Applications of high resolution spectroscopy to the identification of far-infrared laser emission from optically pumped13CH3OH

High-resolution infrared (IR) and far infrared (FIR) Fourier transform absorption spectra have been employed to investigate assignments of FIR laser lines reported from optically-pumped¹³CH₃OH. The spectroscopic measurements are used in conjunction with the reported IR pump and FIR laser frequencies to form closed combination loops for several systems, serving to confirm the assignments and in some cases to improve the accuracy of the FIR laser frequencies. Frequency predictions from combination differences are also presented for a number of potential new FIR laser lines.     

Methanol vapor‐induced morphology and current–voltage characteristic changes in a cast‐coated nafion film/interdigitated microarray electrode

Methanol vapor‐induced membranous changes in a cast‐coated Nafion thin film were studied through current–voltage (I–V) characteristics with an interdigitated microarray (IDA) electrode and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The obtained I–V curves showed that the as‐prepared Nafion film was stable under humidified nitrogen gas; however, the I–V profile dramatically changed with exposure to methanol vapor. Next, the morphology of the film was compared before and after methanol exposure with AFM images. On the basis of our observations, we found that the as‐prepared film had an irregularly complicated microstructure, whereas the structure became homogeneous in appearance after 30 min of exposure to methanol gas. The alternating‐current conductivity data, showing almost the same magnitude before and after exposure, strongly suggested that the I–V profile shift was based on a change in an electrode reaction mechanism induced by a change in the junction at the Nafion/IDA electrode interface. Furthermore, the methanol vapor‐pre‐exposed Nafion was stable for further exposure to methanol vapor, water vapor, or both. With the stabilized film used in combination with the IDA electrode, a reversible change in the magnitude of the current was observed when the methanol/water vapor ratio was varied. This indicated that the electrode reaction had good reproducibility after the treatment. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1103–1109, 2002     

Gas permeability and n‐butane solubility of poly(1‐trimethylgermyl‐1‐propyne)

The gas permeability and n‐butane solubility in glassy poly(1‐trimethylgermyl‐1‐propyne) (PTMGP) are reported. As synthesized, the PTMGP product contains two fractions: (1) one that is insoluble in toluene and soluble only in carbon disulfide (the toluene‐insoluble polymer) and (2) one that is soluble in both toluene and carbon disulfide (the toluene‐soluble polymer). In as‐cast films, the gas permeability and n‐butane solubility are higher in films prepared from the toluene‐soluble polymer (particularly in those films cast from toluene) than in films prepared from the toluene‐insoluble polymer and increase to a maximum in both fractions after methanol conditioning. For example, in as‐cast films prepared from carbon disulfide, the oxygen permeability at 35 °C is 330 × 10^?10 cm³ (STP) cm/(cm² s cmHg) for the toluene‐soluble polymer and 73 × 10^?10 cm³ (STP) cm/(cm² s cmHg) for the toluene‐insoluble polymer. After these films are conditioned in methanol, the oxygen permeability increases to 5200 × 10^?10 cm³ (STP) cm/(cm² s cmHg) for the toluene‐soluble polymer and 6200 × 10^?10 cm³ (STP) cm/(cm² s cmHg) for the toluene‐insoluble polymer. The rankings of the fractional free volume and nonequilibrium excess free volume in the various PTMGP films are consistent with the measured gas permeability and n‐butane solubility values. Methanol conditioning increases gas permeability and n‐butane solubility of as‐cast PTMGP films, regardless of the polymer fraction type and casting solvent used, and minimizes the permeability and solubility differences between the various films (i.e., the permeability and solubility values of all conditioned PTMGP films are similar). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2228–2236, 2002     

