Role of Pr segregation in acceptor-state formation at ZnO grain boundaries

The role of Pr doping on double Schottky barrier formations at ZnO single grain boundaries was investigated by the combination of current-voltage measurements, atomic-resolution Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy, and first-principles calculations. Although Pr segregated to the specific atomic site along the boundaries, it was found not to be the direct cause of nonlinear current-voltage properties. Instead, under appropriate annealing conditions, Pr enhances formations of acceptor-type native defects that are essential for the creation of double Schottky barriers in ZnO.     

Synthesis and different molecular recognition of two dye-modified cyclodextrins with spacer of different length

Two β-cyclodextrin derivatives (1 and 2) bearing a hydroxyazobenzene unit, each having a butylene or a 4,7-dioxadecylene spacer between the cyclodextrin and the dye, were prepared, which showed guest-induced color changes with a marked difference in molecular recognition behavior in aqueous solution.     

Fabrication of metal nanoparticle monolayers on amphiphilic poly(amido amine) dendrimer Langmuir films

A newly designed 1.5th generation poly(amido amine) dendrimer with an azacrown core, hexylene spacers, and octyl terminals was spread on gold nanoparticle (Au-NP) suspension. The surface pressure-area isothermal curves indicated that the molecular area of dendrimer on Au-NP suspension was significantly smaller than that on water, indicating the formation of dendrimer/Au-NP composites. The dendrimer Langmuir films on the Au-NP suspension were transferred to copper grids at various surface pressures and observed by transmission electron microscopy. The transferred films consisted of a fractal-like network of nanoparticles at low surface pressure and of a defect-rich monolayer of nanoparticles at high surface pressure. From these results, it was suggested that the dendrimers bind Au-NPs, and dendrimer/Au-NP composites formed networks or monolayers at the interface. From the intensity decrease of the Au plasmon band of Au-NP suspension after the formation of composite, it was estimated that some (approximately 14) dendrimer molecules bind to one Au-NP. Furthermore, neutron reflectivity at the air/suspension interface and X-ray reflectivity of the film transferred on a silicon substrate revealed that the dendrimer molecules are localized on the upper-half surface of Au-NP. Metal affinity of azacrown, flexibility of hexylene spacer, and amphiphilicity of dendrimer with octyl terminals played important roles for the formation of dendrimer/Au-NP hybrid films. The present investigation proposed a new method to fabricate the self-assembled functional polymer/nanoparticle hybrid film.     

Host-guest complexation affected by pH and length of spacer for hydroxyazobenzene-modified cyclodextrins

Three modified beta-cyclodextrins appended with a hydroxyazobenzene as a dye unit, 1, 2, and 3, each incorporating a different length spacer between the beta-CD and the dye unit with a bis(propyl(oxyethylene)), butylene, and amide bond spacer, respectively, were synthesized in order to investigate their spectroscopic changes induced by pH and host-guest complexation as well as to investigate their conformations and guest-binding properties by means of absorption and induced circular dichroism spectroscopies in aqueous solutions. All hosts accommodated the dye unit in their own CD cavities with an orientation parallel to the CD axis, forming intramolecular complexes. When the pH of the solution changed, the structure changed in response to pH without conformational changes. Existing as the phenol form under acidic condition, they were converted to the yellow phenolate form by dissociation of a proton of the hydroxyl group in the dye unit with increasing pH (pK(a1); 7.62 for 1, 7.44 for 2, 8.00 for 3). Further increase in pH led to the dissociation of the ammonium proton in the secondary amine group in the spacer of 1 and 2 (pK(a2); 8.76 for 1, 8.67 for 2). Upon addition of 1-adamantanol (AN) as a guest, all hosts accommodated AN in their CD cavities, forming 1:1 host-guest inclusion complexes. The complexation phenomena were accompanied with changes in the conformation of the hosts, in which the dye units of 1 and 2 are excluded to outside of the cavity, but not for 3. The dye unit of 3 remained in the cavity, where the guest was also included partly. Therefore, the guest-binding abilities of 1 and 2 were larger than that of 3, which has poor binding ability. The binding constants of 1, 2, and 3 for AN are estimated to be 7400, 1940, and 140 M(-1) at pH 3.2, respectively. However, the guest-binding abilities of 1 and 2 were dependent on the pH of the solution. The ability of 1 under weak alkaline condition was stronger than under acidic or alkaline conditions, while that of 2 increased with increasing pH. Under the condition from neutral to weak alkaline media, 1 and 2 demonstrated color changes from colorless to yellow upon formation of inclusion complexes. When 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid (AC) was used as the charged guest, 1 and 2 bound to AC with a larger binding constant than AN. On the other hand, 1 and 2 bound to 1-adamantineamine (AA) with a smaller binding constant than AN. All these results demonstrate that the complexation phenomena depend on the pH of the solution as well as the length of the spacer of the hosts and that the electrostatic interaction between the host and the guest is also important for forming a stable complex.     

