Mesomorphic behaviour and TSDC measurements of ortho-metallated palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes with S,O-donor co-ligands

A series of ortho-metallated Pd and Pt complexes containing an imine ligand carrying three alkoxy chains and N-benzoylthiourea derivatives as co-ligands were prepared and their liquid crystalline properties investigated. Their structures were assigned based on elemental analysis, IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, whereas thermal properties were investigated by differential scanning calotimetry and polarising optical microscopy. All the compounds exhibit monotropic transitions involving nematic and smectic A phases, with the mesomorphic behaviour strongly related to the type of N-benzoylthiourea as well as the metal centre used. The thermally stimulated depolarisation current technique was employed to determine the conduction mechanism, phase transition temperature and the activation energies for one of the ortho-metallated Pd complexes.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency in double quantum dot under intense laser and magnetic fields: from Λ to Ξ configuration

We theoretically investigated the effects of non-resonant intense laser and magnetic fields on the optical properties of asymmetric GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum dot related to the occurrence of electromagnetically induced transparency, using compact density-matrix formalism and effective mass approximation. The chosen structure has the advantage to present x-lambda(Λ)-configuration or y-ladder(Ξ)-configuration for EIT occurrence, depending on lasers polarization, at low values of the non-resonant laser, and to change the configuration from Λ to Ξ at the increase of the x-polarized non-resonant laser intensity. We discussed in detail the influences of the control laser field intensity, non-resonant laser strength and polarization, and magnetic field intensity on the absorption coefficient, refraction index and group index. It is found that: (i) the control laser or the non-resonant laser at the same control laser intensity influences more the system being in x-Ξ-configuration than in x-Λ-configuration and have intermediate effects on y-Ξ-configuration; (ii) the magnetic field has the greatest influence on the system being in x-Λ-configuration and the lowest for y-Ξ-configuration; (iii) the increment of the non-resonant intense laser or magnetic fields induces a red-shift of the transparency windows and sub (super) luminal frequency intervals for the Λ-configuration but a blue-shift for both Ξ-configurations.     

Thermal behaviour of polyacrylamidoxime-copper chelates

The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of several factors (anion type in the copper salt, pH and concentration of the salt solution) on the structure and thermo-oxidative degradation of the polyacrylamidoxime-copper chelates, by using elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and dynamic thermogravimetry. The chelates containing copper ions as sulphate exhibit a better initial thermal stability than the polyacrylamidoxime fibre presumably due to the crosslinking generated by the intermolecular complexation of the ions; the removal of the sulphate anions takes place concomitantly with the second step of polymeric chain decomposition. The initial thermal decomposition of the chelates formed by copper ions as nitrate begins at lower temperatures as compared to the polyacrylamidoxime fibre, probably by the nitrate anion release, which partly overlaps the initial decomposition of the copper ion-crosslinked polymeric chains. Copper ions as either sulphate or nitrate catalyse the reactions involved in the main step of polyacrylamidoxime fibre decomposition; the higher the copper amount, the stronger the catalytic effect.     

Synthesis of core‐shell structured carboxylated microparticles with a straightforward procedure and their evaluation as a polymer support

Poly(trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate) microspheres with a narrow size distribution were obtained by precipitation polymerization. They were subsequently modified by surface grafting with acrylic acid in a polar ethanol–water reaction medium, without stabilizer, yielding core‐shell particles with diameters in the micrometer range. The resulting polymeric material was characterized by SEM and potentiometric titration, FTIR spectroscopy, and thermal analysis. It was shown that the particle characteristics (size, size distribution, and functionality) obtained by this straightforward procedure can be controlled by modifying the synthesis parameters (monomer concentration, agitation rate, and temperature). The high functionality, the chemical and physico‐mechanical stability, as well as the possibility to control the performances of the resulting polymeric materials by synthesis allow its applications in various areas. Envisaging separation and catalysis domains, Cu(II), Cd(II), and Cr(III) uptake capacity from aqueous solutions was investigated under noncompetitive conditions as a function of synthesized particle functionality, time, and pH range. It was also found that the addition of the carboxylated microparticles to polyethylene stabilized with α‐tocopherol improved the thermo‐oxidative behaviour of the polymeric material. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5889–5898, 2005     

Periodic unfolding and Robin problems in perforated domains

The periodic unfolding method was introduced in 2002 by D. Cioranescu et al. for the study of classical periodic homogenization. In this Note, we extend this method to perforated domains introducing also a boundary unfolding operator. As an application, we study the homogenization of some elliptic problems with Robin condition on the boundary of the holes. To cite this article: D. Cioranescu et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 342 (2006).     

