Organic photovoltaic devices with colloidal TiO2 nanorods as key functional components

We report on a novel approach to integrate colloidal anatase TiO(2) nanorods as key functional components into polymer bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic devices by means of mild, all-solution-based processing techniques. The successful integration of colloidal nanoparticles in organic solar cells relies on the ability to remove the long chain insulating ligands, which indeed severely reduces the charge transport. To this aim we have exploited the concomitant mechanisms of UV-light-driven photocatalytic removal of adsorbed capping ligands and hydrophilicization of TiO(2) surfaces in both solid-state and liquid-phase conditions. We have demonstrated the successful integration of the UV-irradiated films and colloidal solutions of TiO(2) nanorods in inverted and conventional solar cell geometries, respectively. The inverted devices show a power conversion efficiency of 2.3% that is a ca. three times improvement over their corresponding cell counterparts incorporating untreated TiO(2), demonstrating the excellent electron-collecting property of the UV-irradiated TiO(2) films. The integration of UV-treated TiO(2) solutions in conventional devices results in doubled power conversion efficiency for the thinner active layer and in maximum power conversion efficiency of 2.8% for 110 nm thick devices. In addition, we have demonstrated, with the support of device characterizations and optical simulations, that the TiO(2) nanocrystal buffer layer acts both as electron-transporting/hole-blocking material and optical spacer.     

Room temperature asymmetric Pd-catalyzed methoxycarbonylation of norbornene: highly selective catalysis and HP-NMR studies

Palladium complexes bearing monodentate and bidentate phosphine ligands (1-7) were synthesised and used as catalyst precursors in the methoxycarbonylation of norbornene. The catalytic systems bearing ligands 1, 3 and 4 afforded excellent conversions (>99%) and selectivity of the ester (>99%). NMR investigations showed that using complex 1a as the precursor resulted in the protonated phosphine, 1-H(+), being formed under catalytic conditions and thus the addition of acid is not required for the activation of this system since the reaction involving the precursor with methanol under CO pressure produces 2 equivalents of HCl and leads to the formation of the active species. The protonation of ligand 4 under methoxycarbonylation conditions was also observed and the diprotonated diphosphine was isolated and characterised. This compound was tested as a ligand and acid source in a catalysis and provided excellent conversion and high selectivity to the ester.     

Design,synthesis and structure of new dendritic melamines. First use of a tandem C-2-substituted serinol—O,O-masked 4-piperidone as a peripheral unit in iterative synthesis

The iterative chemoselective amination of cyanuric chloride to dimers of new G-2 dendritic N-substituted-2,4,6-triamino-s-triazines (melamines) having C-2-substituted 2-aminopropane-1,3-diols (‘serinols’) in tandem with the ethylene ketal of 4-piperidone as peripheral units is reported. The structure as a function of increasing molecular size was studied by NMR spectroscopy, DFT calculation and AFM imaging. A concise nomenclature defining the restricted rotational phenomena about the newly created C(s-triazine)–N(exocyclic) partial double bonds, seen as axes of (pro)diastereomerism, is used. We propose a new form of frontier rotamerism for the dendrimer surface, which operates over a long range.     

Interaction between the conjugated polyelectrolyte poly{1,4-phenylene[9,9-bis(4-phenoxybutylsulfonate)]fluorene-2,7-diyl} copolymer and the lecithin mimic 1-O-(l-Arginyl)-2,3-O-dilauroyl-sn-glycerol in aqueous solution

In this paper, the interaction between the water-soluble conjugated polyelectrolyte poly{1,4-phenylene[9,9-bis(4-phenoxybutylsulfonate)]fluorene-2,7-diyl} copolymer and the amino acid glyceride conjugate 1-O-(L-arginyl)-2,3-O-dilauroyl-sn-glycerol dichlorohydrate (a mimic for the phospholipid lecithin) has been studied in aqueous solution by electronic spectroscopy (absorption and fluorescence) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A significant increase in the polymer fluorescence and blue shift in its emission are observed on association with the surfactant. This is suggested to be due to breakup of polymer aggregates. In addition, the spectroscopic and photophysical data suggest this is followed by the vesicle to ribbon transition characteristic of this surfactant, leading to incorporation of single chains of the polymer within mixed polymer-surfactant aggregates. Support for this comes from preliminary SANS measurements, from which evidence for polymer dissolution and formation of two-dimensional structures has been obtained.     

Prediction and observation of isostructurality induced by solvent incorporation in multicomponent crystals

The crystal structures of two pharmaceutical molecules-carbamazepine and its 10,11-dihydro derivative-with acetic acid have been successfully predicted by computational methods. While the crystalline structure of the former was known a priori, no structural information was available for the latter. Possible crystal structures were generated in silico before any experimental work was performed. Although the crystal structures of the pure drug molecules are very different, incorporation of acetic acid in their crystal lattices results in isomorphic products.     

Glycosylated VCAM-1 isoforms revealed in 2D western blots of HUVECs treated with tumoral soluble factors of breast cancer cells

Background  

Several common aspects of endothelial phenotype, such as the expression of cell adhesion molecules, are shared between metastasis and inflammation. Here, we analyzed VCAM-1 variants as biological markers of these two types of endothelial cell activation. With the combination of 2-DE and western blot techniques and the aid of tunicamycin, we analyzed N-glycosylation variants of VCAM-1 in primary human endothelial cells stimulated with either TNF or tumoral soluble factors (TSF's) derived from the human breast cancer cell line ZR75.30.