Bond order bond polarizability model for fullerene cages and nanotubes

It is still a challenge to accurately calculate the polarizabilities of large fullerene cages and nanotubes. In this paper, a simple bond order bond polarizability relationship for carbon was found, which allowed us to apply the bond polarizability model to any pentagon isolation rule (PIR) fullerene (cage or nanotube). Following this approach, the following simple equation, alpha=1.262n, was obtained relating the static dipole polarizability (alpha) of PIR fullerenes (cages or closed nanotubes) to their number (n) of carbon atoms. Furthermore, it was shown that the polarizabilities of C60 and C70, calculated on the basis of this model, are in excellent agreement with those obtained experimentally and by density-functional theory calculations.     

Multicomponent assembly of anionic and neutral decanuclear copper(II) phosphonate cages

A multicomponent synthetic strategy involving copper(II) ions, tert-butylphosphonic acid (t-BuPO(3)H(2)) and 3-substituted pyrazole ligands has been adopted for the synthesis of soluble molecular copper(II) phosphonates. The use of six different 3-substituted pyrazoles, 3-R-PzH [R = H, Me, CF(3), Ph, 2-pyridyl (2-Py), and 2-methoxyphenyl (2-MeO-C(6)H(4))] as ancillary ligands afforded nine different decanuclear cages, [Cu(5)(μ(3)-OH)(2)(O(3)P-t-Bu)(3)(3-R-Pz)(2)(X)(2)](2)·(Y) where R = H, X = t-BuPO(3)H, and Y = (Et(3)NH(+))(4)(solvent) (1); R = Me, X = 3-MePzH, and Y = solvent (2); R = Me, X = t-BuPO(3)H, and Y = (Et(3)NH(+))(4)(solvent) (3); R = CF(3), X = t-BuPO(3)H, and Y = (Et(3)NH(+))(4)(solvent) (4); R = Ph, X = 3-PhPzH, and Y = solvent (5); R = 2-Py, X = 0.5 MeOH, and Y = solvent (6); R = 2-Py, X = none, and Y = solvent (7); R = 2-Py, X = H(2)O, and Y = (Et(3)NH(+)·PF(6)(-))(2)(solvent) (8); R = 2-MeO-C(6)H(4), X = MeOH or 0.5:0.5 MeOH/H(2)O, and Y = solvent (9). Compounds 1-6, 8, and 9 were isolated using a direct synthetic method which involves the reaction of copper(II) salts and the ligands, while 7 was obtained from an indirect route involving the reaction of preformed copper-pyridylpyrazolate precursor complexes and t-BuPO(3)H(2). The decametallic compounds 1-9 possess a butterfly shaped core. The core of the cages 1, 3, and 4 are tetraanionic and contain more phosphonates than pyrazole ligands, while the other cages are neutral and contain more pyrazoles than phosphonate ligands. Compounds 1-6 have been studied by electrospray ionization-high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS). The decanuclear cage 6 was shown to be a good plasmid modifier.     

Structure determination of atomically controlled crystal architectures grown within single wall carbon nanotubes.

Indirect high resolution electron microscopy using one of several possible data-set geometries offers advantages over conventional high-resolution imaging in enabling the recovery of the complex wavefunction at the specimen exit plane and simultaneously eliminating the aberrations present in the objective lens. This article discusses results obtained using this method from structures formed by inorganic materials confined within the bores of carbon nanotubes. Such materials are shown to be atomically regulated due to their confinement, leading to integral layer architectures that we have termed "Feynman crystals." These one-dimensional (1D) crystals also show a wide range of structural deviations from the bulk, including unexpected lattice distortions, and in some cases entirely new forms have been observed.     

Co-adsorption of CO molecules at the open ends of MgO nanotubes

Equilibrium geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of the adsorption of a CO molecule along with two or three CO co-adsorptions at the open ends of MgO nanotubes have been investigated through density functional calculations. It was found that the interaction of CO molecule with ends of the tube is much stronger than that of with its exterior surface. It was also found that adsorption of the second CO molecule at the end of the tube is independent of the first adsorbed CO molecule, while the prior adsorption process impacts the third adsorption. This phenomenon was described based on the frontier molecular orbital analysis, showing that the third CO molecule has to interact with high energetic unoccupied orbitals instead of the LUMO. Furthermore, it was revealed that similar to CO adsorption on the exterior surface of the tube, the adsorption at its open ends is electronically harmless.     

