maintain a sandwich structure on all of the SAM substrates. In addition, the clusters supported on the SAM substrates are oriented with their molecular axes tilted 70-80 degrees off the surface normal. An Arrhenius analysis of the TPD spectra reveals that the activation energy for the desorption of the supported clusters increases linearly with the chain length of the SAMs. For the longest chain C22-SAM, the activation energy reaches approximately 150 kJ/mol, and the thermal desorption of the supported clusters can be considerably suppressed near room temperature. The clear chain-length-dependent thermal stability of the supported clusters observed here can be explained well in terms of the cluster penetration into the SAM matrixes.     

Daphtenidines A-D, new Daphniphyllum alkaloids from Daphniphyllum teijsmannii

Daphtenidines A-D (1-4), four new alkaloids were isolated from the leaves of Daphniphyllum teijsmannii, and the structures including relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. Daphtenidines A (1) and B (2) were possessing daphnilactone A-type skeleton. This is the second isolation of daphnilactone A-type alkaloids from natural sources. Daphtenidine C (3) was 4-acetoxy form of daphmanidin A, while daphtenidine D (4) was 14-dehydro form of yuzurimine.