Reversible photoswitching of ferromagnetic FePt nanoparticles at room temperature

There has been a great interest in developing photoswitchable magnetic materials because of their possible applications for future high-density information storage media. In fact, however, the examples reported so far did not show ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. From the viewpoint of their practical application to magnetic recording systems, the ability to fix their magnetic moments such that they still exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism is an absolute requirement. Here, we have designed reversible photoswitchable ferromagnetic FePt nanoparticles whose surfaces were coated with azobenzene-derivatized ligands. On the surfaces of core particles, reversible photoisomerization of azobenzene in the solid state was realized by using spacer ligands that provide sufficient free volume. These photoisomerizations brought about changes in the electrostatic field around the core-FePt nanoparticles. As a result, we have succeeded in controlling the magnetic properties of these ferromagnetic composite nanoparticles by alternating the photoillumination in the solid state at room temperature.     

Direct colorimetric visualization of mercury (Hg) based on the formation of gold nanoparticles

It is critical to be able to detect and quantify Hg²⁺ ions under aqueous conditions with high sensitivity and selectivity. The technique presented herein provides a direct way for simple colorimetric visualization of Hg²⁺ ions in aqueous solution, based on the formation of gold nanoparticles through the Hg²⁺ catalyzed HAuCl₄/NH₂OH reaction. The outstanding selectivity and sensitivity result from the well-known amalgamation process that occurs between mercury and gold. The entire procedure takes less than 20 min. The limit of detection (2 ppb) shows excellent potential for monitoring ultralow levels of mercury in water samples.     

Bis(ammonium) fluorophosphate at room temperature

The title room‐temperature phase of (NH₄)₂(PO₃F) is orthorhombic (Pna2₁) and is related to the β‐K₂SO₄ structure family. The title structure consists of ammonium cations, NH₄⁺, and fluoro­phosphate anions, (PO₃F)^2?. These ions are connected by N—H?O hydrogen bonds. Two‐centre N—­H?F hydrogen bonds are not present in the structure. Phase transitions were detected at 251±2 and 274±2 K during cooling and heating, respectively.     

Preparation and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol-capped CdSe nanoparticles at room temperature

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-capped CdSe nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a one-step solution growth technique at room temperature and ambient pressure. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectra were used to characterize the final product. The as-prepared CdSe nanocrystals were well dispersed and uniform in shape and the diameter of the particles was confined within 8 nm. Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra were used to study the confined growth process of PVA-capped CdSe nanoparticles. Photoluminescence measurement showed the near band-edge luminescence of the final product.     

Size-controllable APTS stabilized ruthenium(0) nanoparticles catalyst for the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane at room temperature

Dimethylamine-borane, (CH(3))(2)NHBH(3), has been considered as one of the attractive materials for the efficient storage of hydrogen, which is still one of the key issues in the "Hydrogen Economy". In a recent communication we have reported the synthesis and characterization of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane stabilized ruthenium(0) nanoparticles with the preliminary results for their catalytic performance in the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane at room temperature. Herein, we report a complete work including (i) effect of initial [APTS]/[Ru] molar ratio on both the size and the catalytic activity of ruthenium(0) nanoparticles, (ii) collection of extensive kinetic data under non-MTL conditions depending on the substrate and catalyst concentrations to define the rate law of Ru(0)/APTS-catalyzed dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane at room temperature, (iii) determination of activation parameters (E(a), ΔH(#) and ΔS(#)) for Ru(0)/APTS-catalyzed dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane; (iv) demonstration of the catalytic lifetime of Ru(0)/APTS nanoparticles in the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane at room temperature, (v) testing the bottlability and reusability of Ru(0)/APTS nanocatalyst in the room-temperature dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane, (vi) quantitative carbon disulfide (CS(2)) poisoning experiments to find a corrected TTO and TOF values on a per-active-ruthenium-atom basis, (vii) a summary of extensive literature review for the catalysts tested in the catalytic dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane as part of the results and discussions.     

Green synthesis of water-dispersible silver nanoparticles at room temperature using green carambola (star fruit) extract

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) dispersible in water were synthesized at room temperature in the presence of carambola fruit extract at different pH. The...     

