Femtosecond laser fabrication of tubular waveguides in poly(methyl methacrylate)

Femtosecond laser direct writing is employed for the fabrication of buried tubular waveguides in bulk poly(methyl methacrylate). A novel technique using selective chemical etching is presented to resolve the two-dimensional refractive-index profile of the fabrication structures. End-to-end coupling in the waveguides reveals a near-field intensity distribution that results from the superimposition of several propagating modes with different azimuthal symmetries. Mode analysis of the tubular waveguides is performed using the finite-difference method, and the possible propagating mode profiles are compared with the experimental data.     

A nonlocal multi-point singular fractional integro-differential problem of Lane–Emden type

In this paper, using Riemann–Liouville integral and Caputo derivative, we study a nonlinear singular integro-differential equation of Lane–Emden type with nonlocal multi-point integral conditions. We prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions by application of Banach contraction principle. Also, we prove an existence result using Schaefer fixed point theorem. Then, we present some examples to show the applicability of the main results.     

Role of the hydrophobic effect in the transfer of chirality from molecules to complex systems: from chiral surfactants to porphyrin/surfactant aggregates

The interaction between the achiral sulfonated porphyrin 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin, H 2TPPS 4 (4-), and two chiral cationic surfactants has been studied by optical absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies. At surfactant concentrations above the critical micellar concentration (cmc) the porphyrin is included in the micellar aggregates, but it is CD silent. Below the cmc at a definite porphyrin/surfactant stoichiometry the formation of heteroaggregates with transfer of chirality to the porphyrin chromophore occurs. The preferred surfactant/porphyrin stoichiometry is 3:1, which suggests a structure driven by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between porphyrin and surfactant and dipolar and ionic interactions with the water solution. At surfactant concentrations above the cmc, depending on the protocol of preparation of the samples, the formation of the two kinds of aggregates can be observed, reversible for the simple surfactant micelles incorporating the porphyrin, but irreversible for the heteroaggregates.     

Large eddy simulation of a slot jet impinging on a convex surface

A large eddy simulation is used to simulate flow and heat transfer in a turbulent plane jet with two distances from the jet-exit to impingement corresponding to twice and ten times the slot nozzle width. The resolved different unsteady vortex motions of the jet shear layers are studied and shown to have an important influence on heat transfer at the wall. They are used to explain existence of the second peak in Nusselt number for the case corresponding to twice the slot nozzle width. The predicted average surface Nusselt number profiles exhibit good agreement with experiments.     

Kinetic control of the supramolecular chirality of porphyrin J-aggregates

The aggregation of achiral sulfonatophenyl- and phenyl-meso-substituted diprotonated porphyrins to chiral J-aggregates is a hierarchical noncovalent polymerization process preceded by a critical nucleation stage. This allows significant enantiomeric excesses by the formation of a few primary nuclei and the control of their growth by the effect that flows (imperfect mixing) have on the secondary nucleation of the J-aggregate particles. In addition, the results strongly suggest that when only one species of aggregate predominates, the CD signals of the three excitonic bands in the visible region (around 420, 490, and 700 nm) show the same sign. Thus, differences on their relative sign would be due to the presence of different species.     

Improvement and application of two extrapolation methods to FT-IR data

The applicability of two non-parametric extrapolation methods to FT-IR absorptance spectra is investigated. The first method minimizes those parts of the spectrum which do not satisfy a given constraint, while the second one changes them in each iteration through the true values.     

Effect of Hydrodynamic Forces on meso‐(4‐Sulfonatophenyl)‐Substituted Porphyrin J‐Aggregate Nanoparticles: Elasticity,Plasticity and Breaking

The J aggregates of 4‐sulfonatophenyl meso‐substituted porphyrins are non‐covalent polymers obtained by self‐assembly that form nanoparticles of different morphologies. In the case of high aspect‐ratio nanoparticles (bilayered ribbons and monolayered nanotubes), shear hydrodynamic forces may modify their shape and size, as observed by peak force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy of frozen solutions, small‐angle X‐ray scattering measurements in a disk‐plate rotational cell, and cone–plate rotational viscometry. These nanoparticles either show elastic or plastic behaviour: there is plasticity in the ribbons obtained upon nanotube collapse on solid/air interfaces and in viscous concentrated nanotube solutions, whereas elasticity occurs in the case of dilute nanotube solutions. Sonication and strong shear hydrodynamic forces lead to the breaking of the monolayered nanotubes into small particles, which then associate into large colloidal particles.     

A sensor based on silver nanoparticles synthesized on carbon graphite sheets for the electrochemical detection of nitrofurazone: Application: Tap water,commercial milk and human urine

Nitrofurazone is a nitrofuran-family synthetic chemical that has been used to treat bacterial infections since 1993. Silver nanoparticles synthesized by the thermal technique on graphite carbon sheets under optimal conditions were used to develop a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor. The main experimental characteristics are optimized to assure that this sensor functions correctly. Scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy were used to determine the chemical composition and morphology of the prepared pastes. With a maximal reduction peak of La nitrofurazone observed at ?0.57V/Ag-NPs@CPE versus Ag/AgCl, this sensor demonstrated good electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of La nitrofurazone. The influence of phosphate buffer solution pH indicates that the numbers of protons and electrons in the reaction at the surface of our constructed sensor were the same. The LOD and LOQ were calculated to be 1.2 × 10^?8 M and 1.3 × 10^?7 M, respectively. Using the differential pulse voltammetry technique, the calibration curve was established in the concentration range of 10^?4 M to 2 × 10^?7 M. Our Ag-NPs@CPE sensors were evaluated in order to detect nitrofurazone in real contaminated samples tap water, commercial milk, and human urine, in particular. The electroanalysis results show a very high recovery rate of more than 96% on average, permitting us to determine that our sensors are functional under optimum working conditions.     

Emergence of Supramolecular Chirality by Flows

Hydrodynamic forces in stirred solutions induce chirality in some supramolecular species of J‐aggregates, as detected at the level of the electronic transition. However, the mechanism that explains the phenomenon remains to be elucidated, although the basic effect of hydrodynamic gradients of the shear rate is most probably the folding or bending of the nanoparticles in solution. Herein, we demonstrate a correlation between chiral flows in different regions of circular and square stirred cuvettes and the emergence of true circular dichroism (CD). The results show that chaotic flows lead to a racemic mixture of chiral shaped supramolecular species, and vortical flows to scalemic mixtures. In a magnetically stirred flask the descending and ascending flows are of different chiral sign and the CD reading depends on the weighting of these two flows of inverse chiral sign. The effect of the gradient of shear rates of the flows leading to chiral shape objects depends on the shape of the cuvette, which suggests that the flask shape and the controlled addition of reagents in defined regions of the stirred solutions may exert a control in self‐assembly processes.