Ultrasound-assisted enhanced and rapid uptake of anionic dyes from the binary system onto MnFe2O4/polyaniline nanocomposite at neutral pH

Remediation of toxic dyes from an aqua matrix using novel nanocomposites as adsorbent is an attractive yet challenging task, especially when the adsorption process needs to be operated at near-neutral solution pH. Recently, conducting polymer-based novel nanocomposites have been studied widely for environmental remediation because of their high distinctive surface area, mesoporous nature, easy synthesis process, availability of the low-cost monomer, and comprehensive range of functionality. This research deals with the fabrication and application of manganese ferrite and polyaniline nanocomposite (MnF-PANI-NC) for the ultrasound-assisted adsorption of methyl red (MR) and congo red (CR) dye from binary dye solution at neutral pH. The X-ray diffraction pattern of MnF-PANI-NC confirmed the successful impregnation of manganese ferrite onto polyaniline, and the field emission gun scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images revealed the nanoscale formation of this composite. The saturation magnetization of ~20 emu/g endorses the easy magnetic separation of MnF-PANI-NC from dye solution. MnF-PANI-NC has revealed higher adsorptive affinity towards MR and CR dye concerning pure PANI and pure MnF nanoparticles at near-neutral solution pH. Assimilation of ultrasound wavse in this adsorption procedure improved the mass transfer rate significantly, and within 6 min of reaction more than 95% of MR and CR dye removal was achieved. Ultrasound waves also enhanced the equilibrium dye uptake efficiency (more than 95%) of MnF-PANI-NC compared to the adsorption reaction by overhead stirring (40–50%) and shaking (40–60%) for both MR and CR dyes. Kinetic modeling of the experimental data revealed accurate fitting of the pseudo-second-order model in association with intraparticle diffusion. Binary dye adsorption onto MnF-PANI-NC obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model accurately, and maximum adsorption capacities of 294.12 and 317.46 mg/g were observed for MR and CR dyes, respectively.     

A Semiconductor-Mediator-Catalyst Artificial Photosynthetic System for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation

In fabricating an artificial photosynthesis (AP) electrode for water oxidation, we have devised a semiconductor-mediator-catalyst structure that mimics photosystem II (PSII). It is based on a surface layer of vertically grown nanorods of Fe₂O₃ on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) electrodes with a carbazole mediator base and a Ru(II) carbene complex on a nanolayer of TiO₂ as a water oxidation co-catalyst. The resulting hybrid assembly, FTO|Fe₂O₃|−carbazole|TiO₂|−Ru(carbene) , demonstrates an enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance compared to an electrode without the added carbaozle base with an increase in photocurrent density of 2.2-fold at 0.95 V vs. NHE and a negatively shifted onset potential of 500 mV. The enhanced PEC performance is attributable to carbazole mediator accelerated interfacial hole transfer from Fe₂O₃ to the Ru(II) carbene co-catalyst, with an improved effective surface area for the water oxidation reaction and reduced charge transfer resistance.     

Cu+ emission in Li2BPO5 material for thermoluminescence dosimetry

In this study, Li₂BPO₅ doped with Cu and that co-doped with Mg are synthesized by the wet chemical technique and exposed to γ rays of ⁶⁰Co to determine their thermoluminescence (TL) properties. The X-ray diffraction technique shows the crystalline nature of the prepared material. The photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra of Li₂BPO₅:Cu phosphor show the strong prominent peak at 368 nm in the violet region of the visible spectrum due to the transition of 3d⁹4s¹ ? 3d¹⁰ of monovalent copper ion. The PL emission of Li₂BPO₅:Cu is enhanced by the addition of Mg. The TL glow curves of γ-irradiated Li₂BPO₅:Cu sample show one glow peak at 143°C, indicating that only one set of traps is being activated within the particular temperature range each with its own value of activation energy (E) and frequency factor (s). The trapping parameters associated with the prominent glow peak of Li₂BPO₅:Cu are calculated using the glow curve shape (Chen's) method. The release of hole/electron from defect centers at the characteristic trap site initiates the luminescence process in these materials. A linear TL response is observed in Li₂BPO₅:Cu in a long span of exposures. The sensitivity of Li₂BPO₅:Cu sample is observed to be 7.8 times that of (TLD-100) LiF:Mg, Ti.     

Effect of attachment strategies on bipartite networks

Bipartite systems show remarkable variations in their topological asymptotic properties,e.g., in their degree distribution. Such variations depend on the underlying growthdynamics. A scenario of particular importance is when the two partitions of the bipartitestructure do not grow at an equal rate. Here, we focus on the case where one of thepartitions can be assumed to be fixed while the other partition grows in time as observedin the codon-gene or alphabet-word network. We show that subtle changes in growthdynamics, particularly in the attachment kernel, can lead to drastic changes of theemergent topological properties. We present a detail analysis of various growthstrategies, including sequential and parallel addition of nodes, as well as with andwithout replacement attachment kernels. Analytical results have been compared withstochastic simulations as well as with real systems showing in all cases an excellentagreement.     

