Polymer/Laponite Composite Latexes: Particle Morphology,Film Microstructure,and Properties

Transparent film materials with excellent mechanical and thermal properties were elaborated by drying a latex suspension of armored polymer/Laponite composite particles. Low‐temperature TEM observation of ultrathin cross‐sections of the films indicated a unique network morphology characterized by a “honeycomb” distribution of the Laponite platelets remindful of the original particles morphology.

     

Flavin Derivatives with Tailored Redox Properties: Synthesis,Characterization, and Electrochemical Behavior

This study establishes structure–property relationships for four synthetic flavin molecules as bioinspired redox mediators in electro‐ and photocatalysis applications. The studied flavin compounds were disubstituted with polar substituents at the N1 and N3 positions (alloxazine) or at the N3 and N10 positions (isoalloxazines). The electrochemical behavior of one such synthetic flavin analogue was examined in detail in aqueous solutions of varying pH in the range from 1 to 10. Cyclic voltammetry, used in conjunction with hydrodynamic (rotating disk electrode) voltammetry, showed quasi‐reversible behavior consistent with freely diffusing molecules and an overall global 2e^?, 2H⁺ proton‐coupled electron transfer scheme. UV/Vis spectroelectrochemical data was also employed to study the pH‐dependent electrochemical behavior of this derivative. Substituent effects on the redox behavior were compared and contrasted for all the four compounds, and visualized within a scatter plot framework to afford comparison with prior knowledge on mostly natural flavins in aqueous media. Finally, a preliminary assessment of one of the synthetic flavins was performed of its electrocatalytic activity toward dioxygen reduction as a prelude to further (quantitative) studies of both freely diffusing and tethered molecules on various electrode surfaces.     

Quantum chemical study of a new class of sensitisers: influence of the substitution of aromatic rings on the properties of copper complexes

We present a computational study of new copper complexes with potential applications as sensitisers for solar cells. The applied methodology for this study is based on the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT, using the B3LYP, PBE0 and M06 functionals with the LANL2DZ (D95V on first row), 6-31G(d,p), 6-311G(d,p) and DZVP basis sets. Optimised molecular structure, the absorption spectra, the molecular orbitals energies and the chemical reactivity parameters that arise from conceptual DFT were calculated. Solvent effects have been taken into account by an implicit approach, namely, the polarisable continuum model (PCM), using the non-equilibrium version of the integral equation formalism of the PCM model. Interesting work for experimentalists in the dye sensitised solar cells’ field.     

Catalyst and substituent effects on the rhodium(II)-catalysed intramolecular Buchner reaction

Intramolecular rhodium(II)-catalysed aromatic addition (Buchner) reactions of a range of α- and β-substituted α-diazoketones are reported. Both steric and electronic effects are evident for the aromatic additions investigated. In general, highly efficient aromatic addition is achieved through use of rhodium carboxylates bearing electronegative ligands, such as rhodium trifluoroacetate, while aromatic addition employing rhodium catalysts with more electron-donating ligands, such as rhodium caprolactam, is less efficient. Excellent levels of diastereoselectivity are possible for this process in the presence of rhodium acetate and rhodium caprolactam, however, a reduction in diastereocontrol is generally associated with use of the more reactive, electronegative catalysts. Interestingly, these catalyst effects can be overcome through the steric effects of the substituents on the α-diazoketone substrates, with the presence of sterically bulky substituents at the 2- or 3-position rendering the aromatic addition essentially catalyst independent in terms of efficiency and diastereocontrol.     

Inter‐ and intramolecular hydrogen bonds in polyamines: variable‐concentration 1H‐NMR studies