Heteroleptic cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes displaying blue phosphorescence in solution and solid state at room temperature

A series of heteroleptic Ir(III) metal complexes 1-3 bearing two N-phenyl-substituted pyrazoles and one 2-pyridyl pyrazole (or triazole) ligands were synthesized and characterized to attain highly efficient, room-temperature blue phosphorescence. The N-phenylpyrazole ligands, dfpzH = 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyrazole, fpzH = 1-(4-fluorophenyl)pyrazole, dfmpzH = 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3,5-dimethylpyrazole, and fmpzH = 1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3,5-dimethylpyrazole, show a similar reaction pattern with respect to the typical cyclometalated (C(wedge)N) chelate, which utilizes its ortho-substituted phenyl segment to link with the central Ir(III) atom, while the second 2-pyridylpyrazole (or triazole) ligand, namely, fppzH = 3-(trifluoromethyl)-5-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole, fptzH = 3-(trifluoromethyl)-5-(2-pyridyl)triazole, and hptzH = 3-(heptafluoropropyl)-5-(2-pyridyl)triazole, undergoes typical anionic (N--N) chelation to complete the octahedral framework. X-ray structural analyses on complexes [(dfpz)(2)Ir(fppz)] (1a) and [(fmpz)(2)Ir(hptz)] (3d) were established to confirm their molecular structures. Increases of the pipi energy gaps of the Ir(III) metal complexes were systematically achieved with two tuning strategies. One involves the substitution for one or two fluorine atoms at the N-phenyl segment or the introduction of two electron-releasing methyl substituents at the pyrazole segment of the H(C--N) ligands. Alternatively, we have applied the more electron-accepting triazolate in place of the pyrazolate segment for the third (N--N)H ligand. Our results, on the basis of steady-state, relaxation dynamics, and theoretical approaches, lead to a conclusion that, for complexes 1-3, the weakening of iridium metal-ligand bonding strength in the T(1) state plays a crucial role for the fast radiationless deactivation. For the case of [(fmpz)(2)Ir(hptz)] (3d), a thermal deactivation barrier of 4.8 kcal/mol was further deduced via temperature-dependent studies. The results provide a theoretical basis for future design and synthesis of the corresponding analogues suited to blue phosphorescent emitters.     

One-step synthesis of stoichiometrically defined metal oxide nanoparticles at room temperature

A great variety of metal oxide nanoparticles have been readily synthesized by using alkali metal oxides, M(2)O (M is Na or Li) and soluble metal salts (metal chlorides) in polar organic solutions, for example, methanol and ethanol, at room temperature. The oxidation states of the metals in the resulting metal oxides (Cu(2)O, CuO, ZnO, Al(2)O(3), Fe(2)O(3), Bi(2)O(3), TiO(2), SnO(2), CeO(2), Nb(2)O(5), WO(3), and CoFe(2)O(4)) range from 1 to 6 and remain invariable through the reactions where good control of stoichiometry is achieved. Metal oxide nanoparticles are 1-30 nm and have good monodispersivity and displayed comparable optical spectra. These syntheses are based on a general ion reaction pathway during which the precipitate occurs when O(2-) ions meet metal cations (M(n+)) in anhydrous solution and the reaction equation is M(n+) + n/2 O(2-) --> MO(n/2) (n=1-6).     

Highly chemoselective reduction of azides to amines by Fe(0) nanoparticles in water at room temperature

A highly chemoselective reduction of aryl, heteroaryl, acyl and sulfonyl azides to the corresponding amines has been achieved by Fe(0) nanoparticles in water at room temperature in the absence of external hydride source. Several readily reducible functionalities including alkene, alkyne, S-S linkage, OTBDMS remain unaffected during reduction.     

Germania nanoparticles and nanocrystals at room temperature in water and aqueous lysine sols

Facile synthesis of nanometer-sized germania crystals and amorphous germania nanoparticles (ca. 1 nm) is investigated through hydrolysis of germanium tetraethoxide and subsequent condensation of germania in both pure water and aqueous lysine solutions. Germanium tetraethoxide rapidly hydrolyzes in pure water, leading to solvated germanate species at lower germania concentrations and the onset of nanometer-sized germania crystals at room temperature with increasing germania content. In the presence of the basic amino acid L-lysine, amorphous germania nanoparticles (ca. 1 nm) spontaneously form with increasing germania content and coexist with nanometer-sized germania crystals at higher germania concentrations. Lysine and germania concentration both influence crystallite size and morphology (i.e., polyhedral, cubic). The facile, room-temperature crystallization of germania in the presence and absence of lysine is striking. The fact that the crystal morphology shows no signs of nanoparticle aggregative assembly, as has been observed in the formation of other oxide crystals, suggests that crystal growth takes place by addition of dissolved species rather than nanoparticles, and could have implications for other oxide systems.     

Greener solid state synthesis of a ternary lanthanum complex at room temperature

Wet chemical synthesis of rare-earth complexes often requires large amounts of solvents to dissolve reactants, and the use of base to neutralize acidic solution. We have explored a green alternative route that involves solid-state synthesis of ternary lanthanum complex at room temperature by using lanthanum chloride hydrate (LaCl_3?·?6H₂O), sodium p-hydroxybenzoate (PBA), and 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-hq). The structure and composition of the ternary lanthanum complex were confirmed by microanalysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-Vis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. UV-Vis and FT-IR spectra confirms coordination of lanthanum ion with two ligands and XRD results show that signals of the product are not from the three reactants, and are believed to originate from the ternary lanthanum complex prepared by solid-state reaction. Effects of reaction conditions such as molar ratios and synthetic method on the formation of ternary lanthanum complex were also investigated. The structure and composition of the ternary lanthanum complex are independent of molar ratios of reactants. Compared to the ternary lanthanum complex prepared via solution-phase synthesis, although the ternary lanthanum complex prepared by solid-state reactions has the same composition and structure, the synthesis is scalable and greener.     

