Aluminium Speciation in 1‐Butyl‐1‐Methylpyrrolidinium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide/AlCl3 Mixtures

Aluminium speciation : Aluminium speciation in NTf₂ ionic liquids has a strong influence on its electrodeposition from the liquid mixture. This work probed the nature of these species and proposes that the electroactive species involved are either [AlCl₃(NTf₂)]^? or [AlCl₂(NTf₂)₂]^? (e.g., see figure).

     

Hydrogen bonding and the inductive effect in crystalline and solution phases of hexylamine:LiCF3SO3 and Dipropylamine:LiCF3SO3: application to branched poly(ethylenimine)

Raman and infrared spectroscopy were used to study the nature of hydrogen bonding and the cation inductive effect in solutions of LiCF(3)SO(3) dissolved in hexylamine, a primary amine, and dipropylamine, a secondary amine. Comparison of pure hexylamine and hexylamine dissolved in CCl(4) established that the Raman band maximum of the symmetric stretching mode, nu(s)(NH(2)), in pure hexylamine originates in molecules undergoing no hydrogen bonding interactions. The addition of LiCF(3)SO(3) to hexylamine or dipropylamine shifts the frequencies of the solvent NH stretching modes by two effects: the breaking of hydrogen bonds and the cation inductive effect. Comparison of the infrared and Raman spectra allows (to some degree) the separation of these two effects. During these studies, crystalline compounds of hexylamine:LiCF(3)SO(3) and dipropylamine:LiCF(3)SO(3) were discovered, and their structures were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Vibrational spectra of these crystals and detailed structural knowledge of the cation-solvent interactions complement analogous spectroscopic studies of the solution phases. The cation-polymer and hydrogen bonding interactions of branched poly(ethylenimine) (BPEI) complexed with LiCF(3)SO(3) were modeled by the solutions of hexylamine and dipropylamine containing dissolved LiCF(3)SO(3). Specifically, lithium ion interactions with the primary and secondary amine groups in BPEI were modeled by the solution studies with hexylamine and dipropylamine, respectively. The analysis of the hexylamine system was particularly useful because the primary amine group of BPEI dominates the NH stretching region of the spectrum.     

Particle physics models of inflation and curvaton scenarios

We review the particle theory origin of inflation and curvaton mechanisms for generating large scale structures and the observed temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Since inflaton or curvaton energy density creates all matter, it is important to understand the process of reheating and preheating into the relevant degrees of freedom required for the success of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We discuss two distinct classes of models, one where inflaton and curvaton belong to the hidden sector, which are coupled to the Standard Model gauge sector very weakly. There is another class of models of inflaton and curvaton, which are embedded within Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) gauge group and beyond, and whose origins lie within gauge invariant combinations of supersymmetric quarks and leptons. Their masses and couplings are all well motivated from low energy physics, therefore such models provide us with a unique opportunity that they can be verified/falsified by the CMB data and also by the future collider and non-collider based experiments. We then briefly discuss the stringy origin of inflation, alternative cosmological scenarios, and bouncing universes.