Materials doping through sol–gel chemistry: a little something can make a big difference

Several examples of sol–gel preparation of doped materials are taken to illustrate the various situations where the doping elements are responsible for the main function of the material or govern its structure. Other examples are used to illustrate that sometimes unexpected effects can be observed like structural modification and the appearance of new properties. Rare earth doped scintillators demonstrate higher homogeneity for materials prepared via sol–gel chemistry when compared with classical solid state reaction. The XRD study of rare earth doped orthoborates shows that doping can affect the vaterite to calcite phase transition observed in these compounds. A Raman spectroscopic study has been performed on doped silica xerogels and it has been shown that doping ions can modify greatly the densification process in these amorphous materials. Finally, it has been evidenced that sol–gel chemistry allows the preparation of bioactive ceramics with enhanced properties. In particular Zn-doped HAP with anti inflammatory properties has been prepared and Sr-doped bioactive glasses have demonstrated superior in-vitro bioactivity as evidenced by PIXE-RBS study.     

Oscillatory stability of quantum droplets in $\text{}{ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric optical lattice

We study stability and collisions of quantum droplets (QDs) forming in a binary bosonic condensate trapped in parity-time (${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$)-symmetric optical lattices. It is found that the stability of QDs in the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric system depends strongly on the values of the imaginary part W₀ of the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric optical lattices, self-repulsion strength g, and the condensate norm N. As expected, the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs are entirely unstable in the broken ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric phase. However, the ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs exhibit oscillatory stability with the increase of N and g in the unbroken ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric phase. Finally, collisions between ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs are considered. The collisions of droplets with unequal norms are completely different from that in free space. Besides, a stable ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric QDs collides with an unstable ones tend to merge into breathers after the collision.     

不同维度ZnO能带结构和电子态密度的研究

本文采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法来研究不同维度ZnO的能带结构和电子态密度.参考实验上的ZnO晶格参数构建不同维度的ZnO模型并进行结构优化后再计算能带结构和电子态密度.研究结果表明二维和三维ZnO都属于直接带隙半导体且二维ZnO的禁带宽度大于三维ZnO;从三维变到二维,ZnO的电子局域化程度变高且Zn 3d轨道电子从能量较低的能级向能量较高的能级跃迁.本文的研究展示了二维和三维ZnO能带结构和电子态密度的异同,为二维ZnO基的器件研究提供了一定的理论参考价值.     

Application of a low impedance contactless conductometric detector for the determination of inorganic cations in capillary monolithic column chromatography

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) cation exchange monolithic column was prepared in fused-silica capillaries of 320 μm i.d. by thermally initiated radical polymerization and utilized in capillary ion chromatography. With 15 mM methanesulfonic acid as the mobile phase, the separations of a mixture of inorganic cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺) was tested by using a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C⁴D) and a low impedance C⁴D (LIC⁴D). The LIC⁴D is the series combination of a C⁴D and a quartz crystal resonator. At the resonant frequency of the series combination, the capacitor impedance from capillary wall was offset by the inductance impedance from the quartz crystal resonator. A minimum impedance was obtained in the impedance-frequency curve of the combination. The responses of the C⁴D and LIC⁴D were analyzed based on an equivalent circuit model. It was shown that the sensitivity of the C⁴D to the change in analyte concentration is rather poor due to the high ratio of the impedance from the capillary wall capacitor to the solution impedance. The LIC⁴D has the similar sensitivity as a contact conductivity detector but a much smaller cell volume. The on-column detection model was realized by LiC⁴D without preparation of optical detection window in monolithic column.     

A novel and practical synthetic route for the total synthesis of lycopene

A novel route for the total synthesis of lycopene 1 is described. The synthesis is based on: (i) a condensation between 4,4-dimethoxy-3-methylbutanal 4 and methylenebisphosphonic acid tetraethyl ester 5, leading to the C6-phosphonate 6, followed by (ii) a modified Wittig-Horner reaction between 6 and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one 7 producing dimethoxy-3,5,9-triene 8, and (iii) another modified Wittig-Horner reaction between C15-phosphonate 2 and C10-triene dialdehyde 3 producing all-E-lycopene. The synthetic steps are easily operated and practical for the large-scale production.     

Design, synthesis and antifibrotic activities of carbohydrate-modified 1-(substituted aryl)-5-trifluoromethyl-2(1H) pyridones

Pirfenidone, a pyridone compound, is an effective and novel antifibrotic agent. In this article, we describe the design, synthesis and activity evaluation of novel antifibrotic agents, 1-(substituted aryl)-5-trifluoromethyl-2(1H) pyridones modified with carbohydrate. Most of the title compounds exhibited comparable or better inhibitory activity than fluorofenidone. Notably, compound 19a demonstrated the highest cell-based inhibitory activity against NIH 3T3 (IC(50) = 0.17 mM).     

A computational study of organic polyradicals stabilized by chromium atoms

Density functional theory has been used to investigate the properties of organic high spin molecules. The M05/cc-pVDZ calculations predict a septet ground state for the 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydro-1,4,5,8,9,12-hexaoxocoronene-2,3,6,7,10,11-hexayl radical (coronene-6O). The computations show further that the formation of intermolecular carbon-carbon bonds yields a singlet ground state for the dimer rather than a possible tridectet state as expected from the monomer's multiplicity. A benzene molecule placed between coronene-6O molecules leads to the desired high-spin cluster, but the overall stability of the cluster is low. A chromium atom inserted between two peripheral C(6) rings of coronene-6O yields a sandwich structure with the expected tridectet ground state and a binding energy which is 15 times larger than the corresponding tridectet dimer stabilized by a benzene molecule. The presented DFT calculations suggest that a chromium atom can effectively link organic polyradicals to larger magnetic units.     

The cancellation of Fourier coefficients of cusp forms over different sparse sequences

Let λ f(n) be the n-th normalized Fourier coefficient of a holomorphic Hecke eigenform f(z)∈Sk(Γ).In this paper,we established nontrivial estimates for ∑n≤xλf(ni)λf(nj),where 1 ≤ i j ≤ 4.     

Determination of anions using monolithic capillary column ion chromatography with end-to-end differential contactless conductometric detectors under resonance approach

An end-to-end differential measurement approach with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C(4)D) was applied to anion-exchange monolithic capillary column ion chromatography. The column was prepared by thermally initiated radical polymerization of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) in a fused-silica capillary of 320 μm i.d. and modified by quaternary ammonium latex surface coating. Two C(4)Ds were placed near both ends of the capillary column and the output difference between them was measured. With 15 mM potassium hydrogen phthalate used as the eluent, good separation of a mixture of inorganic anions (F(-), Cl(-), NO(2)(-), NO(3)(-)) was achieved. The detection limits of conventional C(4)D are 1.6, 0.28, 0.53, and 0.47 mg L(-1) for F(-), Cl(-), NO(2)(-), and NO(3)(-), respectively. To further enhance the sensitivity, the capacitive impedance from C(4)D was neutralized by an inductive impedance from a piezoelectric resonator. An increase in sensitivity by a factor of 7-8 was achieved in the resonating C(4)D in comparison with the conventional C(4)D. The detection limits of the resonating C(4)D are 0.23, 0.041, 0.065, and 0.059 mg L(-1) for F(-), Cl(-), NO(2)(-), and NO(3)(-), respectively. The response of the resonating C(4)D was analyzed based on an equivalent circuit model.