From approximate balls to approximate ellipses

A ball spans a set of n points when none of the points lie outside it. In Zarrabi-Zadeh and Chan (Proceedings of the 18th Canadian conference on computational geometry (CCCG’06), pp 139–142, 2006) proposed an algorithm to compute an approximate spanning ball in the streaming model of computation, and showed that the radius of the approximate ball is within 3/2 of the minimum. Spurred by this, in this paper we consider the 2-dimensional extension of this result: computation of spanning ellipses. The ball algorithm is simple to the point of being trivial, but the extension of the algorithm to ellipses is non-trivial. Surprisingly, the area of the approximate ellipse computed by this approach is not within a constant factor of the minimum and we provide an elegant proof of this. We have implemented this algorithm, and experiments with a variety of inputs, except for a very pathological one, show that it can nevertheless serve as a good heuristic for computing an approximate ellipse.     

Nickel(II)-induced excimer formation of a naphthalene-based fluorescent probe for living cell imaging

Ni(2+)-induced intramolecular excimer formation of a naphthalene-based novel fluorescent probe, 1-[(naphthalen-3-yl)methylthio]-2-[(naphthalen-6-yl)methylthio]ethane (L), has been investigated for the first time and nicely demonstrated by excitation spectra, a fluorescence lifetime experiment, and (1)H NMR titration. The addition of Ni(2+) to a solution of L (DMSO:water = 1:1, v/v; λ(em) = 345 nm, λ(ex) = 280 nm) quenched its monomer emission, with subsequent enhancement of the excimer intensity (at 430 nm) with an isoemissive point at 381 nm. The fluorescence lifetime of free L (0.3912 ns) is much lower than that of the nickel(2+) complex (1.1329 ns). L could detect Ni(2+) as low as 1 × 10(-6) M with a fairly strong binding constant, 2.0 × 10(4) M(-1). Ni(2+)-contaminated living cells of plant origin could be imaged using a fluorescence microscope.     

On the precision of quasi steady state assumptions in stochastic dynamics

Many biochemical networks have complex multidimensional dynamics and there is a long history of methods that have been used for dimensionality reduction for such reaction networks. Usually a deterministic mass action approach is used; however, in small volumes, there are significant fluctuations from the mean which the mass action approach cannot capture. In such cases stochastic simulation methods should be used. In this paper, we evaluate the applicability of one such dimensionality reduction method, the quasi-steady state approximation (QSSA) [L. Menten and M. Michaelis, "Die kinetik der invertinwirkung," Biochem. Z 49, 333369 (1913)] for dimensionality reduction in case of stochastic dynamics. First, the applicability of QSSA approach is evaluated for a canonical system of enzyme reactions. Application of QSSA to such a reaction system in a deterministic setting leads to Michaelis-Menten reduced kinetics which can be used to derive the equilibrium concentrations of the reaction species. In the case of stochastic simulations, however, the steady state is characterized by fluctuations around the mean equilibrium concentration. Our analysis shows that a QSSA based approach for dimensionality reduction captures well the mean of the distribution as obtained from a full dimensional simulation but fails to accurately capture the distribution around that mean. Moreover, the QSSA approximation is not unique. We have then extended the analysis to a simple bistable biochemical network model proposed to account for the stability of synaptic efficacies; the substrate of learning and memory [J. E. Lisman, "A mechanism of memory storage insensitive to molecular turnover: A bistable autophosphorylating kinase," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 3055-3057 (1985)]. Our analysis shows that a QSSA based dimensionality reduction method results in errors as big as two orders of magnitude in predicting the residence times in the two stable states.     

Regioselective synthesis of two types of highly substituted 2-pyridones through similar multicomponent reactions

The refluxing of a mixture of ethylcyanoacetate, aromatic aldehydes, and primary monoamines in ethanol produces highly substituted 2-amino-6-pyridones such as 2-amino-1-(alkyl)-5-cyano-6-oxo-4-(aryl)-1,6-dihydropyridine-3-ethylcarboxylates in one-pot. On the other hand the refluxing of a mixture of ethylcyanoacetate, aromatic aldehydes, and primary diamines (1,2-ethylenediamine/1,3-propylenediamine) in ethanol furnishes symmetrical zwitterionic 2-pyridones such as 1-(2-amino-ethyl/3-amino-propyl)-6-hydroxy-2-oxo-4-(aryl)-1,2-dihydropyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles. The result shows that primary diamines and monoamines react differently in the reactions, which provides new mechanistic insight into the regioselective synthesis of these biologically important compounds.     

Isolable tris(alkyne) and bis(alkyne) complexes of gold(I)

Golden trefoils: Tris(alkyne)gold complex [(coct)(3)Au][SbF(6)] (see picture; 1-SbF(6)) can be synthesized from cyclooctyne (coct) and AuSbF(6) generated in situ. Treatment of AuCl with cyclooctyne led to the bis(alkyne)gold complex [Au(coct)(2)Cl] (2). DFT analysis indicates that the cyclooctyne ligands are net electron donors in 1 but overall electron acceptors in 2. AuSbF(6) is shown to mediate [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions of alkynes.     

Trinary arithmetic and logic unit (TALU) using savart plate and spatial light modulator (SLM) suitable for optical computation in multivalued logic

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is the most important unit in any computing system. Optical computing is becoming popular day-by-day because of its ultrahigh processing speed and huge data handling capability. Obviously for the fast processing we need the optical TALU compatible with the multivalued logic. In this regard we are communicating the trinary arithmetic and logic unit (TALU) in modified trinary number (MTN) system, which is suitable for the optical computation and other applications in multivalued logic system. Here the savart plate and spatial light modulator (SLM) based optoelectronic circuits have been used to exploit the optical tree architecture (OTA) in optical interconnection network.