Electrical resistivity study of some lead-borate glasses

We present the results of electrical resistivity measurements performed on 20Fe₂O₃80[3B₂O₃(1?x)PbOxA_uO_v] glasses, with AuOv=K₂O, Ca, As₂O₃ and GeO₂. For a given temperature the electrical conductivity is linearly dependent on the fraction of ferrous ions. The experimental data are well described by using a model involving small polarons.     

Investigation of nanostructured Fe3O4 polypyrrole core-shell composites by X-ray absorbtion spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation

In this article, we focus on the structural peculiarities of nanosized Fe₃O₄ in the core-shell nanocomposites obtained by polymerization of conducting polypyrrole shell around Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The local structure of Fe atoms was determined from the Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure analysis using our own package computer programs. An X-ray diffraction method that is capable to determine average particle size, microstrains, as the particle size distribution of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles is presented. The method is based on the Fourier analysis of a single X-ray diffraction profile using a new fitting method based on the generalized Fermi function facilities. The crystallites size obtained by X-ray diffraction spectra analysis was estimated between 3.2 and 10.3 nm. Significant changes in the first and the second Fe coordination shell in comparison with standard bulk were observed. The global and local structure of the nanosized Fe₃O₄ are correlated with the synthesis conditions of the core-shell polypyrrole nanocomposites.     

Thermal and Emission Properties of a Series of Lanthanides Complexes with N-Biphenyl-Alkylated-4-Pyridone Ligands: Crystal Structure of a Terbium Complex with N-Benzyl-4-Pyridone

This work focuses on the investigation of the liquid crystalline behavior and luminescence properties of the lanthanide complexes of Eu(III), Sm(III) and Tb(III) with N-biphenyl-alkylated-4-pyridone ligands. The organic ligands having a biphenyl group attached via a long flexible spacer with either 9 or 10 carbon atoms were synthesized by the reaction between 4-hydroxypyridine and the corresponding bromide compounds. The chemical structures of the organic and lanthanide complexes were assigned based on elemental analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, ¹H, ¹³C NMR and IR spectroscopies, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The X-ray diffraction analysis of a parent compound shows that the lanthanide ions are surrounded by three monodentate pyridone ligands and three bidentate nitrate ions, giving a 9-coordinate environment. The mesogenic behavior and the type of liquid crystalline phases exhibited by the new complexes were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. Only the lanthanide complexes with longer spacer (10) display a monotropic SmA phase, typically on a short thermal range (less than 10 °C). The complexes with shorter flexible chains (9) show no liquid crystalline properties with melting temperatures lower than their analogs with longer spacers. The emission spectra recorded in solid state at room temperatures show typical emission bands for each lanthanide ion employed (Eu(III), Tb(III) and Sm(III)).     

Effective Permittivity of a Multi-Phase System: Nanoparticle-Doped Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Films

This paper studies the effective dielectric properties of heterogeneous materials of the type particle inclusions in a host medium, using the Maxwell Garnet and the Bruggeman theory. The results of the theories are applied at polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films, nanoparticles (NP)-doped LCs, and developed for NP-doped PDLC films. The effective permittivity of the composite was simulated at sufficiently high frequency, where the permittivity is constant, obtaining results on its dependency on the constituents’ permittivity and concentrations. The two models are compared and discussed. The method used for simulating the doped PDLC retains its general character and can be applied for other similar multiphase composites. The methods can be used to calculate the effective permittivity of a LC composite, or, in the case of a composite in which one of the phases has an unknown permittivity, to extract it from the measured composite permittivity. The obtained data are necessary in the design of the electrical circuits.