Experimental study of enhanced emission of the laser-ablated plume in backing gas

The effects of background gases on the optical emission of the excimer-laser-ablated plume from a brass target have been studied experimentally. It is found that the plume emission can be enhanced significantly in a proper gas ambient. In hydrogen, the highest peak intensity is detected, and in argon, there is a distinctive difference in the pressure-dependent emission between in He and in the other three gases, Ar, N₂ and H₂. Moreover, the monitored line peak intensity remains unchanged in Ar and N₂ and increases in H₂ within a distance above the target surface; but in He, the observed peak intensity decreases with distance like in vacuum. Furthermore, the emissions of several more atomic lines of Cu and Zn atoms from the plume are also found to be enhanced in the same manner in gas ambient. Some physical processes involved in the plume expansion and the possible mechanisms for the enhanced emission of the plume in backing gas are discussed.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence of anatase TiO₂ nanotubes film

Highly ordered titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotubes film was successfully synthesized via anodic oxidation of a Ti foil in an ammonium fluoride-based ethylene glycol solution. The electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) behavior of the resulting TiO₂ nanotubes film was subsequently studied. Strong ECL emission was observed at −1.40 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and the ECL spectrum displayed three emission peaks which were bathochromatically shifted by ca. 140 nm as compared to its corresponding photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks, indicating that the surface state plays an important role in the emission process. The ECL emission can also occur in a deareated solution attributing to the surface adsorbed O₂ molecules. The ECL emission intensity was quenched by dopamine and greatly enhanced in the presence of dissolved O₂ and H₂O₂, making it possible to detect these analytes. The TiO₂ nanotubes film has been successfully applied to determine the dissolved O₂ content in river and pond water samples, the H₂O₂ concentration in commercial disinfectant samples and the dopamine concentration in commercial dopamine injections with satisfactory results. The plausible ECL mechanisms of TiO₂ nanotubes film in aqueous solution are discussed.     

Underwater cytometer for in situ measurement of marine phytoplankton by a technique combining laser-induced fluorescence and laser Doppler velocimetry

We present a new type of flow cytometer that can operate underwater for a long time, as long as days, for measuring the size distribution, concentration, and biomass of marine phytoplankton. The major improvement of the instrument over existing techniques is the elimination of sample preparation, which is achieved with a laser Doppler crossed-beam arrangement for both defining a measurement volume and measuring the speed of the particle traversing it. By simultaneously sampling the laser-induced fluorescence signal and the Doppler signals, the technique can discriminate sizes of phytoplankton.     

Computer graphics-assisted applications of first-order chemical kinetics in the determination of inorganic complexes complexes

Computer graphics-assisted applications of first-order chemical kinetics are applied to absorbance data from spectrophotometric measurements of the decomposition of di-μ-hydroxobis[dioxalatocobaltate(III)] (at pH 4.0) and trioxalatocobaltate(III) (in 1.0 M perchloric acid) in order to estimate the purity of the complexes. A program called KINFIR is used.     

Extremal k *-Cycle Resonant Hexagonal Chains

Denote by ^* _n the set of all k ^*-cycle resonant hexagonal chains with n hexagons. For any B _n ^* _n , let m(B _n ) and i(B _n ) be the numbers of matchings (=the Hosoya index) and the number of independent sets (=the Merrifield–Simmons index) of B _n , respectively. In this paper, we give a characterization of the k ^*-cycle resonant hexagonal chains, and show that for any B _n ^* _n , m(H _n )m(B _n ) and i(H _n )i(B _n ), where H _n is the helicene chain. Moreover, equalities hold only if B _n =H _n .     

Synthesis, photophysical and electrochemical properties and theoretical studies on three novel indolo[3,2-b]carbazole derivatives containing benzothiazole units

Three novel indolo[3,2-b]carbazoles derivatives were successfully synthesized by condensation reaction and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods, which belong to donor-π-acceptor systems comprising an indolo[3,2-b]carbazole group as an electron donor and two benzothiazole rings as electron acceptors. The thermal, electrochemical and photophysical properties of the compounds were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis combined with electrochemistry, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. On the other hand, the geometries, molecular orbitals, charge-injection and transport properties were determined by quantum chemical calculations. The results show that the compounds synthesized exhibit good thermal stability and high fluorescence quantum yields, indicating the potential application as optoelectronic materials.     

Planar graphs with maximum degree 4 are strongly 19-edge-colorable

A strong edge-coloring of a graph is a proper edge-coloring such that edges at distance at most 2 receive different colors. It is known that every planar graph has a strong edge-coloring by using at most $4\Delta +4$ colors, where $\Delta$ denotes the maximum degree of the graph. In this paper, we will show that 19 colors are enough to color a planar graph with maximum degree 4.     

L（j,k）-number of Direct Product of Path and Cycle

For positive numbers j and k, an L(j,k)-labeling f of G is an assignment of numbers to vertices of G such that |f(u)-f(v)|≥j if uv∈E(G), and |f(u)-f(v)|≥k if d(u,v)=2. Then the span of f is the difference between the maximum and the minimum numbers assigned by f. The L(j,k)-number of G, denoted by λj,k(G), is the minimum span over all L(j,k)-labelings of G. In this paper, we give some results about the L(j,k)-number of the direct product of a path and a cycle for j≤k.     

Fourier transform ultraviolet-visible spectrometer based on a beam-folding technique

A beam-folding technique in optical interferometry, where the number of beam folds used can be very large, is reported. This technique can be used as a low-cost position-tracking method in a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) to cover the broad spectral range from UV to IR. The main advantage gained is the simple position-tracking algorithm used in sampling the interferogram. We have developed a UV-visible FTS, whose wavelength coverage is limited only by the optical elements (350 nm(-1) microm with off-the-shelf components). Preliminary results show that it can achieve a resolution of approximately 4 cm(-1) even with a ball-bearing translation stage.     

One Pot Phase Transfer Synthesis of Trithiocarbonates from Carbon Bisulphide and Alkyl Halides

Symmetrical and cyclic alkyl trithiocarbonates were synthesized by reacting CS₂ and 33% aqueous NaOH with alkyl hal-ides under phase transfer catalysis conditions