Effect of capping and particle size on Raman laser-induced degradation of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Diol capped γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles are prepared from ferric nitrate by refluxing in 1,4-butanediol (9.5 nm) and 1,5-pentanediol (15 nm) and uncapped particles are prepared by refluxing in 1,2-propanediol followed by sintering the alkoxide formed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that all the samples have the spinel phase. Raman spectroscopy shows that the samples prepared in 1,4-butanediol and 1,5-pentanediol and 1,2-propanediol (sintered at 573 and 673 K) are γ-Fe₂O₃ and the 773 K-sintered sample is Fe₃O₄. Raman laser studies carried out at various laser powers show that all the samples undergo laser-induced degradation to α-Fe₂O₃ at higher laser power. The capped samples are however, found more stable to degradation than the uncapped samples. The stability of γ-Fe₂O₃ sample with large particle size (15.4 nm) is more than the sample with small particle size (10.2 nm). Fe₃O₄ having a particle size of 48 nm is however less stable than the smaller γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles.     

Conformational analysis of 18-azacrown-6 and its bonding with late first transition series divalent metals: insight from DFT combined with NPA and QTAIM analyses

Density functional theory calculations, together with quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analyses, have been performed to investigate 18-azacrown-6 complexes of the high-spin late first transition series divalent metal ions in the gas phase and, in some cases, in aqueous solution simulated by a polarizable continuum model. Six intramolecular H-H bonding interactions in the meso-complexes are found to arise from folding of the ligand upon its electrostatic interaction with the metal ions, which are largely absent in the lowest-energy C(2h) conformer of the free ligand. The ligand-to-metal charge transfer obtained from QTAIM analysis, among other things, is found to be an important factor that controls the stability of these complexes. The inter-relationship between the ligand preorganization energy, the zero-point corrected formation energy of the metal complexes, and the H-H bonding pair distances, as well as the dependence of the electron density and the total energy density at the H-H bond critical points on the H-H bonding pair distances, provides a physical basis for understanding and explaining the stabilizing nature of these closed-shell interactions, which are often viewed as steric clashes that lead to complex destabilization.     

Centrifugal distortion analysis of the millimeter-wave spectrum of 2-fluorobenzonitrile and ab initio DFT calculations

The ground state (ν = 0) rotational spectrum of 2-fluorobenzonitrile has been reinvestigated in the frequency range 40.0-99.0 GHz. The millimeter-wave spectrometer used is a source-modulated system combined with a free space glass cell. Millimeter-wave radiation has been produced using a Gunn diode and frequency doubler combination. High J and K₋₁ (J ? 49 and K₋₁ ? 18) transitions have been measured and accurate rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been determined. Finally, the experimental values were compared with the corresponding values calculated at the HF/DFT-B3PW91/6-31g(d,p) level of theory. A very good agreement has been found.     

Nature of halogen-centered intermolecular interactions in crystal growth and design: Fluorine-centered interactions in dimers in crystalline hexafluoropropylene as a prototype

The wide occurrence of halogen-centered noncovalent interactions in crystal growth and design prompted this study, which includes a mini review of recent advances in the field. Particular emphasis is placed on providing compelling theoretical evidence of the formation of these interactions between sites of positive electrostatic potential, as well as between sites of negative electrostatic potential, localized on the electrostatic surfaces of the bound fluorine atoms in a prototypical system, hexafluoropropylene (C₃F₆), upon its interaction with another same molecule to form (C₃F₆)₂ dimers. The existence of σ- and π-hole interactions is shown for the stable dimers. Even so, weakly bound interactions locally responsible in holding the molecular fragments together cannot and should not be overlooked since they are partly responsible for determining the overall geometry of the crystal. The results of combined quantum theory of atoms in molecules, molecular electrostatic surface potential, and reduced density gradient noncovalent interaction analyses showed that these latter interactions do indeed play a role in the stability and growth of crystalline C₃F₆ itself and the (C₃F₆)₂ dimers. A symmetry adapted perturbation theory energy decomposition analysis leads to the conclusion that a great majority of the (C₃F₆)₂ dimers examined are the consequence of dispersion (and electrostatics), with nonnegligible contribution from polarization, which together competes with an exchange repulsion component to determine the equilibrium geometries. In a few structures of the (C₃F₆)₂ dimer, the fluorine is found to serve as a six-center five-bond donor/acceptor, as found for carbon in other systems (Malischewski and Seppelt, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 368). © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Epoxidation of trans-stilbene with molecular oxygen over an eco-friendly heterogeneous cobalt oxide/reduced graphene oxide composite material

Research on Chemical Intermediates - We report the synthesis of 1, 5, 10 wt% cobalt oxide/reduced graphene oxide (CoO–RGO) composite materials by a simple solvothermal method. We assessed...     

