Exciplex photonics on aerosil surface

A photochemical model reaction between anthracene and N,N-diethylaniline on aerosil has been studied. It is found that the nature of the surface is responsible for the mechanism of intermolecular interaction (dynamic or static one).     

Hydrolysis of a two-membered silica ring on the amorphous silica surface

We have combined density functional theory (DFT) with classical interatomic potential functions to model hydrolysis of amorphous silica surfaces. The water-silica interaction is described by DFT with incorporation of a long-range elastic field described by classical interatomic potentials. Both physisorption and chemisorption of water on a surface site, known as the two-membered silica ring, are studied in detail. The hybrid quantum-mechanical and classical mechanical method enables more realistic treatment of chemical processes on an extended surface than previous methods. We have studied cooperative events in the hydrolytic reactions and discovered a new reaction pathway that involves a double proton transfer process. In addition, the evaluation of the total energy in a hybrid quantum-mechanical and classical mechanical system is discussed.     

Characterization of the silica surface

Aerosil samples, heat-treated and then silylated with various silanes at various temperatures have been characterized by adsorption of benzene at 293 K. Adsorption and desorption isotherms were plotted and the specific surface areas were determined using the BET method. Cross-plots of adsorption were made between the silylated and the unsilylated samples to reveal in a simple way the resulting changes in surface properties. Modification of aerosils using silanes was found to alter the adsorptive properties of aerosils for benzene to extents depending on the silane used as well as the concentration of residual surface silanols.     

Exciplexes in highly excited triplet states

A mechanism of energy transfer from highly excited triplet aromatic molecules has been developed, which involves a stage of formation of an exciplex between a highly excited energy-donor molecule and an unexcited energy-acceptor molecule. Interpretation of the experimental data on the shape and the intensity of triplet-triplet absorption bands and the energy transfer probability is presented. In this interpretation, the results of quantum-chemical calculations of the energies of highly excited triplet states of toluene and benzene molecules are used.     

Protolytic equilibria on the surface of carboxyl-containing silica

Potentiometric titration has been used to study the protolytic equilibria on the surface of carboxyl-containing silica (CS) prepared by the reaction of silica (Silokhrom S-80, S_sp = 80 m²/g) with Cl₃SiCH₂CH₂COOCH₃, followed by hydrolysis with 30% sulfuric acid. The titration curve of the vacuum-dried sample is irreversible. The titration curve of its Na⁺ form with hydrochloric acid proceeds lower than the titration curve of its H⁺ form and coincides with the titration curve of the air-dried sample (the last curve is reversible). The titration curve of CS coincides with the titration curve of butyric acid at pH < 6. At pH > 6 the titration curve of CS passes below the titration curve of butyric acid; this is due to the participation of silanol groups on the silica surface in the protolytic equilibria. The pK_a of the grafted CS groups is equal to 4.80 which is close to the pK_a value of butyric acid (4.78). A method has been proposed for the determination of the amount of weak acid groups grafted to the silica. It has been shown that in the titration of CS the equilibrium is established much faster than in the case of the unmodified silica.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 243–247, March–April, 1986.     

Paramagnetic species on the surface of chemically activated silica

Active centers of SiO₂ formed during thermolysis of methoxylated silica surface has been studied by ESR. Several types of coordinatively unsaturated silicon atoms, which differ in location and number but show similar reactivity toward various adsorbates, have been found.

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Kinetics of isoleucine chemisorption on the modified silica surface

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - Kinetics of isoleucine chemisorption on the modified silica surface involving an amide bond formation was studied. The grafted amino groups acting as...     

Exciplexes and the fluorescence of Staphylococcus aureus endonuclease

Abstract— The family of fluorescence spectra obtained from the endonuclease of Staphylococcus aureus at temperatures from 140° to 230°K, when superimposed, show a unique intersection point at 336nm. This indicates that only two types of fluorescent species need be considered with this protein, a low-temperature form and a high-temperature form. Since the high-temperature form lacks fine structure and has a large Stokes' shift, the spectral observations are consistent with the notion that high-temperature fluorescence comes from a tryptophan that has formed a complex with a solvent molecule within its excited-state lifetime. The absorption spectrum and both of the fluorescence spectra indicate that the tryptophan, even in the high-temperature state, is in an environment with a low dielectric constant.     

Adsorption of organic molecules on silica surface

The adsorption behaviour of various organic adsorbates on silica surface is reviewed. Most of the structural information on silica is obtained from IR spectral data and from the characteristics of water present at the silica surface. Silica surface is generally embedded with hydroxy groups and ethereal linkages, and hence considered to have a negative charged surface prone to adsorption of electron deficient species. Adsorption isotherms of the adsorbates delineate the nature of binding of the adsorbate with silica. Aromatic compounds are found to involve the pi-cloud in hydrogen bonding with silanol OH group during adsorption. Cationic and nonionic surfactants adsorb on silica surface involving hydrogen bonding. Sometimes, a polar part of the surfactants also contributes to the adsorption process. Styryl pyridinium dyes are found to anchor on silica surface in flat-on position. On modification of the silica by treating with alkali, the adsorption behaviour of cationic surfactant or polyethylene glycol changes due to change in the characteristics of silica or modified silica surface. In case of PEG-modified silica, adsolubilization of the adsorbate is observed. By using a modified adsorption equation, hemimicellization is proposed for these dyes. Adsorptions of some natural macromolecules like proteins and nucleic acids are investigated to study the hydrophobic and hydrophilic binding sites of silica. Artificial macromolecules like synthetic polymers are found to be adsorbed on silica surface due to the interaction of the multifunctional groups of the polymers with silanols. Preferential adsorption of polar adsorbates is observed in case of adsorbate mixtures. When surfactant mixtures are considered to study competitive adsorption on silica surface, critical micelle concentration of individual surfactant also contributes to the adsorption isotherm. The structural study of adsorbed surface and the thermodynamics of adsorption are given some importance in this review.     

Protein adsorption on polymer-modified silica particle surface

Silicon substrate surface and silica particle surface were modified with five kinds of polymers, poly(2-methoxyethyl methacrylate) (pMEMA), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA), poly(acrylamide) (pAAm), poly(methyl methacrylate) (pMMA), and poly(styrene) (pSt), using a combined polymerization of surface-initiated polymerization that gives dense polymer chain layers and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) that yields polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution. Measurements of water contact angle and polymer chain amount on the modified silicon substrate surface and adsorption amounts of proteins (albumin and fibrinogen) on the modified silica particle surface revealed that the amount of polymer on the modified surface greatly affects the suppression of protein adsorption on the surface.     

Interaction between Pd and Ag on the surface of silica

Palladium, silver and palladium–silver catalysts supported on silica were prepared by coimpregnation of support with solution of AgNO₃ and Pd(NO₃)₂. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), time of flight ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), chemisorption of carbon monoxide and were tested in the reaction of selective oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid.

XRD and TPR studies have shown that an interaction between Pd and Ag on the surface of silica after oxidation at 500 °C and reduction at 260 °C leads to the formation of solid solutions.

ToF-SIMS images of the surface of 5% Ag/SiO₂ catalyst after oxidation at 500 °C and reduction at 260 °C show that Ag atoms supported on silica are not distributed homogenously but tend to form regions of enhanced Ag concentration. Positive ions images of the surface of 5% Pd/SiO₂ catalyst also display regions of enhanced concentration of Pd atoms, but they are more homogenously distributed on silica.

ToF-SIMS peak intensity ratio ¹⁰⁸Pd⁺/¹⁰⁷Ag⁺ for bimetallic 5% Pd–5% Ag/SiO₂ catalysts has a lower value than that obtained for physical mixture 5% Pd/SiO₂–5% Ag/SiO₂ which indicates that the surface of bimetallic catalyst is enriched with silver atoms.     

Formation of the surface charge on silica in mixed solvents

At sufficiently high concentrations of methanol and of alkali salts in aqueous silica dispersions, the negative -potentials of the particles are decreased. This effect is more pronounced with lithium than with other alkali cations, and it is independent on the anion. The NMR spectra indicate lithium adsorption on silica from mixed solvents, but not in the absence of alcohol.Supported by a contract with the XMX Corporation, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA     

Characterization of amorphous silica surface

A short survey is presented of results on the dehydration, dehydroxylation and rehydroxylation of the surface of amorphous silica.     

Thermal wetting of platinum nanocrystals on silica surface

Thermal stability of facetted Pt nanocrystals on amorphous silica support films was investigated using in situ transmission electron microscopy in a temperature range between 25 and 800 degrees C. The particles started to change their shapes at approximately 350 degrees C. Above 500 degrees C, the particles spread on the support film with increasing temperature, rather than becoming more spherical. Such temperature-induced wetting of Pt nanoparticles on silica surface can be attributed to the interfacial mixing of Pt and SiO(2) and the resulting negative interface energy.     

Synthesis of two-dimensional polyogranosiloxane layers on silica surface

A method for making a two-dimensional polyorganosiloxane coating on porous, amorphous silica surfaces is proposed. Coatings obtained by means of heteropolycondensation of surface-bonded ethoxy groups with dimethyldichlorosilane cover about 90% of the original surface. Geometric characteristics of the silica do not change considerably after the treatment.     

Single-step dispersion of functionalities on a silica surface

A new process for coating a mesoporous silica gel with a mixture of the grafting reagents para-aminophenyltrimethoxysilane and phenyltrimethoxysilane is thoroughly analyzed. The dilution of para-aminophenylsilane with phenylsilane at different ratios allows the density of the functional amino groups present on the silica surface to be controlled, while keeping constant the overall number of grafts. Furthermore, the choice of a rigid linker prevents undesirable interactions between the active function and the inorganic support that could alter the function reactivity. This simple and new method, which results in the improvement of the dispersion of a functionality in a one-pot synthesis, could be particularly interesting in the field of supported catalysis and molecular recognition. The dispersion of the functional groups of the synthesized hybrid solids is investigated using a pyrene derivative covalently linked to the free amino groups of the para-aminophenylsilanes by analyzing the excimer and monomer fluorescence properties of the probe.     

Interaction of nucleobases with proflavine on silica surface

The adsorption of purine and pyrimidine nucleobases from aqueous solutions on silica surface modified by preliminary adsorption of proflavine has been studied as depending on pH and adsorbate concentration. It has been shown that the bases interact with proflavine, the molecules of which are attached to neutral silanol groups of silica via hydrogen bonds. The equilibrium constants of the complexation reactions between the bases and adsorbed proflavine have been calculated.