Topology, connectivity, and electronic structure of C and B cages and the corresponding nanotubes

After a brief discussion of the structural trends which appear with an increasing number of atoms in B cages, a one-to one correspondence between the connectivity of B cages and C cage structures will be proposed. The electronic level spectra of both systems from Hartree-Fock calculations is given and discussed. The relation of curvature introduced into an originally planar graphitic fragment to pentagonal "defects" such as are present in buckminsterfullerene is also briefly treated. A study of the structure and electronic properties of B nanotubes will then be introduced. We start by presenting a solution of the free-electron network approach for a "model boron" planar lattice with local coordination number 6. In particular the dispersion relation E(k) for the pi-electron bands, together with the corresponding electronic Density Of States (DOS), will be exhibited. This is then used within the zone-folding scheme to obtain information about the electronic DOS of different nanotubes obtained by folding this model boron sheet. To obtain the self-consistent potential in which the valence electrons move in a nanotube, "the March model" in its original form was invoked, and the results are reported for a carbon nanotube. Finally, heterostructures, such as BN cages and fluorinated buckminsterfullerene, will be briefly treated, the new feature here being electronegativity difference.     

Quantitative determination of neutral lipids on chromarods

Five lots of ten chromarods were spotted with 2, 4, 6, or 8 μg of cholesterol ester, cholestero, triglyceride, methyl ester and free fatty acid and then analyzed using an Iatroscan. Rod-to-rod and lot-to-lot differences in the detector response were evident n the data. The standard deviation for the rod within lot response appeared to increase linearly as the amount of lipid applied was increased. The logarithms of the detector response data were analysed statistically to determine the relative magnitude of the rod-to-rod and lot-to-lot variances. When methyl ester was used as an internal standard or as a covariate, the variation from rod to rod and lot to lot was much smaller than in the original analysis.     

Frontier orbitals of trivalent cages: (3,6) cages and (4,6) cages

A qualitative molecular-orbital treatment and group-theoretical analysis reveals the nature of the frontier orbitals of (3,6) and (4,6) polyhedral cages, consisting of a hexagonal network with triangular and square defects, respectively. Leapfrog (3,6) cages have two nonbonding filled orbitals. Leapfrog (4,6) cages have a high HOMO-LUMO gap, while nonleapfrog (4,6) cages with octahedral symmetry have a very small HOMO-LUMO gap. The symmetry of the frontier orbitals is determined.     

Redox-active nickel in carbon nanotubes and its direct determination

The presence of residual metal-catalyst impurities in carbon nanotubes is responsible for their toxicity. It is important to differentiate between the total amount of impurities and the redox-active (bioavailable) amount of such impurities because only the bioavailable impurities exhibit toxic effects. Herein, we report a simple and specific method for quantifying the amount of redox-active Ni present in various commercial samples of CNTs. It is based on the electrochemical oxidation of Ni(OH)(2) that is formed in alkaline solutions when Ni impurities are opened to the surrounding environment. Metallic Ni impurities play an extremely active role in toxicological assays as well as in undesired catalytic processes, and thus a method to rapidly quantify the amount of redox-active Ni is of great importance.     

Direct determination of bioavailable molybdenum in carbon nanotubes

Bioavailable residual metallic impurities within carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are responsible for the toxicity of CNTs. Herein we present a method for fast, sensitive determination of bioavailable molybdenum residual catalyst impurities within CNTs by using electrochemical oxidation in neutral pH buffers at low potentials. This method is unique because no other method can rapidly distinguish between bioavailable/mobilizable impurities from defects in CNTs and between the total amounts of impurities. This method will be indispensable for future toxicological studies of CNTs.     

Structure analyses of dodecylated single-walled carbon nanotubes

Alkylation of nanotube salts prepared using either lithium, sodium, or potassium in liquid ammonia yields sidewall-functionalized nanotubes that are soluble in organic solvents. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies of dodecylated SWNTs prepared from HiPco nanotubes and 1-iodododecane show that extensive debundling results from intercalation of the alkali metal into the SWNT ropes. TGA-FTIR analyses of samples prepared from the different metals revealed radically different thermal behavior during detachment of the dodecyl groups. The SWNTs prepared using lithium can be converted into the pristine SWNTs at 180-330 degrees C, whereas the dodecylated SWNTs prepared using sodium require a much higher temperature (380-530 degrees C) for dealkylation. SWNTs prepared using potassium behave differently, leading to detachment of the alkyl groups over the temperature range 180-500 degrees C. These differences can be observed by analysis of the solid-state 13C NMR spectra of the dodecylated SWNTs that have been prepared using the different alkali metals and may indicate differences in the relative amounts of 1,2- and 1,4-addition of the alkyl groups.     

