Molecular dynamics simulation of gas adsorption on defected graphene

Gas sensing is one of the most promising applications for graphene. Using molecular dynamics simulation method, adsorption isotherm of xenon (Xe) gas on defected and perfect graphene is studied in order to investigate sensing properties of graphene for Xe gas. In this method, first generation of Brenner many-body potential is used to simulate the interaction of carbon–carbon (C) atoms in graphene, and Lennard–Jones two-body potential is used to simulate interaction of Xe–Xe and Xe–C atoms. In the simulated systems, adsorption coverage, radial distribution function, heat of adsorption, binding energy and specific heat capacity at constant volume are calculated for several temperatures between 90 K and 130 K, and various pressures. It was found that both of the defected and perfect graphene could be introduced as very good candidates for adsorption of Xe gas.     

Rectangular-radial drawings of cubic plane graphs

Rectangular drawings and rectangular duals can be naturally extended to other surfaces. In this paper, we extend rectangular drawings and rectangular duals to drawings on a cylinder. The extended drawings are called rectangular-radial drawings and rectangular-radial duals. Rectangular-radial drawings correspond to periodic rectangular tilings of a 1-dimensional strip. We establish a necessary and sufficient condition for plane graphs with maximum degree 3 to have rectangular-radial drawings and a necessary and sufficient condition for triangulated plane graphs to have rectangular-radial duals. Furthermore, we present three linear time algorithms under three different conditions for finding a rectangular-radial drawing for a given cubic plane graph, if one exists.     

Ultrasonic‐Assistance and Aging Time Effects on the Zeolitation Process of BZSM‐5 Zeolite

The isomorphic substitution of boron into ZSM‐5 zeolite under static hydrothermal condition was investigated. Evaluation of hydrothermal synthesis of BZSM‐5 was performed by treating the synthesis mixture by different aging processes, namely, ultrasonic, static, stirring, and microwave‐assisted aging prior to the conventional hydrothermal treatment. The synthetic processes with different techniques of aging prior to the onset of conventional hydrothermal crystallization were compared with a process without any prior aging. The obtained results showed that the ultrasonic and microwave assisted aging shortened the crystallization time and altered the crystal size and the morphology of the obtained products. The characteristics of the synthesized products were obtained by FT‐IR spectroscopic, XRD and SEM techniques.     

Applications of sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation in the total synthesis of natural products

Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation involves the reaction of an alkene with osmium tetroxide in the presence of a chiral quinine ligand to form an optically active vicinal diol. This reaction was primarily developed by Sharpless based on the already known racemic Upjohn dihydroxylation. The chiral diols obtained by Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation are important intermediates in organic synthesis. Herein, we emphasise the applications of Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation in the total synthesis of natural products.     

The Formation of Porous Membranes by Filtration of Aerosol Nanoparticles

Flame-generated aerosol particles of Al₂O₃ were deposited by gas filtration on two types of porous and ceramic tubes of -Al₂O₃ with mean pore diameters of 450 and 2700nm, respectively. The particles were aggregates with average mobility diameters in the range of 30–100nm and primary particle diameters of 4–8nm. The particles are characterized by differential mobility analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and by their specific surface area. The deposited membranes are characterized by gas permeability measurements, scanning electron microscopy, and by their pore size distribution from nitrogen capillary condensation. The particles form a distinct, homogeneous membrane layer with a porosity of 90% on top of the substrate surface and only penetrate slightly into the substrate structure. The mean pore sizes of the deposited membranes determined by nitrogen condensation agree approximately with those determined by gas permeation and the specific surface area. The mean pore diameter varies in the range of 30–70nm. The gas permeability of the deposited membranes is related to the specific surface area but influenced by the high porosity. The mean pore size and the permeability of the membranes are almost independent of the substrate structure.The development of a membrane with uniform properties is preceded by a short initial period in which the deposited particles, with an equivalent membrane thickness of roughly 2m, have a significantly lower permeability than the ultimately developed uniform membrane layer. This effect is particularly significant for the aerosol particles with the lowest mean size, probably due to particles deposited in the pore mouths of the substrate.The particles and the deposited membranes are X-ray amorphous but retain their specific surface area on heating to even high temperatures. When the membranes are heated to 1473K for 10h, X-ray diffraction shows a mixture of - and -alumina, accompanied by a partial disintegration of the membrane and a considerable loss of surface area.     

Design and development of a fiber-optic immunosensor utilizing near-infrared fluorophores

The design and application of a fluorescent fiber-optic immunosensor (FFOI) are reported. The FFOI is utilized for the detection of antibody/antigen binding within the near-infrared (NIR) spectral region. The technique is developed through the combined use of fiber-optic, semiconductor laser-excitation, fluorescence detection, NIR dye, and immunochemical techniques. The antibody is immobilized on the FFOI and utilized as a recognition component for trace amounts of specific antigen. The FFOI is constructed to utilize an antibody sandwich technique. The assay involves the immobilization of the capture antibody on the sensing tip of the FFOI followed by the exposure of the immobilized sensing tip to the antigen. The antigen-coated FFOI is then introduced to a second antibody previously labeled with the NIR dye. Typical measurements are performed in about 15 min. A semiconductor laser provides the excitation (780 nm) of the immune complex. The resulting emission is detected by a silicon photodiode detector (820 nm). The intensity of the resulting fluorescence is directly proportional to the concentration of the antigen. The sensitivity of the analysis reaches 10 ng/ml and the response time is 10–15 min.     

Proliferation dynamics of germinative zone cells in the intact and excitotoxically lesioned postnatal rat brain

Background  

The forebrain subventricular zone (SVZ)-olfactory bulb pathway and hippocampal subgranular zone (SGZ) generate neurons into adulthood in the mammalian brain. Neurogenesis increases after injury to the adult brain, but few studies examine the effect of injury on neural and glial precursors in the postnatal brain. To characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of cell proliferation in the germinative zones, this study utilized a model of postnatal damage induced by NMDA injection in the right sensorimotor cortex at postnatal day 9.