The covalent functionalization of few-layered MoTe2 thin films with iodonium salts

Covalent functionalization of 2D materials provides a tailored approach towards tuning of their chemical, optical, and electronic properties making the search for new ways to graft small molecules important. Herein, the reaction with (3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)iodonium salt is revealed as an effective strategy for functionalization of MoTe₂ thin films. Upon decomposition of the salt, the generated radicals graft covalently as aryl-(CF₃)₂ groups at the surface of both metallic (1T’) and semiconducting (2H) polymorphs of MoTe₂. Remarkably, the reactivity of the salt is governed by the electronic structure of the given polymorph. While the functionalization of the metallic MoTe₂ occurs spontaneously, the semiconducting MoTe₂ requires activation by light. The reaction proceeds with the elimination of oxide from the original films yielding the functionalized products that remain protected in ambient conditions, presenting a viable solution to the ageing of MoTe₂ in air.     

Thermal Conductivity of Ionic Liquids: Recent Challenges Facing Theory and Experiment

Journal of Solution Chemistry - Recently ionic liquids have been considered as prospective substances for application as heat transfer fluids, which requires accurate knowledge of their thermal...     

Growth of New Linear Phenylene-Oxazole Oligomers with a Central Benzothiadiazole Fragment from Solutions of Crystals

Physics of the Solid State - For the first time, the results on the solubility and growth of new oligomers with a single conjugated core from solutions of organic crystals are reported. The new...     

Ferromagnetically Coupled S=1 Chains in Crystals of Verdazyl-Nitronyl Nitroxide Diradicals

Thermally stable organic diradicals with a triplet ground state along with large singlet-triplet energy gap have significant potential for advanced technological applications. A series of phenylene-bridged diradicals with oxoverdazyl and nitronyl nitroxide units were synthesized via a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of iodoverdazyls with a nitronyl nitroxide-2-ide gold(I) complex with high yields. The diradicals exhibit high stability and do not decompose in an inert atmosphere up to 180 °C. For the diradicals, both substantial AF (ΔE_ST≈−64 cm⁻¹) and FM (ΔE_ST≥25 and 100 cm⁻¹) intramolecular exchange interactions were observed. The sign of the exchange interaction is determined both by the bridging moiety (para- or meta-phenylene) and by the type of oxoverdazyl block (C-linked or N-linked). Upon crystallization, diradicals with the triplet ground state form unique one-dimensional exchange-coupled chains with strong intra- and weak inter-diradical ferromagnetic coupling.     

Magnetophoresis of Microparticles in a Magnetic Fluid

Russian Physics Journal - An experimental setup is developed for studying magnetophoresis in a layer of a magnetic fluid several millimeters thick by the method of light transmission and...     

Fine structure in the cosmic ray electron spectrum measured by the ATIC-2 and ATIC-4 experiments

A strong anomaly in form of a wide peak in the energy range 300–800 GeV was discovered in the first measurements of the electron spectrum in the energy range from 20 GeV to 3 TeV by the balloon-borne experiment ATIC [1]. The experimental data processing and analysis of the electron spectrum with different criteria for selection of electrons completely independent of the results reported in [1] is employed in the present paper. New independent analysis generally confirms the results of [1] but shows that the spectrum in the region of the anomaly is represented by a number of narrow peaks. Measured spectrum is compared to the spectrum of [1] and to the spectrum of the Fermi/LAT experiment.     

Effect of decreasing glucose concentration in blood plasma after blood saturation with oxygen

It was experimentally detected that the glucose concentration in blood plasma decreases after venous blood saturation with oxygen (oxygenation process). This effect was recorded for several tens of donor blood samples using IME-DC (Germany) and Optium Omega (USA) portable glucometers, as well as an optical method using holographic sensors based on hydrogel polymer films, independent of the presence of oxygen in plasma. During blood oxygenation in the organism, glucose is redistributed between blood plasma and erythrocyte cytoplasm in favor of cytoplasm. The observed effect is explained by an increase in the electric field during blood oxygenation in lipids of the erythrocyte cytoplasmic membrane, which orients dipoles of asymmetric glucose molecules along the normal to the membrane surface. This results in erythrocytemembrane permeability asymmetry.