First principles study of lead free piezoelectric AgNbO3 and (Ag1−xKx)NbO3 solid solutions

We present an ab-initio study of structural, electronic and ferroic properties of lead-free orthorhombic AgNbO₃ in centrosymmetric Pbcm and recently proposed noncentrosymmetric Pmc2₁ space group symmetries. The calculated polarization of AgNbO₃ in Pmc2₁ phase is ～0.09 μC/cm², whereas it is 55.9 μC/cm² in the ideal cubic phase. The large polarization of AgNbO₃ in the ideal cubic structure is attributed to off-centering of Ag as well as Nb ions at the A and B sites, respectively. In our calculations both phases (Pmc2₁ and Pbcm) of AgNbO₃ show small relative energy difference (～0.1 meV/f.u), thus suggesting the coexistence of centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric phases and thereby antiferroelectric and ferroelctric order in room temperature AgNbO₃ polycrystals. We further study structural properties and spontaneous polarization in orthorhombic Pmc2₁ Ag_1?xK_xNbO₃ solid solutions. The calculated spontaneous polarization of AgNbO₃ is enhanced due to suppression of NbO₆ octahedral tilt angles as K ion is substituted at Ag sites. Our study suggests that appropriate cation substitution should indeed result in the improvement of ferroelectric properties of lead-free AgNbO₃.     

Characterization of carbon nanotube filters and other carbonaceous materials by Raman spectroscopy—II: study on dispersion and disorder parameters

Recently, we have reported on the characterization of various carbonaceous materials including multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) filters, which have specific molecular filtering capabilities and good mechanical strength and can be produced in bulk as highly aligned arrays of bundles of CNTs. We have extended our studies using Fourier transform‐Raman spectroscopy with 1064 nm excitation wavelength and a rotating sample holder in the region 1000–2800 cm⁻¹, in addition to 532 and 785 nm, which were used for Raman excitation in our previous study. Raman spectra were analyzed for band positions and line shape with special emphasis on the D‐, G‐ and G′‐ bands. For the single‐walled species, Carbotrap and graphite spectra were also recorded with 488 nm excitation. A dispersion study has been made from the Raman data available with the different excitation wavelengths. Slight band shifts and band broadening could be observed under the two sample conditions, one with the stationary sample and the other with sample rotation. The spectral changes are related to the excessive heating caused in a stationary sample by laser irradiation. Based on our findings in this study combined with our earlier study, we can state that only a careful line shape analysis and study of intensity pattern of the D‐ and G‐Raman bands under well‐defined measurement conditions lends itself as a good measure of degree of alignment in the MWCNT bundles. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the ligand substitution reaction between aquapentacyanoruthenate(II) and 4-cyanopyridine in the presence of anionic surfactant micelles

The kinetics of ligand substitution between aquapentacyanoruthenate(II) ion, [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]³⁻ and 4-cyanopyridine (4-CNpy) has been investigated spectrophotometrically in the presence of anionic surfactant micelle, namely sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) at 400 nm (λ_max of the intense yellow product [Ru(CN)₅4-CNpy]³⁻) under pseudo-first-order conditions using at least 10% excess of 4-CNpy over [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]³⁻. The reaction was studied as a function of [Ru(CN)₅H₂O³⁻], [4-CNpy], [SDS], pH, ionic strength and temperature, by varying each of these variables one at a time. The reaction exhibited overall second-order kinetics, being first order each in [4-CNpy] and [Ru(CN)₅H₂O³⁻] over a wide concentration range. Variation of ionic strength of the medium had a significant negative effect on the rate. The SDS micelle, being negatively charged, does not reveal any regular effect except at or near its critical micelle concentration (c.m.c). The rate of reaction was measured at different temperatures, and the activation parameters were computed using Arrhenius and Eyring plots. A plausible mechanism consistent with the experimental results has been proposed.     

Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric study and analysis of xanthone and secoiridoid glycoside composition of Swertia chirata, a potent antidiabetic

Swertia chirata is a bitter plant, used in the Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) for various human ailments. The bioactive constituents include the xanthone and secoiridoid glycosides consisting of mangiferin, amarogentin, amaroswerin, sweroside and swertiamarin. Methanolic extracts of S. chirata possess constituents with antidiabetic activities, which was investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). Preliminary HPLC analyses were performed on a reversed-phase C18 column using gradient elution. In the LC/ESI-MS spectra, predominant [M+H]+ and [M+Na]+ ions were observed in positive ion mode and provided molecular mass information. The five components of S. chirata were structurally correlated and confirmed based on the fragmentation characteristics and information available in the literature. The fragmentation behavior of [M+H]+/[M+Na]+ ions of these components were deduced from the collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra obtained from the selective on-column information-dependant acquisition (IDA) approach. Xanthone-C-glycoside showed characteristic fragment ions due to fragmentation in the C-glycosidic unit while iridoid-O-glycosides showed characteristic fragment ions due to cleavage in the glycoside linkage and retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) cleavage within an iridoid aglycone. Furthermore, on the basis of this information, an analytical assay was developed and validated to determine relative concentrations of mangiferin, amarogentin, amaroswerin, sweroside and swertiamarin. The detection was carried out using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive ionization mode with a total analysis time of 3.5 min. The method was successfully applied to standardize four different batches of herbal preparation on the basis of relative concentration of five bioactive components.     