Structure and electronic properties of Li-doped vanadium oxide nanotubes

The influence of Li-doping on the mixed-valent vanadium oxide nanotubes has been investigated using electron energy loss spectroscopy. In particular, the electron diffraction profiles and the vanadium L excitation edges have been studied. We observe that the structure of the vanadium oxide nanotubes is stable against electron transfer upon Li-doping. Excitations at the vanadium L edges show features which are associated with a reduction of the vanadium valency.     

Ab initio study of NH3 and H2O adsorption on pristine and Na-doped MgO nanotubes

We have investigated, on the basis of density functional theory calculations, the structural and electronic properties of chemical modification of pristine and Na-doped MgONTs with NH₃ and H₂O molecules. We found that the NH₃ and H₂O molecules can be barrierlessly adsorbed on the Mg atom of the tube sidewall along with a charge transfer from the adsorbate to MgONT. The adsorption is chemical in nature with adsorption energies about ?22.3 and ?21.5 kcal/mol for H₂O and NH₃, respectively. The calculated density of state (DOS) shows that the chemical modification of MgONTs with these molecules can be generally classified as certain type of “harmless modification.” In other words, the electronic properties of the MgONT are little changed by the adsorption processes. The substitution of an Mg atom in the tube surface with an Na atom results in a semi-insulator to p-type semiconductor transition based on DOS analysis. It was also found that the doping process reduces the adsorption energies and the electronic properties of Na-doped MgONT is slightly more sensitive toward NH₃ and H₂O molecules, compared with the pristine one.     

Catalytic functions of Mo/Ni/MgO in the synthesis of thin carbon nanotubes

The functions and structures of Mo/Ni/MgO catalysts in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. Thin 2-5-walled CNTs with high purities (over 90%) have been successfully synthesized by catalytic decomposition of CH(4) over Mo/Ni/MgO catalysts at 1073 K. It has been found that the yield of CNTs as well as the outer diameter or thickness correlates well with the contents of these three elements. The three components Mo, Ni, and MgO are all necessary to synthesize the thin CNTs at high yields since no catalytic activity was observed for CNT synthesis when one of these components was not present. The outer diameter of the CNTs increases from 4 to 13 nm and the thickness of graphene layers also increases with increasing Mo content at a fixed Ni content, while the inner diameter stays at 2-3 nm regardless of their contents. Furthermore, the average outer diameter is in good agreement with the average particle size of metal catalyst. That is, the thickness or the outer diameter can be controlled by selecting the composition of the Mo/Ni/MgO catalysts. XRD analyses have shown that Mo and Ni form a Mo-Ni alloy before CNT synthesis, while the Mo-Ni alloy phase is separated into Mo carbide and Ni. These alloy particles are supported on MgO cubic particles 15-20 nm in width. It has been found that only small Mo-Ni alloy particles 2-16 nm in size catalyze CNT synthesis, with larger particles over 15 nm exhibiting no activity. Mo carbide and Ni should play different roles in the synthesis of the thin CNTs, in which Ni is responsible for the dissociation of CH(4) into carbon and Mo(2)C works as a carbon reservoir.     

Continuous neutral lipid determination with lipase-collagen membrane reactor

Lipase (Pseudomonas sp.) was immobilized in collagen membrane and used for the measurement of neutral lipids. The determination system for lipids consisted of a lipase-collagen membrane reactor and glass electrodes. Neutral lipids were hydrolyzed to fatty acids and glycerol by immobilized lipase. The liberated protons were determined potentiometrically by using glass electrodes. A linear relationship was obtained between the logarithm of lipid concentrations and potential differences. The measurement gave results comparable to a conventional assay and was found to be applicable to the assay of neutral lipids in sera. The relative error of the determination by this system was within 4%.     

Improvement of Fe/MgO catalysts by calcination for the growth of single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes

Calcination at 900-1000 degrees C for 8-12 h of an Fe/MgO catalyst prepared by impregnation was found to result in a uniform MgFe2O4/MgO solid solution that showed a successful settling of well-dispersed iron species into the MgO lattice. During methane reduction, many iron-containing particles with a diameter of about 4 nm were formed on the catalyst surface to provide numerous active sites for the growth of single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes. There was a significant improvement of the Fe/MgO catalyst that resulted in a high yield of impurity-free nanotubes. Using C2H4 cracking at 600 degrees C and transmission electron microscope observations, the Fe species distribution in the catalysts and microscope images of nanotube growth were described in detail. H2 reduction of the calcined Fe/MgO catalyst was found to cause the formation of iron layers on the catalyst surface, which resulted in the growth of only carbon layers. The results are useful for understanding changes in the metal species distribution in the catalysts and the nanotube growth mechanism, and they provide a simple method to improve Fe/MgO catalysts.