Stability and electronic properties of IrnV (n = 2–10) nanoclusters and their reactivity toward N2H4 molecule

Structural Chemistry - DFT calculations have been carried out over the IrnV (n = 2–10) clusters in order to predict their stability, electronic, and catalytic properties. Based on the...     

Simultaneous measurement of proline and related compounds in oak leaves by high-performance ligand-exchange chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for environmental stress studies

A mass spectrometer was coupled to high-performance ligand-exchange liquid chromatography (HPLEC) for simultaneous analysis of stress associated solutes such as proline, hydroxyproline, methylproline, glycine betaine and trigonelline extracted from leaves of drought stressed oaks and an internal standard namely N-acetylproline. Methanol/chloroform/water extracts were analyzed using an Aminex HPX-87C column and specifically quantified by the positive ion mode of an electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in single ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The recovery of N-acetyl proline added to oak leaf extracts ranged from 85.2 to 122.1% for an intra-day study. Standard calibration curves showed good linearity in the measured range from 0.3125 to 10 μmol L⁻¹ with the lowest correlation coefficient of 0.99961 for trigonelline. The advantages of this alternative procedure, compared to previously published methods using fluorescence or amperometric detections, are the simultaneous and direct detection of osmoprotectants in a single chromatographic run, a minimal sample preparation, a good specificity and reduced limits of quantification, ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 μmol L⁻¹. Fifty-six days of water deficit exposure resulted in increased foliar free proline levels (2.4-fold, P < 0.001, 155 μmol g⁻¹ FW) and glycine betaine contents (2.5-fold, P < 0.05, 175 μmol g⁻¹ FW) of drought stressed oak compared to control.     

Stabilities,electronic and magnetic properties of Cu-doped nickel clusters: a DFT investigation

In this paper, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of Cu-doped nickel clusters by means of density functional theory. The stabilities of these clusters have also been studied in terms of the binding energies, second-order difference of energies, fragmentation energies and HOMO–LUMO energy gaps. The obtained results reveal that the N₄Cu, N₅Cu and Ni₇Cu clusters are found to be more stable that than all other clusters. Higher HOMO–LUMO gap was observed for Ni₅Cu cluster (2.265 eV), indicating its higher chemical stability. A half-metallic behaviour has also been observed for the Ni_nCu clusters, which suggests that these clusters can be employed as nanocatalysts for several catalytic processes, particularly for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions. The magnetism calculations show that the magnetic moment is mostly located on the Ni atoms, and the contribution of the Cu atom to the total magnetic moment in the Ni_nCu clusters is very small. Furthermore, partial density of states analysis indicates that the 3d orbitals in Ni atoms are mostly responsible for the magnetic behaviour of these clusters, and the s orbitals have a very little contribution to the total magnetic moment.     

Stability and electronic properties of Rh-doped ruthenium clusters and their interaction with NH3 molecule

The stability and electronic properties of the Rh-doped ruthenium clusters and their reactivity towards NH₃ molecule have been studied using DFT calculations with the BLYP-D3/SDD level of theory. The results show that the doping of Ru clusters with Rh atom improves the catalytic performances of pure Ru clusters, and the Ru₅Rh and Ru₇Rh clusters are assumed to be less reactive than their neighbours. The interaction of NH₃ with clusters exhibits that the Ru atoms are preferred adsorption sites for the NH₃ molecule, and the adsorption takes place between the Ru atom of clusters and the N atom of NH₃ molecule. The adsorption energies of NH₃ on Ru_nRh clusters are in the range of ?101.5 to ?218.4?kJ?mol^?1, suggesting a strong adsorption between both species. Upon adsorption process, the electronic properties of the Ru_nRh clusters were substantially changed. The variation of E_g (ΔE_g) for the Ru_nRh (n?≥?7) clusters is very important (ΔE_g?≥?55%), suggesting that these clusters are very sensitive to the NH₃ molecule. Hence, these clusters can be employed as nanosensors for the detection of the NH₃ gas.     

A theoretical study of the stability and electronic properties of GenRu (n = 2–10) clusters and their sensitivity toward SO2 adsorption

Structural Chemistry - In this work, the stability and electronic properties of the Ru-doped germanium clusters were investigated with DFT calculations at the TPSS/SDD level. The adsorption of the...