Spin-polarised DFT study of cobalt-doped gallium clusters

The structural, electronic and magnetic properties of small gallium clusters doped with Cobalt have been studied using spin-polarised density functional theory. The binding energy per atom, second-order differences of total energies and fragmentation energies of equilibrium geometries of the host Ga_n+1 and doped Ga_nCo (n = 1–12) clusters are computed. Doped clusters are found to be more stable than pure Ga clusters; Ga₃Co, Ga₅Co and Ga₈Co clusters are exceptionally stable. Doping with Co changes the highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO–LUMO) gap, and also affects the magnetic moments of clusters.     

Cell Disruption Optimization and Covalent Immobilization of β-D-Galactosidase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kluyveromyces marxianus</Emphasis> YW-1 for Lactose Hydrolysis in Milk

β-D-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) from Kluyveromyces marxianus YW-1, an isolate from whey, has been studied in terms of cell disruption to liberate the useful enzyme. The enzyme produced in a bioreactor on a wheat bran medium has been successfully immobilized with a view to developing a commercially usable technology for lactose hydrolysis in the food industry. Three chemical and three physical methods of cell disruption were tested and a method of grinding with river sand was found to give highest enzyme activity (720 U). The enzyme was covalently immobilized on gelatin. Immobilized enzyme had optimum pH and temperature of 7.0 and 40 °C, respectively and was found to give 49% hydrolysis of lactose in milk after 4 h of incubation. The immobilized enzyme was used for eight hydrolysis batches without appreciable loss in activity. The retention of high catalytic activity compared with the losses experienced with several previously reported immobilized versions of the enzyme is significant. The method of immobilization is simple, effective, and can be used for the immobilization of other enzymes.     

Oxidation of α-Benzoyl-O-hydroxyacetophenones Using Iodobenzene Diacetate in Methanolic Potassium Hydroxide: A New Synthesis of 2-Benzoylcoumaran-3-ones

The oxidation of α-benzoyl-o-hydroxyacetophenones (3a-d) using iodobenzene diacetate in methanolic potassium hydroxide provides a new direct method for the synthesis of 2-benzoylcoumaran-3-ones (4a-c) in good yields. The formation of 4a-d is explained by neighb uring group participation.     

Use of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for simultaneous determination of glutamine synthetase and glutamic acid decarboxylase in crude extracts

Glutamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), formed from glutamic acid in crude tissue extracts by glutamine synthetase and glutamic acid decarboxylase respectively, were separated by derivatization with dansyl chloride followed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on the Altex Ultrasphere ODS-5 column. The mobile phase was a gradient of 100 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 2.1) with 0-40% acetonitrile. The amounts of glutamine and GABA formed from glutamic acid were determined under different reaction conditions.     

Equation of state of polymer crystals: Application to polyethers

This paper discusses experimental isotherms and isobars of polyoxymethylene, polyethyleneoxide, and poly(tetrahydrofuran) that have been analyzed in terms of our theory of anharmonic polymer crystals. The trends shown by various characteristic parameters for these polyethers are interpreted in terms of their chemical structure.     

Synthesis of Flavones from the Hypervalent Iodine Oxidation of Flavanones Using [Hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodo]benzene in Methanol

Hypervalent iodine oxidation of several flavanones (1a-1f) using (hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodo] benzene in methanol offers a new method for the synthesis of flavones (2a-2f).     

Investigation of Euler spiral nanoantenna and its application in absorption enhancement of thin film solar cell

A theoretical study on nanoantenna and its application in enhancing the performance of the thin film solar cell (TFSC) is presented. In this work, a novel design of nanoantenna i.e. Euler spiral nanoantenna (ESNA) is introduced, which has evolved after bending the conventional dipole nanoantenna in the manner of Euler spiral. The bending is performed up to an optimum length so that the antenna can equally respond to the two orthogonally polarized waves. Then the proposed nanoantenna in turnstile manner is examined for the intended application of enhancing the absorption in TFSCs. The antenna is placed on the absorber layer (Si amorphous) of the TFSC with a coating of Zinc Oxide. The simulation results show that the proposed ESNA can significantly increase the absorption in the absorber layer of the TFSC. The performance in terms of absorption and quantum efficiency of the solar cell incorporated with ESNA has been studied. ESNA confines the electric field in a larger area which results in absorption increase. The simulation results show that proposed ESNA can enhance the absorption up to 97.6% in the absorber layer and the photocurrent is enhanced by a factor of 1.39. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on Euler spiral nanoantenna and so as in its application with solar cells.