High-density plasma etching of indium-zinc oxide films in Ar/Cl2 and Ar/CH4/H2 chemistries

The dry etching characteristics of transparent and conductive indium-zinc oxide (IZO) films have been investigated using an inductively coupled high-density plasma. While the Cl₂-based plasma mixture showed little enhancement over physical sputtering in a pure argon atmosphere, the CH₄/H₂/Ar chemistry produced an increase of the IZO etch rate. On the other hand, the surface morphology of IZO films after etching in Ar and Ar/Cl₂ discharges is smooth, whereas that after etching in CH₄/H₂/Ar presents particle-like features resulting from the preferential desorption of In- and O-containing products. Etching in CH₄/H₂/Ar also produces formation of a Zn-rich surface layer, whose thickness (∼40 nm) is well-above the expected range of incident ions in the material (∼1 nm). Such alteration of the IZO layer after etching in CH₄/H₂/Ar plasmas is expected to have a significant impact on the transparent electrode properties in optoelectronic device fabrication.     

Alkylation of 4,5-dichloropyridazin-6-one with α,ω-dibromoalkanes or 4,5-dichloro-1-(ω-bromoalkyl)pyridazin-6-ones

Alkylations of 4,5-dichloropyridazin-6-one (1) with dibromoalkanes 2 or 3 in the presence of potassium carbonate or tetrabutylammonium bromide/potassium hydroxide were investigated under restricted condition. Reactions of 1 with 2 or 3, except for 2b and 3b , in the presence of potassium carbonate or tetrabutylammonium bromide/potassium hydroxide gave only the N-alkylation products 3 and/or 4. Alkylation of 1 with 2b or 3b in the presence of potassium carbonate yielded the N-alkylation products 3b and/or 4b and the O-alkylation product 5 as the main product, whereas treatment of 1 with 2b or 3b in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide/potassium hydroxide afforded selectively the N-alkylation products 3b and/or 4b.     

Reaction dynamics studied via femtosecond X-ray liquidography at X-ray free-electron lasers

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) provide femtosecond X-ray pulses suitable for pump–probe time-resolved studies with a femtosecond time resolution. Since the advent of the first XFEL in 2009, recent years have witnessed a great number of applications with various pump–probe techniques at XFELs. Among these, time-resolved X-ray liquidography (TRXL) is a powerful method for visualizing structural dynamics in the liquid solution phase. Here, we classify various chemical and biological molecular systems studied via femtosecond TRXL (fs-TRXL) at XFELs, depending on the focus of the studied process, into (i) bond cleavage and formation, (ii) charge distribution and electron transfer, (iii) orientational dynamics, (iv) solvation dynamics, (v) coherent nuclear wavepacket dynamics, and (vi) protein structural dynamics, and provide a brief review on each category. We also lay out a plausible roadmap for future fs-TRXL studies for areas that have not been explored yet.

Femtosecond X-ray liquidography using X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) visualizes various aspects of reaction dynamics.     

Tomatidine-stimulated maturation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for modeling mitochondrial dysfunction

Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) have been reported to exhibit immature embryonic or fetal cardiomyocyte-like phenotypes. To enhance the maturation of hESC-CMs, we identified a natural steroidal alkaloid, tomatidine, as a new substance that stimulates the maturation of hESC-CMs. Treatment of human embryonic stem cells with tomatidine during cardiomyocyte differentiation stimulated the expression of several cardiomyocyte-specific markers and increased the density of T-tubules. Furthermore, tomatidine treatment augmented the number and size of mitochondria and enhanced the formation of mitochondrial lamellar cristae. Tomatidine treatment stimulated mitochondrial functions, including mitochondrial membrane potential, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP production, in hESC-CMs. Tomatidine-treated hESC-CMs were more sensitive to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity than the control cells. In conclusion, the present study suggests that tomatidine promotes the differentiation of stem cells to adult cardiomyocytes by accelerating mitochondrial biogenesis and maturation and that tomatidine-treated mature hESC-CMs can be used for cardiotoxicity screening and cardiac disease modeling.Subject terms: Heart failure, Embryonic stem cells, Stem-cell differentiation     

Aggregation of reduced graphene oxide and its nanohybrids with magnetite and elemental silver under environmentally relevant conditions

Journal of Nanoparticle Research - Utilizing solar energy for hydrogen evolution is a great challenge for its insufficient visible-light power conversion. In this paper, we report a facile...     

Resonance scattering spectroscopy of gold nanoparticle

The gold nanoparticles in diameter of 10-95 nm have been prepared by Frens procedure, all of which exhibit a resonance scattering peak at 580 nm. The mechanism of resonance scattering for gold nanoparticle has been considered according to the wave motion theory of nanoparticle in liquid. The principle of superamolecular interface energy band(SIEB) has been set up and utilized to explain the relationship between the diameter and colors for gold nanoparticle in liquid. A novel spectrophotometric ruler for the determination of the diameter has been proposed according to the relationship of the maximum absorption wavelength and diameter.     

Comparison of analytical methods for ozone precursors using adsorption tube and canister

Recently, ozone concentrations have increased dramatically as a result of vehicle usage in metropolitan areas. Ozone precursors are composed of hydrocarbons of organic compounds. Because hydrocarbons are indicative of ozone formation, they need to be monitored in ambient air. Since ozone precursor are present at very low levels (from ppb to ppt) in ambient air, they are difficult to analyze accurately. This study investigates ozone precursors in ambient air. The main purpose of this study is to compare analytical methods for the measurement of ozone precursors in atmosphere. Two measurement methods were evaluated using canister (Silco-canister) and adsorbent (300-mg Carbopack B+150-mg Carbosieve SIII) tube. Differences in measurements for total ozone precursor emissions were 54.1% between the adsorption tube and canister-GC/MS, 51.1% between adsorption tube and canister-GC/FID, and 16.3% between canister-GC/MS and canister-GC/FID.     

Ammonia Oxidation Enhanced by Photopotential Generated by Plasmonic Excitation of a Bimetallic Electrocatalyst

We study how visible light influences the activity of an electrocatalyst composed of Au and Pt nanoparticles. The bimetallic composition imparts a dual functionality: the Pt component catalyzes the electrochemical oxidation of ammonia to liberate hydrogen and the Au component absorbs visible light by the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances. Under visible-light excitation, this catalyst exhibits enhanced electrochemical ammonia oxidation kinetics, outperforming previously reported electrochemical schemes. We trace the enhancement to a photochemical potential resulting from electron–hole carriers generated in the electrocatalyst by plasmonic excitation. The photopotential responsible for enhanced kinetics scales linearly with the light intensity—a general design principle for eliciting superlative photoelectrochemical performance from catalysts comprised of plasmonic metals or hybrids. We also determine a photochemical conversion coefficient.     

Synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-chromen-4-ylphosphonates and 2-amino-4H-chromenes catalyzed by tetramethylguanidine

Synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromen-4-ylphosphonates and 2-amino-4H-chromenes has been accomplished by the reaction of salicylaldehyde, malononitrile, dialkyl/diphenylphosphites catalyzed by 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (TMG) under neat conditions at room temperature. The applicability of catalytic TMG for the synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromenes also has been described. The mild reaction conditions, simple work-up procedure, and use of TMG as an inexpensive catalyst provides an economical protocol for the preparation of important phosphorus-containing compounds.