Inter‐ and intramolecular hydrogen bonding play an important role in determining the arrangement, physical properties, and reactivity of a great diversity of structures in chemical and biological systems. Several aromatic nucleophilic substitutions (ANS) in nonpolar aprotic, (non‐HBD), solvents recently studied in our laboratory have demonstrated the importance of self‐association of amines by hydrogen‐bond interactions. In this paper, we describe ¹H‐NMR studies carried out at room temperature on bi‐ and polyfunctionalized amines, namely: N‐(3‐amino‐1‐propyl)morpholine (3‐APMo), histamine, 2‐guanidinobenzimidazole (2‐GB), 1,2‐diaminoethane (EDA), 3‐dimethylamino‐l‐propylamine (DMPA), and 1‐(2‐aminoethyl)piperidine (2‐AEPip). By ¹H‐NMR measurements of amine solutions at variable concentrations we have shown that 3‐APMo, histamine and 2‐GB are able to form a six‐membered ring by intramolecular hydrogen bonding, while EDA, DMPA, and 2‐AEPip form dimers by intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Likewise, variable concentration ¹H‐NMR studies allowed estimation of the corresponding equilibrium constants for the dimerization. These results are correlated with experimental kinetic results of ANS, confirming hereto the relevance of the “dimer mechanism” in reactions involving these amines. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Limit theorems for bivariate Appell polynomials. Part II: Non-central limit theorems

Summary. Let (X _t ,t∈Z) be a linear sequence with non-Gaussian innovations and a spectral density which varies regularly at low frequencies. This includes situations, known as strong (or long-range) dependence, where the spectral density diverges at the origin. We study quadratic forms of bivariate Appell polynomials of the sequence (X _t ) and provide general conditions for these quadratic forms, adequately normalized, to converge to a non-Gaussian distribution. We consider, in particular, circumstances where strong and weak dependence interact. The limit is expressed in terms of multiple Wiener-It? integrals involving correlated Gaussian measures. Received: 22 August 1996 / In revised form: 30 August 1997     

Necessary conditions for the neutral problem of Bolza with continuously varying time delay

This note uses Clarke's decoupling technique to obtain necessary conditions for the generalized problem of Bolza with Lipschitz continuously varying delay in both the state and velocity variables.     

The interaction of morpholine with metal ions—I: Copper complexes

The synthesis and electronic and IR spectra of CuL₂(NO₃)₂ and CuL₄(NO₃)₂, where L stands for morpholine, are described. The thermal behaviour of the complexes is also discussed. The solids contain distorted octahedral Cu(II) bonded to morpholine through nitrogen only. In aqueous solutions only the species CuL₃(aq)²⁺ is stable in the concentration range 0.5 < [L] < 2 mol dm^?3, its stability constant being log K₃ = 14.64 ± 0.15 at 25.00°C and ionic strength 1 mol dm^?3; at very high morpholine concentrations, 3.4 < [L] < 6 mol dm^?3, evidence is also found for CuL₄(aq)²⁺, the value log K₄ = 15.5 being estimated. The aggressiveness of morpholine-H₂O₂ towards metallic copper is compared with that of ammonia-H₂O₂, both on thermodynamics and kinetics grounds; experimental results seems to be dominated by kinetics factors. The relevance of these results to water treatment in secondary systems of nuclear power reactors is discussed.     

Combustion synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline WO3

The energy payback time associated with the semiconductor active material is an important parameter in a photovoltaic solar cell device. Thus lowering the energy requirements for the semiconductor synthesis step or making it more energy-efficient is critical toward making the overall device economics more competitive relative to other nonpolluting energy options. In this communication, combustion synthesis is demonstrated to be a versatile and energy-efficient method for preparing inorganic oxide semiconductors such as tungsten trioxide (WO3) for photovoltaic or photocatalytic solar energy conversion. The energy efficiency of combustion synthesis accrues from the fact that high process temperatures are self-sustained by the exothermicity of the combustion process, and the only external thermal energy input needed is for dehydration of the fuel/oxidizer precursor mixture and bringing it to ignition. Importantly, we show that, in this approach, it is also possible to tune the optical characteristics of the oxide semiconductor (i.e., shift its response toward the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum) in situ by doping the host semiconductor during the formative stage itself. As a bonus, the resultant material shows enhanced surface properties such as markedly improved organic dye uptake relative to benchmark samples obtained from commercial sources. Finally, this synthesis approach requires only very simple equipment, a feature that it shares with other "mild" inorganic semiconductor synthesis routes such as sol-gel chemistry, chemical bath deposition, and electrodeposition. The present study constitutes the first use of combustion synthesis for preparing WO3 powder comprising nanosized particles.