Optical behaviour of swift heavy ions irradiated poly(vinyl alcohol) films

Polyvinyl alcohol films were irradiated to 90 MeV O ⁶⁺ and 150 MeV Si ¹⁴⁺ ions at fluence ranging from 10¹⁰ to 10¹² ions/cm². The observed changes in optical energy gap of this polymer have been investigated and results are tried to be explained in terms of energy transferred by the incident ions. It has been noticed that the value of optical energy gap decreases with increasing energy loss during the ion–polymer interaction process.     

Azide telechelics chain extended by click reaction: Synthesis,characterization, and cross‐linking

Azide telechelics of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), polypropylene oxide (PPO), and polyethylene oxide (PEO) were synthesized from the corresponding epoxy telechelics and characterized. These oligomeric azides were chain extended by reaction with bispropargyl ether of bisphenol A (BPEBA) through a copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. PDMS manifested a faster reaction in contrast to PPO or PEO. The chain‐extended polymers underwent cross‐linking above 170°C through thermal cleavage of residual (terminal) azide groups. This was manifested in their rheograms and was further substantiated by FTIR and NMR spectroscopic analyses. Dynamic mechanical analyses of the cross‐linked polymers exhibited characteristic transitions of hard and soft segments, implying microphase separation in the system. Microscopic evaluation of the thermally cross‐linked sample revealed a porous morphology with microsized to nanosized pores.     

Molecular Design Strategy for Orange Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)

Pure organic molecules based thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters have been successfully developed in recent years for their propitious application in highly efficient organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In the case of orange red emitters, the non-radiative process is known to be a serious issue due to its lower lying singlet energy level. However, recent studies indicate that there are tremendous efforts put to develop efficient orange red TADF emitters. In addition, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of heteroaromatic based orange red TADF OLEDs surpassed 30 %. Such heteroaromatic type emitters showed wide emission spectra; therefore, more attention is being paid to develop highly efficient orange red TADF emitters along with good color purity. Herein, the recent progress of orange red TADF emitters based on molecular structures, such as cyanobenzene, heteroaromatic, naphthalimide, and boron-based acceptors, are reviewed. Further, our insight on these acceptors has been provided by their photophysical studies and device performances. Future perspectives of orange red TADF emitters for real practical applications are discussed.     

A self-assembled tetrapeptide that acts as a “turn-on” fluorescent sensor for Hg2+ ion

The tetrapeptide (Bz-$\mathrm{\Delta }$Phe(p-NPh₂)-l-DOPA(protected)-l-Phe-l-Phe-OMe was designed to incorporate seven phenyl rings so that it’s conformation, self-assembly and application in Hg²⁺ ions sensing could be studied. Peptide molecules adopted an overlapping β-turn of type III/III conformation in crystals. The peptide showed a highly selective turn-on response towards mercuric ion over other metal ions with a 10-fold enhancement in fluorescence intensity. This intensity change coupled with the selectivity of the peptide towards mercury allowed us to demonstrate simple colorimetric dip sensing of Hg²⁺ ions. The technique provides a highly selective and effective way to detect Hg²⁺ ions. The peptide also self-assembled into nanospheres with diameter ranges from 100 to 500?nm. Mercuric ion coordination enabled these peptide nanospheres to aggregate into well-defined nanoparticles. The enhanced fluorescence upon Hg²⁺ addition demonstrates that peptide scaffolds can be exploited in the development of different selective sensors.     

Influence of hole mobility on the response characteristics of p-type nickel oxide thin film based glucose biosensor

RF sputtered p-type nickel oxide (NiO) thin film exhibiting tunable semiconductor character which in turns enhanced its functional properties. NiO thin film with high hole mobility is developed as a potential matrix for the realization of glucose biosensor. NiO thin film prepared under the optimized deposition conditions offer good electrical conductivity (1.5 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹-cm⁻¹) with high hole mobility (2.8 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). The bioelectrode (GO_x/NiO/ITO/glass) exhibits a low value of Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m = 1.05 mM), indicating high affinity of the immobilized GO_x toward the analyte (glucose). Due to the high surface coverage (2.32 × 10⁻⁷ mol cm⁻²) of the immobilized enzyme on to the NiO matrix and its high electrocatalytic activity, the prepared biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 0.1 mA (mM⁻¹-cm⁻²) and a good linearity from 25 to 300 mg dL⁻¹ of glucose concentration with fast response time of 5 s. Various functional properties of the material (mobility, crystallinity and stress) are found to influence the charge communication feature of NiO thin film matrix to a great extent, resulting in enhanced sensing response characteristics.     