Direct Catalytic Asymmetric Mannich‐Type Reaction of Thioamides

Taking the reins : The title transformation of thioamides and N‐diphenylphosphinoyl imines is described. By harnessing the power of cooperative catalysis between a soft Lewis acid and a hard Brønsted base, thioamide carbon pronucleophiles can furnish Mannich products (see scheme). Divergent transformation of the thioamide functionality highlights the utility of this methodology.

     

High-quality generation of a multispot pattern using a spatial light modulator with adaptive feedback

We propose and demonstrate high-quality generation of a uniform multispot pattern (MSP) by using a spatial light modulator with adaptive feedback. The method iteratively updates a computer generated hologram (CGH) using correction coefficients to improve the intensity distribution of the generated MSP in the optical system. Thanks to a simple method of determining the correction coefficients, the computational cost for optimizing the CGH is low, while maintaining high uniformity of the generated MSP. We demonstrate the generation of a 28×28 square-aligned MSP with high uniformity. Additionally, the proposed method could generate an MSP with a gradually varying intensity profile, as well as a uniform MSP consisting of more than 1000 spots arranged in an arbitrary pattern.     

An Optochemical Oxygen Scavenger Enabling Spatiotemporal Control of Hypoxia

We present an optochemical O₂ scavenging system that enables precise spatiotemporal control of the level of hypoxia in living cells simply by adjusting the light intensity in the illuminated region. The system employs rhodamine containing a selenium or tellurium atom as an optochemical oxygen scavenger that rapidly consumes O₂ by photochemical reaction with glutathione as a coreductant upon visible light irradiation (560–590 nm) and has a rapid response time, within a few minutes. The glutathione-consuming quantum yields of the system were calculated as about 5 %. The spatiotemporal O₂ consuming in cultured cells was visualized with a hypoxia-responsive fluorescence probe, MAR. Phosphorescence lifetime imaging was applied to confirmed that different light intensities could generate different levels of hypoxia. To illustrate the potential utility of this system for hypoxia research, we show that it can spatiotemporally control calcium ion (Ca²⁺) influx into HEK293T cells expressing the hypoxia-responsive Ca²⁺ channel TRPA1.     

Flux-Assisted Synthesis of Y2Ti2O5S2 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions

Photocatalytic water splitting is an ideal means of producing hydrogen in a sustainable manner, and developing highly efficient photocatalysts is a vital aspect of realizing this process. The photocatalyst Y₂Ti₂O₅S₂ (YTOS) is capable of absorbing at wavelengths up to 650 nm and exhibits outstanding thermal and chemical durability compared with other oxysulfides. However, the photocatalytic performance of YTOS synthesized using the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) process is limited owing to the large particle sizes and structural defects associated with this synthetic method. Herein, we report the synthesis of YTOS particles by a flux-assisted technique. The enhanced mass transfer efficiency in the flux significantly reduced the preparation time compared with the SSR method. In addition, the resulting YTOS showed improved photocatalytic H₂ and O₂ evolution activity when loaded with Rh and Co₃O₄ co-catalysts, respectively. These improvements are attributed to the reduced particle size and enhanced crystallinity of the material as well as the slower decay of photogenerated carriers on a nanosecond to sub-microsecond time range. Further optimization of this flux-assisted method together with suitable surface modification is expected to produce high-quality YTOS crystals with superior photocatalytic activity.