氧化镍薄膜的制备及电化学性质

分别采用真空蒸镀_热氧化(VE_TO)及脉冲激光沉积(PLD)技术制备氧化镍(NiO)阳极薄膜材料,并利用XRD、SEM、循环伏安、充放电等方法对薄膜的结构和电化学性能进行了表征。结果表明,两种方法均制备了厚度均匀、表面光滑、与基片结合紧密、无缺陷、致密的纳米晶形NiO薄膜。采用PLD技术制备的薄膜颗粒更小、结构更有序,具有更高的电化学比容量,并且能承受大电流充放电。因此,这两种方法制备的NiO薄膜可根据充放电电流密度的要求有选择的应用于全固态薄膜锂离子电池中。     

Synthesis and catalytic activity of binuclear Mn(III,III)–BINOL complexes for epoxidation of olefins

The novel binuclear complexes [Mn₂^{(III, III)}(BINOL)₃L₂]2H₂O, where, L = 2, 2′‐bipyridine (Bpy) or 1,10‐phenanthroline (Phen) and BINOL = 1, 1′‐bi‐2‐naphthol were synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility and various spectral methods. The catalytic activity of these complexes was studied for the epoxidation reaction of unfunctionalized olefins like styrene, 1‐hexene, 1‐octene and 1‐decene. The products thus obtained were analyzed by GC. The epoxidation reactions were carried out, in the presence of catalyst with different oxidants, to study the effect of the nature of the oxidant on the reactions. The different oxidants used were the peroxide oxygen donor (e.g. TBHP and H₂O₂), mono oxygen donor (e.g. PhIO) and dioxygen donor (e.g. molecular O₂). TBHP was found to be the best oxidant for the epoxidation reaction. To study the effect of the solvent on the epoxidation, the reactions were carried out in different media, such as a polar media (e.g. with CH₃OH as solvent), non‐polar media (e.g. with CH₂Cl₂ and C₆H₆ as solvents) and coordinating solvent (e.g. CH₃CN). The maximum epoxide formation was observed in CH₂Cl₂ medium. The epoxidation reactions with optically active BINOL catalysts under optimum established conditions were carried out to examine the enantioselectivity of the catalysts. The complexes were, however, found not to be enantioselective. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxidative addition of different electrophiles with rhodium(I) carbonyl complexes of unsymmetrical phosphine–phosphine monoselenide ligands

Dimeric chlorobridge complex [Rh(CO)₂Cl]₂ reacts with two equivalents of a series of unsymmetrical phosphine–phosphine monoselenide ligands, Ph₂P(CH₂)_nP(Se)Ph₂ {n = 1( a ), 2( b ), 3( c ), 4( d )}to form chelate complex [Rh(CO)Cl(P∩Se)] ( 1a ) {P∩Se = η²‐(P,Se) coordinated} and non‐chelate complexes [Rh(CO)₂Cl(P～Se)] ( 1b–d ) {P～Se = η¹‐(P) coordinated}. The complexes 1 undergo oxidative addition reactions with different electrophiles such as CH₃I, C₂H₅I, C₆H₅CH₂Cl and I₂ to produce Rh(III) complexes of the type [Rh(COR)ClX(P∩Se)] {where R = ? C₂H₅ ( 2a ), X = I; R = ? CH₂C₆H₅ ( 3a ), X = Cl}, [Rh(CO)ClI₂(P∩Se)] ( 4a ), [Rh(CO)(COCH₃)ClI(P～Se)] ( 5b–d ), [Rh(CO)(COH₅)ClI‐(P～Se)] ( 6b–d ), [Rh(CO)(COCH₂C₆H₅)Cl₂(P～Se)] ( 7b–d ) and [Rh(CO)ClI₂(P～Se)] ( 8b–d ). The kinetic study of the oxidative addition (OA) reactions of the complexes 1 with CH₃I and C₂H₅I reveals a single stage kinetics. The rate of OA of the complexes varies with the length of the ligand backbone and follows the order 1a > 1b > 1c > 1d . The CH₃I reacts with the different complexes at a rate 10–100 times faster than the C₂H₅I. The catalytic activity of complexes 1b–d for carbonylation of methanol is evaluated and a higher turnover number (TON) is obtained compared with that of the well‐known commercial species [Rh(CO)₂I₂]^?. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Platinum particles dispersed poly(diphenylamine) modified electrode for methanol oxidation

