Effect of absorbed pump power on the quality of output beam from monolithic microchip lasers

The dependence of the beam propagation factor (M ² parameter) with the absorbed pump power in the case of monolithic microchip laser under face-cooled configuration is extensively studied. Our investigations show that the M ₂ parameter is related to the absorbed pump power through two parameters (α and β) whose values depend on the laser material properties and laser configuration. We have shown that one parameter arises due to the oscillation of higher order modes in the microchip cavity and the other parameter accounts for the spherical aberration associated with the thermal lens induced by the pump beam. Such dependency of M ² parameter with the absorbed pump power is experimentally verified for a face-cooled monolithic microchip laser based on Nd³⁺ -doped GdVO₄ crystal and the values of α and β parameters were estimated from the experimentally measured data points.     

Enzymes immobilized on montmorillonite: comparison of performance in batch and packed-bed reactors

Summary The enzymes a-amylase, invertase and glucoamylase were immobilized on acid activated montmorillonite using two techniques, viz. adsorption and covalent binding, and their activities were tested in a batch and packed-bed reactor and were compared. The packed-bed reactor showed an improved performance for all immobilized enzymes, which was attributed to lowering of diffusional restrictions to mass transfer. Lower activity in case of batch reactor for immobilized invertase was due to a combined effect of loss of native conformation of enzyme on account of immobilization and mass transfer resistances due to improper diffusion of substrate to the active site of enzyme. For immobilized glucoamylase, the packed-bed reactor demonstrated exceptionally high activity that was very close to the free enzyme. Covalently bound glucoamylase showed higher activity than the free enzyme.     

Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

An Anthracene-Based Metal-Organic Framework for Selective Photo-Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid Coupled with Water Oxidation

A Zr-based metal-organic framework has been synthesized and employed as a catalyst for photochemical carbon dioxide reduction coupled with water oxidation. The catalyst shows significant carbon dioxide reduction property with concomitant water oxidation. The catalyst has broad visible light as well as UV light absorption property, which is further confirmed from electronic absorption spectroscopy. Formic acid was the only reduced product from carbon dioxide with a turn-over frequency (TOF) of 0.69 h⁻¹ in addition to oxygen, which was produced with a TOF of 0.54 h⁻¹. No external photosensitizer is used and the ligand itself acts as the light harvester. The efficient and selective photochemical carbon dioxide reduction to formic acid with concomitant water oxidation using Zr-based MOF as catalyst is thus demonstrated here.     

Theoretical investigation of the molecular structure,vibrational spectra,and molecular docking of tramadol using density functional theory

The optimized molecular structures, harmonic vibrational wavenumbers, and the corresponding vibrational assignments of (1S,2S)-tramadol and (1R,2R)-tramadol are computationally examined using the B3LYP density functional theory method together with the standard 6–311++G(d,p) and def2-TVZP basis sets. The optimized structures show that phenolic rings of both 1R,2R and 1S,2S tramadol adopt planar geometry, which are slightly distorted due to the substitution at the meta-position; and the six-membered cyclohexane adopts a slightly distorted chair conformation. The 1S,2S enantiomer is energetically more favorable than 1R,2R with the energy differences of 1.32 and 1.03 kcal/mol obtained at B3LYP/6–311++G(d,p) and B3LYP/Def2-TVZP levels, respectively. The analysis of the binding pocket in the silico molecular docking with the m-opioid receptor shows that it originated two clusters with the 1S,2S enantiomer and one cluster with the 1R,2R enantiomer of tramadol. The results point to a more stable complex of the m-opioid receptor with the 1R,2R enantiomer of tramadol.     

Kinetics of the N-Monoalkylation of Aniline with Methanol Over Zn1?XCoXFe2O4 (X = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0)-Type Systems

The kinetics of regioselective dichlorocyclopropanation of 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene has been studied under controlled phase transfer catalysis conditions, using aqueous sodium hydroxide as the base and 2-benzylidine-N,N,N,N,N,N-hexaethylpropane-1,3-diammonium dibromide (Dq-Br) as a new phase transfer reagent. The reaction was carried out at 40 °C under pseudo-first order conditions by employing aqueous sodium hydroxide and chloroform in excess and was monitored by gas chromatography. The effect of various experimental parameters on the rate of the reaction has been studied and based on the experimental results, a suitable mechanism is proposed.     

Low temperature survival of slender naiad (Najas flexilis) seeds

The response to drying and storage at -20 degrees C or in liquid nitrogen was studied in seeds of the freshwater aquatic plant Najas flexilis. The seeds of this species show some desiccation sensitivity, although post-harvest storage in water at 16 degrees C resulted in improvements in desiccation tolerance. There was 63% germination of seeds dried to 9.5% moisture content (30% RH) following this maturation period. Optimum moisture contents for seeds stored at -20 degrees C for 3 months and in liquid nitrogen for 1 week were ~11% and ~15%, respectively.     

Investigation into the rotational bands of ~(185)Pt with the particle-rotor model

Theoretical calculations have been performed for the ν9/2+[624](i13/2) and ν7/2-[503](f7/2) bands of 185Pt in the framework of particle-rotor model. The band properties of signature splitting and configuration mixing have been analyzed. The level energy and signature splitting before the band crossing can be well interpreted by introducing triaxiality. The positive-parity yrast band is pro posed to be dominated by the ν9/2+[624](i13/2) component, while the negative-parity band shows strong mixing of ν7/2-[5...     

Alkylation of benzene with 1-octene over titania pillared montmorillonite

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid, the largest-volume synthetic surfactant, in addition to its excellent performance, is important due to its biodegradable environmental friendliness, as it has a straight chain and is prepared by the sulphonation of linear alkylbenzenes (LAB). To ensure environmental protection, the commercial benzene alkylation catalysts HF or AlCl₃ are replaced and we have developed a clean LAB production process using a pillared clay catalyst capable of not only replacing the conventional homogeneous catalysts, but also having high selectivity for the best biodegradable 2-phenyl LAB isomer. Pillared clay catalysts having high Br?nsted acidity show efficient conversion in gas phase alkylation of benzene with 1-octene with a good 2-phenyl octane selectivity.     

Synthesis of uniform quasi-octahedral CeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> mesocrystals via a surfactant-free route

A facile surfactant-free nonaqueous method is presented to prepare uniform quasi-octahedral ceria, CeO₂, mesocrystals, in which only Ce(NO₃)₃ and octanol were used as the reactants at a reaction temperature of 150 °C. CeO₂ sample synthesized using this technique consists of well-dispersed quasi-octahedrons and exhibits an uniform size and morphology. Based on structural characterization, it is proposed that the CeO₂ mesostructure was formed by self-assembly of primary nanocrystals based on unique 3D oriented-attachment mechanism. Optical characterization exhibited a strong quantum confinement, revealing small size of primary nanocrystals. The thermal stability and UV–Vis study reveal CeO₂ mesocrystal has various potential for high temperature applications and optical apparatus applications.