Precipitated calcium phosphatesilicates and their dehydration in air at room temperature

By exchange reaction in the aqueous solutions between sodium phosphatesilicates and calcium chloride is obtained a group of the crystalline and amorphous substances, which contain up to 80 wt % of water. Dehydration of amorphous calcium phosphatesilicates at room temperature is studied.     

Detection of mercury(II) based on Hg2+ -DNA complexes inducing the aggregation of gold nanoparticles

A DNA-Au NP probe for sensing Hg2+ using the formation of DNA-Hg2+ complexes through thymidine (T)-Hg2+ -T coordination to control the negative charge density of the DNA strands-thereby varying their structures-adsorbed onto Au NPs.     

Biosynthesis of iron and silver nanoparticles at room temperature using aqueous sorghum bran extracts

Iron and silver nanoparticles were synthesized using a rapid, single step, and completely green biosynthetic method employing aqueous sorghum extracts as both the reducing and capping agent. Silver ions were rapidly reduced by the aqueous sorghum bran extracts, leading to the formation of highly crystalline silver nanoparticles with an average diameter of 10 nm. The diffraction peaks were indexed to the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase of silver. The absorption spectra of colloidal silver nanoparticles showed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak centered at a wavelength of 390 nm. Amorphous iron nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50 nm were formed instantaneously under ambient conditions. The reactivity of iron nanoparticles was tested by the H(2)O(2)-catalyzed degradation of bromothymol blue as a model organic contaminant.     

Copper(0)-mediated radical polymerization of styrene at room temperature

The “living’/controlled radical polymerization (LRP) of styrene (St) at room temperature is rarely reported. In this work, copper(0) (Cu(0))-mediated radical polymerization of St at room temperature was investigated in detail. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as well as a binary solvent, tetrahydrofuran/1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol were used as the solvents, respectively. Methyl-2-bromopropionate and ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate were used as the initiators, respectively. The polymerization proceeded smoothly with moderate conversions at room temperature. It was found that DMF was a good solvent with the essential features of LRP, while DMSO was a poor solvent with uncontrollable molecular weights. Besides, the match among the initiator, solvent and molar ratios of reactants can modulate the livingness of the polymerization, and the proper selection of ligand was also crucial to a controlled process. This work provided a first example of Cu(0)-mediated radical polymerization of St at room temperature, which would enrich and strength the LRP technique.     

Understanding the wettability of nanometer-thick room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) on solid surfaces

Many important applications of room temperature ionic liquids(RTILs), e.g., lubrication, energy storage and catalysis, involve RTILs confined to solid surfaces. In order to optimize the performance, it is critical to understand the wettability of nanometer-thick RTILs on solid surfaces. In this review, the recent progress in this filed is presented. First, the macroscopic wettability of RTILs on solids will be discussed briefly.Afterwards, the wetting of nanometer-thick RTILs will be discussed with the emphasis on RTIL/mica and RTIL/graphite interfaces since mica and graphite not only are mostly studied but also have important real-life applications. For RTIL/mica interface, the extended layering that promotes the wetting has been extensively reported and it is generally accepted that the electrostatic interaction at the RTIL/mica interface is the key. However, recent works from others and us highlight the unexpected effect of water:Water enables ion exchange between K+and the cations of RTILs on the mica surface and thus triggers the ordered packing of cations/anions in RTILs, resulting in extended layering. Different from mica, there is no electrical charge on the graphite surface. Interestingly, previous reports showed inconsistent results on the wettability of RTILs on graphite. Recent research from others and us suggested that π-π~+stacking between sp~2 carbon and the imidazoliumcation in the RTILs is the key to the extended layering and enhanced wettability of RTILs. Lastly, the future research directions will be briefly discussed.     

固相配位化学反应研究XXXIV. 室温下六氰合铁(II)及(III)酸钾 的固相酸碱反 应

本文研究了室温时K~3Fe(CN)~6,K~4Fe(CN)~6在酸碱条件下发生的固相配位化学反应。结果表明:K~3Fe(CN)~6与NaBH~4固相混合物室温下不反应,但加入固体氢氧化钠后,K~3Fe(CN)~6与NaBH~4的固相氧化还原反应在室温下很容易进行。K~4Fe(CN)~6与K~2S~2O~8的固相氧化还原反应在室温下能顺利进行,但当固体KOH存在时,反应明显受到抑制。K~3Fe(CN)~6与K~2C~2O~4.H~2O室温下无反应,但与H~2C~2O~4.2H~2O在室温时即发生固相取代反应。