Structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnS films deposited by close-spaced evaporation

ZnS films have been deposited on glass substrates by close-spaced evaporation (CSE) technique. The films were grown at different temperatures in the range, 200-350 °C. The layers have been characterized with X-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) and optical spectrophotometer to evaluate the quality of the layers for photovoltaic applications. The studies showed that the optimum substrate temperature for the growth of ZnS layers was 300 °C. The films grown at these temperatures exhibited cubic structure with nearly stoichiometric composition. The AFM data revealed that the films had nano-sized grains with a grain size of ∼40 nm. The optical studies exhibited direct allowed transition with an energy band gap of 3.61 eV. The other structural and optical parameters such as lattice stress, dislocation density, refractive index and extinction coefficient were also evaluated. The temperature-dependent conductivity measured in the range, 303-523 K showed a change in the conduction mechanism at 120 °C. The activation energy values evaluated using the temperature dependence of electrical conductivity are 7 and 29 meV at low and high temperature regions, respectively.     

Structural studies on ruthenium(II) complexes used in interphase catalysis for the hydrogenation of ketones

Structural studies were performed on catalytically active ruthenium(II) complexes used in interphases, by means of XAFS spectroscopy. The EXAFS investigations indicate that the complexes retain their structural integrity when they are embedded on polysiloxane matrices to form stationary phase materials. The AXAFS studies reveal that the variations in the catalytic activity of the complexes with different ligands can be correlated to the differences in the electronic structure around the active ruthenium center. The EXAFS investigations show that, in asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reactions catalysed by ruthenium(II) complexes, the co‐catalyst plays a crucial role not only in enhancing the catalytic activity, but also in determining the structure of the intermediate species. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drag on an elliptic cylinder in a fluid particle suspension

An elliptic cylinder is performing oscillations parallel to either of the principal axes of the cross-sectional ellipse in a fluid particle suspension. The stream function governing the flow and the velocity components are determined in terms of Mathieu functions. The drag on the cylinder is evaluated and expressed in terms of two parametersK andK. The effects of the variation of the frequency parameter, eccentricity parameter and relaxation time parameter on the drag parametersK, K is studied numerically.     

Hydroboration and diimide reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryophyllene

The monohydroboration of caryophyllene with dicyclohexylborane followed by oxidation brought about the participation of the (E)-trisubstituted double bond in preference to the exocyclic double bond during hydroboration to the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. This alcohol gave the corresponding ketone by oxidation. Isocaryophyllene under similar conditions provided the unsaturated alcohol as the major product, wherein the participation of the exocyclic double bond took place during hydroboration. Our attempts to achieve cyclic hydroboration with caryophyllene or isocaryophyllene using thexylborane resulted in the formation of the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. We achieved partial regioselective reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryphyllene with diimide to produce the corresponding dihydroderivative.     

Ortho effects in organic molecules on electron impact: XI—the interesting ortho effect of the methoxy group in o-methoxy aromatic thioamides

It has been noticed that the major part of the loss of ?H from the molecular ion of most of the o-methoxythioamides results from an ortho effect of the methoxy group. Comparison of the MIKE spectra of the [M? SH]⁺ of 1-(2-methoxyphenylthioxomethyl)piperidine and 1-(2-methoxyphenylthioxomethyl)pyrrolidine with the MIKE spectra of [M? SH]⁺ of the corresponding unsubstituted compounds, reported earlier, indicated two parallel pathways for the formation of [M? SH]⁺ in the o-methoxy compounds. In the first pathway, as has been noticed in thioamides in general, the loss of ?H involves the migration of either the α-hydrogen in the amine moiety or the hydrogen attached to nitrogen. In the second pathway, the migration of a hydrogen from the o-methoxy group to the sulphur atom followed by ejection of SH from the molecular ion leads to a stable cyclized ion. Interesting secondary fragmentations as a consequence of this ortho effect have also been noticed.     

Some studies on thallium oxalates. VI

The effect of the thallium(I) concentration on the potentiometric titration of thallium(III) with oxalic acid in 0.1M HNO₃ or 0.05M H₂SO₄ is studied, and conditions are established for the preparation of the thallium(I) bis-oxalato diaquo thallate(III) complex. Chemical analysis of the salt corresponds to the formula T1^I(T1^III(C₂O₄)₂) · 5 H₂O. Thermal decomposition studies on the complex using TG, DTG and DTA techniques indicate the formation of thallium(I) oxalate (stable from 130° to 320°) as the intermediate, the final product being a mixture of thallium(I) oxide and thallium(III) oxide (stable from 520° to 600°). Infrared absorption spectra, X-ray diffraction patterns and microscopic observations are used to characterise the complex and the intermediate.     

Isopoly-molybdic acids

From the measurements of conductivity, diffusion coefficient etc., Jander indicated the presence of several isopoly-anions of molybdenum under different pH conditions. He and subsequent workers in the field dealt with solutions only. In the present work one free molybdic acid, and one ammonium acid molybdate were isolated in solid condition at pH 4.6 and 2. On analysis, their compositions were found to be H₄Mo₃O₁₁ and NH₄H₅Mo₆O₂₁ (or (NH₄)₂H₄Mo₇O₂₄) respectively.     

New sphingolipids and a sterol from a lobophytum species of the Indian ocean

Chemical investigation of a soft coral species of the genus Lobophytum has resulted in the isolation of three new sphingolipids--(2S,3S,4R)-2-nonadecanoylamino-octadecane-1,3,4-triol (1), (2S,3R,4E,8E)-[(2'R)-2'-hydroxyheptadecanoylamino]-4,8-octadecadiene-1,3-diol (2), 1-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-(2S,3R,4E,8E)-2-[(2'R)-2'-hydroxynonadecanoylamino]-9-methyl-4,8-octadecadiene-1,3-diol (3) and a sterol--(24S)-ergost-5-en-3beta,7beta-diol (4) along with the known sphingolipid--(2S,3R,4E,8E)-2-hexadecanoylamino-4,8-octadecadien-1,3-diol (5) which showed cytotoxicity against human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).     

Thallimetric oxidations-V Titrimetric and spectrophotometric determination of hydrogen peroxide

Titrimetric and spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of hydrogen peroxide at mmole and mumole levels respectively. In these methods thallium(III) is used as the oxidant and the reduced thallium(I) is determined oxidimetrically with potassium bromate in the titrimetric method and by measuring the absorbance of thallium(III) at 260 nm in the presence of 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 1M perchloric acid in the spectrophotometric method. Photochemical redox methods for the estimation of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a number of diverse ions are described.     

Oxine complex of molybdenum

Molybdenum was reported to be precipitated quantitatively by 8-hydroxyquinoline in the pH range 3.3–7.6, the precipitated compound having the composition MoO₂(ox)₂. The pH range reported and the composition of the complex do not seem to be compatible with present knowledge of the pH stability of anionic and cationic molybdenum. It is now shown that under defined conditions, the precipitate is not formed at pH values higher than 2.24. In several estimations of other metals, molybdenum was masked by using a complexone at high pH values. It is now pointed out, that maintaining the solution at high pH value is itself sufficient and no other external complexing agent is necessary for masking molybdenum.