Mössbauer Studies on Nanocrystalline Diol Capped γ-Fe2O3

Nanocrystalline indium (nano-In) was prepared with different particle sizes by electrochemical deposition. The temperature dependence of the local electric field gradient (EFG) of nano-In was investigated in a temperature range of 20–300 K using the probe ¹¹¹In for perturbed γγ angular correlation (PAC) experiments. The temperature dependence of the EFG of nano-In can be described by a (1−BT ^3/2) dependence as in bulk-In. It is shown that the low temperature value of the EFG and the proportionality constant B vary systematically with particle size.     

An ab initio (RHF) and DFT-B3LYP level spectroscopic studies of BrCCCN and the analysis of atomic polar tensors

Conventional ab initio (RHF) and DFT-B3LYP level calculations in conjunction with a variety of basis sets have been used to investigate the variations in the bond lengths, dipole moment, rotational constant, quadruple coupling constants, infrared frequencies, IR intensities and rotational invariants of BrCCCN. Satisfactory agreements between the B3LYP and experimental values were found for bond lengths, rotational constant, dipole moment and all other parameters. All the calculated bond lengths are in good agreement with each other for a given method having the average standard deviations varying between ±0.005 Å at the B3LYP level. Harmonic vibrational frequencies obtained from the B3LYP calculations show good agreement with the available experimental data. The global atomic polar tensor charges, used for interpreting the IR intensities, of all the atoms of BrCCCN have been calculated at the RHF and B3LYP levels in conjunction with the 6-311g(d) and 6-311++g(d,p) basis sets. Linear regression analysis between calculated and experimental infrared frequencies as well as between IR intensities in a series of 15 similar type of nitrile compounds have been achieved at the B3LYP/6-311++g(d,p) level and gives linear regression coefficients 0.983 and 0.970 respectively. Finally, a number of linear relations were found between r(CN) bond lengths and GAPT charges, and GAPT charges on CHELPG and MK charges at the nitrogen atom for these molecules and proved to be producing satisfactory results at the B3LYP/6-311++g(d,p) level of calculations.     

Density functional theoretical (DFT) study for the prediction of spectroscopic parameters of ClCCCN

DFT(B3LYP, B3PW91) calculations in conjunction with three different basis sets have been utilized to investigate the variations in the bond lengths, dipole moment, rotational constants, IR frequencies, IR intensities and rotational invariants of ClCCCN. The nuclear quadrupole constants of chlorine ((35)Cl, (37)Cl) and nitrogen ((14)N) of ClCCCN have been calculated on the experimental r(s) structure as well as on the B3PW91/6-311++g(d,p) optimized geometry and were found to be within the scale length of the experimental uncertainty. The slope and intercept obtained from the regression analysis between the B3LYP/6-311++g(d,p) level calculated and experimental B(o) values of ClCCCN were used to calculate reasonable values of rotational constants of all the rare isotopic species of ClCCCN having standard deviation +/-0.048 MHz. All the spectroscopic parameters obtained from DFT calculations show satisfactory agreement with the available experimental data.     

Assignment and analysis of the rotational spectrum of 3-chlorobenzonitrile

The rotational spectrum of 3-chlorobenzonitrile has been assigned and measured over the frequency region 9-290 GHz, both in the static sample and in supersonic expansion. Extensive measurements are reported for the ground states of the ³⁵Cl and the ³⁷Cl isotopomers. Precise spectroscopic constants have been determined from global fits to all available data, including resolved hyperfine splitting structure due to the presence of the chlorine and the nitrogen quadrupolar nuclei. Principal nuclear quadrupole tensors are derived for both ³⁵Cl and ¹⁴N nuclei in the parent isotopomer, and the results are compared with those for related molecules. The values of all spectroscopic constants are confronted with predictions from ab initio calculations in order to assess the utility of the array of simple techniques employed to increase quantitative accuracy of such predictions.     

Phase-controlled growth of metastable Fe5Si3 nanowires by a vapor transport method

We report the synthesis of single-crystalline nanowires (NWs) of metastable Fe5Si3 phase via an iodide vapor transport method. Free-standing Fe5Si3 NWs are grown on a sapphire substrate placed on a Si wafer without the use of any catalyst. The typical size of the Fe5Si3 nanowires is 5-15 microm in length and 100-300 nm in diameter. Synthesis of the metastable phase is induced by composition-dependent nucleation from the gas-phase reaction. Depending on the concentration ratio of FeI2(g) to SiI4(g), different phases of iron silicides are formed. The growth of nanowires is facilitated by the initial nucleation of silicide particles on the substrate and further self-seeded growth of the NWs. The present work not only provides a method for the synthesis of metastable Fe5Si3 nanowires but also suggests that the phase controlled synthesis can be further optimized to produce other metal-rich silicide nanostructures for future spintronic devices.