Characterization of high level waste for minor actinides by chemical separation and alpha spectrometry

The high level waste (HLW) generated from the reprocessing of the spent fuel of pressurized heavy water reactor has been characterized for the minor actinides. The radiation dose of the waste solution was reduced by radiochemical separation of cesium from HLW by solvent extraction with chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide dissolved in 20% nitrobenzene in xylene. Minor actinides (Np, Pu, Am, Cm) in the high level waste were assayed by alpha spectrometry following radiochemical separation. The gross alpha activity determined by liquid scintillation agrees well (within 10%) with the cumulative quantities of actinides determined by alpha spectrometry.     

Seismic Reflection from an Interface Between an Elastic Solid and a Fractured Porous Medium with Partial Saturation

The theory of Tuncay and Corapcioglu (Transp Porous Media 23:237–258, 1996a) has been employed to investigate the possibility of plane wave propagation in a fractured porous medium containing two immiscible fluids. Solid phase of the porous medium is assumed to be linearly elastic, isotropic and the fractures are assumed to be distributed isotropically throughout the medium. It has been shown that there can exist four compressional waves and one rotational wave. The phase speeds of these waves are found to be affected by the presence of fractures, in general. Of the four compressional waves, one arises due to the presence of fractures in the medium and the remaining three are those encountered by Tuncay and Corapcioglu (J Appl Mech 64:313–319, 1997). Reflection and transmission phenomena at a plane interface between a uniform elastic half-space and a fractured porous half-space containing two immiscible fluids, are analyzed due to incidence of plane longitudinal/transverse wave from uniform elastic half-space. Variation of modulus of amplitude and energy ratios with the angle of incidence are computed numerically by taking the elastic half-space as granite and the fractured porous half-space as sandstone material containing non-viscous wetting and non-wetting fluid phases. The results obtained in case of porous half-space with fractures, are compared graphically with those in case of porous half-space without fractures. It is found that the presence of fractures in the porous half-space do affect the reflection/transmission of waves, which is responsible for raising the reflection and lowering the transmission coefficients.     

Incomplete fusion reactions: Analysis of excitation functions and recoil range distributions in 16O + 51V

Incomplete fusion reactions were investigated by measuring the excitation functions of nine evaporation residues in ¹⁶O + ⁵¹V reaction in the beam energy 4-6 MeV/amu, using the well-known recoil catcher technique and gamma-ray spectrometry. The experimental data were compared with that obtained from Monte Carlo simulation calculations using the PACE2 code. The results indicate the presence of incomplete fusion process in the production of two alpha emission products. This was further confirmed by the measurement of recoil range distribution of these isotopes at 96 MeV beam energy. Calculations of the average angular momentum associated with these products revealed the peripheral nature of these ICF reactions. Received: 20 June 2001 / Accepted: 11 September 2001     

Longitudinal waves at a micropolar fluid/solid interface

The possibility of plane wave propagation in a micropolar fluid of infinite extent has been explored. The reflection and transmission of longitudinal elastic wave at a plane interface between a homogeneous micropolar fluid half-space and a micropolar solid half-space has also been investigated. It is found that there can exist four plane waves propagating with distinct phase speeds in an infinite micropolar fluid. All the four waves are found to be dispersive and attenuated. The reflection and transmission coefficients are found to be the functions of the angle of incidence, the elastic properties of the half-spaces and the frequency of the incident wave. The expressions of energy ratios have also been obtained in explicit form. Frequency equation for the Stoneley wave at micropolar solid/fluid interface has also been derived in the form of sixth-order determinantal expression, which is found in full agreement with the corresponding result of inviscid liquid/elastic solid interface. Numerical computations have been performed for a specific model. The dispersion curves and attenuation of the existed waves in micropolar fluid have been computed and depicted graphically. The variations of various amplitudes and energy ratios are also shown against the angle of incidence. Results of some earlier workers have been deduced from the present formulation.