Copper(II) complexes with pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid from the oxidation of copper(I) iodide

Via an oxidation reaction of Cu(I) iodide with pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H₂L) in DMF three copper(II) complexes, [(CH₃)₂NH₂]₂[CuL₂] (1), K₂[CuL₂]?H₂L?H₂O (2) and [Cu(L)(H₂O)]_n (3), were synthesized and characterized. The structures of 1–3 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. In-situ DMF decomposition produces dimethylamine base under solvothermal conditions and a proton transfer reaction takes place for the complex formation of 1. 3-D networks are stabilized in 1 and 2 via hydrogen bonds. Complex 3 is a 1-D coordination polymer with Cu-O semi-coordination bonds. Thermal decomposition of the complexes results in the corresponding metal oxides. Also, the electrochemical behavior of 1 was determined to be a metal-centered and diffusion-controlled, one-electron reduction process.     

Developing Novel Antimicrobial and Antiviral Textile Products

In conjunction with an increasing public awareness of infectious diseases, the textile industry and scientists are developing hygienic fabrics by the addition of various antimicrobial and antiviral compounds. In the current study, sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and triclosan are applied to cotton fabrics in order to gain antimicrobial and antiviral properties for the first time. The antimicrobial activity of textiles treated with 3 % sodium pentaborate pentahydrate, 0.03 % triclosan, and 7 % Glucapon has been investigated against a broad range of microorganisms including bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Moreover, modified cotton fabrics were tested against adenovirus type 5 and poliovirus type 1. According to the test results, the modified textile goods attained very good antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Thus, the results of the present study clearly suggest that sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and triclosan solution-treated textiles can be considered in the development of antimicrobial and antiviral textile finishes.     

Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert electrochemical energy into electrical energy immediately and have a big potential usage for the same time wastewater treatment and energy recovery via electro-active microorganisms. However, MFCs must be efficiently optimized due to its limitations such as high cost and low power production. Finding new materials to increase the cell performance and reduce cost for MFC anodes is mandatory. In the first step of this study, different inoculation sludges such as anaerobic gum industry wastewater, anaerobic brewery wastewater and anaerobic phosphate were tested, and MFC that was set up with anaerobic gum industry wastewater inoculation sludge exhibited the highest performance. In the second step of this study, various wastewaters such as chocolate industry, gum industry and slaughterhouse industry were investigated for anode bacteria sources. Several electrochemical techniques have been employed to elucidate how wastewaters affect the MFCs’ performance. Among all the mentioned wastewaters, the best performance was achieved by the MFCs fed with slaughterhouse wastewater; this device produced a maximum power density of 267 mW·m^?2.     

The optical properties of a novel metal-free phthalocyanine

In the present work, 4-(4′-dodecyloxycarbonyl) phenoxy phthalonitrile was synthesized and then this phthalonitrile derivative was cyclotetramerized in dodecanol resulting a new metal-free phthalocyanine. The optical properties of this phthalocyanine were investigated. Novel metal-free phthalocyanine thin films were deposited on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrates by spinning method. Surface and microstructural properties of the films were characterized by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Both the transmittance and reflectance spectra of the deposited films were recorded using an NKD analyser. The optical band gap energy, the thickness of thin films, refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) were calculated as 2.7 eV, 300 nm, 1.47 and 0.02, respectively.     

The properties of the new Mn(II)–Co(II)–Mn(II)-type hetero-trinuclear oxime metal complexes with N4 and N4O2 ligands

1,3- and 1,2-calix[4]crown-7 and calix[4]crown-9 cone conformers were synthesized in acceptable yields by sequential introduction of two distal or proximal polyethylene glycolic chains with terminal hydroxyls at the lower rim, monotosylation, and intramolecular ring closure reaction. According to the two-phase extraction experiment, the title compounds showed mediocre affinity for alkali and alkaline earth metal picrates. The 1,2-calix[4]crown-9 extracted Sr²⁺ selectively among other alkaline earth metal cations.     

Reverse self-assembly: (111)-oriented gold crystallization at alkylthiol monolayer templates

It has long been known that thiol-terminated molecules self-assemble as commensurate monolayers on Au(111) surfaces. By spreading floating octadecanethiol monolayers on aqueous solutions of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) and using x rays to reduce the gold ions as well as to probe the structure, we have observed the nucleation of (111)-oriented Au nanoparticles at thiol surfaces. This process may be similar to the formation of biogenic gold by bacteria. The thiol monolayer acts as a "soft template," changing its structure as Au crystals form so that there is a sqrt[3]×sqrt[3] commensurate relationship.     

Solution to the MHD flow over a non-linear stretching sheet by homotopy perturbation method

In this study,by means of homotopy perturbation method(HPM) an approximate solution of the magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) boundary layer flow is obtained.The main feature of the HPM is that it deforms a difficult problem into a set of problems which are easier to solve.HPM produces analytical expressions for the solution to nonlinear differential equations.The obtained analytic solution is in the form of an infinite power series.In this work,the analytical solution obtained by using only two terms from HPM soluti...     

Enhanced optical absorption in nanopatterned silicon thin films with a nano-cone-hole structure for photovoltaic applications

In this paper, the optical properties of the silicon nano-cone-hole (NCH) structure array are studied. The ultimate efficiency of the optimized NCH array is enhanced by 23.11% compared to an optimized nanohole array of the same thickness. The absorptance enhancement of the NCH arrays is attributed to its lowered reflectance, more supported resonant modes, and enhanced mode interaction. The angular dependence of ultimate efficiency is also investigated.     

Relaxed Hyperelastic Curves on a Non-Degenerate Surface

We study the variational problem belonging to a relaxed hyperelastic curve for non-null curve on a non-degenerate surface in Minkowski three-space \({E_{1}^{3}}\) . Firstly, we derive the intrinsic equations for a relaxed hyperelastic curve and we give the necessary condition for being relaxed hyperelastic curve of any non-null geodesic on the surface in \({E_{1}^{3}}\) . Then, we examine this formulation on non-null geodesics of pseudo-plane, pseudo-sphere \({S_{1}^{2}(r) }\) , hyperbolic space \({H_{0}^{2}(r)}\) and pseudo-cylinder \({C_{1}^{2}(r)}\) .     

Palladium(II)?NHC complexes containing benzimidazole ligand as a catalyst for C?N bond formation

The reaction of 2‐(2‐bromoethyl)‐1,3‐dioxane with 1‐alkylbenzimidazole derivatives results in the formation of the new benzimidazolium salts (1). The reaction of Pd(OAc)₂ with 1,3‐dialkylbenzimidazolium salts (1a–c) yields palladium N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes (2a–c). All synthesized compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³ C NMR, IR and elemental analysis techniques which support the proposed structures. As catalysts, these new palladium complexes offer a simple and efficient methodology for the synthesis of triarylamines and secondary amines from anilines and amines and in a single step with potassium tertiary butoxide as a base. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.