A modified potentiostatic method, termed the ‘pulse pontentiostatic method’ (PPSM) was used to get nano fibrillar poly(diphenylamine) (PDPA) film on Indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass electrode and also for making modified electrode with platinum particles dispersed in PDPA. Platinum clusters were electrodispersed under constant potential on PDPA films to obtain catalytic electrodes for methanol oxidation. Energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) results showed that the Pt microparticles are deposited into PDPA film. Scanning electron micrograph, SEM images show that the deposition results spherical catalytic particles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results inform that the net electronic charge on carbon atom and also the imine/amine ratio was not affected by Pt loadings. The modification of electrode surface by nano fibular PDPA improves the electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation.     

Influence of chemical composition and sequence length on the transport properties of proton exchange membranes

One of the integral parts of the fuel cell is the proton exchange membrane. Our research group has been engaged in the past few years in the synthesis of several sulfonated poly(arylene ether) random copolymers. The copolymers were varied in both the bisphenol structure as well as in the functional groups in the backbone such as sulfone and ketones. To compare the effect of sequence length, multiblock copolymers based on poly(arylene ether sulfone)s were synthesized. This paper aims to describe our investigation of the effect of chemical composition, morphology, and ion exchange capacity (IEC) on the transport properties of proton conducting membranes. The key properties examined were proton conductivity, methanol permeability, and water self diffusion coefficient in the membranes. It was observed that under fully hydrated conditions, proton conductivity for both random and block copolymers was a function of IEC and water uptake. However, under partially hydrated conditions, the block copolymers showed improved proton conductivity over the random copolymers. The proton conductivity for the block copolymer series was found to increase with increasing block lengths under partially hydrated conditions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2226–2239, 2006     

XPS study of vanadium surface oxidation by oxygen ion bombardment

Oxidation of vanadium metal surfaces at room temperature by low-energy oxygen ion beams is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is observed that ion-beam irradiation of clean V results in formation of thin oxide layer containing vanadium in oxidation states corresponding to VO, V₂O₃, VO₂ and V₂O₅ oxides. The composition of the products of ion-beam oxidation depends markedly on oxygen ion fluence. The results of angle-resolved XPS measurements are consistent with a structure of oxide film with the outermost part enriched in V₂O₅ and VO₂ oxides and with V₂O₃ and VO oxides located in the inner region of the oxide layer.     

Growth of Al2O3 thin films on NiAl(1 0 0) by gas-phase oxidation and electro-oxidation

The growth and structures of aluminum oxides on NiAl(1 0 0) have been investigated by RHEED (reflection high energy electron diffraction), complemented by LEED (low energy electron diffraction), AES (Auger electron spectroscopy) and STM (scanning tunneling microscopy). Crystalline θ-Al₂O₃ phase grows through gas-phase oxidation on the NiAl(1 0 0) substrate with its a and b-axes parallel to [0 −1 0] and [0 0 1] direction of the substrate, respectively, forming a (2 × 1) unit cell. Whilst, three-dimensional nano-sized NiAl(1 0 0) protrusions and Al₂O₃, NiAl(0 1 1) clusters were found to co-exit at the surface, evidenced by extraordinary transmission spots superposed to the substrate reflection rods in the RHEED patterns. Particularly, the NiAl(0 1 1) clusters develop with their (0 1 1) plane parallel to the NiAl(1 0 0) surface, and [1 0 0] axis parallel to the [0 −1 1] direction of the substrate surface. STM observation combined with information from AES and TPD (temperature programmed desorption) suggest the formation of these 3D structures is closely associated with partial decomposition of the crystalline oxides during annealing. On the other hand, smoother (2 × 1) oxide islands with thickness close to a complete monolayer of θ-Al₂O₃ can be formed on NiAl(1 0 0) by electro-oxidation, in contrast with the large crystalline films formed by gas-oxidation.