Determination of the sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate (mesna) was determined using unmodified gold colloid as the probe. The Raman scattering intensity was obviously enhanced in the presence of sodium chloride. The influence of experimental parameters, such as incubation time, sodium chloride concentration and pH value on SERS performance was examined. Under the optimum conditions, the SERS intensity is proportional to the concentration of mesna in the range of 9.0×10(-8) to 9.0×10(-7) mol/L and detection limit (S/N=3) is 1.16×10(-8) mol/L. The corresponding correlation coefficient of the linear equation is 0.996, which indicates that there is a good linear relationship between SERS intensity and mesna concentration. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is a viable method for determination of mesna. The real samples were analyzed and the results obtained were satisfactory.     

Thermal behavior of 1,2,3-triazole nitrate

The thermal decomposition behaviors of 1,2,3-triazole nitrate were studied using a Calvet Microcalorimeter at four different heating rates. Its apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor of exothermic decomposition reaction are 133.77 kJ mol⁻¹ and 10^14.58 s⁻¹, respectively. The critical temperature of thermal explosion is 374.97 K. The entropy of activation (ΔS ^≠), the enthalpy of activation (ΔH ^≠), and the free energy of activation (ΔG ^≠) of the decomposition reaction are 23.88 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹, 130.62 kJ mol⁻¹, and 121.55 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. The self-accelerating decomposition temperature (T _SADT) is 368.65 K. The specific heat capacity was determined by a Micro-DSC method and a theoretical calculation method. Specific heat capacity equation is C_\textp ( \textJ mol ^{- 1} \text K ^{- 1} ) = - 42.6218 + 0.6807T C_{\text{p}} \left( {{\text{J mol}}^{ - 1} {\text{ K}}^{ - 1} } \right) = - 42.6218 + 0.6807T (283.1 K < T < 353.2 K). The adiabatic time-to-explosion is calculated to be a certain value between 98.82 and 100.00 s. The critical temperature of hot-spot initiation is 637.14 K, and the characteristic drop height of impact sensitivity (H ₅₀) is 9.16 cm.     

Facile fabrication of metallic nanostructures by tunable cracking and transfer printing

You crack me up: A topographically patterned PDMS stamp was coated with thin metal film and swelled under organic vapor to induce the tunable cracking of the brittle film into metallic nanostructures (see SEM images, scale bars 1?μm). UV/Vis spectra, OLED efficiency, and SERS spectra demonstrate the fine controllability of the metallic nanostructures, the well-ordered and highly regulable surface plasmons, and the facile fabrication process.     

Immunosuppressive activity of 8-gingerol on immune responses in mice

8-gingerol is one of the principal components of ginger, which is widely used in China and elsewhere as a food, spice and herb. It shows immunosuppressive activity on the immune responses to ovalbumin (OVA) in mice. In the present study, we found that 8-gingerol suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and concanavalin A (ConA)-stimulated splenocyte proliferation in vitro. In vivo, 8-gingerol not only signi?cantly suppressed Con A-, LPS- and OVA-induced splenocyte proliferation (P < 0.05) but also decreased the percentage of CD19+ B cells and CD3+ T cell (P < 0.05) at high doses (50, 100 mg/kg). Moreover, OVA-speci?c IgG, IgG1 and IgG2b levels in OVA-immunized mice were reduced by 8-gingerol at doses of 50, 100 mg/kg. These results suggest that 8-gingerol could suppress humoral and cellular immune responses in mice. The mechanism might be related to direct inhibition of sensitized T and B lymphocytes.     

Kinetic and thermodynamic control of g-quadruplex folding

A matter of speed: When allowed to fold in a K(+) /poly(ethylene glycol) solution, the guanine?(G)-rich strand of vertebrate telomere DNA forms a parallel/antiparallel G-quadruplex, which is a (3+1) hybrid, within microseconds before slowly transforming into the parallel one within hours. Thus, the conformation that a G-quadruplex initially adopts under physiological conditions may not be the one it adopts at the equilibrium state.     

High-performance silicon nanowire array photoelectrochemical solar cells through surface passivation and modification

Nanowire solar cells: Pt nanoparticle (PtNP) decorated C/Si core/shell nanowire photoelectrochemical solar cells show high conversion efficiency of 10.86 % and excellent stability in aggressive electrolytes under 1-sun AM 1.5 G illumination. Superior device performance is achieved by improved surface passivation of the nanowires by carbon coating and enhanced interfacial charge transfer by PtNPs.     

A hybrid sol–gel synthesis of mesostructured SiC with tunable porosity and its application as a support for propane oxidative dehydrogenation

Porous silicon carbide (SiC) is of great potential as catalyst support in several industrially important reactions because of its unique thermophysical characteristics. Previously porous SiC was mostly obtained by a simple sol–gel or reactive replica technique which can only produce a material with low or medium surface area (< 50 m2 g(?1)). Here we report a new hybrid sol–gel approach to synthesize mesostructured SiC with high surface area (151–345 m2 g(?1)) and tunable porosity. The synthesis route involves a facile co-condensation of TEOS and alkyloxysilane with different alkyl-chain lengths followed by carbothermal reduction of the as-prepared alkyloxysilane precursors at 1350 °C. The resulting materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A mechanism for the tailored synthesis of mesostructured SiC was tentatively proposed. To demonstrate the catalytic application of these materials, vanadia were loaded on the mesostructured SiC supports, and their catalytic performance in oxidative dehydrogenation of propane was evaluated. Vanadia supported on the mesostructured silicon carbide exhibits higher selectivity to propylene than those on conventional supports such as Al2O3 and SiO2 at the same propane conversion levels, mainly owing to its outstanding thermal conductivity which makes contributions to dissipate the heat generated from reaction thus alleviating the hot spots effect and over-oxidation of propylene.     

Preparation and photocatalytic activity of eccentric Au-titania core-shell nanoparticles by block copolymer templates

A novel route for a preparation of eccentric Au-titania core-shell nanoparticles using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with block copolymer shells as a template is reported. AuNPs with poly(2-vinyl pyridine)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PVP-b-PEO) block copolymer shells are first prepared by UV irradiation of the solution of PVP-b-PEO/HAuCl(4) complexes. Then the sol-gel reaction of titanium tetra-isopropoxide (TTIP) selectively on the surfaces of AuNPs leads to Au-titania core-shell composite nanoparticles. The eccentric Au-titania core-shell nanoparticles are obtained from the Au-titania core-shell composite nanoparticles by removal of organic interlayer by UV treatment. Photocatalytic activities of the resulting eccentric core-shell nanoparticles are investigated in terms of the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The results show that the eccentric core-shell structures endow the catalyst with greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity.