Ab Initio High Pressure Investigations of InI

The high pressure behaviour of InI is studied by DFT‐calculations and compared with experimental data. The existence of a 5s² electron pair in In⁺ represents an unfavourable bonding situation for high symmetry structures because of effective closed shell repulsion. Since cations with a ns² electron pair are highly polarizable and the electronic situation is more favourable in the low symmetry structure InI prefers a TlI‐type structure at ambient pressure. A pressure induced transition to the more densely packed high symmetry CsCl‐type structure takes place at about 19 GPa according to our calculations. At ambient pressure the interactions are predominantly ionic. However with increasing pressure the distances between In⁺ cations in the TlI‐type structure diminish drastically, mainly due to the changing space requirement of the lone electron pair. Apart from ionic interactions further bonding interactions between the In⁺ cations occur. At elevated pressure the electron localization function (ELF) as well as the band structure diagrams suggest metallic bonding between the In⁺ within the zigzag chain, i. e. increasing bonding interactions between the In⁺ cations due to the electron pair and its s‐p‐mixing. At ambient pressure In‐In interactions are rather weak and the space requirement of the lone electron pair mainly determines the characteristic arrangement of the ions. At elevated pressure the In‐In interactions become stronger and stabilise themselves additionally the specific structural arrangement.     

High Pressure Study of NH4Pb2Br5 Type Compounds. I Structural Parameters and Their Evolution under High Pressure

We have investigated the nature of the interactions of ns²‐cations and the possible structure‐determining role of the ns²electron pair at ambient and high pressure in several AB₂X₅ (A = K, Rb, Cs, In, Tl; B = Sn, Pb, Sr; X = Cl, Br, I) compounds. Structural parameters are obtained by high pressure x‐ray diffraction as well as by quantum mechanical methods (DFT‐GGA‐calculations). The structural parameters at ambient and high pressure are discussed and compared to those of Tl₅Se₂I crystallising in the antitype structure. Short cation—cation distances in the NH₄Pb₂Br₅ type structure enable direct cation—cation interactions and the existence of an ns²‐cation in the B‐position is crucial for the stability of these structures. The effect of pressure on the structural parameters of these compounds gives new insights into the interactions of lone pair cations. The pronounced decrease of the cation—cation distances with pressure points to strongly increasing bonding interactions between the lone pair cations.     

Der PuBr3-Typ als Hochdruckmodifikation bei Seltenerd-Trihalogeniden LnX3 (X = Cl,Br, I)

PuBr₃ Type as High Pressure Modification of Rare Earth Trihalides LnX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) High pressure experiments in a belt-type apparatus were performed on rare earth trichlorides, -bromides and -iodides. The results underline the importance of the PuBr₃-type arrangement. The range of existence of this structure type is considerably increased under pressure. X-ray high temperature investigations at ambient pressure on the quenched high pressure phases show a marked correlation between the transformation pressures, which rise with smaller cations, and the temperatures at which the high pressure phases are reconverted to the thermodynamically stable ones.     

Oxygen-17 nuclear magnetic resonance study of the structure of mixed cation calcium-sodium silicate glasses at high pressure: implications for molecular link to element partitioning between silicate liquids and crystals

The structure of silicate glasses and the corresponding liquids at high pressure and their structure-property relations remain difficult questions in modern physical chemistry, geochemistry, and condensed matter physics. Here we report high- resolution solid-state O-17 3QMAS NMR spectra for mixed cation Ca-Na silicate glasses quenched from melts at high pressure up to 8 GPa. The spectra provide the experimental evidence for the varying pressure-dependence in two different types of nonbridging oxygen (NBO) environments (i.e., Na-O-Si and mixed (Ca,Na)-O-Si) in the single glass composition. The percentage of NBO drops significantly with increasing pressure and is a complex function of melt composition, including cation field strength of network modifying cations. A decrease in NBO fraction with pressure is negatively correlated with the element partitioning coefficient between crystals and liquids at high pressure.     

Adsorption and diffusion of nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide in aluminophosphate molecular sieve AlPO4-11

The knowledge about the adsorption and diffusion properties (specially about diffusion) of aluminophosphate molecular sieves is very scarce in the literature. These materials offer interesting properties as adsorbents as they have a polar framework and do not contain charge-balancing cations. In this work, the adsorption isotherms of nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide over an AlPO₄-11 sample synthesized in our laboratories have been measured with a volumetric method at 25, 35, 50 and 65 °C over a pressure range up to 110 kPa. The adsorption capacities of each gas are determined by the strength of interaction with the pore surface (carbon dioxide > methane > nitrogen). The equilibrium selectivity to carbon dioxide is quite high with respect to other adsorbents without cations due to the polarity of the aluminophosphate framework. The adsorption Henry’s law constants and diffusion time constants of nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide in the synthesized AlPO₄-11 material have been measured from pulse experiments. A pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process for recovering methane from a carbon dioxide/methane mixture (resembling biogas) has been designed using a dynamic model where the measured adsorption equilibrium and kinetic information has been incorporated. The simulation results show that the proposed process could be simpler than other PSA processes for biogas upgrading based on cation-containing molecular sieves such as 13X zeolite, as it can treat the biogas at atmospheric pressure, and it requires a lower pressure ratio, to produce high purity methane with high recovery.     

离子色谱法在离子液体阴阳离子分析中的应用

离子液体作为一种新型绿色环保有机化合物,因具有饱和蒸气压低、溶解性良好以及电导率高等优异性质,而在化学化工领域中得到了较为广泛的应用,并越来越受到人们的关注。该文综述了近年来离子色谱在离子液体阴阳离子分析中的应用,对离子色谱法分析离子液体阳离子、离子液体阴离子以及同时分析离子液体阴阳离子三方面进行讨论,并对离子色谱法分析离子液体的发展趋势进行了展望。     

Alkyl Ammonium Cation Stabilized Biocidal Polyiodides with Adaptable High Density and Low Pressure

The effective application of biocidal species requires building the active moiety into a molecular back bone that can be delivered and decomposed on demand under conditions of low pressure and prolonged high‐temperature detonation. The goal is to destroy storage facilities and their contents while utilizing the biocidal products arising from the released energy to destroy any remaining harmful airborne agents. Decomposition of carefully selected iodine‐rich compounds can produce large amounts of the very active biocides, hydroiodic acid (HI) and iodine (I₂). Polyiodide anions, namely, I₃^?, I₅^?, which are excellent sources of such biocides, can be stabilized through interactions with large, symmetric cations, such as alkyl ammonium salts. We have designed and synthesized suitable compounds of adaptable high density up to 3.33 g cm^?3 that are low‐pressure polyiodides with various alkyl ammonium cations, deliverable iodine contents of which range between 58.0–90.9 %.     

DNA condensation and interaction with zwitterionic phospholipids mediated by divalent cations

Artificial viruses are considered to be a promising tool in gene therapy. To find lipid-DNA complexes with high transfection efficiency but without toxicity is a fundamental aim. Although cationic lipids are frequently toxic for cells, neutral lipids are completely nontoxic. Zwitterionic lipids do not interact with DNA directly; however, the interaction can be mediated by divalent cations. Langmuir monolayers represent a well-defined model system to study the DNA-lipid complexes at the air/water interface (quasi-2D systems). In this work, isotherms, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS), X-ray reflectivity (XR), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) measurements are used to study the interaction of calf thymus DNA with DMPE (1,2-dimyristoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine) monolayers mediated by Ca2+ or Mg2+ ions. DNA adsorption is observed only in the presence of divalent cations. At low lateral pressure, the DNA partially penetrates into the lipid monolayer but is squeezed out at high pressure. The adsorption layer has a thickness of 18-19 A. Additionally, GIXD provides information about a one-dimensional ordering of adsorbed DNA. The periodic distance between DNA strands depends on the type of the divalent cation.     

Thermal stability of wüstite structure modified with calcium cations

Wüstite modified with calcium cations was prepared by high temperature fusion. M?ssbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were employed to identify wüstite phases before and after thermal treatment at elevated temperatures in vacuum with a base pressure of 1.33 Pa for 60 h. Experimental results demonstrated that the location of calcium cations inside the wüstite structure could prevent disproportionation into magnetite and α-iron. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Charge number effect on the miscibility of inorganic salt and surfactant in adsorbed film and micelle: Inorganic salt-dodecylammonium chloride mixtures

The effect of inorganic salts with different charge numbers of cations on the adsorption and micelle formation of dodecylammonium chloride (DAC) was clarified by applying the thermodynamic treatment of surfactant mixtures to mixtures of DAC with calcium and lanthanum chlorides and comparing the results with those of the sodium chloride-DAC mixture in the previous study. Surface tension of aqueous solutions of the salt-DAC mixture was measured as a function of the total molality of the mixture and the mole fraction of DAC in the mixture at 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. Judging from the phase diagrams of adsorption and micelle formation obtained from the surface tension measurement, dodecylammonium cations expel inorganic cations from the adsorbed film and micelle and the repulsive interaction between dodecylammonium and inorganic cations increases with increasing charge number of the inorganic cation.     

Influence of K+, Na+ or Ca2+ Ions on the Interaction Between AmB and Saturated Phospholipids by Langmuir Technique

Interaction between amphotericin B(AmB) and cell membrane is influenced by different metal cations. In the presence of K⁺, Na⁺ or Ca²⁺ ions, the surface pressure-area isotherms and the elastic modulus of an amphotericindipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine(AmB-DPPC) mixed monolayer were discussed. And the excess free energy and entropies of mixing were calculated according to the surface pressure-area isotherms. The phase transition of the mixed monolayer needed a higher concentration of AmB in the sequence Na⁺ > pure buffer > K⁺ > Ca²⁺. When the molar fraction of AmB(x_AmB) was 0.5, the molecular interaction changed from attraction to repulsion and the mixed monolayer turned to ordered state from disorder state under the induction of K⁺ or Ca²⁺ ions at all surface pressure in our experiment. At high surface pressure, the disorder of monolayer enhanced in the presence of Na⁺ ions at x_AmB > 0.1. At different molar ratios of AmB, the influences of these metal cations were discrepant. These cations may influence AmB molecules to form pores on the monolayer. It is helpful to understand the reduction of AmB's toxicity as theoretical reference.     

Cation self-diffusion in LaCoO(3) and La(2)CoO(4) studied by diffusion couple experiments

Reaction kinetics between dense, polycrystalline pellets of La2O3 and CoO were investigated at temperatures of 1370-1673 K and oxygen partial pressures of 40 Pa - 50 kPa. At high oxygen partial pressures, single phase LaCoO3 was formed. The growth of the LaCoO3 phase followed the parabolic rate law. The location of Pt markers demonstrated that diffusion of Co3+ cations in LaCoO3 dominated over diffusion of La3+. The diffusion coefficient of Co3+ was determined from the parabolic rate constant, and an activation energy of (250 +/- 10) kJ mol-1 was found. The diffusion coefficient of Co3+ in LaCoO3 decreased with decreasing oxygen partial pressure. At the lowest oxygen partial pressure investigated, two product phases, LaCoO3 and La2CoO4, were observed. The diffusion coefficient of Co cations in La2CoO4 was estimated. Results were discussed in relation to cation diffusion in other LnBO3 oxides (B = Cr3+, Mn3+, Fe3+). A correlation between diffusion of the B cation and the melting point was found for LnBO3 materials.     

A High Pressure Study on NH4Pb2Br5 Type Compounds Part II: Electronic Structure and Changes under High Pressure

In this work, we present a theoretical study (based on DFT‐calculations) of the electronic properties of compounds crystallising in a NH₄Pb₂Br₅ type structure in a wide pressure range. The main focus of this study is to elucidate the nature of bonding of the ns²‐cations at ambient and elevated pressure. For a better understanding of the structure and bonding, the DOS of these compounds are evaluated and discussed on the basis of a simple model assuming mainly ionic interactions. The calculations are complemented by an orbital analysis using the crystal orbital Hamilton population (COHP) and an analysis of the electronic density topology with the electron localisation function (ELF). Structural and theoretical investigations give results that are in excellent agreement: The DFT‐calculations confirm the existence of bonding interactions between the ns²‐cations at elevated pressure. Our study indicates that the “character” of the additional electron pair changes with increasing pressure from nonbonding to bonding in agreement with a simple model system of two interacting ns²‐cations.     

Synthesis of tripodal [2]rotaxanes: high concentration principlet

Symmetrical and non-symmetrical tripodal [2]rotaxanes (1) incorporating 1,1'-disubstituted-4,4'-bipyridinium cations (2) and 34-crown-10 (3) have been prepared directly from 4,4'-bipyridine or from monocationic intermediates in high yields at room temperature and atmospheric pressure under conditions that permit the use of high reagent concentrations (0.1-0.2 M, 150-200 g(-1)).     

Electrical properties and defect structure of rutile slightly doped with Cr and Ta

The electrical conductivity of rutile doped with 0.3–3 at % Ta or 0.1–1 at % Cr is reported as a function of oxygen pressure in the temperature range 1273–1623 K. The results are discussed in terms of a point defect model, on assuming a charge compensation of foreign impurities by usual lattice point defects. In the case of Ta-doped materials, two kinds of charge compensation by an electronic or a lattice defect may occur, according to the oxygen pressure and temperature, the essential features of which are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. While chromium is incorporated as a trivalent species under a reducing atmosphere, the lack of ionic conductivity due to compensating lattice defects prevents any definitive conclusion about the valence state of the foreign chromium cations under oxidizing conditions. Some additional information and some conclusions are drawn concerning the transport properties of pure or doped titanium dioxide at high temperature.     

Modeling the influence of adsorbed DNA on the lateral pressure and tilt transition of a zwitterionic lipid monolayer

Certain lipid monolayers at the air-water interface undergo a second-order transition from a tilted to an untilted liquid-crystalline state of their lipid hydrocarbon chains at sufficiently large lateral pressure. Recent experimental observations demonstrate that in the presence of divalent cations DNA adsorbs onto a zwitterionic lipid monolayer and decreases the tilt transition pressure. Lowering of the tilt transition pressure indicates that the DNA condenses the lipid monolayer laterally. To rationalize this finding we analyze a theoretical model that combines a phenomenological Landau approach with an extension of the Poisson-Boltzmann model to zwitterionic lipids. Based on numerical calculations of the mean-field electrostatic free energy of a zwitterionic lipid monolayer-DNA complex in the presence of divalent cations, we analyze the thermodynamic equilibrium of DNA adsorption. We find that adsorbed DNA induces a 10% reduction of the electrostatic contribution to the lateral pressure exerted by the monolayer. This result implies a small but notable decrease in the tilt transition pressure. Additional mechanisms due to ion-ion correlations and headgroup reorientations are likely to further enhance this decrease.     

A flow injection-capillary electrophoresis system with high-voltage contactless conductivity detection for automated dual opposite end injection

The system comprises two flow injection-capillary electrophoresis interfaces into which the opposite ends of the separation capillary are inserted. The electrolyte solution flows through both interfaces by use of hydrostatic pressure. The injection of the samples into the electrolyte flow is accomplished by a rotary-type chromatographic valve at the grounded side and by a pinch-valve injector at the high-voltage side that provides sufficient isolation from the high electric field. The system allows a fully automated dual-injection sequence of samples from both capillary ends and simultaneous electrophoretic separation of anions and cations in the samples. The analytes are detected by a high-voltage contactless conductometric detector positioned approximately in the middle of the separation capillary. The parameters of the system were evaluated. The repeatability of the flow injection-capillary electrophoresis system for the simultaneous determination of anions and cations was evaluated for ten consecutive injections and relative standard deviation (RSD) values for peak areas were better than 1.0%. The sample throughput for total ionic analysis was estimated to be 25 samples per hour. The system was used for automated simultaneous analysis of anions and cations in various real samples. Using a short separation capillary, rapid total ionic analysis in less then 1 min is demonstrated.     

FTIR spectroscopic study of titanium-containing mesoporous silicate materials

The surface acidity of different mesoporous titanium-silicates, such as well-organized hexagonally packed Ti-MMM, Ti-MMM-2, Ti-SBA-15, and amorphous TiO(2)-SiO(2) mixed oxides (aerogels and xerogels), was studied by means of FTIR spectroscopy of CO adsorbed at 80 K and CD(3)CN adsorbed at 293 K. The surface hydroxyl groups of mesoporous titanium-silicates with 2-7 wt % Ti revealed a Br?nsted acidity slightly higher to that of pure silicate. TiO(2)-SiO(2) xerogels revealed the highest Br?nsted acidity among the titanium-silicates studied. CO adsorption revealed two additional sites on the surface in comparison to pure silicate, characterized by nu(CO) from 2185 (high pressure) to 2178 (low pressure) cm(-1) and from 2174 (high pressure) to 2170 (low pressure) cm(-1). These bands are due to CO adsorbed on isolated titanium cations in the silica surrounding or having one Ti(4+) cation in their second coordination sphere and due to CO interactions with Ti-OH groups, respectively. CD(3)CN adsorption similarly revealed the existence of two additional sites, which were not detected for pure silicate: at 2289 cm(-1) due to CD(3)CN interaction with titanol groups and from 2306 (low pressure) to 2300 (high pressure) cm(-1) due to acetonitrile interaction with isolated framework titanium cations with probably one Ti(4+) cation in their second coordination shell. The spectroscopic results are compared with computational data obtained on cluster models of titanium-silicate with different titanium content. According to the IR data, the Ti accessibility on the surfaces for mesoporous titanium-silicates with similar Ti loading (2 wt %) was found to fall in the order TiO(2)-SiO(2) aerogel approximately TiO(2)-SiO(2) xerogel > Ti-MMM approximately Ti-MMM-2 > Ti-SBA-15. This order (except TiO(2)-SiO(2) xerogel) correlates with the catalytic activity found previously for titanium-silicates in 2,3,6-trimethylphenol oxidation with H(2)O(2).     

Photodissociation and collisional cooling of rhodamine 575 cations in a quadrupole ion trap

The photodissociation of rhodamine 575 cations held in a quadrupole ion trap is studied using 514 nm light as a function of buffer gas pressure, irradiation time, and laser fluence. The laser-induced photodissociation decays of rhodamine ions have lifetimes on the order of seconds for the range of pressures and powers investigated and exhibit strong nonlinear pressure dependence. Dissociation mechanisms are considered that involve the sequential absorption of multiple photons and several collisional deactivation steps.     

Degradation of polylactide using basic ionic liquid imidazolium acetates

Imidazolium acetate ionic liquids show high efficiency in the degradation of polylactides (PLA): degradation degree of PLA can reach almost 100 % in imidazolium acetate ionic liquids at 170°C and 1 h under atmospheric pressure, while the degradation degree of PLA remains close to 0 % using neutral 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim]BF4) and acidic ionic liquids at the same reaction conditions. With the increase of both the amount of acetate ionic liquid and the reaction temperature, the degradation degree of PLA increases. The structure of ionic liquids affects the degradation behavior of PLA: for cations, the proton from the C-2 position on the imidazolium ring is involved in the degradation of PLA; the degradation of PLA increases with the increase of the alkyl side-chain length of imidazolium cations; for anions, moderate basicity of the acetate ion contributes to the high activity of the imidazolium acetate ionic liquids in the degradation of PLA.