Ammonia Oxidation Enhanced by Photopotential Generated by Plasmonic Excitation of a Bimetallic Electrocatalyst

We study how visible light influences the activity of an electrocatalyst composed of Au and Pt nanoparticles. The bimetallic composition imparts a dual functionality: the Pt component catalyzes the electrochemical oxidation of ammonia to liberate hydrogen and the Au component absorbs visible light by the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances. Under visible-light excitation, this catalyst exhibits enhanced electrochemical ammonia oxidation kinetics, outperforming previously reported electrochemical schemes. We trace the enhancement to a photochemical potential resulting from electron–hole carriers generated in the electrocatalyst by plasmonic excitation. The photopotential responsible for enhanced kinetics scales linearly with the light intensity—a general design principle for eliciting superlative photoelectrochemical performance from catalysts comprised of plasmonic metals or hybrids. We also determine a photochemical conversion coefficient.     

Temporal Instability of Acoustic Wave in a Semiconductor Plasma Medium under Momentum Mismatched Condition

Physics of the Solid State - Temporal instability of acoustic wave is investigated in an infinite semiconductor plasma using classical hydrodynamic approach. We consider a homogeneous semiconductor...     

Dinuclear gold(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: Synthesis,characterization, and catalytic application for hydrohydrazidation of terminal alkynes

Dinuclear gold(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes were developed for the hydrohydrazidation of terminal alkynes. The gold(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes 2a-2b were synthesized in good yields from silver complexes synthesized in situ, which in turn were obtained from the corresponding imidazolium salts with Ag₂O in dichloromethane as a solvent. The new air-stable gold(I)-NHC complexes, 2a - 2b, were characterized using NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, infrared, and mass spectroscopy studies. The gold(I) complex 2a was characterized using X-ray crystallography. Bis-N-heterocyclic carbene–based gold(I) complexes 2a - 2b exhibited excellent catalytic activities for hydrohydrazidation of terminal alkynes yielding acylhydrazone derivatives. The working catalytic system can be used in gram-scale synthesis. In addition, the catalytic reaction mechanism of the hydrohydrazidation of terminal alkynes by gold(I)-NHC complex was studied in detail using density functional theory.     

Cobalt Based Nanoparticles Embedded Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst

Efficient water electrolysis catalyst is highly demanded for the production of hydrogen as a sustainable energy fuel. It is reported that cobalt derived nanoparticle (CoS₂, CoP, CoS|P) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel catalysts for highly active and reliable hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. 7 nm level cobalt derived nanoparticles are synthesized over graphene aerogel surfaces with excellent surface coverage and maximal expose of active sites. CoS|P/rGO hybrid aerogel composites show an excellent catalytic activity with overpotential of ≈169 mV at a current density of ≈10 mA cm^?2. Accordingly, efficient charge transfer is attained with Tafel slope of ≈52 mV dec^?1 and a charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of ≈12 Ω. This work suggests a viable route toward ultrasmall, uniform nanoparticles decorated graphene surfaces with well‐controlled chemical compositions, which can be generally useful for various applications commonly requiring large exposure of active surface area as well as robust interparticle charger transfer.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of Mn(II) and Co(II) metal complexes of a tridentate Schiff's base ligand and their biological activities

We have used the condensation method to synthesize 2-acetyl-5-methylsemicarbazone ligand. Manganese(II) and Cobalt(II) complexes having formula [ML₂]X₂ were synthesized where M = Mn(II) and Co(II), L = ligand, X = Cl⁻, CH₃COO⁻, NO₃⁻, ½SO₄²⁻. The characterization data suggests the octahedral geometry for all the synthesized complexes. Tridentate nature of the 2-acetyl-5-methylsemicarbazone ligand was revealed by IR studies. Molar conductance analysis suggested the electrolytic nature of the complexes. The theoretical study includes geometrical optimization, HOMO-LUMO energy gap, energetic parameters and dipole moment. These results also confirmed the tridentate nature of the ligand and the octahedral geometry of complexes. The molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) study suggested the reactive sites for an electrophilic or nucleophilic attack in the ligand. We tested the synthesized compounds for their antifungal and antibacterial action via well diffusion method and found that parent ligand after the coordination with the metal ion showed more effective inhibition against bacteria and fungi.     

Organic-Free Interzeolite Transformation in the Absence of Common Building Units

Zeolite crystals can be used as seeds or aluminosilicate sources in syntheses to control polymorphs and/or reduce the quantity of organics used as structure-directing agents. A frequently invoked hypothesis for interzeolite transformations is that zeolites share some underlying similarity in structure, most notably in cases pertaining to organic-free syntheses. Herein, we show for the first time that ZSM-5 (MFI) can be directly obtained from USY (FAU) through an interzeolite transformation between parent–daughter structures lacking common building units in the absence of a structure-directing agent and seeds. We show that interzeolite transformation leads to a crystalline product with fewer defects. Our findings also reveal that ZSM-5 is a metastable intermediate that undergoes further transformation to mordenite (MOR) and quartz. The MFI-to-MOR transition is counter to reported trends for which transformations lead to structures with reduced molar volume. Herein, we propose mechanistic arguments that suggest the driving force for interzeolite transformation is more complex than guidelines posited in the literature.     

Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of bidentate thiosemicarbazone ligand: Synthesis,structural, theoretical,biological studies and molecular modeling

The conventional condensation and refluxing process was employed to synthesize Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of Methylcarbamatethiosemicarbazone ligand. Reactions were carried out at the pH of 7. The molar ratio of the ligand and metal salt was 2:1. The structures of the synthesized metal complexes were suggested by different analytical techniques such as magnetic susceptibility, molar conductance, IR, EPR and UV spectroscopy. Experimental studies confirmed the octahedral geometry for all the complexes. The geometry of the ligand and complexes were also confirmed by theoretical studies. The complexes were investigated for biological action against pathogenic fungi (C. krusei, C. albican) and bacteria (S. aureus, E. coli). The antimicrobial results confirmed superior inhibition potential of the metal complexes as compared with the parent ligand. The enhanced antimicrobial activities might be due to the chelation. Molecular-docking assays confirmed the strong interaction of ligand with target antimicrobial protein DNA gyrase-B.