Carrier diffusion in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells grown on vicinal GaAs(0 0 1) substrates

We have investigated the influence of vicinal GaAs substrates on the optical and electronic properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs). A single In_0.10Ga_0.90As QW was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a vicinal GaAs(0 0 1) substrate with a miscut angle of 0° (nominal), 2°, 4° and 6° towards [1 1 0]. The carrier diffusion was obtained by a micro-photoluminescence scan technique that permits to observe the effective diffusion length characterized by the lateral spread of carriers in the QW followed by radiative recombination. The carrier diffusion length was obtained parallel (L_||) and perpendicular (L) to the atomic steps. The diffusion length decreases as the temperature increases up to 100 K. Above this temperature we found different behaviours that depend on the sample miscut angle.     

Two-plane sub-bundles of nonorientable real vector-bundles

Let be a nonorientable m-plane bundle over a CW complex X of dimension m or less. Given a 2-plane bundle over X, we wish to know whether can be embedded as a sub-bundle of . The bundle need not be orientable. When is even-dimensional there is the added complication of twisted coefficients. In that case, we use Postnikov decomposition of certain nonsimple fibrations in order to describe the obstructions for the embedding problem. Emery Thomas [11] and [12] treated this problem for and both orientable. The results found here are applied to the tangent bundle of a closed, connected, nonorientable smooth manifold, as a special case.The writing of this paper was partially supported by CNPq grant     

Behavior of Humic Acid as a Micellar Phase in Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC)

The possibility of humic acids acting as micellar phase in micellar electrokinetic chromatography was evaluated. We investigated the separation of naphthalene in capillary electrophoresis using various samples of humic acids as micellar phase under different pH conditions, concentrations of humic acid, and temperature. The humic acid samples studied were from different origins including peat, vermicompost and a commercial sample acquired from Aldrich. Methanol was used as a marker for the electroosmotic flow. The results indicate that the formation of micelle depends on the number and nature of the hydrophobic association sites in an aqueous humic acid solution and on the origin and concentration of the humic acid at a defined pH. At lower pH values, the possibility of the humic acid molecule forming pseudomicelles increases due to a combination of neutralized and dissociated charged sites.     

Photochemical decomposition of the CS2N3 ion

The pseudo-halide 1, 2, 3, 4-thiatriazol-5-thiolate, in the anion and acid forms, undergoes photochemical decomposition with the formation of sulfur, nitrogen and the thiocyanate anion, with quantum yields (θ₃₁₃) of 0.13 and 0.26 for the acid and anion forms, respectively.     

Chiral recognition and separation of beta2-amino acids using non-covalently molecularly imprinted polymers

Non-covalently molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for beta2-amino acids were prepared for the first time. N-(2-chlorobenzyloxycarbonyl)-(R)-beta2-homophenylalanine (N-2-ClZ-(R)-beta2-HPhe) was imprinted with methacrylic acid (MAA) and/or 4-vinylpyridine (4-VPy) as the functional monomers, with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as the cross-linker. The MIPs made with different ratios of MAA:4-VPy were studied in HPLC mode. The results show that MIPs made with 4-VPy yielded the best chiral separation factor (alpha= 1.86) for the template molecule. The importance for an efficient separation of pi-stacking interactions between the MIPs and the template molecule is demonstrated. Racemates of Z-alpha-amino acids and beta-amino acid analogues of the template were either not or poorly resolved by the MIPs, thus demonstrating the close three-dimensional complementarity of the MIPs' recognition sites with the template.     

Synthesis of Ultra-Fine Columbite Powder MgNb2O6 by the Polymerized Complex Method

Pure MgNb₂O₆ powders with high specific surface area and high crystallinity have been successfully synthesized by the Polymerized Complex (PC) Method. A solution of water, citric acid, ethylene glycol and niobium and magnesium ions, was polymerized at 130°C by the water elimination and was calcined at 400°C for 2 h. The precursor formed was calcined at temperatures from 700°C to 1000°C in air to obtain the columbite phase. Thermal analysis, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, adsorption/desorption hysteresis and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the polymer decomposition and the columbite phase evolution. No evidence for phase separation of crystalline MgCO₃ and Nb₂O₅ in Raman spectra and x-ray diffraction pattern as distinct intermediates were found, and the MgNb₂O₆ probably is formed through a single-step decomposition of oxycarbonate intermediate, as other double oxide synthesized by the PC Method, as indicated by the thermal decomposition of the precursor.     

Antioxidant activity of aryltetralone lignans and derivatives from Virola sebifera (Aubl.)

Aryltetralone lignans bearing methylenedioxy groups (1a-b; 2a-b) were isolated from seeds of Virola sebifera. Their antioxidant activities were evaluated by inhibition of lipid peroxidation as indicated by TBARS and chemiluminescence emission (CL) assays. The lignan 1c, 'having a 2'-hydroxy-4',5'-methylenedioxyphenyl group, was the most active compound with TBARS/CL Q 1/2 values of 0.89 and 0.10 microg/mL, respectively. The catechol derivatives 3 and 4, obtained by demethylenation of lignans 1a and 2a, were of similar activity to 1c, and all were much more effective as antioxidants than alpha-tocopherol.     

Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity of 4-Substituted 3-Cyano-6,6-dimethyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyranones

The respective 4-(arylvinyl)lactones and compounds of the Michael adduct type were synthesized by the condensation of substituted benzaldehydes with 3-cyano-4,6,6-trimethyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyranone in the presence of catalytic amounts of sodium hydroxide. It was shown by the semiempirical AM1 method that the indicated products can be formed through one and the same intermediate compound. Some of the synthesized phenylvinyl-5,6-dihydro-2-pyranones have a cytotoxic effect, and this corresponds to the prognosis of the OREX expert system.     

Thermal behavior of polyacrylonitrile polymers synthesized under different conditions and comonomer compositions

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymers are used as precursors for carbon fiber production. This process requires an oxidative stabilization step, which can be studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In this sense, thermal behavior of PAN based terpolymers by different polymerization processes, compositions and itaconic acid concentrations in the reaction media were investigated. The obtained results showed that the addition of itaconic acid and methyl acrylate as comonomers resulted a lower heat flow during the process comparing to the PAN homopolymer. It suggested that these comonomers aid the oxidative stabilization stage for all studied process. The redox system polymerization at 40°C resulted in a lower heat flow. Itaconic acid decreases slightly initial and peak temperatures of the terpolymer and heat flow until concentration of 3y. The cyclization temperature decreases when MAis incorporated into the terpolymer compared to the MMA terpolymer and increases when MAA is the acidic monomer. Among terpolymers the AN/MA/AA polymer showed the best thermal behavior for carbon fiber producing.     

Racemic 2‐isopropyl‐3‐(2‐nitrobenzyl)‐1,3‐thiazolidin‐4‐one crystallizes in the space group P212121 with Z′ = 2: two different interpenetrating three‐dimensional frameworks formed by C—H...O hydrogen bonds

rac‐2‐Isopropyl‐3‐(2‐nitrobenzyl)‐1,3‐thiadiazolin‐4‐one, C₁₃H₁₆N₂O₃S, is a rare example of a racemate crystallizing in the space group P2₁2₁2₁, with one molecule each of S and R configurations, whose conformations are almost mirror images, within the asymmetric unit. The molecules of S configuration are linked by two C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a three‐dimensional framework, and the molecules of R configuration are linked by two further C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a different type of three‐dimensional framework; the two frameworks are linked by a fifth C—H...O hydrogen bond.