The kinetics and mechanism of the substitution reactions of the aquapentacyanoruthenate(II) ion with naphthalene‐substituted ligands in aqueous medium

The kinetics and mechanism of substitution reaction of [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]^3? anion with two naphthalene‐substituted ligands viz. Lⁿ = nitroso‐R‐salt (NRS) and α‐nitroso‐β‐naphthol (αNβN) have been studied spectrophotometrically by monitoring an increase in absorbance at λ_max = 525 nm corresponding to metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT) transitions due to formation of substituted [Ru(CN)₅L]^n?3 as a function of pH, ionic strength, temperature, a wide range of ligands concentration, and [Ru(CN)₅H₂O^3?] under pseudo‐first‐order conditions. The experimental observation suggests that [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]^3? ion interacts with both ligands, which finally get converted into corresponding, [Ru(CN)₅L]^n?3 complexes as a final reaction product. The reaction is found to obey first‐order dependence each in [Ru(CN)₅H₂O^3?] and [Lⁿ]. The substituted products, viz. [Ru(CN)₅L]^n?3, in each case have strong MLCT transitions in visible region. The substitutional lability of [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]^3? has been discussed in terms of electronic effect on the M? OH₂ bond interactions. The kinetic observation suggests that the complexation reaction of [Ru(CN)₅H₂O]^3? with both the ligands, i.e., NRS and αNβN, follows an ion pair dissociative mechanism. The thermal activation parameters ΔH^≠ and ΔS^≠ have been calculated using Eyring's equation and provided in support for the proposed mechanistic scheme. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 43: 21–30, 2011     

A sensitive spectrophotometric determination of atrazine in micellar medium and its application in environmental samples

A sensitive analytical procedure based on solid phase extractive-spectrophotometry has been established for the determination of the widely used herbicide atrazine .The method is based on the Konig reaction in which atrazine reacts with pyridine reagent to form a quaternary pyridinium halide, which further forms glutaconic aldehyde in the presence of alkali. Glutaconic aldehyde is subsequently coupled with 4-aminoacetanilide in the micellar medium of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate to give a yellow-orange dye. The produced dye was enriched on a C₁₈ cartridge and is measured spectrophotometrically at 460 nm. The sensitivity and selectivity of the method was largely enhanced in the micellar media and SPE on the C₁₈ cartridge and avoids the use of toxic solvents. Beer’s law was obeyed in the range 0.012–0.12 μg mL^?1. Molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity were found to be 1.52 × 10⁶ L mol^? 1 cm^?1 and 0.0002 μg cm^?2, respectively. The limit of detection and quantification were 0.001 and 0.003 μg mL^?1, respectively. The proposed method was applied successfully for the determination of atrazine in environmental and biological samples with a recovery range of 96–101 %. The method was found to be free from interference of a large number of foreign species. The accuracy and reliability of the method was further established by parallel determination by the reference method, and by recovery studies.     

Determination of nimesulide in pharmaceutical and biological samples by a spectrophotometric method assisted with the partial least square method

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of nimesulide in bulk, in pharmaceutical dosage form, and in biological fluids was developed. The method is based on the reduction of the nitro group of nimesulide by zinc and hydrochloric acid followed by diazotization, and coupling with orcinol in basic medium to form a stable chromophore, which absorbs at 465 nm. The method showed a good linearity in the range 0.4–4.0 μg mL^?1. Partial least square modeling as a powerful multivariate statistical tool is also applied, compiled, and compared for determination of nimesulide. The experimental matrix for the partial least square calibration method was designed with 24 samples. The cross-validation was used for selecting the number of factors. The root mean square error prediction (RMSEP) and the relative error of prediction (REP %) were 0.089 and 3.95, respectively. The developed method is free from the interference of common excipients used in pharmaceutical dosages. The method was also used for the determination of nimesulide in pharmaceutical dosages as well as in human serum and urine samples.     

Weighted moments for a supercritical branching process in a varying or random environment

Let W be the limit of the normalized population size of a supercritical branching process in a varying or random environment. By an elementary method, we find sufficient conditions under which W has finite weighted moments of the form EWpl(W), where p > 1, l 0 is a concave or slowly varying function.