Aspect-ratio dependent oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the floating half zone

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection.The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio,and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several mil...     

Ruthenium(II) 2-hydroxybenzophenone N(4)-substituted thiosemicarbazone complexes

New ruthenium(II) complexes with 2-hydroxybenzophenone N(4)-substituted (Me, Ph and/or piperidyl) thiosemicarbazones have been prepared and characterised by elemental analysis, molar conductivity, thermal analysis, spectroscopy (i.r., ¹H-n.m.r. and u.v.–vis.) and by cyclic voltammetry. The thiosemicarbazones coordinate to ruthenium(II) as mononegative tridentate ligands via the deprotonated hydroxyl group, N¹ nitrogen and thione sulphur centres. The redox properties, nature of the electrode processes and the stability of the complexes towards oxidation in CH₂Cl₂ are discussed. The change in the E _1/2 values of the complexes can be related to the basicity of the N(4)-substituents. All the complexes display an irreversible one-electron charge-transfer couple in the potential range studied. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2μm （diameter） polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water （H2O）, deuterium oxide （D2O） and methanol （MeOH） as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes （reduction） in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.     

Spin squeezing and quantum correlations

We discuss the notion of spin squeezing considering two mutually exclusive classes of spin-s states, namely, oriented and non-oriented states. Our analysis shows that the oriented states are not squeezed while non-oriented states exhibit squeezing. We also present a new scheme for construction of spin-s states using 2s spinors oriented along different axes. Taking the case of s=1, we show that the ‘non-oriented’ nature and hence squeezing arise from the intrinsic quantum correlations that exist among the spinors in the coupled state.     

Synthesis and structural investigation of mono- and polynuclear copper complexes of 4-ethyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl) thiosemicarbazide

The reaction between 2-hydrazinopyridine and ethylisothiocyanate produced 4-ethyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl) thiosemicarbazide (HEPTS). Its reaction with copper fluoride, chloride, bromide, acetate, nitrate, perchlorate, sulfate, carbonate, hydroxide and copper metal produced 15 Cu(II) complexes. The copper metal is easily oxidized in aqueous-ethanol solution of HEPTS giving [Cu(2)(EPTS)(H(2)O)(3)(OH)(3)]EtOH. Different complexes for the same anion were synthesized by controlling the heating time. Characterization by elemental, thermal, magnetic and spectral (electronic, IR, mass and ESR) studies showed the formation of mono-, di-, tri- and tetra nuclear complexes. The room temperature solid state ESR spectra of the complexes show an axial spectrum with d(x)(2)-y(2) ground state, suggesting distorted tetragonal geometry around Cu(II) center. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for the different decomposition steps in the complexes were calculated. HEPTS and its Cu(II) complexes showed high activity against gram negative bacteria; [Cu(3)(EPTS)(2)(EtOH)(2)Br(4)] has more activity.     

Spectroscopic, thermal and electrochemical studies on some nickel(II) thiosemicarbazone complexes

Several complexes of thiosemicarbazone derivatives with Ni(II) have been prepared. Structural investigation of the ligands and their complexes has been made based on elemental analysis, magnetic moment, spectral (UV-Vis, i.r., (1)H NMR, ms), and thermal studies. The i.r. spectra suggest the bidentate mononegative and tridentate (neutral, mono-, and binegative) behavior of the ligands. Different stereochemistries were suggested for the isolated complexes. The thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) have been used to study the thermal decomposition and kinetic parameters of some ligands and complexes using the Coats-Redfern and Horowitz-Metzger equations. The redox properties and stability of the complexes toward oxidation waves explored by cyclic voltammetry are related to the electron withdrawing or releasing ability of the substituent of thiosemicarbazone moiety. The samples displayed Ni(II)/Ni(I) couples irreversible waves associated with Ni(III)/Ni(II) process.     

Chelating Behaviour of Substituted 1-Benzoyl-4-Phenylthiosemicarbazide

The preparation and characterization of a series of new coordination compounds of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) containing o-methyl- or o-chlorobenzoyl-4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazide (HMBPT, HCBPT=HL) are reported. The reaction products were investigated by analyses, electrolytic conductance, magnetic susceptibility, reflectance and IR spectral studies. The IR spectra show that HMBPT and HCBPT coordinate with the metal ions via different coordination sites (NS and/or NO). The spectral data support the suggestion that the ligands form his-chelates with Ni(II) and Cu(II) of square planar stereochemistry and of general formulae ML₂·H₂O, where L is the uninegatively charged bidentate ligand. The Co(II) ion forms octahedral and tetrahedral structures with HMBPT and HCBPT, respectively. The ligand field parameters (D₄, B and β) for the Co(II) chelates were calculated using the averaged-ligand-field approximation. The influence of the benzene ring substituents (o-chloro or o-methyl) on the stereochemistry are discussed. Also, the formation of the complexes in solution was tested by the pH-metric method.